1 00:00:02,279 --> 00:00:06,040 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Today's classic is on the Georgia gold Rush, 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,200 Speaker 1: which has some connections to our recent episode on Mary 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:12,880 Speaker 1: gold or Ross. Specifically, it gives a little bit more 4 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: detail on state and federal efforts to remove the Cherokee 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:20,560 Speaker 1: from North Georgia in the early nineteenth century. When this 6 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: episode initially came out, we got some messages from listeners 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,640 Speaker 1: about whether the seventeen ninety nine discovery of gold in 8 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: North Carolina, which we mentioned in this episode, should have 9 00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: been described as the first gold rush in the US 10 00:00:34,040 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: rather than the Georgia gold Rush. And the answer is 11 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 1: maybe the initial discovery in North Carolina definitely predated the 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: discovery that sparked the Georgia Gold Rush, but the biggest 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: peak of the rush in North Carolina was mostly after 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,599 Speaker 1: the big rush in Georgia. Yeah, and it's often difficult 15 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: to conclusively say which thing was the first when there 16 00:00:56,920 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: were various gold discoveries in the USA. Also, please pardon 17 00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 1: our mispronunciation of plaster bining, something we actually mispronounced again 18 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:11,000 Speaker 1: in another episode after this one before someone brought it 19 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: to our attention that it is not pronounced placer like 20 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: it looks like it would be said based on how 21 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: it is spelled. This episode originally came out on August 22 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: twenty seventh, twenty eighteen. Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed 23 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 1: in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and Welcome 24 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, 25 00:01:41,240 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: and today's episode is a bit of history that is 26 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,560 Speaker 1: local to me and our offices in Atlanta. But I 27 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 1: will confess a whole, big blind spot in my historical 28 00:01:50,400 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: knowledge about it. I had only the vaguest idea about 29 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 1: there having been gold mining in Georgia. I did not 30 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: know that there had been an actual gold rush here. 31 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:01,440 Speaker 1: And of course when I mentioned it to my husband, 32 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 1: who grew up in Georgia, he said, of course I 33 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: knew that. We went on field trips to Delanaga to 34 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: learn about it, and they gave us a little piece 35 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,760 Speaker 1: of gold. And I was like, I didn't grow up 36 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:11,000 Speaker 1: here and I had no idea. So if you grew 37 00:02:11,040 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: up in Georgia, you probably knew this was the thing. 38 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: But it is also tied to some of the darkest 39 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: parts of our country's history regarding the treatment of Native Americans, 40 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: and I kind of suspect that was not part of 41 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: school field trips, so it's worth examining. And it also 42 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: pre dates the California Gold Rush, which was of course 43 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: a much bigger driver of long term economic growth in 44 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,560 Speaker 1: that area than the Georgia gold Rush was in Northern Georgia. 45 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:37,440 Speaker 1: We talked about that a little bit in our Levice 46 00:02:37,440 --> 00:02:41,200 Speaker 1: Strauss episode, but Georgia's, which happened twenty years earlier, was 47 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:43,679 Speaker 1: the first gold rush in US history. So that is 48 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: what we are talking about today. How the gold rush 49 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: started in Georgia is something of a mystery. There are 50 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 1: competing stories regarding the origin point, but to be clear, 51 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,560 Speaker 1: before we get into any of those, the events that 52 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: we're talking about today did take place in the eighteen hundreds. 53 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: It's not as though nobody had ever seen gold in 54 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:03,639 Speaker 1: the area before Spanish and French explorers made their way 55 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:06,359 Speaker 1: into North Georgia looking for gold. In the fifteen hundreds, 56 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: English explorers followed, and before them there were Native Americans 57 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:14,040 Speaker 1: in the area, and early accounts of those European expeditions 58 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: indicate that the native population already knew that there were 59 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: gold deposits in the area. Also, gold deposits in other 60 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: parts of the southeast, not a foreign idea. Yeah, this 61 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: was while the rush is predicated on new discoveries of 62 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:34,160 Speaker 1: what they thought were going to be really productive lines. 