List of people associated with the California Gold Rush

The California gold rush occurred in Northern California, during the period from 1848 to 1855.

List of people associated with the California Gold Rush

Name	Image	Birth, death	Birthplace	Profession	Notes
Template:Sortname	File:James Grizzly Adams - Towne & Bacon, 1860.jpg	1812–1860	Medway, Massachusetts, U.S.	mountain man, trainer of grizzly bears	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:Elihu Anthony.jpg	1818–1905	Greenfield, New York, U.S.	alcalde, blacksmith, industrialist, abolitionist, postmaster, Methodist minister	one of the founding fathers of the city of Santa Cruz, California<ref name=":8">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:Philip Danforth Armour.jpg	1832–1901	Stockbridge, New York, U.S.	meatpacking industrialist	started his meat packing business with funds from success in the Gold Fields<ref name="obit2">Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:Josiah Belden.jpg	1815–1892	Connecticut, U.S.	politician, rancho grantee	first mayor of San Jose, California
Template:Sortname		1811–1855	Walla Walla, Washington, U.S.	soldier, hotelier	present at the first discovery of gold
Template:Sortname	File:Hon. John A. Bidwell (cropped).jpg	1819–1900	Chautauqua County, New York, U.S.	politician, soldier	founder of the city of Chico, California
Template:Sortname	File:Samuel Brannan.jpg	1819–1889	Saco, Massachusetts (now Maine), U.S.	politician, businessman, journalist	first to publicize the California Gold Rush, and California's first millionaire
Template:Sortname	File:Doña Juana Briones de Miranda (7222900876) (cropped).jpg	c. 1802 – 1889	Villa de Branciforte (modern day Santa Cruz), California	Californio ranchera, medical practitioner, merchant	founding mother of San Francisco, California, and Mayfield, California (now Palo Alto, California)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:R. C. Chambers (1897), 5th District Utah Senator, and miner.png	1832–1901	Lexington, Ohio, U.S.	businessman, politician, minerals miner, banker
Template:Sortname		1805–1866	Fort Mandan, North Dakota, U.S.	Shoshone–French explorer, guide, fur trapper, and military scout
Template:Sortname	File:Alvin Aaron Coffey Sr.png	1822–1902	Mason County, Kentucky, U.S.	African American pioneer, homesteader, miner, and farmer in California; formerly enslaved	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Reiniche-2023">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Sortname		c. 1827–1862	Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.	madam of the Barbary Coast of San Francisco	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:LottaCrabtree.jpg	1847–1924	New York City, New York, U.S.	actress, entertainer, comedian, philanthropist	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Sortname		1826–1864	Buncombe County, North Carolina, U.S	prospector, explorer
Template:Sortname	File:Charles Crocker, bust-length engraving.jpg	1822–1888	Troy, New York, U.S.	railroad executive, businessman
Template:Sortname	File:Alonzo Delano.jpg	1806–1874	Aurora, Erie County, New York, U.S.	writer, forty-niner
Template:Sortname		c. 1825–1916	Mobile County, Alabama, U.S.	African American businessperson, real estate developer, abolitionist	one of San Francisco's wealthiest Black men in the late 19th-century
Template:Sortname	File:Charles S. Fiarfax, 1850-60s.jpg	1829–1869	Vaucluse Plantation, Virginia, U.S.	politician	from nobility
Template:Sortname	File:Thomas Fallon.png	1825–1885	Ireland	Irish-born politician	10th Mayor of San Jose, California
Template:Sortname	File:Joseph L. Folsom engraving.jpg	1817–1855	Meredith, New Hampshire, U.S.	real estate investor, military personnel	founder of Folsom, California
Template:Sortname	File:Brady, Mathew B. - John C. Fremont (Zeno Fotografie).jpg	1813–1890	Savannah, Georgia, U.S.	explorer, military officer, politician	namesake of Fremont, California
Template:Sortname	File:Gearysfmayor.jpeg	1819–1873	Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, U.S.	lawyer, politician, military leader
Template:Sortname	File:Domingo Ghirardelli by an unidentified artist, c. 1860, salted paper print with ink and watercolor, from the National Portrait Gallery - NPG-NPG 2013 65Ghirardelli-000001.jpg	1817–1894	Rapallo, Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy)	Italian-born chocolatier	founder of the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in San Francisco, California.
