The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to the state in late 1848. All told, the news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came from the east overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail.
The gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (as a reference to 1849), often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. At first, the gold nuggets could be picked up off the ground. Later, gold was recovered from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning. More sophisticated methods were developed and later adopted elsewhere. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. Gold worth tens of billions of today's dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with little more than they had started with.
Gold in California became highly concentrated there as the result of global forces operating over hundreds of millions of years. Volcanoes, tectonic plates and erosion all combined to concentrate billions of dollars worth of gold in the mountains of California. During the California Gold Rush, gold-seekers known as "Forty-Niners" retrieved this gold, at first using simple techniques, and then developing more sophisticated techniques, which spread around the world.
Scientists believe that over a span of at least 400 million years, gold that had been widely dispersed in the Earth’s crust became more concentrated by geologic actions into the gold-bearing regions of California. Only gold that is concentrated can be economically recovered. Some 400 million years ago, California lay at the bottom of a large sea; underwater volcanoes deposited lava and minerals (including gold) onto the sea floor; sometimes enough that islands were created. Between 400 million and 200 million years ago, geologic movement forced the sea floor and these volcanic islands and deposits eastwards, colliding with the North American continent, which was moving westwards.
California (pronounced i/kælɨˈfɔrnjə/) is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third most extensive (after Alaska and Texas). It is home to the nation's second- and sixth-largest census statistical areas (Los Angeles Metropolitan Area and San Francisco Bay Area), and eight of the nation's fifty most populated cities (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Fresno, Sacramento, Long Beach and Oakland). The capital city is Sacramento.
California's diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west, to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east – from the Redwood–Douglas-fir forests of the northwest, to the Mojave Desert areas in the southeast. The center of the state is dominated by Central Valley, a major agricultural area. California contains both the highest and lowest points in the contiguous United States (Mount Whitney and Death Valley), and has the third-longest coastline of all states (after Alaska and Florida). Earthquakes are a common occurrence due to the state's location along the Pacific Ring of Fire: about 37,000 are recorded annually.
A gold rush is a period of feverish migration of workers to an area that has had a dramatic discovery of gold. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa, and the United States, while smaller gold rushes took place elsewhere.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, there were several major gold rushes. The permanent wealth that resulted was distributed widely because of reduced migration costs and low barriers to entry. While gold mining itself was unprofitable for most diggers and mine owners, some people made large fortunes, and the merchants and transportation facilities made large profits. The resulting increase in the world's gold supply stimulated global trade and investment. Historians have written extensively about the migration, trade, colonization, and environmental history associated with gold rushes.
Gold rushes were typically marked by a general buoyant feeling of a "free for all" in income mobility, in which any single individual might become abundantly wealthy almost instantly, as expressed in the California Dream.
William Smith Monroe (September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader. He is often referred to as The Father of Bluegrass.
Monroe was born on his family's farm near Rosine, Kentucky, the youngest of eight children of James Buchanan "Buck" and Malissa (Vandiver) Monroe. His mother and her brother, Pendleton "Pen" Vandiver, were both musically talented, and Monroe and his family grew up playing and singing at home. Bill was of Scottish heritage. Because his older brothers Birch and Charlie already played the fiddle and guitar, Bill Monroe was resigned to playing the less desirable mandolin. He recalled that his brothers insisted he remove four of the mandolin's eight strings so he would not play too loudly.
Monroe's mother died when he was ten, followed by his father six years later. As his brothers and sisters had moved away, after bouncing among uncles and aunts, Monroe settled in with his disabled uncle Pendleton Vandiver, often accompanying him when Vandiver played the fiddle at dances. This experience inspired one of Monroe's most famous compositions, "Uncle Pen," recorded in 1950, and the 1972 album, "Bill Monroe's Uncle Pen." On that album, Monroe recorded a number of traditional fiddle tunes he had often heard performed by Vandiver. Uncle Pen has been credited with giving Monroe "a repertoire of tunes that sank into Bill's aurally trained memory and a sense of rhythm that seeped into his bones." Also significant in Monroe's musical life was Arnold Shultz, an influential fiddler and guitarist who introduced Monroe to the blues.
Josey Wales was known for robbin trains and things
layin everybody down for diamond rings and chains
It remains the same in the year you live in, see
Cos if I pull out some heat, nigga, you'll go kick in
And that's just the rules set by the fool from the ol' school
When it's time to duel, you get two men
Two heaters, one street, one clock
and when it strike twelve one of y'all gon' drop
If you're quick on the draw you're gon' see the morgue
but if you're too slow
I catch you on the downlow (Oh no)
Oh no, you mean The Kid, shit's real
I ain't no John Wayne, these niggas gangbang
The Four Horsemen, that's the click I'm wit
You mean the little bitty niggas with the itchy trigger fingers
Yeah, we're on a mission ta Kansas, slippin thru Texas
We stopped at Bonanza to get us some hot cakes
bacon and eggs, and then we slip in the whorehouse to get us some leg
Hop back on the horses, enforcers of courses
The niggas in black, the fearless Four Horsemen
Searchin for this location on the map
The gold rush, baby, got ta have it (I gots ta have it)
It feels just like it's 1865
and a trigger look-a-day is how I ride
On and on and on it's more strange
Time to heat, shootin range
Quick with the heat on their hip
Young Jesse James come to test your aim
I seen you at th e Wild Horny Corral
I hearda ya name
Tha forcify, nigga you ain't never lie
Besides I'm in the mood so at high noon we ride
From coast to coast, niggas mash on every stage coach
My disciples with rifles lethal in whole posts
The off-the-rocker roller coaster
On a six-shooter holster
with DPG on every Wanted poster
Let me think about which bank to gank
which fellow ta shoot and which teller to shank
I want all the shit you got in stacks
attached to this skirt in the corner
so I snatched the bitch in the back
The Dogg in me feels for the lust
but the hogg in me makes me wanna bust
Back to the drawin down board
Nowadays we drawn down more
To survive thru all the round wards
Battle up or saddle up and shake the scene
or get'cha pockets shaken, clean the slugs in ya spleen
I can't help it, I'm heartless, ya can't hack it
With my six-shooters on my hips and dusty jacket
Like that cock back
quick to pull my strap
Just to put the Horsemen on the map
(The gold rush)
Born is Doggystyle, individual, James got the hots
I got the six shots for all the plans and plots
I gots lots o' cash stashed in money bags
Worthy workers for all the Russian blabbermouths and gags
I got stacks so my stacks excell
Hop in the coach wit my twelve Clydesdales and bells
I'm on the move, smooth, to my decoy horse
A 30-30 on my side to shoot a nigga o' course
It ain't no stoppin young Josey
Box all the nosey
Headed to the saloon with my platoon where all the hos be
Left a dusty trail, bailed in swell
Gold spurs on the Gators, set back the clientele
Oh well, for the recop I drop my bet
Divide between my homies and ride the sunset
Two sacks o' money from the train heist
They ain't even counted it up
just mounted it up
Rode west toward the coaster, six-shooters in the holster
Pass thru a run-down town whose walls hold my poster
Closer I get ta death which is every second makes me sweat
so I gotta have what I can get
Heard word about the gold rush and headed West
on my white horsey with three straps in my napsack
Giddy up, the next town I rode thru
I had to threaten to blow their city up
Undebts with Chief Black, caught five miles west
sell us some beads and hail us some weed
He offered me a toke
he didn't have a 20 he had they beads-pipe smoke
I almost choked
Break him for the get, right, I'm off into the sunset
tryin ta reach my destiny fast
It's these two bags o' cash
44's cocked I ain't makin no mo' stops
till I hit the spot, I made it twelve on the dot
I slid off my boots, counted my loot
Five minutes after the strike of midnight
I counted 200 Gs, I cocked my strap and slept tight
(At the gold rush, at the gold rush
at the gold rush, at the gold rush
if I was a salesman I'd write for the stars
but I'd rather give nothing and give it from the heart
yeah, after the Gold Rush didn't think I'd be alone
so alone
Eureka, eureka, eureka I've struck Gold
its tough being copper when all your friends are gold
you still hold a value just not the one they want
after the Gold Rush I thought I'd be someone
Eureka, eureka, eureka I've struck Gold
Eureka, eureka, eureka this is gold
Eureka, I've struck Gold
Now I just have to follow you down that hole
after the Gold Rush, didn't think I'd be alone
yeah, after the Gold Rush, I thought I'd be someone
after the Gold Rush, didn't think I'd be alone
yeah, after the Gold Rush, I thought I'd be someone
after the Gold Rush, didn't think I'd be alone
I done found my gold,
now they're comin' after me
Don't know how hard I worked for it
They just won't let me be
