Native Americans After the Gold Rush
As a result of the Gold Rush, very few Native Americans remained in California. In fact, California's Native American population in 1870 was only about 30,000; one-fifth of its' population before the Gold Rush. Historians estimate that about sixty percent of this enormous population decline was due to the great amount of Native Americans that died from epidemic diseases during the Gold Rush. Another major reason for the loss of Native Americans is the violence towards them during the Gold Rush. Many Native Americans had been killed or forced to leave the area (Part II, Native Californian).
The Native Americans that remained in California typically lived a terrible life. The environment that they had once thrived off of had become a disaster as a result of the mining. The land had been ruined, as miners had dug up twelve billion tons of earth from it. The rivers had turned brown from waste, and contained approximately 7,600 tons of mercury, which was a chemical used to mine for gold. The wildlife had been driven out. Activities such as hunting, gathering, and fishing had become nearly impossible, thus Native Americans struggled to survive. Most Native Americans were left to decide whether they wanted to remain in this area and live a life of poverty and poor health, or abandon their home, and the home of their ancestors. Overall, it can be concluded that the Gold Rush was devastating for the Native Americans in this area (Part II, Gold, Greed, & Genocide).