An Ongoing Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush has been hailed by a historian of the period as the most significant event of the first half of the 19th century. One culmination of the rush was the admittance of California as the 31st state of the Union on Sept. 9, 1850--150 years ago Saturday. You’d think more Californians would have heard about the anniversary.

The sesquicentennial is being celebrated primarily on the Capitol grounds in Sacramento this weekend, with scattered events elsewhere in the state. It is a spartan affair compared with the ambitious three-year gala that had been planned. State officials simply botched the celebration, a failure on a par with Los Angeles’ dismal millennial observances. But another legacy of California gold is that those who come here have always left history behind.

In truth, the Gold Rush never stopped. California transformed itself time and again, through the era of the railroads, the great farms of the Central Valley, the ranchos and orange groves of the south, the development of commerce and industry, the eras of motion pictures and aerospace and now the bonanza of electronics and technology.

The Gold Rush was about leaving home to seek wealth and adventure. As the University of Iowa’s Malcolm J. Rohrbaugh--the historian cited above--wrote in “Days of Gold,” “The search for gold in California became the ultimate example of economic democracy: Anyone with a pick, pan and shovel could participate . . . regardless of wealth, social standing, education or family name.”

Just before the discovery, California counted some 13,000 “European” residents, but they were far outnumbered by native Indians. A century and a half later, with the population soaring to 34 million, Anglos are a minority once again. The new frontier can be found in the Internet, computer software, foreign trade and the technology of the entertainment industry. And ethnic diversity is more than just a buzzword.

In 1849 and 1850, the easy gold was quickly gone. The miners then formed companies and invented technology for getting the rest of it. Some people gave up and went home. A few just seemed to drop out of life. Others who quit the gold fields stayed on to open mercantile stores, found banks, build railroads, settle the land. Many sent for loved ones.

That is still the story of California. No easy answers, but a continuing restless search for the next “Eureka!”