PLACERVILLE, CA – Articles addressing issues of law and governance in California, particularly during the gold rush, tend to focus on three major topics: crime and criminals; the development of mining law and water rights systems; and the relationship of the state government to federal government.
Violence and crime in the mines has been the topic of several articles. Clare V. McKanna, Jr.’s (2004) Pacific Historical Review article “Enclaves of Violence in Nineteenth-Century California” described the ongoing debate about whether or not California gold rush towns were actually violent. McKanna’s article offered a system of measuring violence to assist historians in deciding if gold rush towns actually were violent or not. The key element in his system was determining the existence of a sense of community and the degree it was felt by townspeople. He believed that towns that had a large population of permanent settlers, primarily families, had a greater sense of community and were therefore less violent. In contrast, towns with a predominately single male population that was transient and ethnically diverse had high levels of violence. Of course, this system is equally useful for archaeologists measuring violence since the contrasting communities would produce distinguishable signatures. McKanna asserted the difference was caused by a lack of local systems of control, or local government. Boomtowns, mining camps and other temporary settlements often lacked such systems. Added to this were rapid population growth and a culture of alcohol and gun use, creating a climate of violence. He concluded that while much of the American West was relatively non-violent, some parts of it were extremely violent.
In a similar vein, Roger D. McGrath’s (2003) “A Violent Birth: Disorder, Crime, and Law Enforcement, 1849–1890” in California History added to the historic record with an account of violence in gold rush California. The author gave a lively account of two bands of outlaws that terrorized the West: Joaquin Murieta and his band, and the so-called “Hounds” of San Francisco. He also described the vigilante violence that was commonplace in the west. McGrath included accounts of individual outlaws, the often limited action taken by formal law enforcement institutions, and the formation of vigilante committees to uphold the law. He believed that the root of this violence was a code of honor that made men duty bound to fight when insulted or wronged. Martin Ridge’s (1999) Montana essay “Disorder, Crime and Punishment in the California gold rush” focused on lawlessness and violence as well. He reported that while many believed California mining towns were lawless, violent places, they were neither, as long as person and property were respected. His article was primarily an account of the lawlessness in California, with several locations cited as examples, contrasted with the lawfulness of California, using the same locations as examples. Common throughout was the idea that lawlessness was ignored when one was only bringing injury upon him/herself. Should one injure an innocent party, either physically or financially, punishment ensued.
Some historians have assumed there was no pressure to establish government in gold rush California as national attention at the time was focused elsewhere. Other historians have disagreed and shown that miners and settlers were interested in establishing a government from the start of settlement. William A. Bullough (1991), in the California History article “Entrepreneurs and Urbanism on the California Mining Frontier: Frederick Walter and Weaverville, 1852–1868,” agreed with the latter view and offers Weaverville in Trinity County as an example. He recounted the rise of Frederick Walter from a child in Trinity County to the head of a thriving business and a civic leader. Bullough set this story in the framework of the “settling down” of Weaverville and its transition to a more civilized town.
Richard O. Zerbe Jr. and C. Leigh Anderson (2001) took a wide-ranging view of the development of government institutions and cultural norms in their Journal of Economic History article, “Culture and Fairness in the Development of Institutions in the California Gold Fields.”
They noted:
…earlier accounts of the creation of property rights in the California gold fields ignored culture and are incomplete. We argue that culture matters in solving collective-action problems. Such problems in the California gold fields were solved though reliance on cultural focal points…. Focal points included individualism, equality, respect for property, and rewards commensurate to work. Cultural concepts of fairness served to create norms and institutions that miners were willing to defend, which included majority rule, election of officials, trial by jury, allocation of a first-come, first-served basis, and rules for working claims (Zerbe and Anderson 2001:114).
In a somewhat more focused article, western historian Donald J. Pisani (1991) described how water law concepts adopted in western states were influenced by the mining experience. His article “The Origins of Western Water Law: Case Studies from Two California Mining Districts” in California History pointed out that western water law is commonly examined from the perspective of state legislation. He sought to examine the origins of water law from the perspective of miners, their views, values, and ideals. Pisani suggested the doctrine of “prior appropriation,” the policy that those with the earlier claims to the water source have priority of use, emerged slowly and in response to the rise of private corporations and new mining techniques. Prior appropriation meshed well with the American ideal of limited government and had the added benefit of requiring no bureaucracy to manage it.
