NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS AND WHITE AMERICANS IN GOLD RUSH CALIFORNIA
Quarter Plate Daguerreotype
Most of the people depicted in this scene are Indigenous (i.e. Native American Indians). The Native Americans are of all ages and include females. There are also white men, some standing and some
resting on the ground.
There's a person lying down at left. Behind him or her, there's a white man crouching, seemingly in dialogue with others. There may be an African American man seated just to the right. A Native American child, next to the tree, peeks at the daguerreotypist. There are pots and a pan to the right, so there's a fire. There are sluices up on the hills. The sluices indicate Gold Rush Country, and more specifically, California.
We are pleased to offer this unique historically important document from the American West.