1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot Com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy V. Wilson, and today's 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: episode is a bit of history that is local to 5 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: me and our offices in Atlanta. But I will confess 6 00:00:22,800 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 1: a whole, big blind spot in my historical knowledge about it. 7 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,200 Speaker 1: I had only the vaguest idea about their having been 8 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:32,959 Speaker 1: gold mining in Georgia. I did not know that there 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: had been an actual gold rush here. And of course 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:37,360 Speaker 1: when I mentioned it to my husband, who grew up 11 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: in Georgia, he said, of course I knew that. We 12 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:41,159 Speaker 1: went on field trips to de Lanaga to learn about it, 13 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: and they gave us a little piece of gold. And 14 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:44,479 Speaker 1: I was like, I didn't grow up here, and I 15 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: had no idea. So if you grew up in Georgia, 16 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:50,279 Speaker 1: you probably knew this was a thing. But it is 17 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:52,720 Speaker 1: also tied to some of the darkest parts of our 18 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 1: country's history regarding the treatment of Native Americans, and I 19 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,520 Speaker 1: kind of suspect that was not part of school field trips. Uh, 20 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: So it's worth examining. And it also pre dates the 21 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,039 Speaker 1: California Gold Rush. Which was of course a much bigger 22 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,680 Speaker 1: driver of long term economic growth in that area than 23 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 1: the Georgia gold Rush was in Northern Georgia. We talked 24 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: about that a little bit in our Levice Strouse episode, 25 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 1: but Georgia's, which happened twenty years earlier, was the first 26 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:19,400 Speaker 1: gold rush in US history. So that is what we 27 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: were talking about today. How the gold rush started in 28 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: Georgia as something of a mystery. There are competing stories 29 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 1: regarding the origin point. But to be clear, before we 30 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,319 Speaker 1: get into any of those, the events that we're talking 31 00:01:30,319 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: about today did take place in the eighteen hundreds. It's 32 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: not as though nobody had ever seen gold in the 33 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,240 Speaker 1: area before Spanish and French explorers made their way into 34 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 1: North Georgia looking for gold in the fifteen hundreds. English 35 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 1: explorers followed, and before them there were Native Americans in 36 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: the area, and early accounts of those European expeditions indicate 37 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 1: that the native population already knew that there were gold 38 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,880 Speaker 1: deposits in the area, also gold deposits in other parts 39 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: of the southeast. Not a foreign idea. Yeah, this was 40 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: while the rush is predicated on new discoveries of what 41 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: they thought were going to be really productive lines. People 42 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 1: knew already that there was gold in the area. But 43 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: as for the nineteenth century, the most common of the 44 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: quote discovery stories attributes the find to Benjamin Parks, who 45 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: was living in what was Hall County at the time 46 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: that is now part of Lumpkin County. Parks claims that 47 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: on October eight he found a nugget of gold simply 48 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:31,959 Speaker 1: on the ground at a place on his property in 49 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: the county seat, which was known as lick Log at 50 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: the time that was refounded as Delonaga in eighteen thirty three, 51 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: after a Cherokee word that meant golden or yellow. And 52 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 1: this is a disputed story though Parks later claimed that 53 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: he had found the gold in eighteen seven, but this 54 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: proved problematic as he almost immediately leased that land to 55 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: a mining operation. But he didn't own that patch of 56 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:57,640 Speaker 1: land until mid eight so the story shifted around a 57 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: little bit on the timeline. And additionally, there's no documentation 58 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: in the form of a lease contract or anything similar 59 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: to clarify the matter. And while he claimed that he 60 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: had made nearly twenty four thousand dollars in gold finds 61 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: on his property when he sold that land, a year later, 62 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: the new owner only managed to find a very small amount. 