Free and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 8 of 10 · 20 min
Whose Mother Lode: The Treaties Gold Broke
Every American gold rush ran through someone's homeland: Georgia raffled Cherokee land, California's Native population collapsed, the Nez Perce lost ninety percent of their reservation, and the Black Hills were taken in a case the Supreme Court called dishonorable. The episode follows the pattern into 2026, from Oak Flat to Thacker Pass to Bears Ears, with the critical-minerals case stated honestly.
Who's who
- George Armstrong Custer+1 more episodeLed the 1874 expedition that confirmed Black Hills gold
- Gavin Newsom+11 more episodesCalifornia governor whose 2019 apology to Native peoples used the word genocide
- Neil Gorsuch+5 more episodesJustice who dissented from refusal to hear the Oak Flat case
- Rich Haddock+3 more episodesBarrick Gold executive who gave the industry's view in 2025 Senate testimony
Where it happens
- Dahlonega, GeorgiaGold found in Cherokee country in 1828-29
- Black Hills, South Dakota+4 more episodesGuaranteed to the Sioux in 1868, taken in 1877
- Oak Flat, Arizona+1 more episodeSacred Apache site conveyed to Resolution Copper in March 2026
- Thacker Pass, Nevada+2 more episodesLithium project on a reported site of an 1865 massacre
- Bears Ears National Monument, Utah+2 more episodesCut by more than ninety percent in July 2026
- Pinyon Plain Mine, Arizona+1 more episodeUranium mine near Red Butte, south of the Grand Canyon
Timeline
- 1832Georgia raffles Cherokee land and gold parcels by lottery
- June 1863Lapwai treaty cuts the Nez Perce reservation by roughly ninety percent
- February 1877Congress seizes the Black Hills over the Fort Laramie Treaty
- 1980Supreme Court rules the Black Hills taking required compensation; the tribes refuse the money
- March 2026Title to Oak Flat transfers to Resolution Copper
- July 2026Proclamations cut Bears Ears from 1.36 million to 121,100 acres
Still debated
Details of the 1865 Thacker Pass massacre rest on tribal accounts in advocacy reports, not a neutral government record. Whether monument reductions are lawful is headed to court, and whether the historical pattern and the 2026 record are one phenomenon is left open.
← PreviousStay Out, Stay Alive: The Hole That Kills YouNext →A Century and a Half of Almost: Why the Law Never Changes
Connected episodes in other series
Grants Pass, Encampment Sweeps, and the Right to ShelterNo Fixed Address · Episode 10Also features Gavin Newsom, Neil Gorsuch
Why the Sioux Refuse Over a Billion DollarsAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 9Also features George Armstrong Custer
A War of ExterminationThe Smallest Nations · Episode 3Also features Gavin Newsom
The Lemon Test: The Rule That Governed Church and State for 50 YearsA Wall of Separation · Episode 6Also features Neil Gorsuch