There's always a little gold.

The Sierra Nevadas are made of granitic rock partially consisting of quartzite.

Every once in a long while, quartzite can have a few flecks of gold in it.

Even in gold-rich areas, mining can shut down when fuel gets too expensive because the cost of extracting and crushing the ore is more than the gold is worth.

But there's sometimes just a little gold. Very, very little.

What if the planters wanted to get settlers, pirates, and mountain folk out of the South so they could expand their plantations? What if they took up collections at cotilions? What if they asked for gold only?

What if they ground it up and sprinkled it in the creek near Sutter's Mill and just a few other spots? What if they watched who picked it up?

What if they followed him to his favorite bar and befriended him, then bought him drinks until he started doing a little boasting for all to hear?

It would be interesting if there were archeological records of purchases of plantations to see if there was a tiny downtick in 1845-46 of the purchase of luxury goods.

a reply to: Solvedit

You can add it into a shotgun cartridges and shoot it into the ground and they will think the ground is gold rich , I saw that scam shown on television years ago

originally posted by: stonerwilliam
a reply to: Solvedit

You can add it into a shotgun cartridges and shoot it into the ground and they will think the ground is gold rich , I saw that scam shown on television years ago

That only works if they're already prospecting with metal detectors.

You could literally pick it up off the ground.

Gold was everywhere, not just a couple of pieces.

All the easy stuff got scooped up.

originally posted by: whyamIhere
You could literally pick it up off the ground.

Gold was everywhere, not just a couple of pieces.

All the easy stuff got scooped up.

Did you see this gold?

a reply to: Solvedit

Would the smelters notice that the gold is already smelted? Would the assayers and miners not notice that these nuggets look different? Would the amount of gold needed for what was brought out of that area have been too expensive for an endever like that?

I think the idea was worth discussion but I don't see it working on a large scale. When the experienced miners got there, they would know the difference.

All gold can be chemically traced to the area where it was formed. The impurities are unique to different rock formations. Someone in modern times would notice something was off when Georgia gold items came from California gold strikes.

And yes, gold is everywhere. Buy a bag of sand at your local hardware store and you are likely to get a flake or several. Might be worth 1 or 2 cents.

originally posted by: BeyondKnowledge3
a reply to: Solvedit
Would the smelters notice that the gold is already smelted? Would the assayers and miners not notice that these nuggets look different?

They could have bought and planted gold dust from an active mine. They could have asked a skilled smelter what else is in there and put it in, and weathered the dust. Besides, most of the gold was genuine besides a small amount used to start the rumor. Maybe no expert ever saw it.

Would the amount of gold needed for what was brought out of that area have been too expensive for an endever like that?

You're assuming someone assayed the amount. Plus, bear in mind there's a little gold out there. Maybe no one was counting how many man-hours it took vs how much gold was found. Isn't it often stated more people made money selling the miners supplies than the miners did on gold?

I think the idea was worth discussion but I don't see it working on a large scale. When the experienced miners got there, they would know the difference.

The hypothetical perpetrators obviously couldn't afford to do more than start a rumor. They may have even bought back the first finds themselves. The experienced miners probably never saw the gold which started the rumor. It may have been bought back.

Besides, they probably already had a handle on what was there. I highly doubt they publicized it when they found gold. I highly doubt they published the data regarding which finds are worth extracting.

All gold can be chemically traced to the area where it was formed. The impurities are unique to different rock formations. Someone in modern times would notice something was off when Georgia gold items came from California gold strikes.

Did they do that in 1848? Have they done it recently? Besides, most of the gold is probably genuine, the issue was it took much more work to extract than it was worth.

And yes, gold is everywhere. Buy a bag of sand at your local hardware store and you are likely to get a flake or several. Might be worth 1 or 2 cents.

So you know why the experienced miners stayed away!

a reply to: Solvedit

So, you are saying it might have only been a couple of pounds, at most, of gold that was planted then recovered just to start the western gold rush? Now that is plausible. But it might have been motivated by bringing more people west to populate the area than to empty out the east.

And yes, mining the miners is more profitable than mining the ground. Still is in most cases. That is why the sell paydirt. It gets the gold fever started. Then the maps, shovels, pans, magnets, sluice boxes, dredges, high bankers, etc.... And that list is just the hobby stuff.

originally posted by: Solvedit

originally posted by: whyamIhere
You could literally pick it up off the ground.

Gold was everywhere, not just a couple of pieces.

All the easy stuff got scooped up.

Did you see this gold?

No, but it is well known.

The least little study of the Gold Rush will tell you that.

Hence, The Gold Rush.

originally posted by: whyamIhere

originally posted by: Solvedit

originally posted by: whyamIhere
You could literally pick it up off the ground.

Gold was everywhere, not just a couple of pieces.

All the easy stuff got scooped up.

Did you see this gold?

No, but it is well known.

The least little study of the Gold Rush will tell you that.

Hence, The Gold Rush.

They called it The Gold Rush because people rushed to look for gold. The easy stuff may have been planted and then greatly exaggerated.

Since you're well versed in the Gold Rush, can you tell me what are the signs there was a lot of gold and people didn't just spend their savings on pans and shovels and sluices, then wind up doing all right in a good state to live in?

originally posted by: whyamIhere
You could literally pick it up off the ground.

Gold was everywhere, not just a couple of pieces.

All the easy stuff got scooped up.

Oh, really? Come on, now. Don't you think historians surmise that whatever gold started the rush must have been "scooped up"? As in, they surmised it? Because they assume no one was deliberately trying to fan the flames of the rumor mill over a few measly pounds of planted gold?

a reply to: Solvedit

I think word of mouth then the news papers did most of the fanning of the flames at the time. No matter the motivation, your theory of lighting the fuse on that gold rush might be true. Their could have been many reasons to do it. Land speculation comes to mind. Forget the mining, land speculators could mine the ones mining the miners. You have to have land to put that store on.

There are so many specialty groups that had benefited financially from it. Any one could have lit the fuse.