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The Georgia Gold Rush: Twenty-Niners, Cherokees, and Gold Fever
The definitive story of Georgia's role in the first U.S. gold rush
In the 1820s a series of gold strikes from Virginia to Alabama caused such excitement that thousands of miners poured into the region. This southern gold rush, the first in U.S. history, reached Georgia with the discovery of the Dahlonega Gold Belt in 1829. The Georgia gold fields, however, lay in and around Cherokee territory. In 1830 the State of Georgia extended its authority over the area, and two years later the land was raffled off in a lottery. Although they resisted this land grab through the courts, the Cherokees were eventually driven west along the Trail of Tears into what is today northeastern Oklahoma.
The gold rush era survived the Cherokees in Georgia by only a few years. The early 1840s saw a dramatic decline in the fortunes of the southern gold region. When word of a new gold strike in California reached the miners, they wasted no time in following the banished Indians westward. In fact, many Georgia twenty-niners became some of the first California forty-niners.
Georgia's gold rush is now almost two centuries past, but the gold fever continues. Many residents still pan for gold, and every October during Gold Rush Days hundreds of latter-day prospectors relive the excitement of Georgia's great antebellum gold rush as they throng to the small mountain town of Dahlonega.
In the 1820s a series of gold strikes from Virginia to Alabama caused such excitement that thousands of miners poured into the region. This southern gold rush, the first in U.S. history, reached Georgia with the discovery of the Dahlonega Gold Belt in 1829. The Georgia gold fields, however, lay in and around Cherokee territory. In 1830 the State of Georgia extended its authority over the area, and two years later the land was raffled off in a lottery. Although they resisted this land grab through the courts, the Cherokees were eventually driven west along the Trail of Tears into what is today northeastern Oklahoma.
The gold rush era survived the Cherokees in Georgia by only a few years. The early 1840s saw a dramatic decline in the fortunes of the southern gold region. When word of a new gold strike in California reached the miners, they wasted no time in following the banished Indians westward. In fact, many Georgia twenty-niners became some of the first California forty-niners.
Georgia's gold rush is now almost two centuries past, but the gold fever continues. Many residents still pan for gold, and every October during Gold Rush Days hundreds of latter-day prospectors relive the excitement of Georgia's great antebellum gold rush as they throng to the small mountain town of Dahlonega.
- GenresHistoryAmerican History
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
36 people want to read
About the author
David Williams
12 books7 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
A professor of history at Valdosta State University, David Williams received his Ph.D. in history from Auburn University in 1988. The author of numerous articles on Georgia history, the Old South, Appalachia, and the Civil War, Williams is the author of Rich Man's War: Class, Caste, and Confederate Defeat in the Lower Chattahoochee Valley and Johnny Reb's War: Battlefield and Homefront and the coauthor of Gold Fever: America's First Gold Rush and Plain Folk in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate Georgia. He lives in Valdosta, Georgia.
A professor of history at Valdosta State University, David Williams received his Ph.D. in history from Auburn University in 1988. The author of numerous articles on Georgia history, the Old South, Appalachia, and the Civil War, Williams is the author of Rich Man's War: Class, Caste, and Confederate Defeat in the Lower Chattahoochee Valley and Johnny Reb's War: Battlefield and Homefront and the coauthor of Gold Fever: America's First Gold Rush and Plain Folk in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate Georgia. He lives in Valdosta, Georgia.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 21, 2009
At the essential heart of it all is that "gold as a motivation for Cherokee removal is often ignored" (4). One contemporary judge, bless his soul, sought to lay that on the line to a preacher friend, who responded that his assertions appeared true, but "we want the land" (46). John Ridge's "prophetic" statement of the Cherokee situation may yet prove to be fairly turned tables (3 Ne. 20:16, 21:12): "Our national existence is suspended on the faith and honor of the United States alone. We are in the paw of a Lion--convenience may induce him to crush [us:] and with a faint struggle we may cease to be!" (16). How readily men were willing to suppress their conscience in order to hold a lottery from which they might benefit (50-52), one which finally acknowledged the Cherokees' separate nation status solely in order to exclude them from all participation.
It's heartrending to read of the weeping Cherokees listening to one impassioned speech on the floor of Congress that one may as well toss the Founding Fathers' documents on a fire (41-42) while permitting such illegal seizure of land (one more instance in the late 1830s of federal fear of intervening with a southern state's unjust assertion of rights; see 4, 31, 40-41, 44-45). Men like Crockett (38-39) and Emerson (112) were bold enough to stand against Jackson and Van Buren. I wish I could know what my half-Cherokee ancestor thought of those events, and whether her father--who had entrusted her to her "white" family upon his wife's death--was forced to join the Trail of Tears.
Whenever the bulk of this book devoted itself to methods of gold digging, and descriptions of frontier life, which it did extensively, I lost interest. How truly it often quoted Benjamin Parks that the fever was "just like gambling--all luck." I'm gratified to know how thoroughly detached I am, like Edward Williams, who eventually conceded that his young son could join the search for gold. The following morning, they harnessed the plow horse, his father teaching him, "This field is a sure gold mine--one that has never failed me. We will make corn to sell to those men who spend all their time hunting for gold" (84).
I didn't know that southern gold is famed for its purity, one nugget being 99.4% pure (79). Tolkien must have hit upon something by having Gollum make his own accursed discovery on his birthday, just like Parks (22-23)! Gold corrupts and it brings about conflict among the nations. To quote one Georgia volunteer, in combination of themes, as he looked back on his life: "I fought through the Civil War and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew" (115).
It's heartrending to read of the weeping Cherokees listening to one impassioned speech on the floor of Congress that one may as well toss the Founding Fathers' documents on a fire (41-42) while permitting such illegal seizure of land (one more instance in the late 1830s of federal fear of intervening with a southern state's unjust assertion of rights; see 4, 31, 40-41, 44-45). Men like Crockett (38-39) and Emerson (112) were bold enough to stand against Jackson and Van Buren. I wish I could know what my half-Cherokee ancestor thought of those events, and whether her father--who had entrusted her to her "white" family upon his wife's death--was forced to join the Trail of Tears.
Whenever the bulk of this book devoted itself to methods of gold digging, and descriptions of frontier life, which it did extensively, I lost interest. How truly it often quoted Benjamin Parks that the fever was "just like gambling--all luck." I'm gratified to know how thoroughly detached I am, like Edward Williams, who eventually conceded that his young son could join the search for gold. The following morning, they harnessed the plow horse, his father teaching him, "This field is a sure gold mine--one that has never failed me. We will make corn to sell to those men who spend all their time hunting for gold" (84).
I didn't know that southern gold is famed for its purity, one nugget being 99.4% pure (79). Tolkien must have hit upon something by having Gollum make his own accursed discovery on his birthday, just like Parks (22-23)! Gold corrupts and it brings about conflict among the nations. To quote one Georgia volunteer, in combination of themes, as he looked back on his life: "I fought through the Civil War and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew" (115).
October 10, 2021
Solid crash course for anyone who is curious about learning some specifics about the matter without getting too bogged down in arbitrary information.
April 8, 2023
Lots of research on the Georgia gold rush made this a facinating read.
November 21, 2016
A well researched, in-depth look at the events of the first Georgia gold rush in 1829 and its affects on the state, the government, and most especially, the Cherokees who were driven violently and ruthlessly from their lands.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews