The Latest Breaking News from the Gold Rush

Who Owns California's Gold?

The Gold Rush was not only a scramble for wealth. It was also a scramble for property rights.

Reason · Sep 7

California's coastal sand dunes are becoming history, and the first-ever map shows how 165 years of development and erosion have shrunk a natural shield against storms and rising seas

California's iconic beaches are losing their natural sand dune protectors, with over half disappearing since the Gold Rush due to development. This loss, detailed in a new study, threatens coastal wildlife and leaves communities vulnerable to storms and rising sea levels. While restoration efforts show promise, the scale of past…

The Economic Times · Jun 23

Arborglyphs – Basque immigrant sheepherders left their marks on aspen trees in the American West

Throughout the mountains of the American West, carvings hidden on the trunks of aspen trees tell the stories of the sheepherders who made them as they passed through with their flocks. Most of the men who etched these arborglyphs into the living trees were Basques who, starting with the Gold…

The Conversation · Jun 20, 2024