The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 triggered a seven-year population influx and economic boom in the appropriately named Golden State for what became known as the California Gold Rush. Benicia played a part in the Gold Rush, as can be seen in the upcoming Benicia Historical Museum exhibition “Benicia’s Gold Rush Story,” […]
Presentation on 1850s vigilante movement to be held at Capitol
An upcoming presentation sponsored by the Benicia State Parks Association (BSPA) will bring attendees back to a time of looting, murder and gang activity and the people who took it upon themselves to stop it all. That period is the 1840s and 1850s and will be the subject of Sunday’s presentation “Vigilante Movement in 1850s […]
Joel Fallon: The Gold Rush and the Oil Rush, a sad parallel
BY THE 1850s, IT HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT FOR SMALL-SCALE MINERS to find and profitably extract gold from California’s gold country. That’s when big-time operators moved in with hydraulic technology. Sediment, washed away by their high-pressure hoses, dammed or clogged riverbeds and lakes. Rivers’ courses changed. Agriculture was threatened in the Central Valley. Conflicts over […]