prospector

Some were former gold prospectors priced out of work because of a predatory state tax on foreign miners.

"People would go in as a prospector, to flip bottles for two to three times the value."

When Chinese immigrants who had provided laundry services for prospectors began to creep in from the outskirts into predominantly white districts, locals tried physical intimidation and other tactics to force them out.

However, off-roaders, rockhounders and prospectors who mine small claims in the area have expressed concern that the protections will impede their use of the land.

Back then, even Southern California, so far from the action, managed to profit from the gold fields up north, from selling cattle to feed the hungry prospectors.