Victorian gold rush in the Melbourne "Argus" on 8 September 1851, leading to a rush to the Mount Alexander or Forest Creek diggings, centred on present-day Castlemaine, claimed as the richest shallow alluvial goldfield in the world. These discoveries were soon surpassed by Ballarat and Bendigo. Further discoveries including Beechworth in 1852, Bright, Omeo, Chiltern (1858–59) and Walhalla followed. The population of Melbourne grew swiftly as the gold fever took hold. The total number of people in Victoria also rose. By 1851 it was 75,000 people. Ten years later this rose to over 500,000. Surface alluvial gold was the first to be exploited.
Women in the California Gold Rush Gold Rush, bounties were offered for "Indian hunters" who could prove they had killed a Native by bringing in a body part. The Indian population of California fell from 150,000 in 1848 when gold was discovered to 30,000 in 1870. Some Natives were able to escape extermination by passing as Mexicans. Stories of massacres, forced relocation, and kidnappings have been passed down through the generations, often by women, and are still remembered by California Native people today. Women in the California Gold Rush Women in the California Gold Rush, which began in Northern California in 1848, initially included Spanish descendants,