March 8, 1851 to April 27, 1851

YUBA, California

Stephen Chapin David, gold rush, Crime/Violence, Vigilantes

In California there was lots of gold to be had, but not everyone would strike it rich.  While early gold rush merchants Stephen Chapin David and his older brother Josiah ran their store near the mining camps in 1851, they were surrounded by all sorts of people.  In close quarters you could not always trust the people around you.  Stephen recounted upon his return from the city in March 1851, that...

October 25, 1850 to May 4, 1851

YUBA, California

Merchants, Stephen Chapin David, gold rush

There was gold in California and everyone wanted their share.  In that spirit, in early September, 1850, 17-year old Stephen Chapin David and his older brother Josiah arrived in Gold Rush California.  Entrepreneurial skills showed quickly as Stephen purchased newspapers before boarding the ship to sell to the other sailors.  While early searching for gold did not prove as lucrative as hoped, they...

January 10, 1906 to 1919

Esmeralda, Nevada

nevada, gold rush

A gold strike in the small mountain valley town of Manhattan, Nevada lead to a population increase of four thousand people within one week, and one man was killed in the rush for gold.  He was driving an overcrowded stage when it tipped over and killed him, slightly wounding other passengers. An article in the January 10, 1906 Los Angeles Herald did not name the man who passed away. Manhattan's population...