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Federal–State relations were the subject of Robert J. Chandler’s (2003) “An Uncertain Influence: The Role of the Federal Government in California, 1846–1880,” in California History. Chandler Mining Thematic Study reported that the popular myth of the origins of California is one based on rugged individualism. He found, however, that California was heavily dependent on federal aid during the period he studied, demonstrating that the federal government played a large role in the establishment of a California government. From the beginning of U.S. control of California, the federal government provided leadership in the form of military officers, a daily mail service, and crucial aid in building the transcontinental railroad. The federal government also promoted conservation and civil rights in California. The article covered policy setting, federal patronage, the establishment of federal agencies in California, and the prevention of a secessionist movement in California during the Civil War.
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The French also represented a large portion of California’s foreign mining population. As the 1848 French Revolution dramatically altered French domestic and political life, the gold rush provided an incentive for the French to seek their fortunes in California (Paul 1947:27). Often traveling in organized companies, French prospectors remained in small groups, retaining their domestic customs and language. As with the Chinese and Latin Americans, the cultural isolation of the French angered many American miners and led to their severe persecution in the mining districts (Paul 1947:28). Further conflict over the foreign miner’s tax created a deeper division between French, as well as the Chileans and Mexicans, and American miners (Johnson 2000:210).
Diversifying their resources, many French followed the example of other maligned ethnicities and opened businesses rather than continuing to mine (Johnson 2000:217). Catholicism acted as an agent of unification, as Latin Americans, French and Irish found common ground in their spiritual beliefs (Johnson 2000:150). French contributions to daily life in the camps were extensive. Famous for their cooking and restaurants, the French also established kitchen gardens, gambling saloons and brothels, increasing their social integration with that of greater California (Johnson 2000:118).
African Americans received a mixed reception in the mines due to the complex nature of the slavery issue, and opinions regarding the “African” presence in the mines were widely mixed. African Americans came to the mines in various ways. Many came as slaves with their masters, hoping to work an agreed upon amount of time in the mines, as many slave owners figured to obtain enough wealth to forego the need of slave labor (Johnson 2000:68). Others relied on their position on “free soil” to secure their liberty or the hopes of procuring enough gold to buy their way out of slavery (Johnson 2000:70,190). Another way African Americans found their way to the mines was in the employ of southern mining companies as cooks, miners, and servants (Savage 1945:38). What they encountered in California was a complex society deeply divided over not only the issues of slavery and African American presence, but also the uncertainties of everyday life in the mines. Contention between northern and southern whites in regards to African Americans in the mines played out in numerous dramas throughout the diggings (Johnson 2000:71). Some northerners did little to help the African Americans, while others resolutely defended them against injustices (Johnson 2000:189). Some whites attempted to use slaves as free labor in the mines, therefore reducing the roles of white miners, but abandoned this idea in the face of widespread disapproval (Savage 1945:36). The creation of California’s 1852 State Fugitive Law further reflected this mistrust between the north and south, while most evidence suggests that slaves remained loyal to their masters despite being in a free state (Johnson 2000:190).
Few slaves or free African Americans lived on their own, often residing with their masters or together in cabins lacking the means to afford an independent existence (Mann 1982:51). Prejudice and intolerance often drove African Americans toward the more tolerant urban areas in search of jobs in service industries, including hotels, restaurants, and barbershops (Savage 1945:41). Those who remained in the mining districts succeeded in establishing organized mining companies, businesses, and communities. Negro Bar, established in 1849, provided an enclave of relative tolerance toward its free and enslaved resident miners, while the existence of
Figure 35: Andrada Dredge Mine, African-American crew with new lip applied to clam shell bucket, circa 1930s. An African American mining company in El Dorado County illustrated their role as mine owners and prospectors (Savage 1945:34-42).
In many towns African Americans could freely drink and gamble alongside whites but had difficulties finding friendly lodging and dining facilities. This fact led to the establishment of African American-owned and operated hotels throughout the camps and towns of the Mother Lode and Southern Mines, signifying what some believed may have been a limited integration into California mining society (Savage 1945:34-35). The end of the Civil War brought about more changes for African Americans as attitudes toward them relaxed, allowing the establishment of churches, social groups, and new found, although limited, support from the white community (Mann 1982:172-173).
A Historical Context and Archaeological Research Design for Mining Properties in California
Caltrans Division of Environmental Analysis
P.O. Box 942874, MS-27
Sacramento, CA 94274-0001
Cris Alarcon
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