63 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:20,880 Speaker 1: What are the reasons that Parks's story has been cited 64 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:23,239 Speaker 1: so often is because he gave an interview to the 65 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: Atlantic Constitution in eighteen ninety four about the discovery of 66 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,240 Speaker 1: gold in the state and the population boom that followed it. 67 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: While this is often held up as a first hand account, 68 00:03:33,040 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 1: it's important to remember that Parks was in his nineties. 69 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,680 Speaker 1: By that point, six decades had passed since the time 70 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,520 Speaker 1: of the Georgia Gold Rush. Yeah. I'm always a little 71 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 1: astounded because people really do hold that up as no. 72 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,040 Speaker 1: But we have an eyewitness account, and I'm like, that's 73 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:50,760 Speaker 1: a lot of time. I don't remember what happened yesterday 74 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: when I am ninety. Will I remember accurately what happened 75 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: when I was thirty? Oh? Yeah, I mean we uh. 76 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: I have that moment all the time with friends or 77 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: my spouse where we'll talk about some events that happened, 78 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: even like a couple of months ago, and it's like, 79 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: that's not what happened, No, it happened this way, And 80 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: if we can't remember that, I just we all know 81 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,560 Speaker 1: the memory can be a bit dodgy, But that is 82 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: just one of several stories. Another man named Jesse Hogan 83 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,359 Speaker 1: allegedly found gold in Wards Creek, and yet another story 84 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: is that a man named John wither Uds found the 85 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: first piece of gold in Duke's Creek. And then there's 86 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:27,520 Speaker 1: a tale of a different man named Logan, not Jesse, 87 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: a different, different person that claims that an enslaved man 88 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,200 Speaker 1: who worked for Logan was actually the one who realized 89 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: that the soil they saw as they passed through Georgia 90 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,240 Speaker 1: was similar to the soil that they had already seen 91 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: golden in other places. So there are a bunch of 92 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: different stories, and these and other origin points have all 93 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: been claimed over the years, with varying degrees of credibility. 94 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:54,919 Speaker 1: On August one, eight twenty nine, the Georgia Journal of Millageville, 95 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 1: Georgia ran and noticed that the paper had been informed 96 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 1: that quote to gold mines have just been dis covered 97 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: in this county and preparations are making to bring these 98 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 1: hidden treasures of the earth to use stories of alluvial gold. 99 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: That term allivial doesn't necessarily mean this, but it's come 100 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: to mean it in terms of gold. That's the gold 101 00:05:13,279 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: that's found through painting on a river, rather than mining, 102 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:19,600 Speaker 1: because it is theoretically moved down a mountain through streams 103 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,000 Speaker 1: and through melting water or ice that melted into water. 104 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 1: Those stories also began to appear in local papers, and 105 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,760 Speaker 1: so soon would be prospectors started showing up in the state, 106 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,920 Speaker 1: eager to try to make their fortune. At this point, 107 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: there had been gold fines and the Carolinas already, which 108 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:38,799 Speaker 1: I know about because while Holly's husband was taking field 109 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,600 Speaker 1: trips to dallat Aga, I was taking field trips to 110 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,280 Speaker 1: read gold mine in North Carolina. This was the beginning 111 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: of public knowledge that there was gold in Georgia as well, 112 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 1: but by the fall there were gold mines scattered all 113 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:55,000 Speaker 1: through North Georgia an independent prospectors had inundated the area. 114 00:05:55,520 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 1: The first wave of gold hunters to move into the 115 00:05:58,040 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: newly identified mining area where own as the twenty Niners, 116 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: and many of these early prospectors were involved in placer 117 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: or deposit mining, meaning digging or panting for gold that 118 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 1: had washed down from those hilly areas and mountains, and 119 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,160 Speaker 1: you didn't need much equipment for this kind of gold hunting, 120 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,920 Speaker 1: so solo prospectors could just sort of follow their instincts 121 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: and search wherever they could find what looked like a 122 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,960 Speaker 1: lucrative spot, but eventually more industrial forms of mining moved 123 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:28,599 Speaker 1: in and teams could look for or in tunnels dug underground. 