Template:Sortname	File:Mifflin Wistar Gibbs - CM Bell Studios 1902.jpg	1823–1915	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	African American politician, businessman, publisher, abolitionist	During the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, he led a migration of African Americans from San Francisco to Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Template:Sortname	File:Thomas Gilman crop.png	1830–1911	Tennessee, U.S.	African American freedman, miner, farmer	was an enslaved African American who self–purchase freedom during the mid-19th-century
Template:Sortname	File:George Gordon (Cropped and enhanced)-closeup.jpg	1818–1869	London, England	developer, entrepreneur	transported emigrants to San Francisco, developed the South Park neghborhood, started San Francisco's first sugar refinery
Template:Sortname	File:Daniel Chevilette Govan.jpg	1829–1911	Northampton County, North Carolina, U.S.	miner, planter, soldier	served as a Confederate general during the American Civil War
Template:Sortname	File:Grant circa 1880 crop.jpg	1822–1885	Point Pleasant, Ohio, U.S.	18th president, soldier	served in the Mexican–American War; led the Union Army to victory in the American Civil War
Template:Sortname	File:Alvinza Hayward.jpg	1821–1904	Vermont, U.S.	mine-owner, capitalist, businessman, financier	made his fortune during the California Gold Rush, as a gold miner
Template:Sortname	File:George Hearst (B&W).jpg	1820–1891	Sullivan, Missouri Territory (now Missouri), U.S.	businessperson, politician	used slight mining knowledge from Missouri to succeed in 1850s gold rush investment
Template:Sortname	File:Alfred Hicks (cropped).jpg	c. 1820–1860	Foster, Rhode Island, U.S.	thief, murderer, mutineer, pirate
Template:Sortname	File:Frederick A. Hihn 01.jpg	1829–1913	Duchy of Brunswick (now Germany)	politician, industrialist, real estate investor	leading land developer in Santa Cruz County, California
Template:Sortname		1832–1915	Albany, New York, U.S.	prospector, explorer
Template:Sortname	File:Sherman Otis Houghton Crop.jpg	1828–1914	New York City, New York, U.S.	politician, miner
Template:Sortname	File:William Ide.png	1796–1852	Rutland, Massachusetts, U.S.	politician	commander of the California Republic
Template:Sortname	File:Frank James.jpg	1843–1915	Kearney, Missouri, U.S.	soldier, thief	part of the James–Younger Gang, former Confederate soldier
Template:Sortname	File:Seth Kinman California Hunter.jpg	1815–1888	Union County, Pennsylvania, U.S.	mountain man, hunter, chair maker, entertainer	early settler of Humboldt County, California
Template:Sortname	File:William Leidesdorff.jpg	1810–1848	St. Croix, Danish West Indies (now United States Virgin Islands)	Afro-Caribbean businessman, politician	founder of the city of San Francisco, thought to have been the first black millionaire in the United States<ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Sue Bailey Thurman, 1952, Pioneers of Negro Origin in California, San Francisco: Acme Pub. Co.</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:Peter Lester.png	c. 1814–c. 1897	South Carolina, U.S.	African American businessman, abolitionist	early Black settler in San Francisco
Template:Sortname	File:James Lick.gif	1796–1876	Stumpstown (now Fredericksburg), Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, U.S.	businessman, piano builder
Template:Sortname	File:HeinrichLienhard.jpg	1822–1903	Bilten, Canton of Glarus, Switzerland	Swiss–born memoirist
Template:Sortname	File:James Marshall2.jpg	1810–1885	Hopewell Township, New Jersey, U.S.	carpenter, sawmill operator	discoverer of the first gold
Template:Sortname	File:Richard Barnes Mason.jpg	1797–1850	Lexington Plantation, Fairfax County, Virginia, U.S.	military officer
Template:Sort name	File:Lola Montez, dancer.jpg	1821–1861	Grange, County Sligo, Connacht, Ireland	Irish-born dancer and courtesan	famous as a "Spanish" dancer, and mistress of King Ludwig I of Bavaria<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Sortname		1824–1883	Ireland	Irish-born newspaper editor
Template:Sortname	File:McCullochBenjamin.jpg	1811–1862	Rutherford County, Tennessee, U.S.	politician
Template:Sortname	File:Joaquin Miller - Brady-Handy.jpg	1837–1913	Union County, Indiana, U.S.	poet, frontiersman
Template:Sortname	File:JoaquinTheMountainRobber.jpg	1829–1853	Álamos, Sonora, Mexico	Mexican outlaw, gold miner, vaquero	"Robin Hood of the West"
Template:Sortname	File:Portrait of 8th Governor of Arkansas Isaac Murphy.jpg	c. 1799–1882	Pennsylvania, U.S.	teacher, lawyer, politician, failed miner	8th Governor of Arkansas
