Letters Home
Some Encourage Others to Come
"Early in 1850, the anti-slavery newspaper Liberator published a letter from San Francisco sent by thirty-seven black men in which they announced the organization of a mutual-aid society. They noted that it was not just for themselves, but also for 'new comers.' Their letter reported that they were earning from $100 to $300 a month [in the gold fields].
The letter was signed by all thirty-seven men with the names of their hometowns printed below their signatures. That way others who knew them would hear they were doing well and feel encouraged to come."
Enthusiastic Reports
". . .This is the best place for black folks on the globe. All a man has to do is to work and he will make money."
An Australian Writes Home
Some Australians were so disgusted by San Francisco that they at once set about getting home again! Wrote Thomas Hinigan,
"I landed once more on terra firma and found myself knee deep in mudDuring the first week on shore in search of a situation, but was unsuccessful. I soon obtained, however, a severe cold, which was followed by dysentery. . .It rained from the 18th January to the 27th.
Australians were shocked by the prices. The same Thomas Hinigan claimed that
"for what a man could get in Sydney for one pound per week, he will have to pay ten pounds here."
Chinese Opinion, 1849
"The stories that they told in China about picking up gold from the ground aren't true. We have to work very hard to get our gold. I work six days a week from when the sun rises until it goes down. My partner and I use a special wood box to mine the gold. One of us shovels dirt and gravel from the river bed into the box. The other person rocks the box while pouring water in it. The water washes the dirt away and the rocking separates the gold from the gravel. Most of the gold comes in the shape of tiny flakes and small nuggets. We mined $35 worth of gold in the first week. With luck, in two years I may be able to return to China a wealthy man. Sometimes I think that I won't go back to China. There are nights that I dream of starting a new life here. In my dreams, I see us raising a family and running a store like Sun Woo's. But the people in America don't seem to like us even though we do little to bother them. They make it hard to live here in peace."
Latin Americans in San Francisco
But some Chilenos went into business in San Francisco. Vicente Pérez-Rosales opened a business with some friends unloading ships. They made $1,200 in two weeks! He had this to say about all the hustle and bustle of Gold Rush San Francisco, 1849, "he who loses time in California, loses gold."
