California Gold Miners.
Cement Gold Mine of Mammoth Mountain
Dutch Oven Mine of San Bernardino County
Goose Egg Mine of El Dorado County
Kanuka Jack’s Mine in Mother Lode Country
Waterfall Mine of Shasta County
Once gold was discovered and the California Gold Rush began, more than 500 camps, villages, and towns emerged almost overnight as some 80,000 prospectors poured into the Mother Lode country in 1849 alone. For over a decade, the flood of people continued, arriving overland on the California Trail, by ship around Cape Horn, or through the Panama shortcut. Initially, the miners quickly gathered the surface gold, scratching over $10 million from the land in 1849. By 1853, the yield peaked at more than $81 million before dropping to $55 million in 1855.
Among these tens of thousands of prospectors and an almost equal number of claims, tales of “lost mines” began almost immediately as pioneers were killed, sickened, or lost their way back to many of the rich ore finds in the mountains and deserts of the Golden State.
Whether these tales of lost mines are fact or fiction, the legends still live on for hopeful California prospectors.
©Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated October 2026.
Also See:
Lost Treasure Tales Across America
See Sources.