Category: Richardson

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What Is Gold Rush 2.0?

gold flakes in bottle or fool's gold?

With gold trading at more than $4,000 an ounce, a new gold rush is on. It’s caused a renewed interest in gold mining in the California hills. This recent gold rush has been dubbed Gold Rush 2.0 to differentiate it from the first gold rush in 1849 that attracted thousands of prospectors — Argonauts — from all over the world to San Francisco and the California gold diggings.

When I lived in California, the Gold Country was a major vacation spot for long weekends in summer and ski trips in winter. It still is. My family visited many gold rush towns over the years — Nevada City, Placerville, Sutter Creek, Angels Camp, Mokelumne Hill, Coulterville, and others. The town of Columbia, part of the Columbia National Historic Park, was a favorite. This preserved, nineteenth-century mining town had a wooden rocker or cradle set up so kids could search for gold flakes as sand, dirt, and water was sluiced down the rocker’s long chute.

gold flakes in pendant

In 1849, gold mining was a rough, dirty business, hard on the body. Early in the gold rush days, miners squatted at the edge of cold mountain streams or stood almost knee deep in them, in the scorching sun. Most used round pans with sloping sides that Chilean miners brought to shovel dirt in, swirl in the running water, and hope to see the glint of gold as the lighter particles of dirt washed out. You can still buy versions of these pans in Gold Country hardware or dry goods stores.

In 1849, when the onslaught of gold-crazed prospectors, those now known as Forty-Niners, arrived, merchants raked in more money than the miners by charging eye-watering prices for food, drink, tools, clothes, and transportation. Ghirardelli was there, selling the miners chocolate. In 1854, Levi Strauss landed in San Francisco and sold work pants and tents. Captain William A. Richardson and his son Esteban made their money by transporting miners to and from the goldfields, as well as by supplying prime beef, produce, and fresh water to the hotels and tent kitchens in San Francisco. I am writing about these wild days in my next book.

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Stimulating Book Talk with P.E.O. Members!

Book talk display

Last month, I had a great time presenting my novel Dancing on the Brink of the World to the Philanthropic Educational Organization, Chapter GJ. What a fine group of interesting women involved in helping young women succeed in this world through scholarships, grants, and loans. The theme we focused on was women’s roles and duties in the past and their difficult, laborious lives. I set up on a table visuals, including a map from my novel and a steel engraving print of Yerba Buena Cove, to help my audience go back in time to the 1820s.

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Where Can I Buy Your Book?

Book display

My novel is showing up on bookstore display tables in good company! Here’s my book at the awesome Sausalito Books by the Bay. I see it’s for sale in other countries too. Check out Hatchard’s Bookshop in London or Blackwells Bookstore in Oxford, UK. Grab a copy at your local bookstore.

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Book Club Discussion Questions

Photo of book Dancing on the Brink of the World

Several book clubs have bought my novel and are scheduled to talk about it. These reading guide questions might help stimulate your group’s discussion.

  1. If Captain Barney hadn’t forced William off the Orion, would he have chosen to stay?

2. William had to adjust to a new society, a mix of cultures, customs, and entertainment. Why did he reject some of the Californio way of life?

3. Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” How does this sentiment apply to William? Is this idea really true?

4. The novel’s title is a line from an Ohlone song. What significance did it have to the story?

5. General Mariano Vallejo said, “Richardson was the right man in the right place at the right time.” What were William’s qualities that suited him to the time and place? What were María’s? In what way did their personalities help keep them together?

6. María and her mother, Doña Martina, have a great deal of influence and knowledge. How did they influence their husbands? What actions of theirs pleased or bothered you? What roles do women perform today that influence others?

7. How do race, class, age, and religion affect the relationships between William and the Martínez family? Between him and Diego? Between the Indigenous people and the Franciscan priests?

8. William said he wanted to leave his family with more than footprints in sand. What did he mean by that? What footprints might people leave for their families?

9. What might happen next in William and María’s lives?

10. “Visions are worth fighting for,” according to Orson Welles. What was William’s vision, and did he achieve it?

11. Were you surprised by any of William’s or María’s decisions throughout the story? Why or why not?

12. Many historical figures interact with the Richardsons in this novel. How did the scenes with them affect your understanding of this early California period?

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Dancing on the Brink of the World Publishing Update

Novel preview

My ARCs have arrived!! Nope, not ships like Noah’s. “ARC” is publishing shorthand for  Advanced Readers’ Copy. 

These books resemble the final published book, scheduled for release on January 13, 2026. My book will be on bookstore shelves in just five months! I can’t wait for you to read about William Richardson’s sailing life in Alta California in the 1800s. And all the rough life and times during rancho and Spanish mission days.

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When did European sailing ships venture onto the oceans?

Model of square-rigged sailing ship

A visit to the Marine Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, reminded me of the Portuguese navigator Prince Henry, who encouraged brave sailors to sail the oceans, far from the safe shores of their home country. My photo shows a model of a Portuguese square-rigged sailing ship. Before the 1400s, most European sailing ships had a single lateen sail for navigating around the Mediterranean Sea. They were swift, and the sail was easy to move to take advantage of the wind’s changing directions. To navigate, mariners used portolan charts, maps that showed coastlines and ports.

Once Spanish and Portuguese sailors dared to travel further from shore into the ocean, they developed nautical maps which showed ocean currents and sea routes, not just outlines of the coasts. They preferred the large square sails for their larger ships. 

