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Women in California Gold Rush were scarce but played an important role. Some of the first people in the mining fields were wives and families who were already in California. A few women and kids and the few men who didn't leave their family worked right alongside the men but most men left their wives and families home. The number of women in California changed very quickly as the rich gold strikes and lack of women created strong pressures to restore sex balance. As travel arrangements improved and were made easier and more predictable the number of women coming to California rapidly increased. Most women probably came by way of Panama as this was one of the fastest trips (40–90 days) and one of the most reliable—although expensive in 1850--$400–$600/person one-way. Passage via Panama became much more predictable after the paddle wheel steam ship lines were up and running by late 1849. In Ireland, the Great Potato Famine was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852 that drove many desperate women to the United States and on to California. Women of many different countries, statuses, classes, and races were involved in the California Gold Rush. The rapidly increasing population had very few women in it and what women there were found myriads of opportunities. As word of the gold rush spread so did the word of opportunities for women to work in the women poor gold fields and communities. Women going to California to rejoin their families usually had their passages paid for by miners or businessmen who had decided to make California their new home. Most of the male Argonauts had originally planned on getting their gold and returning home to rejoin their families and enjoy their new riches.〔Richards, Benjamin; "California Gold Rush Merchant--the Journal of Stephen Chapin Davis"; Henry E. Huntington Library; 1956〕 Typically women euphemistically labeled as ''entertainers'' had little or no money for passage but as soon as they showed up in California they were hired by various saloons, gambling halls, dance halls, peep shows and/or brothels. The cost of passage was typically paid for by the ''entertainer'' agreeing to work for the payees for at least three to six months. These ’’entertainers’’ initially were the majority of the female population.〔Chidsey, Donald Barr; “The California Gold Rush”; p. 90; Crown Publishers; ASIN: B0006BW9JI〕 Very few of these ’’entertainers’’ made the five- to six-month trip by wagon on the California Trail or chose the five- to seven-month all sea journey around Cape Horn. As the gold mining and associated businesses prospered, many men decided to make California their new home and many husbands or potential husbands sent money back to their original homes for their women and families to join them. Others went back east to wind up their business there and escort their women and families to California. Many single men started communicating with female acquaintances they knew and many proposals were accepted with this long distance dating. Some communities back east were severely -60 days for a letter to go from California via Panama to a city in the east and another 40-60 days for a reply so this was ’slow’ courting. If these long distance proposals were accepted, the prospective groom if a successful miner or businessman sent money for passage and spending money. Usually as soon as the prospective bride got off the ship they were rushed to a preacher to get married. Most single women in California quickly had several proposals for marriage. As time went on the ever increasing immigration of more women and families started changing the composition of the female population and the ''entertainers'' soon became outnumbered. There were many unusual opportunities for women in the cities and gold fields as men, starved for female company, paid extravagant fees to associate with women or buy products that were made by women. There are several stories of women making more money selling homemade pies, doughnuts, etc. than their husbands made mining. Laundrys, Restaurants, lodging, mending, waiting tables, all paid good wages. These ''entertainers'' were joined by a few women (less than 3% of initial travelers) who came either overland via the California Trail or by sea with their husbands and families. They refused to be left behind to fend for themselves or miss an exciting life changing opportunity. A few of these travelers became widows as their husbands died of disease or were killed. On the California Trail, about 4% of the people on the trail died from accidents, cholera, fever, and myriad other causes, and many women became widows before even setting eyes on California. On the sea voyage via Panama there were the usual hazards of traveling across the Isthmus of Panama by canoe and mule, waiting in disease prevalent Chagres and Panama City, where cholera and yellow fever often took a dreadful toll—up to 30% of some groups of travelers. The final step was catching a paddle wheel steam ship for the 15-20 day trip to California. See Ulysses S. Grant's biography for a vivid description of the hazards of crossing Panama. The sex imbalance in California (indeed in most of the West) would persist though several generations as the number of females gradually increased to something roughly equivalent to the numbers of males. ==Number of Women== The 1850 U.S. California Census, the first census that included everyone, showed only about 7,019 females with 4,165 non-Indian females older than 15 in the state.〔U.S. Seventh Census 1850: California () Accessed 18 Aug 2011〕 To this should be added about 1,300 women greater than 15 from San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Contra Costa counties whose censuses were lost and not included in the totals.〔Newspaper accounts in 1850 (‘’Alta Californian’’) gives the population of San Francisco at 21,000; The special California state Census of 1852 finds 6,158 residents of Santa Clara county and 2,786 residents of Contra Costa County. Adding an estimate of the women (using the same ratio of men to women found in other mining communities) gives about 1,300 more females that should have been included in the 1850 census.〕 This gives about 5,500 females greater than age 15 in a total California population (not including Indians who were not counted) of about 120,000 residents in 1850 or about 4.5% female. The number of women in the mining communities and mining camps can be estimated by subtracting the roughly 2,000 females who lived in predominately Californio (Hispanics born in California before 1848) communities and were not part of the gold rush community. About 3.0% of the gold rush Argonauts before 1850 were female or about 3,500 female Gold Rushers compared of about 115,000 male California Gold Rushers. By California’s 1852 State Census the population has already increased to about 200,000 of which about 10% or 20,000 are female.〔“Historical Statistics of the United States, 1789–1945”; () Accessed 14 Apr 2011〕 Competition by 1852 had decreased the steam ship fare via Panama to about $200 and the Panama Railroad (completed 1855) was already working its way across the Isthmus making it ever easier to get to California. By the 1860 U.S. Federal Census California had a population of 330,000 with 223,000 males and 107,000 females—still a male to female ratio greater than 2 males to 1 female. By 1870 the population had increased to 560,000 with 349,000 males and 211,000 females or a ratio of 100 males to 38 females. Equilibrium female-male number parity would take till the 1950 census with a total population of 10,586,000; 5,296,000 males compared to 5,291,000 females.〔Bicentennial Edition: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970 Part 1; Series A 195-209 () Accessed 5 Apr 2011〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Women in the California Gold Rush」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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