63 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: People knew already that there was gold in the area. 64 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: But as for the nineteenth century, the most common of 65 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: the quote discovery stories attributes the find to Benjamin Parks, 66 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 1: who was living in what was Hall County at the 67 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: time that is now part of Lumpkin County. Parks claims 68 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: that on October twenty seventh, eighteen twenty eight, he found 69 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 1: a nugget of gold simply on the ground at a 70 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: place on his property in the county seat, which was 71 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 1: known as Licklog at the time that was refounded as 72 00:04:00,800 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: Delanaga in eighteen thirty three, after a Cherokee word that 73 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: meant golden or yellow. And this is a disputed story 74 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: though Parks later claimed that he had found the gold 75 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,840 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty seven, but this proved problematic as he 76 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:16,919 Speaker 1: almost immediately leased that land to a mining operation. But 77 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,719 Speaker 1: he didn't own that patch of land until mid eighteen 78 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: twenty eight, so the story shifted around a little bit 79 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: on the timeline. And additionally, there's no documentation in the 80 00:04:27,040 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: form of a lease contract or anything similar to clarify 81 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,040 Speaker 1: the matter. And while he claimed that he had made 82 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:36,799 Speaker 1: nearly twenty four thousand dollars in gold fines on his property, 83 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:39,440 Speaker 1: when he sold that land a year later, the new 84 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: owner only managed to find a very small amount. What 85 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: are the reasons that Parks's story has been cited so often? 86 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: Is because he gave an interview to the Atlanta Constitution 87 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: in eighteen ninety four about the discovery of gold and 88 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,560 Speaker 1: the state and the population boom that followed it. While 89 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: this is often held up as a first hand account, 90 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: it's important to remember that Parks was in his night nineties. 91 00:05:00,600 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: By that point, six decades had passed since the time 92 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,159 Speaker 1: of the Georgia Gold Rush. Yeah. I'm always a little 93 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: astounded because people really do hold that up as no. 94 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,640 Speaker 1: But we have an eyewitness account, and I'm like, that's 95 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 1: a lot of time. I don't remember what happened yesterday 96 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: when I am ninety. Well, I remember accurately what happened 97 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,279 Speaker 1: when I was thirty. Oh yeah, I mean we I 98 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: have that moment all the time with friends or my 99 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:27,280 Speaker 1: spouse where we'll talk about some event that happened, even 100 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: like a couple months ago, and it's like, that's not 101 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: what happened. No, it happened this way. And if we 102 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,920 Speaker 1: can't remember that, I just we all know the memory 103 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,760 Speaker 1: can be a bit dodgy. But that is just one 104 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:41,159 Speaker 1: of several stories. Another man named Jesse Hogan allegedly found 105 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: gold in Ward's Creek, and yet another story is that 106 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:47,360 Speaker 1: a man named John Witherood's found the first piece of 107 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:50,240 Speaker 1: gold in Duke's Creek. And then there's a tale of 108 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: a different man named Logan, not Jesse, a different, different 109 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: person that claims that an enslaved man who worked for 110 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 1: Logan was actually the one who realized that the soil 111 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,680 Speaker 1: they saw as they passed through Georgia was similar to 112 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 1: the soil that they had already seen golden in other places. 