Jewish Gold Country

By Jonathan Friedmann, Arcadia Publishing. Photos from Western States Jewish Historical Association Archives.

Book review by Craig MacDonald

On Jan. 24, 1848, gold was discovered in the Sierra Nevada Mountain's American River at Coloma. It would create a gold fever, making California the destination for a polyglot collection of eager people from many countries and many cultures.

Most came to "strike it rich" and return home. However, most did not find their fortune in gold. Many went back to their previous occupation (such as merchant, butcher, banker farmer or rancher) and "mined the miners" by selling them what they desperately needed in the undeveloped Gold Country.
Among the Gold Rush immigrants were Jews from Europe & other regions. Some of them became merchants, business leaders, ranchers, miners and politicians. This book, containing many rare & valuable photos, explains their success & struggles and documents many Jews in cemeteries throughout the Sierra.

The author states that Jewish merchants "were known to provide the right merchandise at the right time at reasonable prices." He also notes that Anti-Semitism was rare in the 19th & early 20th Centuries. "The Jews tended to be less religious and attended services in private homes during High Holidays (such as Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur)," he writes.

The Hebrew Benevolent Society established Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries in Marysville, Grass Valley, Nevada City Placerville, Jackson, Mokelumne Hill & Sonora. Some are well-documented in this book.

Stores like Hollub & Isaacs (drygoods and clothing) helped Shasta become a major supply depot for the mines. Sometimes 100 mule trains would stop in a single night to get supplies in that town. Ruins of the above-mentioned store still stand in Shasta State Historical Park.
In Oroville, Daniel Friesleben's store even offered sewing machines & life insurance. He also owned a prominent hotel. Chico featured the three-story La Grande Hotel, owned by Herman Silberstein.

Jewish women were active in the Gold Regions, including Tillie Puritz, a Russian immigrant, who ran a Chico clothing business with her husband, Barnett. They later had the Puritz Oil Company & gas station.

In Magalia, the Cohn-Goodday Store (hardware, groceries & dry goods) accepted gold dust from miners and acquired land for debts.
Nevada City was the first mining town with records of a Jewish Religious Cemetery & High Holiday Services held inside a rented Masonic Hall (1852).
Placer County had a Jewish agricultural settlement. Immigrants from Eastern Europe practiced cooperative farming, including the development of orange groves.

A Nevada Journal editor wrote: "Jews are among our best citizens & merchants...honest, peaceable...good citizens in every sense…."
In 1857, the B'nai Israel Congregation was formed in Jackson—one of two synagogues in the Gold Rush Region (along with Placerville). Rabbis would travel through the region putting on services.

The author writes that Samuel S. Snow is the only Jew known to have led a covered wagon train from Iowa to California (El Dorado County) in 1850.

Moses Dinkelspiel's General Merchandise Store in Vallecito is the oldest surviving store structure in Calaveras County. Employees even collected mail there before the post office was established. It's now a private residence.

Bernard Steinman was Mayor of Sacramento (1892-96) and President of both Sacramento Gas & Electric and Farmers & Merchant's Bank. Stockton's Temple Israel Cemetery is reportedly "the oldest Jewish Cemetery in continuous use in California."

As the author writes, "The Jews made major contributions to the multicultural fabric of the Gold Rush" through their stores and community leadership. Their efforts often helped miners, mining companies and the state to prosper. They remain part of the dynamic cultures that still shape California with creativity, trendsetting and a can-do spirit that's often imitated elsewhere.

(The reviewer has written newspaper & magazine articles as well as books on the Gold Rush for many years. He was Contributing Editor of Sierra Heritage Magazine.)