Head of Auburn Ravine, 1852. Daguerreotype. California State Library: Picture Catalog.

GETTING THE LAST LAUGH (AND GOLD)—CHINESE IN THE GOLD RUSH

© Craig MacDonald

Most have heard of the Chinese' incredible effort in building the Transcontinental Railroad over the rugged Sierra but little mention is made about their amazing success as miners in the Gold Rush.

What made their success even more remarkable is that they often were bullied, evicted and attacked by jealous American, Hispanic and European miners, who wanted the gold for themselves.

Even the state "piled on" the Chinese emigrants by creating a Foreign Miners' Tax and banning their court testimony against "whites". If that wasn't enough, resolutions at places like Fosters Bar denied Chinese the right to hold claims and required them to leave. (Years later, in 1882, Congress passed Exclusion Bills prohibiting Chinese immigration.)

All this harassment might have made most people stay away. But not the Chinese. Their population in California rose dramatically from just three in 1848 to more than 25,000 in 1852. Most emigrants were Argonauts, making the Chinese the largest minority mining in what they called (Gold Mountain).

With the Sierra becoming increasingly crowded, the Chinese became a target of resentful miners because of their growing presence, success as prospectors and unique culture. Disgruntled Irish and German miners even attempted to evict Chinese from Poverty Hill but were stopped by Tuolumne Co. Sheriff Perrin Solomon, one of the few who fearlessly protected them.

However, angry miners in Columbia, Horseshoe Bar, Mormon Bar and numerous other diggings, drove the Chinese away, forcing them to prospect in spots that had been abandoned or in difficult terrain. Despite what looked like a "hopeless" situation, the determined, patient, frugal, efficient and hardworking Chinese—with their huge bamboo basket hats, blue cotton stockings and heavy-soled slippers—were destined to succeed:

In Placer County, Chinese reworking an area abandoned as "useless" by previous miners, took out $20,000 in one week. Another group on the American River unearthed a 123-pound chunk of gold valued at more than $26,000.

In Plumas County, more than 200 Chinese miners hit paydirt in an area left by other goldseekers that became known as "Silver Creek." In the camp of La Porte, "The Mountain Messenger" reported, "The Chinese will have undisputed possession of the whole river… as men have left for different lands of promise."

In Sierra County, Chinese helped account for much of the gold found there in the 1850s. Over 400 mined at Goodyears Bar. They even located two pieces of gold weighing more than 40 pounds each.

In Nevada County's Moores Flat, two Chinese found a 240-pound gold nugget overlooked by earlier miners. In Tuolumne County, thousands of Asian prospectors successfully labored in the diggings that became known as "Chinese Camp." In Yuba County, after claims had been deserted by miners, the Chinese moved in and reportedly received "handsome" profits for their effort.

The same astounding results were reported in El Dorado, Amador and other counties throughout the Mother Lode. Amazingly, a lot of this success came at a time when newspapers said placer miners were complaining "the Sierra was too crowded to do well."

What was the secret to the Chinese' Success? Several reasons, including, they:

—Stayed Together (mining in groups of 2 to 50 or more)

—Worked Hard (labored more hours than other Argonauts)

—Used Simple Tools (picks, shovels, pans and small rockers that gave them flexibility to move quickly from one place to another)

—Had Patience (methodically sifting through old placer claims, dumps & tailings)

—Demonstrated Know-how (used engineering and water management techniques learned from farming and mining in China)

"The Chinese introduced their waterwheel, also bailing bucket, used to clear holes of water," wrote Forty-Niner Charles Peters. "These methods enabled them to work placers to bedrock, which most Caucasians wouldn't do because of too much water to contend with."

Since many came from China's wet rice farming region, they knew how to create a series of large flumes, ditches, dams and pumps to divert streams from natural beds to flush out gold inside deposits that had already been washed over.

In 1852, J.D. Borthwick visited Mississippi Bar and observed 150 Chinese working their claim in the bed of a river, thanks to a dam. "The dam was 200-300 yards in length and built of large pine trees laid one on top of the other. They must have had great difficulty in handling immense logs in such a place, but they are exceedingly ingenious in applying mechanical power."

"Mining is chiefly in the hands of the Chinese, who work over the riverbed, yet once more, after successive operators, who made their fortunes and retired, in more senses than one," wrote miner Noah Brooks.

Wherever the Chinese worked, you could find neatly stacked boulders, each hand-washed to remove every speck of gold. (Some of the so-called "Chinese Walls" can still be seen in former diggings.) They also carefully washed all gravel excavated from shafts. "Anything that escapes their keen vision and painfully laborious effort is hardly worth having," explained one scribe.

The Chinese proved their success on both sides of the Sierra. Over 200 Chinese mined in Gold Canyon, south of Virginia City, NV. (Even as late as the 1880s—after the Americans had gone—more than 3,000 Chinese washed gravel in American Canyon. By 1895, they had recovered between $5-$10 million in gold—the largest placer output in Nevada! Chinese merchants reportedly subleased 20-by-20-foot plots to individual miners and even sold them buckets of water, as needed.)

In Calaveras, El Dorado, Amador, Sierra, Placer and other California counties, there were creeks, gulches, hills, diggings and bars named for the Chinese. And there were numerous colorful Chinatowns (i.e., Fiddletown) throughout the Sierra. The Chinese not only proved to be colorful in dress and culture but very clever as well.

In 1856, Ah Sam purchased an Auburn Ravine cabin for $25 from six departing miners. He and his men promptly removed four inches of the cabin's ground floor, reworking the soil to recover more than $3,000 in gold. Ah Sam knew miners cleaned their gold dust at night before the fireplace and some always fell to the floor. That same year, Chinese took possession of another cabin outside Auburn and, while digging up its floor, came across a sack of gold containing $8,000.

Then there was a most unusual Chinese gold-finder, known as "John John." He worked in different camps washing miners' clothes for "free!" After a year of this, one of his former customers found him enjoying the good life in Sacramento. "John John" told him he had washed enough gold dust out of pants cuffs and shirttails to live "high off the hog."

One of the most incredible stories about Chinese ingenuity is from noted Mother Lode Mining Expert & Historian, F.D. Calhoun. It involves former President Herbert Hoover and his associates' purchase of Scott Bar, where supposedly there was more than $1 million in gold on the bedrock beneath the three remaining buildings. Calhoun said the group spent $150,000 building a flume. In the Fall of 1934, their ambitious mining operations started and ended in just two days! They discovered Chinese miners had taken out the gold many years before.

Due to discrimination, the Chinese had been forced to build their shanties on the outskirts of town. These shanties had false floors, allowing them to dig mines from inside their houses. They tunneled across the camp and scraped the bedrock under the buildings. The scrapings were then carried down to the river for panning. President Hoover was so impressed, he donated several artifacts from these creative prospectors to Stanford University.

The Chinese sometimes got the last laugh—and the last gold—where they mined in the Sierra. But their knowledge and talents also helped develop the Golden State in other ways. After their mining days, many joined fellow emigrants, using different skills used in China, to assist in creating California's:

—Fishing Industry (squid, shrimp, abalone)

—Agriculture (reclaiming swampland in the Sacramento Delta & raising a variety of fruits and vegetables)

—Popular Businesses (i.e., Chinese restaurants and laundries)

Even after all the hurdles they went through, Chinese emigrants recognized the potential of California. And they still do. According to the 2010 Census, California has the nation's largest Chinese American population—more than 1,253,000.