Gold was discovered in 1823Gold was discovered in 1823 near Thomson, Georgia, with the first American gold rush starting six years later in 1829. Gold occurs in deposits along the Appalachian Mountains from Virginia to Alabama. Strikes were made in several places, including Columbia County, Georgia in what is today part of McDuffie County. While a true gold rush and the resulting economic boom times did not occur here, gold was steadily extracted from deposits through the early 20th century. Placer mining, or traditional panning for gold, was the earliest method for “finding color.” Later, hard rock methods came into wide-spread use to remove the ore and extract the gold. Stamp mills were established to facilitate crushing the ore. Miners were black, white, or Native American. They came from all walks of life, but all were seeking that most elusive of prey – instant wealth. A boom never came to the Little River area; instead, towns such as Dahlonega in North Georgia enjoyed the prosperity brought by the infusion of miners. Unfortunately, the success of the white miners and settlers was not shared by the Cherokee population. The wealth in the rocks provided the U. S. Government and President Andrew Jackson with the impetus to force through the Indian Removal Act of 1830, resulting in the 'Trail of Tears' where 70,000 Native peoples were forced from their land and marched to Oklahoma. The emptied land in Georgia was given away via a lottery. With the California Gold Rush in 1849 and the subsequent Colorado Gold Rush in 1859, interest in Georgia gold faded. But, with the establishment of the Currency Act in 1900, Georgia enjoyed a second gold rush. The Currency Act ensured that American money was backed by gold reserves. McDuffie County men like W. T. Fluker, Thomas E. Watson, and Oscar Dent owned or invested in gold mines and gold futures, anticipating a boom that never came. Many of these mines are now beneath the waters of Clark’s Hill Lake.
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