Book Description

In 1861 Gabriel Read discovered rich gold in Gabriels Gully [near Lawrence] triggering ... the great gold rush to Otago. One year later Hartley and Reilly panned 87 pounds of gold from the Dunstan Gorge of the Clutha River and a second great rush of miners swept into the province. From the poorest province in the young colony it became the richest. As eager prospectors pushed their way further up the Clutha River and its tributaries fabulously rich strikes were made in the Arrow and Shotover Rivers. Instant gold towns sprang up at Clyde, Alexandra, Cromwell, Arrowtown and Queenstown and the population of Otago rocketed. In 1863 the pattern was repeated on the mountainous flanks of the Manuherikia Valley and the Maniototo Plain. ..."--Front cover verso.