Cantonese Settlement in Early California

Gold Mountain () is a historical name for either

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, the

State of California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, or broadly the western regions of North America, including

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. After gold was found in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

in 1848, thousands of Cantonese from Toisan City in

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

(Historically known as Canton) began to migrate to California in search of gold and riches during the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. Chinese people historically referred to California and British Columbia as Gold Mountain, as evidenced by maps and returned

Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese people are Chinese people, people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 milli ...

. However, as a gold rush subsequently occurred in Australia,

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

in the then-colony of Victoria was referred to as "New Gold Mountain" (, ''Sān Gāmsāan''), and California became known as Old Gold Mountain (, ''Gāu Gāmsāan''); although "Old Gold Mountain" now specifically refers to San Francisco. As considerable time has passed since the 1850s California Gold Rush, foreign Cantonese speakers from Modern China don't refer to California as Gold Mountain anymore, but rather ''Gāazāu'' (加州); only the

California Cantonese Gold Mountain () is a historical name for either San Francisco, the State of California, or broadly the western regions of North America, including British Columbia, Canada. After gold was found in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada in 1848 ...

maintain the historic Gold Mountain name for California.

History

The name "Gold Mountain" was initially applied to California. Ships full of immigrants docked in San Francisco to disembark passengers, initially bound for the gold fields, but later to remain in the growing Chinese settlement in

. In the latter part of the 19th century, however,

also came to be referred to as "Gold Mountain" following the discovery of gold in the

Fraser Canyon The Fraser Canyon is a major landform of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. Colloquially, the term "Fraser Ca ...

in the 1857 and the subsequent group of Chinese from San Francisco arriving by boat in June 1858, and further Chinese settlers coming from California and directly from China later on to British Columbia (which they also referred to as "The Colonies of T'ang" i.e. China). The term thus broadened to mean "Western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

". The gold seekers in British Columbia first went to the

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, on the

Colony of Vancouver Island The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...

, to obtain supplies. Victoria was the dominant political and economic centre before the economic ascendancy of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

(which has its own

), and remains the official seat of political power in British Columbia today. Following the

Australian gold rushes During the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851, significant numbers of workers moved from elsewhere in History of Australia, Australia and overseas to where gold had been discovered. Gold had been found several times before, but the Colo ...

began in 1851, making Australia the 'New Gold Mountain', also referring to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

;

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

became "Sydney Gold Mountain" (, ''Syūtlèi Gāmsāan''). When the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the United Nations (UN). It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its United Nations System#Six ...

was signed during the

San Francisco Conference The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cal ...

in 1945, the official Chinese language text referred to the city as "Gold Mountain City" ().

References

*Hasley, Karen J.: "Gold Mountain" (Denver, CO: Outskirts Press, 2012) a work of fiction describing this time in history

External links

"Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America"
by David H.T. Wong. 2012.

from ''The Concubine's Children'' by Denise Chong. Accessed: 2006-04-09.

by Stephen Magagnini, San Francisco Chronicle, January 18, 1998. Accessed: 2006-04-09.

from ''The Chinese in California, 1850-1925.'' University of California, Berkeley/Library of Congress. Accessed: 2006-04-09. Cantonese people Cantonese culture Chinese diaspora Chinese-American history California Gold Rush History of British Columbia {{AsianAmerican-stub

History

See also

References

External links