See those rats, baby,
all they doin' is rattin' around
When those rats come to the door, baby
You know it's time to leave this town
Gonna get a one room shack,
somethin' the hell away from here
Gonna sit on the floor with that gold. baby
(Snoop Dogg)
Josey Wales was known for robbin trains and things
layin everybody down for diamond rings and chains
It remains the same in the year you live in, see
Cos if I pull out some heat, nigga, you'll go kick in
And that's just the rules set by the fool from the ol' school
When it's time to duel, you get two men
Two heaters, one street, one clock
and when it strike twelve one of y'all gon' drop
If you're quick on the draw you're gon' see the morgue
but if you're too slow
I catch you on the downlow (Oh no)
Oh no, you mean The Kid, shit's real
I ain't no John Wayne, these niggas gangbang
The Four Horsemen, that's the click I'm wit
You mean the little bitty niggas with the itchy trigger fingers
Yeah, we're on a mission ta Kansas, slippin thru Texas
We stopped at Bonanza to get us some hot cakes
bacon and eggs, and then we slip in the whorehouse to get us some leg
Hop back on the horses, enforcers of courses
The niggas in black, the fearless Four Horsemen
Searchin for this location on the map
The gold rush, baby, got ta have it (I gots ta have it)
It feels just like it's 1865
and a trigger look-a-day is how I ride
(Kurupt)
On and on and on it's more strange
Time to heat, shootin range
Quick with the heat on their hip
Young Jesse James come to test your aim
I seen you at th e Wild Horny Corral
I hearda ya name
Tha forcify, nigga you ain't never lie
Besides I'm in the mood so at high noon we ride
From coast to coast, niggas mash on every stage coach
My disciples with rifles lethal in whole posts
The off-the-rocker roller coaster
On a six-shooter holster
with DPG on every Wanted poster
Let me think about which bank to gank
which fellow ta shoot and which teller to shank
I want all the shit you got in stacks
attached to this skirt in the corner
so I snatched the bitch in the back
The Dogg in me feels for the lust
but the hogg in me makes me wanna bust
Back to the drawin down board
Nowadays we drawn down more
To survive thru all the round wards
Battle up or saddle up and shake the scene
or get'cha pockets shaken, clean the slugs in ya spleen
I can't help it, I'm heartless, ya can't hack it
With my six-shooters on my hips and dusty jacket
Like that cock back
quick to pull my strap
Just to put the Horsemen on the map
(The gold rush)
(???? from LBC Crew)
Born is Doggystyle, individual, James got the hots
I got the six shots for all the plans and plots
I gots lots o' cash stashed in money bags
Worthy workers for all the Russian blabbermouths and gags
I got stacks so my stacks excell
Hop in the coach wit my twelve Clydesdales and bells
I'm on the move, smooth, to my decoy horse
A 30-30 on my side to shoot a nigga o' course
It ain't no stoppin young Josey
Box all the nosey
Headed to the saloon with my platoon where all the hos be
Left a dusty trail, bailed in swell
Gold spurs on the Gators, set back the clientele
Oh well, for the recop I drop my bet
Divide between my homies and ride the sunset
(Bad Azz from LBC Crew)
Two sacks o' money from the train heist
They ain't even counted it up
just mounted it up
Rode west toward the coaster, six-shooters in the holster
Pass thru a run-down town whose walls hold my poster
Closer I get ta death which is every second makes me sweat
so I gotta have what I can get
Heard word about the gold rush and headed West
on my white horsey with three straps in my napsack
Giddy up, the next town I rode thru
I had to threaten to blow their city up
Undebts with Chief Black, caught five miles west
sell us some beads and hail us some weed
He offered me a toke
he didn't have a 20 he had they beads-pipe smoke
I almost choked
Break him for the get, right, I'm off into the sunset
tryin ta reach my destiny fast
It's these two bags o' cash
44's cocked I ain't makin no mo' stops
till I hit the spot, I made it twelve on the dot
I slid off my boots, counted my loot
Five minutes after the strike of midnight
I counted 200 Gs, I cocked my strap and slept tight
(At the gold rush, at the gold rush
at the gold rush, at the gold rush
at the, at the, at the)
Smoke alarm went off at night
I woke up, wiped the sleep out of my eyes
She left a note "I'll be back in 5"
Well, I'm still waiting for that moment to arrive, hey
I was told to put my job in front of you
But it won't hold me like you do
But I do it for the love
Waiting on the gold rush
Keep it on the edge
Smoking on a roll up
When I see my friends
All they say is hold up
Ed, remember the time
When we were in school
Listening to grown ups
Didn't learn a thing
But then again you know what
