Description
Maps and charts of gold mines in El Dorado and Placer Counties, map of chrome mine in San Luis Obispo County, ore receipts
from San Francisco mint and Selby Smelting and Lead Co., San Francisco, correspondence from a mining supply firm in Michigan
Bluff, Placer County, and invoice of Joshua Hendy Iron Works, a mining equipment firm in Sunnyvale.
Background
Gold mining by large numbers of people began very quickly in California after the discovery by James W. Marshall on January
24, 1848. After the gold rush dwindled in the 1860s, gold continued to be mined throughout the state. This collection is a
small group of materials reflecting mining activity in a period of general decline of the industry.