West Coast gold rush

{{Short description|Gold rush in the South Island, New Zealand}} {{for|the gold rush to the West Coast of the United States|California gold rush}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=November 2024}} {{use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} [[File:Boatman's Crushing Machine near Reefton, circa 1877.jpg|thumb|Rock crushing in [[Reefton]], circa 1877]]

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

==Description== 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, New Zealand|Charleston]] and along the [[Grey River (New Zealand)|Grey River]].

Miners were attracted from the [[Otago gold rush]], and from [[Victoria (Australia)|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 [[pub]]s.

The [[Canterbury Provincial Council]] in [[Christchurch]] asked their provincial engineer, [[Edward Dobson]], to examine every possible pass to the West Coast from the watersheds of the [[Waimakariri River|Waimakariri]], [[Taramakau River|Taramakau]] and [[Hurunui River]]s. After finishing his examination, Dobson declared that "Arthur's pass" was by far the most suitable to get to the gold fields: his son [[Arthur Dudley Dobson|Arthur]] had discovered a pass in 1864.<ref name="Te Ara Dobson Brothers">{{cite book | title=An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand | orig-year=1966 |publisher=Ministry for Culture and Heritage / Te Manatū Taonga |url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/dobson-brothers/1 | editor=A. H. McLintock | access-date= 7 May 2011 | chapter= Dobson Brothers | date= 22 April 2009 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110612094148/http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/dobson-brothers/1| archive-date= 12 June 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> The provincial government decided that a road should be built between Christchurch and Hokitika over [[Arthur's Pass (mountain pass)|Arthur's Pass]], a distance of {{convert|156|miles|km}}, and Edward Dobson was put in charge of the project.<ref name="Te Ara Dobson Brothers" /> The road was opened on 20 March 1866.<ref>{{DNZB|Starky|Suzanne|1d14|Dobson, Edward|7 May 2011}}</ref>

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.<ref name="PLATE44">McKinnon, M. (ed.) ''New Zealand Historical Atlas: Ko Papatuanuku e Takoto Nei'' (Auckland, [[David Bateman]], 1997) ppl,44. {{ISBN|1-86953-335-6}}</ref>

The main towns on the West Coast had been established, as well as many gold rush towns like [[Ōkārito Lagoon|Okarito]] (at one time the largest town on the Coast) and [[Charleston, New Zealand|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== [[Eleanor Catton]]'s novel ''[[The Luminaries]]'', which won the [[2013 Man Booker Prize]], is set in Hokitika during the West Coast Gold Rush.<ref>{{cite news | date=26 March 2013 | first1=Deidre | last1=Mussen | url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/9867720/Cattons-novel-brings-old-family-links-to-life | title=Catton's novel brings old family links to life | work=[[The Press]] | access-date=6 January 2015}}</ref> This setting was partly inspired by Elsie Locke's classic New Zealand children's novel ''The Runaway Settlers,'' which also features the gold rush.<ref>{{Cite magazine |url= https://www.noted.co.nz/archive/archive-listener-nz-2013/eleanor-catton-the-stars-align-again |title=Eleanor Catton: the stars align again |first=David |last=Larsen |date=24 July 2013 | magazine=[[New Zealand Listener]] |via=www.noted.co.nz | access-date=2020-03-09}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url= https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/a-starstruck-way-to-write-20130912-2tmfc.html |title=A star-struck way to write |last=McEvoy |first=Marc |date=2013-09-14 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=2020-03-09}}</ref>

In [[Rose Tremain]]'s 2003 novel ''[[The Colour (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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-10 |title=Colour – THE GOLD GLOSSARY |url=https://goldglossary.com/slang/colour/ |access-date=2023-10-25 |language=en-US}}</ref>

''Hokitika Town'' by [[Charlotte Randall]], published in 2011, is a novel told from the point of view of a Māori boy hanging around the pubs of Hokitika in 1865.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hokitika Town by Charlotte Randall |url=https://www.penguin.co.nz/books/hokitika-town-9781742287652 |access-date=2026-01-11 |website=www.penguin.co.nz |language=en}}</ref>

==See also== *[[Mining in New Zealand]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite book | first=Philip Ross | last=May | year=1962 | title=The West Coast Gold Rushes | publisher=Pegasus Press | location=Christchurch}}

==External links== *[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/gold-and-gold-mining/4 ''Gold on the West Coast'' from Te Ara, Encyclopedia of New Zealand] *[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/gold-discoveries/3 ''The Wakamarina and West Coast Gold Rushes'' from the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand] *[http://rsnz.natlib.govt.nz/volume/rsnz_41/rsnz_41_00_001960.html ''Geology of the Reefton Gold-veins'' (1908 paper)] *[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/west-coast-region/9 Gold Fever – article] *[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/west-coast-region/9/1 Map showing goldfields] *[http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/1966/gold-discoveries/3 Gold discoveries – Wakamarina and the West Coast]

[[Category:West Coast Gold Rush| ]] [[Category:History of the West Coast Region]] [[Category:New Zealand gold rushes]] [[Category:1864 in New Zealand]]