Gold Rush: 1848–1860: "I Saw the Elephant"
Click image to zoom in.Or view larger version. Untitled (Miner with Shovel). ca. 1850. Photographer unknown. Daguerrotype. Collection of Oakland Museum of California.
This photograph is a portrait of an anonymous 49er with his shovel. During the Gold Rush, a miner’s most important tools were his pick, shovel and gold pan. The 49ers tools were simple. They used pickaxes to break up the rock, shovels to move earth and stone, and gold pans to wash away the soil and gravel.