113 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,159 Speaker 1: So there are a bunch of different stories, and these 114 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 1: and other origin points have all been claimed over the 115 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: years with varying degrees of credibility. On August first, eighteen 116 00:06:16,760 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: twenty nine, the Georgia Journal of Millageville, Georgia ran and 117 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,159 Speaker 1: noticed that the paper had been informed that quote two 118 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,279 Speaker 1: gold mines have just been discovered in this county, and 119 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: preparations are making to bring these hidden treasures of the 120 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:34,159 Speaker 1: earth to use stories of alluvial gold. That term alluvial 121 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,200 Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean this, but it's come to mean it 122 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 1: in terms of gold. That's the gold that's found through 123 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: panning on a river rather than mining, because it is 124 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: theoretically moved down a mountain through streams and through melting 125 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: water or ice that melted into water. Those stories also 126 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 1: began to appear in local papers, and so soon would 127 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:55,039 Speaker 1: be prospectors started showing up in the state, eager to 128 00:06:55,080 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: try to make their fortune. At this point, there had 129 00:06:57,920 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: been gold mines and the Carolinas already, which I know 130 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: about because while Holly's husband was taking field trips to 131 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 1: de Ladega, I was taking field trips to read gold 132 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:10,360 Speaker 1: mine in North Carolina. This is the beginning of public 133 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: knowledge that there was gold in Georgia as well. But 134 00:07:12,960 --> 00:07:15,640 Speaker 1: by the fall there were gold mines scattered all through 135 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: North Georgia and independent prospectors had inundated the area. The 136 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: first wave of gold hunters to move into the newly 137 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: identified mining area were known as the twenty nine ers, 138 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: and many of these early prospectors were involved in placer 139 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: or deposit mining, meaning digging or panning for gold that 140 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,200 Speaker 1: had washed down from those hilly areas and mountains, and 141 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: you didn't need much equipment for this kind of gold hunting, 142 00:07:38,920 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: so solo prospectors could just sort of follow their instincts 143 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: and search wherever they could find what looked like a 144 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:49,559 Speaker 1: lucrative spot. But eventually more industrial forms of mining moved 145 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: in and teams could look for or in tunnels dug underground. 146 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,120 Speaker 1: The specific area where the gold was found was in 147 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: part of the Cherokee Nation. All Cherokee peoples had lived 148 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: in the southeast for hundreds of years, long before the 149 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:06,880 Speaker 1: white settlers. By the eighteen twenties, there was already a 150 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: movement among Georgia's white citizens to try to have the 151 00:08:09,560 --> 00:08:13,679 Speaker 1: Cherokee removed. As the discovery of gold on Cherokee land 152 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: became public knowledge, there was an even greater fervor to 153 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: simply take that land away in the interest of financial 154 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: gain for the non native peoples. In eighteen twenty eight, 155 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 1: the state of Georgia passed a group of laws that 156 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: were intended to take away the rights of the Cherokee 157 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: people in an effort to force them out of the state, 158 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: basically to make it as inhospitable to live in the 159 00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: area as possible, and among these was a statement that 160 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: Native Americans could not bring a legal suit against a 161 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: white man, nor could a Native American be a witness 162 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,200 Speaker 1: in any court case against a white man. So at 163 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: that point, the legal door was opened for Cherokees to 164 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: be abused by white citizens with absolutely no legal recourse. 165 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:55,120 Speaker 1: And while the legislators behind these laws had hoped the 166 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:57,800 Speaker 1: federal government would move Native peoples out of the area, 167 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,200 Speaker 1: they had just grown tired of waiting, and so they 168 00:09:00,280 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: basically wanted to make it miserable for any Cherokee who 169 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:06,840 Speaker 1: lived within state lines. We'll get to the Cherokee Nation's 170 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:08,960 Speaker 1: response to this action, but first we are going to 171 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: pause and have a quick word from one of our sponsors. 172 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,679 Speaker 1: So we had just talked about these laws that had 173 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: been passed in Georgia to make life very difficult for 174 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,440 Speaker 1: Cherokee people's living there, and in response, the Cherokee Nations 175 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:33,760 Speaker 1: sought an injunction against those laws from the Supreme Court. 