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The Mining Frontier

The Mining Frontier. california. Early California belonged to Mexico and was inhabited by 150,000 Native Americans & 6,000 Californios , settlers of Spanish and Mexican descent. Most Californios lived on huge cattle ranches . In 1846, the Mexican-American War began

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The Mining Frontier

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  1. The Mining Frontier

  2. california • Early California belonged to Mexico and was inhabited by 150,000 Native Americans & 6,000 Californios, settlers of Spanish and Mexican descent

  3. Most Californioslived on huge cattle ranches • In 1846, the Mexican-American War began • While this was happening, a revolt against Mexican rule • took place in California, which by this time had • 8,000 – 10,000 Mexican residents • The Bear Flag Revolt, led by John C. Fremont was successful, and the rebels declared California independent and named it the Republic of California

  4. The Mexican rarely granted land to foreigners, • but one exception was John Sutter, a Swiss immigrant who was able to acquire 50,000 acres in 1839 • In 1848, Sutter hired carpenter John Marshall (from Lambertville!) to build a sawmill • Marshall found gold and news spread rapidly, leading to what became known as • the California gold rush; those that went were called forty-niners

  5. Route choices for forty-niners • Sail 18,000 miles around South America and up the Pacific coast • Suffer from storms, seasickness, spoiled food • Sail to the narrow Isthmus of Panama, cross overland, then sail to CA • Risk catching a tropical disease • Travel the trails across North America • Brave rivers, prairies, mountains, and all the hardships of the trail

  6. Routes West to gold • You will be given one of the three routes listed above. • Create a poster advertising your route as the best: • Create a title • Create a company name • Include a hand-drawn graphic (no computer images allowed!) • Indicate why your route is the best to take • Creativity, neatness, use of space, and spelling and grammar count • Don’t forget to indicate your name.

  7. The impact of the Gold Rush • By 1852 when it was all over, about 250,000 people had made their way to California • Migration caused huge economic growth; San Francisco became a center of banking, manufacturing, shipping, trade

  8. Ruined many Californios • Newcomers did not respect them, their customs, or their legal rights • Property was seized • Native Americans suffered • Caught diseases • Miners hunted them down and killed them because it was thought that they stood in the way of progress • By 1870, their population fell from 150,000 to about 58,000 • California Became a State • Skipped the territorial stage and became a state in 1849 • Slavery was outlawed

  9. The Rush to Colorado • 1858 • Report of gold found near Pikes Peak • Within a year, 100,000 people set out for the • territory – “Pikes Peak or Bust!” • Little gold or silver actually found; many returned • home; others found work in Denver; others decided • to farm or raise cattle • 1876 • Population growth enabled statehood • The Centennial State (entered on 100th anniversary)

  10. E. Sierra Nevadas • 1858 • Irish immigrants Pete O’Reilly and Pat McLaughlin made a claim; Henry Comstock got them to agree to share. • They found silver but didn’t know it and they sold it for a few thousand $; Comstock sold for $11,000

  11. Turned out to be one of the richest finds in history (Comstock Lode) Henry “Pancake” Comstock didn’t discover the Comstock lode, but he bullied the true discoverers into giving him a share

  12. Miners and prospectors organized the camps of Gold Hill (left) and Virginia City (right).

  13. Many rushed but large mining companies, rather than individual miners, took most of gold and silver • 1864 Nevada became a state

  14. Boomtowns • News of strike, hundreds rush to stake claims, small business owners arrive; a town would spring up • VA City, near Comstock Lode, was the richest mining town

  15. New Businessman: Levi Strauss

  16. They made own laws and formed enforcement committees to deal with outlaws and thieves • vigilantes would hunt worst offenders; sometimes no trial

  17. After gold and silver minded out, many towns became ghost towns

  18. 1860’s • Last great gold rush was in the Black Hills of South Dakota

  19. 1880’s • Day of the gold rush and prospectors had passed; large companies took over • Few became rich but helped settle the west: storekeepers, farmers, teachers, churchgoers, newspaper people

  20. By 1900 • Copper a bigger value than silver • and gold • Lead was also important

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