As the world rushed in to California, the
gold seekers found themselves in a land beyond the reach of any established
law. They ignored the tribal governments of the California Indians
and had little respect for the past practices of Mexican rule. The
mining regions remained largely unaffected by the actions of American
military governors and officials of the newly formed state government.
Concerned about regulating and securing their mining
claims, the miners took matters into their own hands. They formed
more than 500 self-governing mining districts. Within each district
was an elected recorder, variously called an arbitrator or chairman,
whose duties were to keep a record of all claims in the district
and to settle disputes over contested claims.
Each district adopted its own unique mining codes.
The codes defined such things as the maximum size of claims, the
process of filing them, the necessity for continually working them,
and what constituted the abandonment of a claim.
The mining districts
were democratic bodies, but many also were discriminatory. They
commonly excluded African Americans, Asians, and Latinos. The
miners also banded together to administer vigilante justice, banishing
or lynching those whom they suspected of wrongdoing.