176 00:09:34,559 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: Cherokee Nation versus Georgia claimed that these new laws violated 177 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 1: the treaties that were in place and had been negotiated 178 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:45,120 Speaker 1: between the Cherokee and the United States in the opinion 179 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: written by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. He stated, quote, 180 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,080 Speaker 1: the Court has bestowed its best attention on his question, 181 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: and after mature deliberation, the majority is of opinion that 182 00:09:56,280 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: an Indian tribe or nation within the United States is 183 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,599 Speaker 1: not a foreign state in the sense of the Constitution, 184 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 1: and cannot maintain an action in the courts of the 185 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,120 Speaker 1: United States. If it be true that the Cherokee Nation 186 00:10:08,520 --> 00:10:11,400 Speaker 1: have rights, this is not the tribunal in which those 187 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 1: rights are to be asserted. If it be true that 188 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,280 Speaker 1: wrongs have been inflicted, and that still greater are to 189 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,120 Speaker 1: be apprehended, this is not the tribunal which can redress 190 00:10:20,160 --> 00:10:23,280 Speaker 1: the past or prevent the future. The motion for an 191 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: injunction is denied. The Indian Removal Act of eighteen thirty 192 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,120 Speaker 1: was signed by President Andrew Jackson, who had been elected 193 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:32,840 Speaker 1: in eighteen twenty eight, around the same time that the 194 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: State of Georgia had been getting impatient about Native Americans 195 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,679 Speaker 1: and whether the federal government would take action to push 196 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,400 Speaker 1: them off of their land. The Indian Removal Act stated 197 00:10:42,400 --> 00:10:45,400 Speaker 1: that Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River were 198 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,400 Speaker 1: to be evicted from their land and moved to unsettled 199 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 1: land west of the Mississippi. This, of course, was the 200 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:53,920 Speaker 1: act that eventually led to the Trail of Tears, but 201 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: there were many Native Americans who resisted the removal early on, 202 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 1: and additional legal battles were fought for the land. In 203 00:11:01,559 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 1: February eighteen thirty one, knowing the federal government wouldn't interfere, 204 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: surveyors began measuring the Cherokee land to be sectioned into 205 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 1: plots for disbursement to white citizens. In eighteen thirty two, 206 00:11:13,960 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: there was another court case that led the Supreme Court 207 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 1: to examine the relationship between Native American nations and the 208 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: state and federal government, with the case of Worcester versus 209 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,240 Speaker 1: Georgia now went to the United States Supreme Court. In 210 00:11:26,240 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: that case, a missionary named Samuel Austin Wooster was arrested 211 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: for breaking a newly enacted Georgia law that prohibited white 212 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:39,439 Speaker 1: missionaries from living on Cherokee land. Worcester had been there 213 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:42,000 Speaker 1: as a guest and ally of the Cherokee Nation, and 214 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: the lawsuit was filed with the intent of more clearly 215 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:47,320 Speaker 1: defining the rights of the Cherokee Nation and established that 216 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: they had a right to manage their own territory. In 217 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: a surprising contrast to the language in the denial of 218 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:56,959 Speaker 1: injunction that Marshall wrote in relation to Cherokee Nation versus Georgia, 219 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 1: the finding in Wooster versus Georgia indicated the the Cherokee 220 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:04,920 Speaker 1: peoples were a nation of quote, distinct, independent political communities, 221 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: retaining their original natural rights as already laid out in 222 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: a number of treaties that had been agreed upon with 223 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:14,960 Speaker 1: the Cherokee peoples. Thus, Georgia law could not overrule the 224 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 1: agreements that the US had negotiated. This was a victory 225 00:12:18,840 --> 00:12:21,320 Speaker 1: on paper, but it didn't actually help the Cherokee retain 226 00:12:21,360 --> 00:12:25,440 Speaker 1: their land. Forcible removal began in eighteen thirty eight, but already, 227 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: and going back to eighteen thirty, the State of Georgia 228 00:12:27,760 --> 00:12:30,120 Speaker 1: had managed to seize parts of the Cherokee Nation and 229 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:34,439 Speaker 1: then redistributed in parcels to white citizens. That court case, 230 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: Wister versus Georgia is actually has actually been cited so 231 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 1: many times as the recognition of the fact that Native 232 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 1: American nations existed distinctly and should have their own rights. 