Frontier Cooking: Miners and Prospectors

During the gold rush (1849–1860) a major segment of the overland emigration rushed toward the gold and silver regions of California and Nevada, forming a mining population isolated in the remote reaches of the Sierra Nevada, in the Comstock Lode, and in the gold-mining regions of Idaho and Colorado. Drawn from every nationality—including Chileans, French, Australians, Chinese, Hawaiians, and more—and from every region of the country, the gold rush population veered from privation to plenty, with foods to accommodate every pocket.