You know how to sing
But you don't know anything
Other than that
So maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
Maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
Maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
And maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
You want to be loved
I never told her that I liked
The way she dances slightly out of time
And pretends she knows the words
To a song she's never heard
But I tell her all the time, hey
I was told to put my job in front of you
But it won't hold me like you do
But I do it for the love
Waiting on the gold rush
Keep it on the edge
Smoking on a roll up
When I see my friends
All they say is hold up
Ed, remember the time
When we were in school
Listening to grown ups
Didn't learn a thing
But then again you know what
You know how to sing
But you don't know anything
Other than that
So maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
Maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
Maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
And maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
You want to be loved
But I do it for the love
Waiting on the gold rush
Keep it on the edge
Smoking on a roll up
When I see my friends
All they say is hold up
Ed, remember the time
When we were in school
Listening to grown ups
Didn't learn a thing
But then again you know what
You know how to sing
But you don't know anything
Other than that
So maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
Maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
Maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
And maybe you should learn to love her
Like, like the way
How could I be the last to know
When they told me where the fool had gone?
I was but the youngest one
Up there on the hills they're climbing on
You went up with an open heart
(when they found you it was all but cold
Those hounds they sink so low) ?
Up there on the hills they're climbing on
You saw the light of gold and rushed
You said you couldn't fight it off
This is the story of the one you lost
And i wanted to run over your love
You found it in the deepest thorns
Got it out from the darkest wells
Bring your heartstrings with the bales
Up there on the hills they're climbing on
And if I hadn't drowned up there
In the night before the storm took hold
I know I would find them gold
Up there on the hills they're climbing on
Another side of gold you rushed
Oh I could never fight them all
Another story of the one you lost
And I wanted to run over your love
In the darkest of days
In my daydreams there
There in the eye of that tempest
You're nearer to me
21 years
You've been here every morning
21 holes as you pull
But they're fading now
I'm still there waiting
How could I be the last to know
When they told me where the fool had gone?
Oh I was but the youngest one
Up there on the hills they'll find me
Oh another side of gold you rushed
Oh I could never fight them all
Another story of the one you lost
And i wanted to run over
I wanted to take over
featuring Kurupt L.B.C. Crew
(Snoop Dogg)
Josey Wales was known for robbin trains and things
layin everybody down for diamond rings and chains
It remains the same in the year you live in see
Cos if I pull out some heat nigga you'll go kick in
And that's just the rules set by the fool from the ol' school
When it's time to duel you get two men
Two heaters one street one clock
and when it strike twelve one of y'all gon' drop
If you're quick on the draw you're gon' see the morgue
but if you're too slow
I catch you on the downlow (Oh no)
Oh no, you mean The Kid, shit's real
I ain't no John Wayne, these niggas gangbang
The Four Horsemen, that's the click I'm wit
You mean the little bitty niggas with the itchy trigger fingers
Yeah, we're on a mission ta Kansas, slippin thru Texas
We stopped at Bonanza to get us some hot cakes
bacon and eggs, and then we slip in the whorehouse to get us some leg
Hop back on the horses, enforcers of courses
The niggas in black, the fearless Four Horsemen
Searchin for this location on the map
The gold rush, baby, got ta have it (I gots ta have it)
It feels just like it's 1865
and a trigger look-a-day is how I ride
(Kurupt)
On and on and on it's more strange
Time to heat, shootin range
Quick with the heat on their hip
Young Jesse James come to test your aim
I seen you at th e Wild Horny Corral
I hearda ya name
Tha forcify, nigga you ain't never lie
Besides I'm in the mood so at high noon we ride
From coast to coast, niggas mash on every stage coach
My disciples with rifles lethal in whole posts
The off-the-rocker roller coaster
On a six-shooter holster
with DPG on every Wanted poster
Let me think about which bank to gank
which fellow ta shoot and which teller to shank
I want all the shit you got in stacks
