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Demographics of the Gold Rush

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A gathering of women on Main Street, Mokelumne Hill, ca. 1900 (Courtesy Hotel Leger.)

Through a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Calaveras Heritage Council commissioned a study of the population of Calaveras County from historian Dr. Joseph Giovinco.  Completed in 1980, it has provided a baseline of information on not only the make-up of the county, but how Calaveras compared to neighboring Mother Lode counties in the Northern and Southen Mines. Particularly useful are Tables at the end of the report which depict the percentage of countries of origin per county between 1850 and 1910 including Italian, Irish, English, Scotch, German and Chinese.  The complete document is available here: 

Ethnic Dimenson of Calaveras County.pdf