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California Gold Rush Cash Ledger

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Mining Start Price:200.00 USD Estimated At:400.00 - 1,000.00 USD
California Gold Rush Cash Ledger
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This cash ledger definitely comes from Goodyears Bar. It is dated October 1859 through October, 1862, with listings of deposits, gold coin, gold dust, and cash on hand. Includes entries for the Chinese in the area. Names include Beauchamp (merchant in Goodyears Bar), Newell (baker in Goodyears Bar), Stewart (miner west of Goodyears Bar), Charles Wilson (miner at Goodyears Creek), Charles Hull (mine at Goodyears Bar). [1860 census records.]



The brothers Miles and Andrew Goodyear prospected here in the summer of 1849 and found gold enough for their liking to settle down at this crossing of the Yuba River. The Goodyear boys built a sturdy cabin and before long the rich deposits attracted a number of miners to their camp, which was given the name Goodyears Bar in honor of its founders. Goodyears Creek was incredibly rich along its entire length, having been literally fed gold for thousands of years as it chewed through gold-bearing ledges and the beds of ancient rivers and streams. At one spot near the upper end of the bar, a group of men cleaned up $2,000 in gold from a single wheelbarrow of dirt. Finds such as this spurred the miners to prospect every bar on the river. The little mining camp grew so rapidly from 1850 and 1852 that the claims staked along the Yuba, Goodyears Creek, Woodruff and Rock creeks formed an unbroken chain which rivaled Downieville in importance. Goodyears Bar had all the trappings of civilization; express office, saloons, stores, hotels, bakeries, restaurants, churches, and many cabins and dwellings. Nothing much from the mining days remains in Goodyears Bar, but the beautiful setting of this historic gold camp more than makes up for any lack of Gold Rush remains.



Includes pages 1-200, 461-480, with pages 201-460 missing. Measures 12" x 8", with binding removed. Accompanying piece named the "fur ball" might have been the same size but now is 10" x 8" with all edges well burnt beyond recognition. The items recorded were probably from a boarding house, wagon train, or bar, with about 15 names of unknown people showing their deposits. Also entries identify amounts spent for freight, merchandise, meat, and barley. This "fur ball" might have been used to start a fire and then it was pulled. Very few "fur balls" have been recovered from the gold rush era.

City: Goodyears Bar
State: California,
Date: c1859-1862

FHWAC#: 24437