Template:Sortname	File:His-Imperial-Majesty-Emperor-Norton-I-portrait-crop.jpg	1818–1880	Deptford, England	English-born commodities trader and real estate investor	also known as Emperor Norton
Template:Sortname	File:ETH-BIB-Pelton, Lester Allen (1829-1908)-Portrait-Portr 01503.tif (cropped).jpg	1829–1908	Vermilion, Ohio, U.S.	inventor, mechanical engineer	inventor of the "Pelton Runner," considered to be the "Father of Hydroelectric Power"
Template:Sortname	File:Vicente Perez Rosales.jpeg	1807–1886	Santiago, Chile.	merchant, adventurer, politician, writer, forty-eighter
Template:Sortname	File:Pío de Jesus Pico 1858.jpg	1801–1894	Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, San Gabriel, Alta California, New Spain	Californio politician, ranchero, entrepreneur	last governor of Alta California under Mexican rule from 1845 to 1846.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="blurred">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:Mary Ellen Pleasant, 1901.jpg	c. 1814–1904	U.S.	African American entrepreneur, real estate investor, abolitionist, financier	first self-made millionaire of African-American heritage
Template:Sortname	File:AddisonPratt.jpg	1802–1872	Winchester, New Hampshire, U.S.	missionary, farmer, whaler
Template:Sortname	File:Benjamin Barnard Redding.jpg	1824–1882	Yarmouth, Colony of Nova Scotia (now Nova Scotia, Canada)	British North America-born politician	Mayor of Sacramento, secretary of the State of California
Template:Sortname		c. 1835–1900	Missouri, U.S.	African American mining engineer, metallurgist
Template:Sortname		1823–1907	Sullivan County, New York, U.S.	prospector	early pioneer of Searsville and La Honda<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Template:Sortname	File:General William T. Sherman (4190887790) (cropped).jpg	1820–1891	Lancaster, Ohio, U.S.	soldier, businessman, educator, author
Template:Sortname	File:Leland Stanford c1870s (3x4) a.jpg	1824–1893	Watervliet, New York, U.S.	politician, railroad tycoon
Template:Sortname	File:Elijah Steele.jpg	1817–1883	New York, U.S.	politician, attorney, jurist
Template:Sortname	File:Levi Strauss 1.jpg	1829–1902	Buttenheim, Kingdom of Bavaria, German Confederation (now Germany)	German Confederation-born entrepreneur	founder of Levi Strauss & Co. of San Francisco, California
Template:Sortname	File:StudebakerJM.jpg	1833–1917	Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, U.S.	businessman	built wheelbarrows in Placerville in the early 1850s and contributed his earnings to the family Studebaker Wagon Corporation
Template:Sortname		1824–1892	Savoy, France	French-born gold miner and businesswoman	known for wearing pants, and arrested several times for it.
Template:Sortname	File:John Augustus Sutter c1850.jpg	1803–1880	Kandern, Margraviate of Baden, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany)	German-born Swiss businessman, explorer	established Sutter's Fort
Template:Sortname	File:Ab Townsend photo2.jpg	1810–1888	Sussex County, New Jersey, U.S.	miner, prospector, politician
Template:Sortname		1829–1928	Canton, Guangdong, Qing China	sex worker, madam	the first Chinese sex worker in San Francisco
Template:Sortname		1819–1907	Frankfort, Maine, U.S.	businessman, abolitionist	pioneer in the Mission District, San Francisco
Template:Sortname	File:Matthew Turner (shipbuilder).jpg	1825–1909	Geneva, Ohio, U.S.	shipbuilder	considered "the 'grandaddy' of big time wooden shipbuilding on the Pacific Coast"
Template:Sortname	File:Mark Twain by AF Bradley (cropped).jpg	1835–1910	Florida, Missouri, U.S.	writer, humorist, and essayist
Template:Sortname	File:Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo.jpg	1807–1890	Monterey, Alta California, Viceroyalty of New Spain (now California, U.S.)	Californio politician, military leader
Template:Sortname	File:William Waldo Family Picture.png	1812–1881		politician
Carl David Maria Weber	File:Charles M. Weber.jpg	1814–1881	Steinwenden, Palatinate, Kingdom of Bavaria (now Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany)	entrepreneur, miner, land owner	founder of the city of Stockton, California
Template:Sortname		1819–1887		entrepreneur	founder of Wellman, Peck and Company
Template:Sortname		c. 1820–1902		entrepreneur	founder of the El Dorado hotel in Nevada City
Template:Sortname	File:Edwin Baruch Winans.jpg	1826–1894		politician

See also

• Chinese Americans in the California gold rush
• Women in the California gold rush
• Five Joaquins Gang, Mexican outlaw gang in California (1850–1853)
• Society of California Pioneers
• List of Californio people