233 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 1: But as Tracy said, it did not really help in 234 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: this particular instance. So the manner in which these lots 235 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: that had been taken and parted out were assigned to 236 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:59,400 Speaker 1: owners was through a lottery system, which started in October 237 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty two. This was one of eight land lotteries 238 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: in the state of Georgia that took place between eighteen 239 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: oh five and eighteen thirty three. So for ten dollars, 240 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: a hopeful landowner could enter the lottery and their name 241 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: was then put on a piece of paper and added 242 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,959 Speaker 1: to one barrel of possible draws, and then lot numbers 243 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,000 Speaker 1: for the available parcels were put into a second barrel, 244 00:13:21,559 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: so a name and a lot number were drawn each 245 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,959 Speaker 1: time to match winners up with their new landholdings. If 246 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: they were drawn in one of the two eighteen thirty 247 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: two lotteries which redistributed the Cherokee land, they would be 248 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:38,080 Speaker 1: issued attractive land amounting to forty acres. These lots were 249 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: advertised as gold lots, but that name came with no 250 00:13:41,040 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: guarantee that any gold would be found on any given parcel. 251 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: Some people opted to turn their good luck at winning 252 00:13:47,559 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: a lottery plot to money right away, rather than start 253 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 1: a mining effort of their own. To that end, some 254 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: lots were essentially flipped. In one instance, a man who 255 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: had won a lot turned his ten dollars for his 256 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: lottery ticket into ten thhs by immediately selling his newly 257 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: acquired property. And Native Americans were barred from participating in 258 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,319 Speaker 1: the lottery, so there was no way that any of 259 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,160 Speaker 1: them could gain any land back. One of the lottery 260 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: winners in eighteen thirty two was a woman named Mary G. Franklin, 261 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: who was a widow. As indicated by the story of 262 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: the farmer who immediately flipped his land for profit, there 263 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: were plenty of potential buyers for the lottery parcels, and 264 00:14:23,680 --> 00:14:26,480 Speaker 1: Mary Franklin started getting offers almost as soon as she 265 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: had been allotted her forty acres. She did not take 266 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: any of them, though, and instead opted to go inspect 267 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: the property in person. There were already men hunting for 268 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,360 Speaker 1: gold on the lot, and she sent them packing, deciding 269 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 1: that she and her family would work the land themselves. 270 00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,920 Speaker 1: This turned out to be a really lucrative decision. Soon 271 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: the Franklin Mine was turning a nice profit, so much 272 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: so that Mary started buying up adjacent parcels of land 273 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,320 Speaker 1: and building herself a small mining empire. The Franklin Mine 274 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: outlasted many other such ventures in the area, and the 275 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:00,880 Speaker 1: estimates on just how high the valleyalue of their Mind's 276 00:15:00,920 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: take was continues to be debated. A figure of one 277 00:15:04,840 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 1: thousand dollars per day is often mentioned, but that is 278 00:15:07,600 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: a completely unverified number. From eighteen thirty to eighteen thirty seven, 279 00:15:12,080 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: almost two million dollars worth of gold was moved from 280 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: North Georgia to Philadelphia to be minted. Any gold fines 281 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: were normally assessed at a local branch of the Mint, 282 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:23,680 Speaker 1: and then the Mint would issue a certificate to the 283 00:15:23,720 --> 00:15:25,960 Speaker 1: owner that declared the value of the gold that had 284 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: been submitted, and at that point the owner had a 285 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: number of options. They could exchange that certificate for eighty 286 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 1: percent of the value of their gold and get cash 287 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,080 Speaker 1: in return, or they could wait approximately three months for 288 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: the gold to be minted and then return to them 289 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 1: in coins for the full amount. Or they could take 290 00:15:44,280 --> 00:15:47,120 Speaker 1: the entirety in gold coins once the gold had been 291 00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:50,640 Speaker 1: transferred to the larger Mint office in Philadelphia and verified. 