124 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: The specific area where the gold was found was in 125 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: part of the Cherokee Nation. While Cherokee people's had lived 126 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: in the southeast for hundreds of years, long before the 127 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,280 Speaker 1: white settlers, by the eighteen twenties there was already a 128 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:44,840 Speaker 1: movement among Georgia's white citizens to try to have the 129 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 1: Cherokee removed. As the discovery of gold on Cherokee land 130 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: became public knowledge, there was an even greater fervor to 131 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:54,919 Speaker 1: simply take that land away in the interest of financial 132 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: gain for the non native people's. In eighty eight, the 133 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,480 Speaker 1: state of Georgia asked a group of laws that were 134 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,839 Speaker 1: intended to take away the rights of the Cherokee people 135 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,280 Speaker 1: in an effort to force them out of the state, 136 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: basically to make it as inhospitable to live in the 137 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 1: area as possible, And among these was a statement that 138 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: Native Americans could not bring a legal suit against a 139 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: white man, nor could a Native American be a witness 140 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: in any court case against a white man. So at 141 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: that point, the legal door was open for Cherokees to 142 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:27,200 Speaker 1: be abused by white citizens with absolutely no legal recourse. 143 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,480 Speaker 1: And while the legislators behind these laws had hoped the 144 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: federal government would move Native people's out of the area, 145 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: they had just grown tired of waiting, and so they 146 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: basically wanted to make it miserable for any Cherokee who 147 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 1: lived within state lines. We'll get to the Cherokee Nation's 148 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: response to this action, but first we are going to 149 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: pause and have a quick word from one of our sponsors. 150 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 1: So we had just talked about these laws that have 151 00:07:56,640 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: been passed in Georgia to make life very difficult for 152 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: Cheroe Key people's living there, and in response, the Cherokee 153 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,720 Speaker 1: Nations sought an injunction against those laws from the Supreme Court. 154 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:10,960 Speaker 1: Cherokee Nation versus Georgia claimed that these new laws violated 155 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: the treaties that were in place and had been negotiated 156 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 1: between the Cherokee and the United States. In the opinion 157 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: written by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall, he stated, quote, 158 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,080 Speaker 1: the Court has bestowed its best attention on his question, 159 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:29,160 Speaker 1: and after mature deliberation, the majority is of opinion that 160 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: an Indian tribe or nation within the United States is 161 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,679 Speaker 1: not a foreign state in the sense of the Constitution, 162 00:08:35,920 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: and cannot maintain an action in the courts of the 163 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,199 Speaker 1: United States. If it be true that this Cherokee nation 164 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: have rights, this is not the tribunal in which those 165 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:46,800 Speaker 1: rights are to be asserted. If it be true that 166 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: wrongs have been inflicted, and that still greater are to 167 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,080 Speaker 1: be apprehended, this is not the tribunal which can redress 168 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,240 Speaker 1: the past or prevent the future. The motion for an 169 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: injunction is the noted. The Indian Removal Act of eighteen 170 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,679 Speaker 1: thirty was signed by President Andrew Jackson, who had been 171 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,640 Speaker 1: elected in eighteen twenty eight, around the same time that 172 00:09:05,720 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: the State of Georgia had been getting impatient about Native 173 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: Americans and whether the federal government would take action to 174 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:14,960 Speaker 1: push them off of their land. The Indian Removal Act 175 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: stated that Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River 176 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 1: were to be evicted from their land and moved to 177 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: unsettled land west of the Mississippi. This, of course, was 178 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:26,800 Speaker 1: the act that eventually led to the Trail of Tears, 179 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: but there were many Native Americans who resisted the removal 180 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: early on and additional legal battles were fought over the land. 181 00:09:34,360 --> 00:09:38,520 Speaker 1: In February eighteen thirty one, knowing the federal government wouldn't interfere, 182 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: surveyors began measuring the Cherokee Land to be sectioned into 183 00:09:42,600 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 1: plots for disbursement to white citizens. In eighteen thirty two, 184 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: there was another court case that led the Supreme Court 185 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,520 Speaker 1: to examine the relationship between Native American nations and the 