West Coast Gold Rush

Gold rush in the South Island, New Zealand

For the gold rush to the West Coast of the United States, see California Gold Rush.

Earth crushing in Reefton, circa 1877

The West Coast Gold Rush, on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island, lasted from 1864 to 1867.

## Description[edit]

The gold rush populated the area, which up until then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near the Taramakau River in 1864 by two Māori, Ihaia Tainui and Haimona Taukau. In 1865–66 gold was discovered at Ōkārito, Bruce Bay (the scene of the Hunt's Duffer gold rush), around Charleston and along the Grey River.

Miners were attracted from the Otago Gold Rush, and from Victoria, Australia where the Victorian gold rush had nearly finished. By the end of 1864 there were an estimated 1800 prospectors on the West Coast, with many in the Hokitika area. Hokitika was in 1866 the most populous settlement in New Zealand with a population of more than 25,000, and boasted more than 100 pubs.

The Canterbury Provincial Council in Christchurch tasked their provincial engineer, Edward Dobson, to examine every possible pass to the West Coast from the watersheds of the Waimakariri, Taramakau and Hurunui Rivers. After finishing his examination, he declared that "Arthur's pass" was by far the most suitable to get to the gold fields; his son Arthur had discovered a pass in 1864.[1] The provincial government decided that a road was to be built between Christchurch and Hokitika over Arthur's Pass, a distance of 156 miles (251 km), and Edward Dobson was put in charge of the project.[1] The road was opened on 20 March 1866.[2]

In 1867 the rush began to decline, though gold mining continued on the Coast for some years. In the 1880s, quartz miners at Bullendale and Reefton were the first users of electricity in New Zealand.[3]

The main towns on the West Coast had been established, as well as many gold rush towns like Okarito (at one time the largest town on the Coast) and Charlestown (later renamed Charleston), which both almost vanished when the miners moved on. The Coast was the second-richest gold-bearing area of New Zealand after Otago.

## In popular culture[edit]

Eleanor Catton's novel The Luminaries, which won the 2013 Man Booker Prize, is set in Hokitika during the West Coast Gold Rush.[4] This setting was partly inspired by Elsie Locke's classic New Zealand children's novel The Runaway Settlers, which also features the gold rush.[5][6]

In Rose Tremains's 2003 novel The Colour a British couple emigrate to New Zealand and the husband gets swept up in the gold rush. The title refers to the gold prospectors' term for very fine particles of gold.[7]

## See also[edit]

* Mining in New Zealand

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b A. H. McLintock, ed. (22 April 2009) [1966]. "Dobson Brothers". An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand. Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga. Archived from the original on 12 June 2011. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
2. ^ Starky, Suzanne. "Dobson, Edward". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
3. ^ McKinnon, M. (ed.) New Zealand Historical Atlas: Ko Papatuanuku e Takoto Nei (Auckland, David Bateman, 1997) ppl,44. ISBN 1-86953-335-6
4. ^ Mussen, Deidre (26 March 2013). "Catton's novel brings old family links to life". The Press. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
5. ^ Larsen, David (24 July 2013). "Eleanor Catton: the stars align again". New Zealand Listener. Retrieved 9 March 2020 - via www.noted.co.nz.
6. ^ McEvoy, Marc (14 September 2013). "A star-struck way to write". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
7. ^ "Colour - THE GOLD GLOSSARY". 10 April 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.

## Further reading[edit]

* May, Philip Ross (1962). The West Coast Gold Rushes. Christchurch: Pegasus Press.

## External links[edit]

* Gold on the West Coast from Te Ara, Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
* The Wakamarina and West Coast Gold Rushes from the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand
* Geology of the Reefton Gold-veins (1908 paper)
* Gold Fever – article
* Map showing goldfields
* Gold discoveries – Wakamarina and the West Coast

* v
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* e

Gold rushes of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries

United States|

* Carolina (1800s)
* Georgia (1829)
* California (1848)
* Pike's Peak (1858)
* Black Hills (1876)
* Nome (1899)
* Fairbanks (1902)

Canada|

* Queen Charlottes (1851)
* Fraser Canyon (1858–60)
* Rock Creek (1860)
* Similkameen (1860)
* Stikine (1861–62)
* Cariboo (1861–66)
* Nova Scotia (1861–74, 1896–1903, 1932–42)
* Wild Horse Creek (1863–65)
* Leechtown (1864–65)
* Big Bend (1865)
* Omineca (1869)
* Cassiar (1871–?)
* Cayoosh (1884)
* Klondike (1897–1903)
* Porcupine (1911)

Australia|

* Victorian (1851)
* New South Wales (1851)
* Western Australian (1880s–1890s)

New Zealand|

* Otago (1861–63)
* West Coast (1864–67)
* Coromandel (1860s–1870s)

Latin America|

* Ouro Preto, Brazil (1750)
* Tierra del Fuego (Chile-Argentina) (1883)
* Serra Pelada, Brazil (1980)

Europe|

* Kildonan, Scotland (1869)
* Lapland, Finland (1870)

