The Georgia Gold Rush was the second significant gold rush in the United States. It started in 1828 in the present day Lumpkin County near county seat Dahlonega, and soon spread through the North Georgia mountains, following the Georgia Gold Belt. By the early 1840s, gold became harder to find. When gold was discovered in California in 1848 to start the California Gold Rush, many Georgia miners moved west. While the discovery in Georgia in 1828 was the event that led to the Georgia Gold Rush, there were reports of gold in the North Georgia Mountains much earlier. Since the 16th century,... American Indians in Georgia told European explorers that the small amounts of gold which they possessed came from mountains of the interior. Some poorly documented accounts exist of Spanish or French mining gold in north Georgia between 1560 and 1690, but they are based on supposition and on rumors passed on by Indians. In summing up known sources, Yeates observed: “Many of these accounts and traditions seem to be quite plausible. Nevertheless, it is hardly probable, that the Spaniards would have abandoned mines, which were afterwards found to be quite profitable, as those in North Georgia.
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