Gold Discovery

Gold Discovery is a Minnesota historical marker in Olmsted County.

Olmsted County · U. S. highway 52, crossing of the Zumbro River near Oronoco Post Office · location approximate

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During the summer of 1856 discoveries of gold were reported along the banks of the Zumbro River in this vicinity. A lively gold rush, involving several hundred men, followed, and much panning and sluicing were done. Spring freshets and the panic of 1857 swept away the developments and with them Oronoco's gold prosperity.

Verbatim 1940 text, presented as a historical record, not current interpretation. Minnesota now calls the 1862 conflict the U.S.-Dakota War and has since replaced the wording on some of these signs.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project, Work Projects Administration, Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department Cooperating with the Minnesota Historical Society (1940)

Gold Discovery

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