Africa|

* Witwatersrand, South Africa (1886)
* Kakamega, Kenya (1930s)

Part of a series on Gold mining

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Financial bubbles

* Market trend
* Credit cycle
* Diamond rush
* Irrational exuberance
* Social contagion
* Real-estate bubble
* Stock market bubble

Commercial revolution
(1000–1760)|

* Tulip mania (1634–1637)
* Mississippi bubble (1684–1720)
* Brazilian Gold Rush (c. 1690–c. 1900)
* South Sea bubble (1711–1720)
* Bengal Bubble of 1769 (1757–1769)

1st Industrial Revolution
(1760–1840)|

* Canal Mania (c. 1790–c. 1810)
* Carolina gold rush (1802–1825)
* 1810s Alabama real estate bubble
* Georgia Gold Rush (1828–c. 1840)
* 1830s Chicago real estate bubble
* Chilean silver rush (1830–1850)

1840–1870|

* Railway Mania (c. 1840–c. 1850)
* California gold rush (1848–1855)
* Queen Charlottes Gold Rush (1851)
* Victorian gold rush (1851–c. 1870)
* New South Wales gold rush (1851–1880)
* Australian gold rushes (1851–1914)
* Fraser Canyon Gold Rush (1858)
* Pike's Peak gold rush (1858–1861)
* Rock Creek Gold Rush (1859)
* Pennsylvania oil rush (1859–1891)
* Similkameen Gold Rush (1860)
* Stikine Gold Rush (1861)
* Colorado River mining boom (1861–1864)
* Otago Gold Rush (1861–1864)
* Cariboo Gold Rush (1861–1867)
* First Nova Scotia Gold Rush (1861–1874)
* West Coast Gold Rush (1864–1867)
* Big Bend Gold Rush (c. 1865)
* Vermilion Lake gold rush (1865–1867)
* Kildonan Gold Rush (1869)
* Omineca Gold Rush (1869)

2nd Industrial Revolution
(1870–1914)|

* 1870s Lapland gold rush
* Coromandel Gold Rushes (c. 1870–c. 1890)
* Cassiar Gold Rush (c. 1870–c. 1890)
* Black Hills gold rush (1874–1880)
* Colorado Silver Boom (1879–1893)
* Western Australian gold rushes (c. 1880–c. 1900)
* Indiana gas boom (c. 1880–1903)
* Ohio oil rush (c. 1880–c. 1930)
* Tierra del Fuego gold rush (1883–1906)
* Cayoosh Gold Rush (1884)
* Witwatersrand Gold Rush (1886)
* Encilhamento (1886–1890)
* Cripple Creek Gold Rush (c. 1890–c. 1910)
* Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899)
* Second Nova Scotia Gold Rush (1896–1903)
* Kobuk River Stampede (1897–1899)
* Mount Baker gold rush (1897–c. 1925)
* Nome Gold Rush (1899–1909)
* Fairbanks Gold Rush (c. 1900–1918)
* Texas oil boom (1901–1918)
* Cobalt silver rush (1903–1918)
* Porcupine Gold Rush (1909–1918)

Interwar period
(1918–1939)|

* 1920s Florida land boom (c. 1920–1925)
* Fairbanks Gold Rush (1918–c. 1930)
* Texas oil boom (1918–1945)
* Cobalt silver rush (1918–c. 1930)
* Porcupine Gold Rush (1918–1945)
* 1930s Kakamega gold rush
* Third Nova Scotia Gold Rush (1932–1942)

Post–WWII expansion
(1945–1973)|

* Texas oil boom (1945–c. 1950)
* Porcupine Gold Rush (1945–c. 1960)
* Poseidon bubble (1969–1970)

The Great Inflation
(1973–1982)|

* 1970s commodities boom
* Mexican oil boom (1977–1981)
* Silver Thursday (1980)
* New Zealand property bubble (c. 1980–1982)

Great Moderation/
Great Regression
(1982–2007)|

* 1980s oil glut
* New Zealand property bubble (1982–)
* Spanish property bubble (1985–2008)
* Japanese asset price bubble (1986–1990)
* Dot-com bubble (1995–2000)
* Baltic states housing bubble (2000–2006)
* Irish property bubble (c. 2000–2007)
* 2000s commodities boom (2000–2008)
* 2000s Danish property bubble (2001–2006)
* United States housing bubble (2002–2006)
* Romanian property bubble (2002–2007)
* Polish property bubble (2002–2008)
* Canadian property bubble (2002–)
* Chinese property bubble (2005–11)
* Lebanese housing bubble (2005–2008)

* Chinese stock bubble of 2007
* Uranium bubble of 2007

Information Age
(2007–present)|

* 2000s commodities boom (2008–2014)
* Lebanese housing bubble (2008–)
* Corporate debt bubble (2008–)
* Australian property bubble (2010–)
* Cryptocurrency bubble (2011–)
* Everything bubble (2020–21)

* Carbon bubble
* Green bubble
* Social media stock bubble
* Unicorn bubble
* U.S. higher education bubble

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