attached to this skirt in the corner
so I snatched the bitch in the back
The Dogg in me feels for the lust
but the hogg in me makes me wanna bust
Back to the drawin down board
Nowadays we drawn down more
To survive thru all the round wards
Battle up or saddle up and shake the scene
or get'cha pockets shaken, clean the slugs in ya spleen
I can't help it, I'm heartless, ya can't hack it
With my six-shooters on my hips and dusty jacket
Like that cock back
quick to pull my strap
Just to put the Horsemen on the map
(The gold rush)
(???? from LBC Crew)
Born is Doggystyle, individual, James got the hots
I got the six shots for all the plans and plots
I gots lots o' cash stashed in money bags
Worthy workers for all the Russian blabbermouths and gags
I got stacks so my stacks excell
Hop in the coach wit my twelve Clydesdales and bells
I'm on the move, smooth, to my decoy horse
A 30-30 on my side to shoot a nigga o' course
It ain't no stoppin young Josey
Box all the nosey
Headed to the saloon with my platoon where all the hos be
Left a dusty trail, bailed in swell
Gold spurs on the Gators, set back the clientele
Oh well, for the recop I drop my bet
Divide between my homies and ride the sunset
(Bad Azz from LBC Crew)
Two sacks o' money from the train heist
They ain't even counted it up
just mounted it up
Rode west toward the coaster, six-shooters in the holster
Pass thru a run-down town whose walls hold my poster
Closer I get ta death which is every second makes me sweat
so I gotta have what I can get
Heard word about the gold rush and headed West
on my white horsey with three straps in my napsack
Giddy up, the next town I rode thru
I had to threaten to blow their city up
Undebts with Chief Black, caught five miles west
sell us some beads and hail us some weed
He offered me a toke
he didn't have a 20 he had they beads-pipe smoke
I almost choked
Break him for the get, right, I'm off into the sunset
tryin ta reach my destiny fast
It's these two bags o' cash
44's cocked I ain't makin no mo' stops
till I hit the spot, I made it twelve on the dot
I slid off my boots, counted my loot
Five minutes after the strike of midnight
I counted 200 Gs, I cocked my strap and slept tight
(At the gold rush, at the gold rush
at the gold rush, at the gold rush
at the, at the, at the)
Working on a pipeline
Through the guts of a Northern sea
Someone struck the blackstuff
And it could have just been me
I signed on to an oil rig
For a pioneers wage
Fishing for our fortune
And pumping up the guage
But the North Sea winds are bitter
And the daylight hours are cruel
Still we keep the big drill pumping
Out the barrel loads of fuel
Mary and the children
Are living down in Leeds
The weekly cheque I send them
takes care of all their needs
Still I dream of other women
On this island made of men
Each week the chopper takes us
Down to Maria's den
But the North Sea winds are bitter
And the sky is painted grey
And the waves they come in bigger
And the strong men start to pray
My brother sometimes writes me
He's living still at home
How he could never be this way
Could never bear to roam
But I believe in fortune
And the gold of the frontier
I believe in miracles
Hey I know you game
I know you need me
Say isn’t it great
I’m always here
I, as in I
As in the one in front of you
I, I never lie
I’ll make sure that you’re alright
Goldrush
Everyone wants some of that stuff
It’s the cure but you can’t get enough
Go on have another
I think you’ll discover
You may never recover
Who can you trust
I’m always watching
I’m the one you love
The one you can’t get rid of
We, like you and me
It’s you and me
Please, you’ll never leave
What would you do without me
Goldrush
Everyone wants some of that stuff
It’s the cure but you can’t get enough
Go on have another
Goldrush
Everyone wants some of that stuff
It’s the cure but you can’t get enough
Go on have another
I think you’ll discover
You may never recover
You can hear me on the radio
I’m sitting in the back seat of your car
I’m inside your engine
I’m keeping it running
Are we getting physical
Don’t touch me I’m invisible
My hand’s in your pocket
My numbers in your wallet
And I’ll make sure you call it
To get that old rush
I know you want it
I know you do
I know that you’ve been calling
Now I’m coming to get you
You know who
Will catch you when you’re falling
I can pick you up
Goldrush
I can pick you up
Oh the rush
I can pick you up
Pick you up into the
Goldrush
Everyone wants some of that stuff
It’s the cure but you can’t get enough
Go on have another
I think you’ll discover
You may never recover
You may never recover
You may never recover
You may never recover
I don’t mind the rain or shine
I always have a better time
I’m tip-top shape when I’m with you
I’m tip-top, tip-top
Time flies tick-tock