186 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: state and federal government with the case of Worcester versus 187 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:59,199 Speaker 1: Georgia I went to the United States Supreme Court. In 188 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:03,920 Speaker 1: that case, a stionary named Samuel Austin Wooster was arrested 189 00:10:04,120 --> 00:10:07,360 Speaker 1: for breaking a newly enacted Georgia law that prohibited white 190 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:12,439 Speaker 1: missionaries from living on Cherokee land. Wooster had been there 191 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:14,960 Speaker 1: as a guest and ally of the Cherokee Nation, and 192 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:17,640 Speaker 1: the lawsuit was filed with the intent of more clearly 193 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:20,280 Speaker 1: defining the rights of the Cherokee Nation and established that 194 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,120 Speaker 1: they had a right to manage their own territory. In 195 00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: a surprising contrast to the language in the denial of 196 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:29,960 Speaker 1: injunction that Marshall wrote in relation to Cherokee Nation versus Georgia, 197 00:10:30,559 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 1: the finding and Wooster versus Georgia indicated that the Cherokee 198 00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: people's were a nation of quote, distinct, independent political communities, 199 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 1: retaining their original natural rights as already laid out in 200 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: a number of treaties that had been agreed upon with 201 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:47,920 Speaker 1: the Cherokee peoples. Thus, Georgia law could not overrule the 202 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,680 Speaker 1: agreements that the US had negotiated. This was a victory 203 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: on paper, but it didn't actually help the Cherokee retain 204 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:58,400 Speaker 1: their land. Forcible removal began in eighteen thirty eight, but already, 205 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: in going back to eighteen thirty this date of Georgia 206 00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,080 Speaker 1: had managed to seize parts of the Cherokee nation and 207 00:11:03,120 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: then redistributed and parcels to white citizens. That court case, 208 00:11:07,400 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: Whister versus Georgia is actually has actually been cited so 209 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:15,120 Speaker 1: many times as the recognition of the fact that Native 210 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,319 Speaker 1: American nations existed distinctly and should have their own rights 211 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: um But as Tracy said, it did not really help 212 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: in this particular instance. So the manner in which these 213 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: lots that had been taken and parted out were assigned 214 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,840 Speaker 1: to owners was through a lottery system which started in 215 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:35,520 Speaker 1: October eighteen thirty two. This was one of eight land 216 00:11:35,559 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: lotteries in the state of Georgia that took place between 217 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,680 Speaker 1: eighteen o five and eighteen thirty three. So for ten dollars, 218 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,880 Speaker 1: hopeful landowner could enter the lottery and their name was 219 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: then put on a piece of paper and added to 220 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: one barrel of possible draws, and then a lot numbers 221 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,920 Speaker 1: for the available parcels were put into a second barrel, 222 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,199 Speaker 1: so a name and a lot number were drawn each 223 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: time to match winners up with their new landholding. If 224 00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 1: they were drawn in one of the two eighteen thirty 225 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:07,280 Speaker 1: two lotteries which redistributed the Cherokee land, they would be 226 00:12:07,320 --> 00:12:11,040 Speaker 1: issued attractive land amounting to forty acres. These lots were 227 00:12:11,080 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: advertised as gold lots, but that name came with no 228 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,319 Speaker 1: guarantee that any gold would be found on any given parcel. 229 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: Some people opted to turn their good luck at winning 230 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: a lottery plot to money right away, rather than start 231 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,040 Speaker 1: a mining effort of their own. To that end, some 232 00:12:26,120 --> 00:12:29,120 Speaker 1: lots were essentially flipped. In one instance, a man who 233 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: had won a lot turned his ten dollars for his 234 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:34,960 Speaker 1: lottery ticket into ten thousand by immediately selling his newly 235 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,439 Speaker 1: acquired property, and Native Americans were barred from participating in 236 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 1: the lottery, so there was no way that any of 237 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,160 Speaker 1: them could gain any land back. One of the lottery 238 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:47,720 Speaker 1: winners in eighteen thirty two was a woman named Mary G. Franklin, 239 00:12:47,760 --> 00:12:51,000 Speaker 1: who was a widow. As indicated by the story of 240 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: the farmer who immediately flipped his land for profit. There 241 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,600 Speaker 1: were plenty of potential buyers for the lottery parcels, and 242 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: Mary Franklin started getting offers almost as soon as she 243 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: had been a lot her forty acres. She did not 244 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: take any of them, though, and instead opted to go 245 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:08,560 Speaker 1: inspect the property in person. There were already men hunting 246 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:10,880 Speaker 1: for gold on the lot, and she sent them packing, 247 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:13,840 Speaker 1: deciding that she and her family would work the land themselves. 