49er Jon McCabe pans for gold at Coloma.

Not much is known of the 49er’s first Christmas in California, not many wrote of it in diaries, letters or journals. From those who did a picture emerges of a very somber time. Most 49ers had only been in the diggings but a few months, they were thousands of miles from the places they called home and from those they loved. For most Christmas during those first epic years of the Gold Rush was nothing more then a painful reminder of what comforts they’d left behind; it often passed with little recognition or celebration. From the narratives of some Argonauts we can get a glimpse of what Christmas in the Mother Lode was like during those early years, this excerpt from one Gold Rush letter describes Christmas in the diggings…

One 49er described his first Christmas in California this way…

Although it appears from most narratives that many camps suffered through Christmas and the men easily digressed to their mining duties to relieve the melancholy, this was not the condition in all camps however. In 1849 miner William Kelly described Christmas along the Trinity River this way…

Clearly many miner’s opted to work on Christmas while others simply made the best of their circumstances and celebrated with plenty of watered down liquor to help pass the holiday blues. Years after the 49ers had arrived in the Mother Lode comforts in the diggings was still a rarity, workdays were long and most holidays were forgotten. For many, Christmas was the only holiday celebrated during the year.

By this time Coloma had become a major mining center with a large business district and a large ethnically diverse population. Charles B. Gillespie described Coloma in his Gold Rush journal like this…

Two years after Marshall’s discovery, 97% of the population in the Mother Lode were male. During those early years any celebration or event reflected the predominately male culture that had entrenched itself in the Sierra foothills. Leisure time frequently involved washing cloths, bathing, reading and writing letters, keeping a diary or journal, gambling, drinking, etc. A major attraction could be a dance, duel, or the bloody bull-and-bear fights that were so popular.

The influx of settlers to California saw a large upswing by 1853 and in the years to follow. As women and other comforts made their way into the diggings, the days of melancholy slipped away. As California became more settled, Christmas and other holiday or public events became more traditional. By 1855 the Mother Lode was undergoing major social change - families were moving into the mining regions! Schools, churches and civil organizations focused on community events and added stability to what had previously been the anarchy period of the California Gold Rush.

Each year in December the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park celebrates an old fashioned 1850’s Gold Rush Christmas. Family and friends join together to spend the day taking a trip back in time to the days of the California Gold Rush. The park’s historic buildings are open with volunteers in period dress portraying the townsfolk of Coloma nearly 150 years ago. Just imagine 150 years earlier a Christmas in Coloma as this Historic State Park reenacts the days of the miners. Visitors can stroll the streets of Coloma to find demonstrations including making rope, blacksmithing, spinning and weaving. You can even learn how to pan for gold just as the 49ers did!

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Additional Resource websites:
Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park www.coloma.com/calendar/christmas
Gold Rush Mercantile - www.marshallgold.org/mercantile