“Conventional wisdom tells us that the gold rush was a male undertaking,” writes Riley. But women were there, too—and they didn’t always tag along as wives, cooks, or prostitutes. Sometimes they became incredibly wealthy entrepreneurs; others were left behind as their husbands and male family members went west to explore.
The rush burst into being on January 24, 1848, when James Marshall was led to gold by Native Californians at Sutter’s Mill, in northeastern California. Once Marshall’s discovery was announced a few months later, it spurred a mass migration. The gold-hungry emigrants were later called “forty niners” in recognition of the year when most arrived in California. Most were men, but Riley implies that those who don’t see women as part of that history aren’t looking hard enough. Not only were women travelers’ names included on passenger lists for boats headed to California, but women staked claims in mines and interacted with the local authorities.