248 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: This turned out to be a really lucrative decision. Soon 249 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 1: the Franklin mine was turning a nice profit, so much 250 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 1: so that Mary started buying up adjacent parcels of land 251 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: and building herself a small mining empire. The Franklin mine 252 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: outlasted many other such ventures in the area, and the 253 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:33,800 Speaker 1: estimates on just how high the value of their minds 254 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 1: take was continues to be debated. A figure of a 255 00:13:37,800 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: thousand dollars per day is often mentioned, but that is 256 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: a completely unverified number. From eighteen thirty eighteen thirty seven, 257 00:13:45,040 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: almost two million dollars worth of gold was moved from 258 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,160 Speaker 1: North Georgia to Philadelphia to be minted. Any gold fines 259 00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: were normally assessed at a local branch of the Mint, 260 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:56,600 Speaker 1: and then the ment would issue a certificate to the 261 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:58,920 Speaker 1: owner that declared the value of the gold that had 262 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,600 Speaker 1: been submitted, and at that point the owner had a 263 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,360 Speaker 1: number of options. They could exchange that certificate for eighty 264 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: percent of the value of their gold and get cash 265 00:14:08,600 --> 00:14:12,080 Speaker 1: in return, or they could wait approximately three months for 266 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,240 Speaker 1: the gold to be minted and then returned to them 267 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: in coins for the full amount. Or they could take 268 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:20,080 Speaker 1: the entirety in gold coins once the gold had been 269 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: transferred to the larger mint office in Philadelphia and verified 270 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:27,720 Speaker 1: that eight percent cash value. Option used the twenty percent 271 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: difference as sort of an insurance policy in case the 272 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 1: initial assessment had been erroneous and overestimated. There was also 273 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,200 Speaker 1: an option to take the eight percent in cash and 274 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:39,880 Speaker 1: then get the other twenty percent after the Philadelphia Mint 275 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: had completed its assessment. Of course, this was not really 276 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: an ideal situation, and we will talk about one of 277 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: the early efforts to remedy it, as well as others 278 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,000 Speaker 1: that followed following this quick little break for a sponsor 279 00:14:52,160 --> 00:15:01,800 Speaker 1: that keeps our show going. The first private gold mint 280 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:04,320 Speaker 1: in the United States actually formed as a way to 281 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 1: speed this process along and offer an option to miners 282 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: and prospectors that was closer to home. So this was 283 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,680 Speaker 1: the ment of a silversmith named Templeton Read who went 284 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: by the name Temple And he set up a smallment 285 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:20,600 Speaker 1: in Gainesville, Georgia, and he pressed coins in two dollar, 286 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: fifty cent, five dollar, and ten dollar denominations. The requirement 287 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: for a pressed gold coin was that it had to 288 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: containcent gold, and soon after Reid started at as enterprise, 289 00:15:31,880 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: he was accused of shorting his coins by adding filler. 290 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:38,880 Speaker 1: Has caused all kinds of problems for Read, and after 291 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: beginning operation in mid July thirty by mid October of 292 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: the same year, the Read meant was closed. Incidentally, the 293 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:50,720 Speaker 1: gold coins that were pressed by Read, which later were 294 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: tested and found to contain only ninety five percent gold, 295 00:15:53,880 --> 00:15:57,520 Speaker 1: are now highly sought after by collectors. There are not 296 00:15:57,560 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: a lot of them running around and people want them. Uh. 297 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: In eighteen thirty one. Another mint, not as close to 298 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,160 Speaker 1: the Georgia gold finds as reads Gainesville Press, but closer 299 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: than Philadelphia, opened in Rutherfordton, North Carolina, and that mint 300 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: was run by a man named Christopher Bechler. Unlike Read, 301 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 1: his enterprise had some longevity. Bechler ran his mint for 302 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:21,280 Speaker 1: almost twenty years until eighteen fifty, and he did not 303 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:25,680 Speaker 1: grapple with accusations of improperly minted coins as Read had. 304 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 1: On June eighteen thirty four, President Andrew Jackson signed the 305 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: Coinage Act of