09/21/2026
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We have several Chilean families in the cemetery we will introduce you to. Placed at a prime location along the sea route to San Francisco, Chile's citizens were among the first in the world to get "la fiebre del oro"-gold fever!
By the mid-1850s, 8, 000 Chileans had arrived in San Francisco with hopes of to finding their fortunes. More importantly, they had experience with gold mining, indeed, anglos would soon get resentful of the seeming ease at which they found gold and seek to emulate Chilean mining techniques - while they sought to restrict mining access for non-whites. The Foreign Miners Tax went into effect on April 13, 1850, and was basically government-sanctioned harassment. $20 a month was an exorbitant amount of money at the time for miners that were already facing expulsion from the most productive claims in the mines by the Spring of 1850. Numerous merchants and lawyers also voiced their opposition to the tax, fearing a decline in business if the tariff drove non-white miners from California.
The state Legislature agreed and dropped the fee on March 14, 1851. But a new version designed to harass Chinese miners passed the Legislature in 1852.
