Pilgrim´s Rest town. Mpumalanga, South Africa.

( video 2003) In the 1840's the world wile gripped with gold fever, when large quantities of this precious metal were discovered in California. These early finds stimulated the search for gold in other countries. The history of the Mpumalanga gold fields date back to ancient times, when unknown miners worked the quartz reefs for gold. Traces of their mining activities can still be seen all over the Northern Province and Zimbabwe. A series of minor gold deposits were founnd in the northern parts of southern Africa between 1840 and the early 1870's. The first gold rush in South Africa took place in February 1873 when payable gold was discovered by McLachlan, Parsons and Valentine on the farm Geelhoutboom. President Burgers visited the fields, named the digger's camp Mac Mac and declared the area the New Caledonia Gold Fields. One of the Mac Mac diggers, Alec 'wheelbarrow' Patterson, left the area to prospect further a field. Patterson found rich gold deposits in the Pilgrim's Creek. He kept his discovery secret, but soon afterwards another digger, William Trafford, also discovered alluvial gold in the creek. The news of this rich strike triggered the first major gold rush in South Africa. Pilgrim's Rest was declared a gold field on the 22nd of September 1873. The Gold Commissioner moved his office to Pilgrim's Rest and by the end of 1873, there were approximately 1500 diggers working 4000 claims in and around Pilgrim's Rest. The valley was rich in gold and big finds were ...