eighteen thirty four. This acts that specific 306 00:16:34,000 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: quantities of metal to be included in coinage and also 307 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,560 Speaker 1: stated that quote all standard gold or silver deposited for 308 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: coinage after the thirty one of July next shall be 309 00:16:43,560 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: paid for in coin under the direction of the Secretary 310 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:49,360 Speaker 1: of the Treasury within five days from the making of 311 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: such deposit, deducting from the amount of said deposit of 312 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: gold and silver one half of one percent um. This 313 00:16:56,640 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: made the process of getting minted coin cash money for 314 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: gold deposit much faster and easier, and it got rid 315 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,600 Speaker 1: of that twenty percent value deduction that people would previously 316 00:17:06,680 --> 00:17:08,920 Speaker 1: had to have taken if they wanted the value of 317 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: their golden cash right away. On March third of the 318 00:17:12,440 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: following year. The meant Act of eighteen thirty five established 319 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:19,320 Speaker 1: new mints and three locations, stated as follows quote be 320 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,280 Speaker 1: it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 321 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,760 Speaker 1: the United States of America in Congress assembled. The branches 322 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,000 Speaker 1: of the Ment of the United States shall be established 323 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,879 Speaker 1: as follows, one branch at the city of New Orleans 324 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,679 Speaker 1: for the coinage of gold and silver, one branch at 325 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,880 Speaker 1: the town of Charlotte in Mecklenburg County in the state 326 00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: of North Carolina, for the coinage of gold only, And 327 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:42,159 Speaker 1: one branch at or near Delonaga in Lumpkin County in 328 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,240 Speaker 1: the state of Georgia, also for the coinage of gold only. 329 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:49,159 Speaker 1: The establishment of the Delawnagament in eighteen thirty five was 330 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: the result of an effort that had actually begun in 331 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,680 Speaker 1: eighteen thirty three. Two. You try to address the ongoing 332 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,640 Speaker 1: needs of the area and it's gold miners. But even 333 00:17:57,680 --> 00:18:01,160 Speaker 1: so that wasn't an active office, and eighteen thirty eight, 334 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:04,320 Speaker 1: when it was finally able to start accepting gold deposits, 335 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,800 Speaker 1: it opened on February twelve, thirty eight and pressed its 336 00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:11,159 Speaker 1: first gold coins the following April. The irony is that 337 00:18:11,240 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: in the time that it had taken to petition for 338 00:18:13,359 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: a mint in Georgia, the Georgia gold rush had largely 339 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: played itself out. While the state geologist Matthew Stevenson assured 340 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,800 Speaker 1: minors that there was still more gold to be unearthed 341 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,360 Speaker 1: in the North Georgia Mountains, the rush was over. Mark 342 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 1: Twain's character Mulberry Sellers in the novel, the American claimant 343 00:18:31,680 --> 00:18:34,480 Speaker 1: is said to be paraphrasing Stevenson when he utters the 344 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,639 Speaker 1: famous line there's gold and then our hills. Yeah. The 345 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:42,479 Speaker 1: quote from Stevenson is is much less um much less them. 346 00:18:42,520 --> 00:18:45,040 Speaker 1: They are much less of them, are It was kind 347 00:18:45,080 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: of like, hey, there, I believe they are still golden. 348 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 1: There's still golden the hills. By the time it was 349 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,960 Speaker 1: told to Mark Twain, he got its second hand, and 350 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:55,119 Speaker 1: by the time he wrote it as a character, it 351 00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:59,439 Speaker 1: got a little more um color, will say. And in 352 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:02,640 Speaker 1: the late eight teen forties, when gold was discovered in California, 353 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: no amount of assurance that there was still gold in 354 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:08,360 Speaker 1: the Georgia Mountains could keep the Georgia gold industry alive. 355 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,760 Speaker 1: After a very brief gasp of breath in the form 356 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: of hydraulic mining. In the eighteen fifties, the gold rush 357 00:19:15,280 --> 00:19:17,840 Speaker 1: was more or less over in Georgia and the Delawnaga 358 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:22,600 Speaker 1: Mint closed in eighteen sixty. A second brief gold rush 359 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,320 Speaker 1: came and went at the turn of the century. Advancements 360 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,120 Speaker 1: and technology enabled some early fines, but long term profitability 361 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,600 Speaker 1: eluded the companies who were trying to operate in the area, 362 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,679 Speaker 1: and there was another very short nineteen thirties gold mining 363 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:39,199 Speaker 1: effort in Georgia in what looked like it could be 364 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:44,160 Speaker 1: a post depression rebound. Some minds, including Mary Franklin's, were