The following illustrations of California Mining scenes were, for the most part, created during the Gold Rush. They were used to illustrate newspaper and magazine articles, to show the world what life in the gold mines of California was really like. The quality of the images depended upon the talent of the artists, so some are much better than others. But they all give us an idea of how the world saw California during the early years of the Gold Rush.

Mining Life in California

Gold Diggings in California

Scenes in the Gold Diggings