292 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: That eighty percent cash value option used the twenty percent 293 00:15:54,800 --> 00:15:57,600 Speaker 1: difference as sort of an insurance policy in case the 294 00:15:57,680 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: initial assessment had been erroneous. Overestimated. There was also an 295 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:04,400 Speaker 1: option to take the eighty percent in cash and then 296 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,040 Speaker 1: get the other twenty percent after the Philadelphia men had 297 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: completed its assessment. Of course, this was not really an 298 00:16:10,520 --> 00:16:13,040 Speaker 1: ideal situation, and we will talk about one of the 299 00:16:13,080 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: early efforts to remedy it, as well as others that followed. 300 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: Following this quick little break for a sponsor that keeps 301 00:16:19,600 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: our show going, The first private gold mint in the 302 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 1: United States actually formed as a way to speed this 303 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,800 Speaker 1: process along and offer an option to miners and prospectors 304 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 1: that was closer to home. So this was the mint 305 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: of a silversmith named Templeton Reid who went by the 306 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: name Temple and he set up a small mint in Gainesville, Georgia, 307 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:51,480 Speaker 1: and he pressed coins in two dollars, fifty cent, five dollars, 308 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:55,400 Speaker 1: and ten dollars denominations. The requirement for a pressed gold 309 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: coin was that it had to contain ninety nine percent gold, 310 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: and soon after Reid started to enterprise, he was accused 311 00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: of shorting his coins by adding filler. Has caused all 312 00:17:05,600 --> 00:17:08,879 Speaker 1: kinds of problems for Reed, and after beginning operation in 313 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: mid July of eighteen thirty, by mid October of the 314 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 1: same year the Reed Mint was closed. Incidentally, the gold 315 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,959 Speaker 1: coins that were pressed by Reed, which later were tested 316 00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: and found to contain only ninety five percent gold, are 317 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: now highly sought after by collectors. There are not a 318 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: lot of them running around, and people want them. In 319 00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty one, another mint, not as close to the 320 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:37,000 Speaker 1: Georgia goldfinds as Reed's Gainesville Press, but closer than Philadelphia, 321 00:17:37,040 --> 00:17:40,920 Speaker 1: opened in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, and that mint was run 322 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:44,720 Speaker 1: by a man named Christopher Beckler. Unlike Reed, his enterprise 323 00:17:44,760 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: had some longevity. Beckler ran his mint for almost twenty 324 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: years until eighteen fifty, and he did not grapple with 325 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: accusations of improperly minted coins as Reid had. On June 326 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 1: twenty eighth, eighteen thirty four, President Andrew Jackson signed the 327 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: Coinage Act of A two thirty four. This act set 328 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:06,040 Speaker 1: specific quantities of metal to be included in coinage and 329 00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: also stated that quote all standard gold or silver deposited 330 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,320 Speaker 1: for coinage after the thirty first of July next shall 331 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: be paid for in coin under the direction of the 332 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:18,119 Speaker 1: Secretary of the Treasury within five days from the making 333 00:18:18,160 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: of such deposit, deducting from the amount of said deposit 334 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,399 Speaker 1: of gold and silver one half of one percentum. This 335 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 1: made the process of getting minted coin cash money for 336 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:31,920 Speaker 1: a gold deposit much faster and easier, and it got 337 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,880 Speaker 1: rid of that twenty percent value deduction that people would 338 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,720 Speaker 1: previously had to have taken if they wanted the value 339 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: of their gold in cash right away. On March third 340 00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: of the following year, the Meant Act of eighteen thirty 341 00:18:43,560 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: five established new mints and three locations, stated as follows 342 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: quote be it enacted by the Senate and House of 343 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,520 Speaker 1: Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled 344 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,160 Speaker 1: that branches of the Mint of the United States shall 345 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,119 Speaker 1: be established as follows, one branch at the City of 346 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: New Orleans for the coinage of gold and silver, one 347 00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:04,480 Speaker 1: branch at the town of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County in 348 00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:07,040 Speaker 1: the state of North Carolina for the coinage of gold only, 349 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:10,960 Speaker 1: And one branch at or near Delanaga in Lumpkin County 350 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: in the state of Georgia, also for the coinage of 351 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,200 Speaker 1: gold only. The establishment of the Delanaga Mint in eighteen 352 00:19:17,280 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: thirty five was the result of an effort that had 353 00:19:19,359 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 1: actually begun in eighteen thirty three to you try to 354 00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: address the ongoing needs of the area and its gold miners. 