reopened, 365 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: but by the end of the decade even the last 366 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: hangers on had given up the effort, and it really 367 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:50,480 Speaker 1: did not count as a gold rush. It was kind 368 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:56,040 Speaker 1: of like an effort. Today, the Lumpkin County Courthouse that 369 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:58,159 Speaker 1: was built in eighteen thirty six is now home to 370 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: the Delonaga Gold Museum. The courthouse was restored and it 371 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: includes locally made original bricks that contain a small amount 372 00:20:05,040 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: of gold. It's now a historic site and as part 373 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: of the State Park Service. Yeah, so you can go 374 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,639 Speaker 1: visit it, which is probably what Brian visited when he 375 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,520 Speaker 1: went while he was in school learning about these things 376 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: that I did not learn about. I've been said De 377 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: Lawaga a few times and I can't recall if I've 378 00:20:21,600 --> 00:20:24,800 Speaker 1: actually gone into the museum. I know I have been 379 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:28,160 Speaker 1: adjacent to it. I do not think I have ever 380 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: been to de Lawaga, which probably speaks horribly of me 381 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,080 Speaker 1: because it is like a thirty minute drive from my hat. 382 00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:38,159 Speaker 1: It's really pretty. Um yeah, I just have never had 383 00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:41,719 Speaker 1: occasion to to make the drive out there. Maybe now 384 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,119 Speaker 1: I will. Do you have some listener mail to close 385 00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,120 Speaker 1: out our show? I do, and it is delightful. It's 386 00:20:47,119 --> 00:20:51,120 Speaker 1: a wonderful gift from our listener. Barbara Trades, Deer, Holly 387 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 1: and Tracy. Greetings from the UK. This is my second 388 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: postcard to you. The first was skelling Michael, which I remember. 389 00:20:56,280 --> 00:20:59,280 Speaker 1: Thank you in the recent podcast on the First Celebrity 390 00:20:59,359 --> 00:21:02,800 Speaker 1: Chef and in Karam you mentioned the banquet he prepared 391 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: for the Prince Region in honor of the visit of 392 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: Nicholas of Russia at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton. I 393 00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: remember my visit to the pavilion a few years ago 394 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,479 Speaker 1: that they sold souvenirs featuring the menu. I mean it's 395 00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,480 Speaker 1: to revisit last week and I bought you each a 396 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:17,880 Speaker 1: tea cloth. I hope you like them. If you ever 397 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: come to the UK, you must visit the pavilion. The 398 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,720 Speaker 1: chandelier in the banqueting room took my breath away. It's spectacular. 399 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: Thanks for such a fab podcast, Never stop. So she 400 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,200 Speaker 1: sent us these fabulous I'm holding them up for Tracy 401 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,520 Speaker 1: to see, like tea towels that have the entire menu 402 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:37,920 Speaker 1: printed on them. That cool event, and they're really quite beautiful. 403 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: So thank you, thank you, thank you so much, Barbara. 404 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: These are absolutely lovely. And it was one of those 405 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,920 Speaker 1: moments where opening mail was an absolute treat. I love 406 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: when you when I get a package and I'm like, 407 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:49,360 Speaker 1: I don't have any idea what is going on here? 408 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 1: And then I couldn't find the card at first, and 409 00:21:51,000 --> 00:21:52,639 Speaker 1: I was like, someone said us something amazing and I 410 00:21:52,640 --> 00:21:56,639 Speaker 1: don't know who it was, so trauma averted. I found 411 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,640 Speaker 1: the car um. If you would like to right to us, 412 00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:02,880 Speaker 1: you could do so at History Podcast at how stuff 413 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,639 Speaker 1: works dot com. You can find us all over social media. 414 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:08,439 Speaker 1: As missed in History. You can find us online at 415 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:10,919 Speaker 1: missed in History dot com, where all of our episodes 416 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,840 Speaker 1: of the show that have ever existed, even before Tracy 417 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: and I were part of it, are all available for 418 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: you to peruse and enjoy, and you can get show 419 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: notes for any of the ones that have happened in 420 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: the recent past. I guess you could call the last 421 00:22:22,920 --> 00:22:25,320 Speaker 1: five and a half years the recent past where Tracy 422 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,399 Speaker 1: and I have been working on the show. Uh So, 423 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: come and visit us at missed in history dot com. 424 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:32,200 Speaker 1: You can also subscribe to Stuff you Missed in History 425 00:22:32,200 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: class on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, or anywhere you 426 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 1: get podcasts. For more on this and thousands of other topics, 427 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: visit how staff works dot com.