The definitive story of Georgia's role in the first U.S. gold rush In the 1820s a series of gold strikes from Virginia to Alabama caused such excitement that thousands of miners poured into the region. This southern gold rush, the first in U.S. history, reached Georgia with the discovery of the Dahlonega Gold Belt in 1829. The Georgia gold fields, however, lay in and around Cherokee territory. In 1830 the State of Georgia extended its authority over the area, and two years later the land was raffled off in a lottery. Although they resisted this land grab through the courts, the Cherokees were eventually driven west along the Trail of Tears into what is today northeastern Oklahoma. The gold rush era survived the Cherokees in Georgia by only a few years. The early 1840s saw a dramatic decline in the fortunes of the southern gold region. When word of a new gold strike in California reached the miners, they wasted no time in following the banished Indians westward. In fact, many Georgia twenty-niners became some of the first California forty-niners. Georgia's gold rush is now almost two centuries past, but the gold fever continues. Many residents still pan for gold, and every October during Gold Rush Days hundreds of latter-day prospectors relive the excitement of Georgia's great antebellum gold rush as they throng to the small mountain town of Dahlonega.

The first gold rush in American history occurred in north Georgia; it preceded the mining booms in the West by almost two decades. Published in 1956, Auraria tells the story of the mining town at the center of Georgia's gold frenzy. Auraria, which reached its zenith in the 1830s, eventually faded into a ghost town by the twentieth century. E. Merton Coulter gives readers more than a local study by placing Auraria's fascinating story in the context of larger regional and national developments.

In the 1820s a series of gold strikes from Virginia to Alabama caused such excitement that thousands of miners from all parts of the United States poured into the region. This Southern gold rush, the first in U.S. history, reached Georgia with the discovery of the Dahlonega Gold Belt in 1829. Said Benjamin Parks, one of Georgia's first twenty-niners: "The news got abroad, and such excitement you never saw. It seemed within a few days as if the whole world must have heard of it, for men came from every state I had ever heard of. They came afoot, on horseback and in wagons, acting more like crazy men than anything else. All the way from where Dahlonega now stands, to Nuckollsville there were men panning out of the branches and making holes in the hillsides". As it happened, the Georgia gold fields were found to lie in and around Cherokee territory. In 1830 Georgia extended its authority over the area, and two years later the land was raffled off in a lottery. Although they resisted this land grab through the courts, the Cherokees were eventually driven west on the Trail of Tears into what is today northeastern Oklahoma. The gold rush era survived the Cherokees in Georgia by only a few years. The early 1840s saw a dramatic decline in the fortunes of the Southern gold region. When word of a new gold strike in California reached the miners, they wasted no time in following the banished Indians westward. In fact, many Georgia twenty-niners became some of the first California forty-niners. Georgia's gold rush is now almost two centuries past, but gold fever continues. Many residents still pan for gold, and every October during Gold Rush Days hundreds of latter-day prospectors reliving theexcitement of Georgia's great antebellum gold rush throng to the small mountain town of Dahlonega.

Ararat -- A Railroad and Rowland Springs -- Iron -- The Education of Joseph E. Brown -- The Republic of Georgia -- Destruction -- Anew.

Recounts the life of Chief John Ross of the Cherokees using Ross' personal papers and Cherokee archives as sources.

American's first gold rush started in North Georgia twenty years before the California Gold Rush. The Pigeon Roost Mining of Auraria, Georgia was at the heart of the Georgia rush. Out of this assortment of varied and motley gold seekers emerged an innovative group of "Twenty Niners" who, out of necessity, developed mining techniques, banking, and assaying systems in a remote area at a time when the world was not technologically advanced.

"The California gold rush lasted only seven years, but it affected people around the world. Track the important events and turning points that made the discovery of gold a pivotal part of the westward expansion of the United States"--Provided by publisher.