California gold
Forty-niner's destination treasure
California gold refers to the precious metal discovered in 1848 that sparked the Gold Rush, drawing hundreds of thousands of prospectors to the American West.
The term evokes images of nuggets and dust panned from Sierra Nevada streams.
By extension, California gold describes anything representing sudden wealth or opportunity in the Golden State—from real estate to tech fortunes.
It's also a common name for golden-yellow plants, particularly the California poppy.
- rushQuick sudden movement
- nuggetSmall solid lump
- minerOne who excavates ore
- prospectorOne seeking valuable deposits
- mining campSettlement near ore extraction
Sierra · Sacramento · San Francisco Bay · forty-niner · westward expansion · pan · claim · stake a claim · strike · strike it rich · Sutter · bonanza · dust · vein · fever · boom · pickaxe · sluice
- gold depositsnugget, mother lode, Klondike
- US Miningsilver mining, copper mining, coal miner, iron mining, lead mining
- gold miningpan, panning, nuggets, sluice box, prospector
California goldfool's gold
Iron sulfide mineral
pyrite · bust · broken dreams · empty promise
California, Californian, Californians, gold, golden, golds, gilded