The Legend of California Mining Guide: Researching the Golden State's Past

When exploring the rich history behind the legend of California mining, researchers and enthusiasts often look beyond the famous 1848 Gold Rush to uncover a diverse landscape of mineral wealth, including silver, copper, borax, oil, and quicksilver. The California History Section of the California State Library offers an extensive collection of digitized resources, reference books, maps, and analog archives designed to help historians, genealogists, and curious explorers trace the state's mining legacy. This guide outlines the primary tools, catalogs, and archives available for conducting in-depth research into California's mining past.

Digitized and Online Resources

For researchers beginning their journey remotely, several online platforms provide immediate access to historical documents, photographs, and federal records:

• Calisphere: Houses a scanned and digitized portion of the California History Section's extensive photograph collection. Researchers can search using terms like (mine* OR mining) to find historical images.
• Internet Archive: Features digitized fragile historical mining publications from the California State Library collection, searchable by collection tags.
• BLM-GLO (Bureau of Land Management - General Land Office): An essential federal resource for tracing family history and land claims, identifying the first plot claimant for individual parcels.
• California Geological Survey Library: Provides online access to geological reports, maps, and technical resources detailing the mineral composition and history of specific mines.

Essential Reference Works and Literature

Consulting foundational reference works provides crucial context regarding the social, economic, and technological evolution of California mining:

• Gold Rush & General Overviews: Seminal works such as Donald Jackson's Gold Dust offer miner's-eye views of successes and failures, while Malcolm Rohrbough's Days of Gold examines how the migration transformed both California and eastern societies. Mary Hill's Gold details the technological transition from simple panning to hydraulic mining.
• Geographical and Town Dictionaries: Gustav and Elisabeth Gudde’s California Gold Camps: A Geographical and Historical Dictionary of Camps, Towns… serves as an indispensable reference for researching obscure Mother Lode towns, providing historical summaries and source citations.
• Alternative Minerals: Richard E. Lingenfelter’s Bonanzas & Borrascas covers gold, silver, and copper mining ventures from 1848 to 1918. Additional specialized texts include The Story of Borax by the United States Borax and Chemical Corporation, William Rintoul’s Drilling through Time covering 75 years of oil regulation and history, and Remi A. Nadeau’s works on silver seekers and ghost towns.
• Bibliographies and Cartography: Gary F. Kurutz’s descriptive bibliography covers eye-witness accounts from 1848–1853, while Carl I. Wheat's cartographic collection documents every available gold-rush map from 1848–1857.

Library Catalogs and Specialized Indexes

When digital search tools fall short, the California State Library provides robust on-site and specialized cataloging systems:

• California Information File II: An online-accessible resource containing information on individual articles, mining deeds, and historical receipts. Researchers can narrow searches by combining keywords with specific geographic locations.
• The California Information File: An analog card index preserving over 130 years of cataloged articles, books, and manuscript collections categorized under various mining subject headings.
• Specialized Subject and County Files: Patrons visiting the library in person can utilize physical Map Files (detailing geology and property lines), Postcard Files, Photographic Files categorized by county, and extensive Vertical Files covering specific mining companies and locations.
• Textual Files: Contain historical ephemera, including mining certificates searchable by individual names.

Visiting the California History Section

Researchers wishing to examine physical manuscripts, rare books, and archival materials can visit the library directly:

• Address: 900 N Street, Room 200, Sacramento, CA 95814
• Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM
• Contact: Phone at (916) 654-0176 or email at cslcal@library.ca.gov

Additional inter-agency research can also be conducted through the Government Publications Section, the Sutro Library, the Witkin Law Library, California State Parks, and the California Geological Survey.