Sea captains were tempted to take chances on the open seas in pursuit of gold, silver, silk, and spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, pepper, and ginger. Portuguese ships followed the currents west and arrived in South America, claiming the land that is now Brazil as a colony for their country. Spain sent Columbus and other explorers west, but they landed further north, establishing colonies in what is now Mexico, Florida, and the Southwestern states to California, along what they named the Gulf of Mexico. The Spanish conquistadors invaded Mexico in search of gold and silver, but also discovered another treasure for Europe, chocolate.

The larger ships were also needed for whaling. Whale hunting for food dates back to prehistoric times, but later, commercial whaling ships sailed all the oceans and chased whales for their oil. Whale oil was valued for lighting and lubricating machinery. Whaling was not only dangerous but also nauseating when sailors boiled the blubber to extract the oil. In the 1800s, Captain William A. Richardson arrived in Alta California on a whaling ship. After surviving severe weather, a churlish captain, and treacherous whale hunts, he had less trouble deciding on his future.

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When will Dancing on the Brink of the World be published?

The official publication date is January 13, 2026. Three cheers! My novel is now available for pre-order online. You can find it listed on Simon & Schuster,  Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Bookshop, and Indigo. Be sure to look for my pen name – Marianne T. Rafter.

In author Tamim Ansary’s review of my novel, he wrote, “Rafter’s novel feels as solidly real as my world, because she takes me into it with such a wealth of historical details, I feel up close to the everyday life of these people, in this time and this place.” I hope you will order my book, and as you read it, be absorbed into Captain Richardson’s time, too.

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Did mariners and explorers in the early 1800s need passports to enter Alta California, a Mexican territory?

Three-story brick building on Ellis Island in New York City Harbor

Passports for individual people did not exist in 1822 when Captain William A. Richardson jumped ship on San Francisco Bay. Trading ships or warships visiting for trade or provisions handed Mexican authorities documents listing all crew members. Although Richardson himself had no passport at the time he landed, the California governor gave him permission to stay if he proved his worth, was baptized into the Catholic Church, and pledged loyalty to the Mexican government. In 1841, when John Bidwell, who later became a California state governor, staggered over the Sierra Nevada Mountains into Alta California in the first wagon train, he and his fellow Americans had to purchase passes in order to remain and settle there. Having lost most of their belongings on the arduous journey, they struggled to find enough money or items to trade for Mexican passports. They would have been imprisoned if they could not.

On an Ellis Island tour, I learned how immigrants were processed before being allowed to enter the United States in the 1890s. They faced the threat of being shipped back to their native country if they were ill, lame, or a criminal. Entering the country was a lengthy process. After a long ocean voyage, passengers were transferred from their ships to ferries that lacked food or fresh water and had to stay aboard them until Ellis Island authorities were ready to process new immigrants. These tired, hopeful, hungry people were questioned, poked and prodded by doctors, had their eyelids pulled back with buttonhooks to check for trachoma, and had to prove they could support themselves, not be a burden to their new country.

During the last two years, Americans returning from overseas were asked to get PCR tests for Covid-19 or be vaccinated to prevent the spread of a disease. There were grumblings and objections, but the process was so much simpler than the one immigrants had on Ellis Island.

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What is a cascarón?

A cascarón is an emptied chicken egg that has been filled with confetti. The Spanish word cascarón means “eggshell.” Similar to Easter eggs, popular in many cultures, these hollow eggs are a tradition that started in Spain and spread to Mexico when Spain colonized Central America. It is still a widespread tradition in the southwestern United States and Mexico. María Antonia Richardson and her daughter Mariana would have made many cascarones for fiestas during their lifetimes. To make these eggs, early California women poked small holes in one end of the eggs, blew out the raw contents, and rinsed the empty shells. After the shells dried, the women filled them with cologne or tiny pieces of brightly colored cut paper and sealed the holes with melted candle wax. The cascarones were saved to use at an Easter fiesta or a party. As guests arrived or during the dancing, a woman or man would secret an egg in one hand, hide it behind his or her back, and crack the cascarón on the head of the surprised partner or friend. A shower of fragrant cologne or bits of colored paper would cover the unsuspecting victim’s hair. Today, decorated cascarones are popular for birthdays and holidays such as New Year’s, Carnival, Cinco de Mayo, the Day of the Dead, and of course, Easter.

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Covid-19 Vaccinations in 2021

Old glass pharmacy bottles with gold labels

Just as many other people are, I’m anxiously waiting for a Covid-19 vaccination. How fortunate we are to live now when so many vaccines are available to prevent deadly diseases that regularly dispatched people at a young age. As I read in Bill Bryson’s book The Body: a Guide for Occupants, vaccines for smallpox, diphtheria, polio, and measles saved the lives of millions. Better sanitation, improved diets, and fresher foods also helped in a major way. 

In the early 1800s in Alta California, there were no doctors and little medicine. Smallpox caused virulent epidemics in the Native American population, but occasionally the vaccine was available to inoculate some of them. Because Captain Richardson had some medical experience during his service in the British merchant marines, he helped the friars at the California missions when he could. For common illnesses, most medicines were made from plants. Blackberry syrup was used to treat coughs. Indigenous people in California drank a tea made with the leaves of a native shrub, now known as mountain balm, as a remedy for coughs, colds, asthma, and bronchitis. After they taught Spanish settlers to use it, the Spanish called the herb yerba santa, meaning “holy or sacred herb.” Chemicals in the leaves are effective in loosening phlegm. Chumash people in Southern California probably taught Richardson to use the leaves in a poultice to relieve pain from sprains, bruises, and arthritis. When doctors or naval surgeons visited California, they might provide doses of medicines such as laudanum, mercury, or calomel. Some of these proved to be worse than the illnesses they were supposed to cure. Laudanum was addictive, and mercury, used to treat syphilis, could kill the patient.