355 00:19:26,119 --> 00:19:29,400 Speaker 1: But even so, that wasn't an active office until eighteen 356 00:19:29,440 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: thirty eight, when it was finally able to start accepting 357 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: gold deposits. It opened on February twelfth, eighteen thirty eight, 358 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 1: and pressed its first gold coins the following April. The 359 00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,160 Speaker 1: irony is that in the time that it had taken 360 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:44,600 Speaker 1: to petition for a mint in Georgia, the Georgia gold 361 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:48,200 Speaker 1: rush had largely played itself out. While the state geologist 362 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,919 Speaker 1: Matthew Stevenson assured miners that there was still more gold 363 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: to be unearthed in the North Georgia Mountains, the rush 364 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:58,600 Speaker 1: was over. Mark Twain's character Mulberry Cellars in the eighteen 365 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: ninety two novel The American Claimant is said to be 366 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: paraphrasing Stevenson when he utters the famous line there's gold 367 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,480 Speaker 1: and then the oar hills. Yeah. The quote from Stevenson 368 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: is is much less much less than are you much 369 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:14,760 Speaker 1: less than thre It was kind of like, hey, there, 370 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:16,879 Speaker 1: I believe there are still golden there's still gold in 371 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: the hills. By the time it was told to Mark Twain, 372 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:22,399 Speaker 1: he got it second hand, and by the time he 373 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,439 Speaker 1: wrote it as a character, it got a little more color, 374 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,200 Speaker 1: we'll say. And in the late eighteen forties, when gold 375 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: was discovered in California, no amount of assurance that there 376 00:20:33,359 --> 00:20:35,720 Speaker 1: was still gold in the Georgia Mountains could keep the 377 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:39,719 Speaker 1: Georgia gold industry alive. After a very brief gasp of 378 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:42,960 Speaker 1: breath in the form of hydraulic mining in the eighteen fifties, 379 00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:45,680 Speaker 1: the gold rush was more or less over in Georgia, 380 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: and the Dolanaga Mint closed in eighteen sixty. A second 381 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 1: brief gold rush came and went at the turn of 382 00:20:52,440 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: the century. Advancements and technology enabled some early fines, but 383 00:20:56,680 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: long term profitability eluded the companies who were trying to 384 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:03,879 Speaker 1: operate in the area, and there was another very short 385 00:21:03,960 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 1: nineteen thirties gold mining effort in Georgia in what looked 386 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,720 Speaker 1: like it could be a post depression rebound. Some mines, 387 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:14,119 Speaker 1: including Mary Franklin's, were reopened, but by the end of 388 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:16,600 Speaker 1: the decade even the last hangars On had given up 389 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: the effort, and it really did not count as a 390 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,320 Speaker 1: gold rush. It was kind of like an effort today. 391 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: The Lumpkin County Courthouse that was built in eighteen thirty 392 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:29,320 Speaker 1: six is now home to the Delanaga Gold Museum. The 393 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,719 Speaker 1: courthouse was restored and it includes locally made original bricks 394 00:21:32,720 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: that contain a small amount of gold. It's now a 395 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:38,640 Speaker 1: historic site and is part of the State park Service. Yeah, 396 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:40,359 Speaker 1: so you can go visit it, which is probably what 397 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,240 Speaker 1: Brian visited when he went while he was in school 398 00:21:43,400 --> 00:21:45,880 Speaker 1: learning about these things that I did not learn about. Yeah. 399 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:49,720 Speaker 1: I've been to Delanaga a few times, and I can't 400 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:52,840 Speaker 1: recall if I've actually gone into the museum. I know 401 00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: I have been adjacent to it. I do not think 402 00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: I have ever been to Delaniga, which probably speaks horribly 403 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,360 Speaker 1: of me, because it is like a thirty minute drive 404 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:06,600 Speaker 1: from my house. It's really pretty. Yeah, I just have 405 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: never had occasion to make the drive out there. Maybe 406 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: now I will. Thanks so much for joining us on 407 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,360 Speaker 1: this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, 408 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,159 Speaker 1: our email addresses History Podcast at iHeartRadio dot com, and 409 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:27,920 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, 410 00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.