Was It Easier to Mine or Mine the Miners?

As I talked about in the last blog, having tens of thousands of men flood into an area makes for a scramble. There wasn’t enough food, materials, housing, entertainment, alcohol, and equipment to go around. So, prices skyrocketed. 

Some of those who came thinking they could make their fortunes in gold quickly learned they could make an even bigger fortune by “mining the miners.” There are oodles of stories about men, and women, who came to California with the intention of getting gold into their pockets and ended up putting their skills to work and making even more. And it was usually the simplest of skills that were the most lucrative. 

Those who could fix boots, distill corn into whiskey, and import canvas for housing all took their payment in gold dust. I mentioned prostitutes in an earlier blog and female companionship is something for which men are happy to pay outlandish prices. 

News of the need for goods traveled quickly (for 1849… it probably took six months to get information from the west coast to the east coast) and enterprising entrepreneurs answered the call. Housing was of particular concern so Eastern builders quickly designed houses that could be shipped in parts and easily reassembled when they arrived. Canvas was also an answer to quick housing. 

From the David Rumsey Collection

It is interesting to consider that in 1840-1850 the city of San Francisco was mostly a massive tent city so when fires happened, they were devastating. Nothing could stop the flames from jumping from one to the next and before anyone could do anything, the whole areas were destroyed. What many diaries talk about is how quickly the city could recover from a fire. As soon as the ash and debris could be hauled away, a new structure was going up.

Commerce was that important. And gold was that prevalent. Perhaps some was lost in a fire, but the merchant knew that miners were arriving daily with a fresh supply which meant they had to get up and running again. Incredible times, for sure. 

Eventually, the gold became harder to find and companies moved in with equipment, intent upon taking down hillsides and mountains for what lay hidden in their depths. Instead of being a bunch of self-interested entrepreneurs, many of the gold seekers hired on with these mining companies. This meant less freedom to come and go but also some financial security for basic living.

Being a company miner meant having a structure to one’s day instead of the freedom to decide whether to go to work that day. A night of carousing had its consequences. Those who found the company restrictions too much simply found other work. And there were plenty of opportunities. Cities were popping up everywhere, so roads had to be built, construction was everywhere and men to drive mules hauling freight were some of the highest paid in the state. 

Growing food was another underestimated profession. Men who thought their future had gold in it quickly learned that they could get two growing seasons worth of vegetables in one year due to California’s mild climate. When you come from the northeast, California’s growing season was a dream! It wasn’t long before acreage in the San Joaquin Valley was being used to grow all manner of fruits and vegetables which were then hauled to San Francisco and sold for top dollar. 

For instance, if an enterprising person were to have somehow brought some chickens to California, those chickens’ eggs were valued at $3.00 each… EACH!! In today’s money, that is $125.25 per egg. An orange, likely imported, was $0.15 then and would be $6.26 per orange today. Flour was $0.44/pound, today’s price would be $18.37/pound. And finally, just because it’s what Joe and I do, the price of a pound of beef was $0.80, today that would translate to $33.40/per pound. That’s not the price of a fancy steak, that’s whatever the butcher decided to cut off the hanging carcass for you, a pound of beef. 

You get the idea. The land of milk and honey was expensive to live in, even in 1849!! And those who figured out how to do the most menial jobs that filled a need, usually made a good living at it.