Claims
Claims were areas of land that belonged to a miner. Some claims were huge and some were small depending on how rich the area was with gold. The claim system was used in most gold rushes.
Claim jumping was a kind of crime committed in the diggings. When a different miner saw a claim without an owner to protect it, he would take it and work it himself. Twice this happened to us. The first time we were claim jumped, we lost the best claim in the gold fields. Fortunately, later we were able to get a claim back. It was not the best one in the mining site but at least we had it. The second time, we were claim jumped by the same group of forty-niners. This time we luckily got the very same claim back when my company claim jumped theirs.
There were other ways to lose a claim in the gold fields of California. If someone’s claim was not worked for more than ten days, it could be taken away. A Chinese man could only work a claim that had already been worked and most likely panned out. All over America the claim system was being used.
Claim jumping was a kind of crime committed in the diggings. When a different miner saw a claim without an owner to protect it, he would take it and work it himself. Twice this happened to us. The first time we were claim jumped, we lost the best claim in the gold fields. Fortunately, later we were able to get a claim back. It was not the best one in the mining site but at least we had it. The second time, we were claim jumped by the same group of forty-niners. This time we luckily got the very same claim back when my company claim jumped theirs.
There were other ways to lose a claim in the gold fields of California. If someone’s claim was not worked for more than ten days, it could be taken away. A Chinese man could only work a claim that had already been worked and most likely panned out. All over America the claim system was being used.
Traveling
Traveling to the gold fields was not an easy task. Many miners attempted to reach California but were stopped or even killed by tremendous hardships in their paths. One route to the gold fields was by land and one was by sea.
Miners traveling from the East to the West faced a long and tiring journey. One danger of this travel was running out of supplies such as food and water. As a result of this, miners might starve to death or become dehydrated. In addition, miners might take a wrong turn and end up miles from their wanted destination.
There were two sea routes an argonaut headed to the diggin’s could take. The miner might take the Panama Route or the Cape Horn Route. A forty-niner taking the Panama Route would take one boat to Panama and another the rest of the way. One danger was that in Panama a forty-niner might catch a deadly disease in the jungle or die of starvation while waiting for another ship. The most frightening danger of the Cape Horn Route was the inclement weather. The deadly Strait of Magellan was a shortcut with dreadful storms that killed many people. Traveling to California was not an easy thing to do.
Miners traveling from the East to the West faced a long and tiring journey. One danger of this travel was running out of supplies such as food and water. As a result of this, miners might starve to death or become dehydrated. In addition, miners might take a wrong turn and end up miles from their wanted destination.
There were two sea routes an argonaut headed to the diggin’s could take. The miner might take the Panama Route or the Cape Horn Route. A forty-niner taking the Panama Route would take one boat to Panama and another the rest of the way. One danger was that in Panama a forty-niner might catch a deadly disease in the jungle or die of starvation while waiting for another ship. The most frightening danger of the Cape Horn Route was the inclement weather. The deadly Strait of Magellan was a shortcut with dreadful storms that killed many people. Traveling to California was not an easy thing to do.