Gold Rush Vocabulary/Spelling

Gold Rush Vocabulary

argonaut: a person in search of gold

alcalde: the mayor or judge of a town

boom town: a town that grew fast as a result of mining

batea: a flat Indian bowl used by miners when they needed a meal pan or mining pan

claim: a piece of ground of a certain size which no one has a right to mine except the person who owns the ground

claim jumping: a form of robbery where by a rightful owner of a claim is forced to abandon it by threats, violence, or even murder

cradle: a rocking device used in placer mining for separating gold from rock and gravel; also called a rocker

diggin's: the name given to placer mining places during the gold rush

dry diggin's: mining town without water; digging old out of cracks in the rocks or from dry river beds

El Dorado: a Spanish term that means "The place of gold"

flake: a small piece of placer gold

fool's gold: iron pyrite that made many miners think they had found gold

forty-niners: specifically, those people who came to mine for gold in 1849, but has come to mean all who came to mine for gold in California during the gold rush

ghost town: a town where few, if any, people live after the gold had been panned out of the area

gold fever: a mania or extreme interest in mining for gold

lode: a vein or deposit of gold, usually in quartz

Maidu: the name of the Indian people who lived n the northern part of the gold country

malleable: can be bent or pounded easily without breaking; gold has this property

mother lode: a huge deposit of gold running through quartz in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is the source of placer gold.

nugget: lumps of gold of medium to large size

pan out: a term meaning the gold is gone in an area

pay dirt: clay, sand or gravel with gold in it

quartz: a mineral in which gold is often found

stake a claim: marking the boundary line of a miner's property with a stake or pile of rocks

tailings: rocks and gravel piles left over after mining an area

tailrace: a channel that drains water away from water-powered machinery