History will repeat itself in El Dorado County from September 11-18, as the world rushes in for the 2016 World Gold Panning Championship. Gold isn’t only a part of El Dorado County’s past, but a part of its present and future, too.

This will be the second time the World Gold Panning Championship has come to El Dorado County. The first showing was September 28-October 4, 1998, and was part of a three-year Sesquicentennial Celebration marking the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold in Coloma.

Gold panning, which drew tens of thousands of would-be miners from all over the world to California in the mid-1800s, is now considered a sport in many parts of the world. 

The World Gold Panning Championship began in 1977 in Finland. Today, participants from over 20 countries compete against one another in a competition of time and quantity. Each competitor is timed as they pan through 22-44 pounds of sand that hides 5-12 tiny pieces of gold. Times are adjusted based on the amount of gold found. In the early years, the competitions were held only in Finland. In 1981, the World Gold Panning Association was formed, made up of members from the competing countries, and the annual competition was held each year in a different member country.

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park (MGDSHP) played host to the U.S. National Gold Panning Championships in 1994 and again in 1997. The competitions were hosted by California State Parks, the Gold Discovery Park Association (the nonprofit for MGDSHP), and supported by local and corporate sponsorships.

In 1994, Rosanne McHenry—then supervising ranger at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park—traveled to the World Gold Panning Championship in Austria to petition to bring the world event to Coloma in 1998, as part of El Dorado County’s Sesquicentennial Celebration. Once the championships were secured, park staff worked with local gold panning groups to organize the event and with a county committee to incorporate festivities into the Sesquicentennial. Among the many businesses providing funding for the events was Intel, which pledged $10,000 to support various activities in the park including the championships, Gold Rush Days, Christmas in Coloma, and Gold Discovery Day.

According to the August 24, 1998, edition of the Mountain Democrat, the championships were part of a larger event, which included music, entertainment, living history demonstrations, a wagon train and gold panning lessons. In addition to being able to keep the gold found during the competition, competitors received a personalized copy of an 1850s mining claim, a souvenir participation certificate and a keepsake. The festivities also included an international gold symposium featuring experts on gold and noted authors of books on the discovery of gold.

Approximately 500 panners hailing from 20 countries participated in the event, as 20,000 spectators looked on. The banks of the American River once again echoed with voices and languages from all over the globe. Two local participants, Alan Watson of Camino and Joyce Schickling of El Dorado, were chosen as the best gold-panning contestants in the U.S.

by Jerrie Beard // Photo courtesy of eldorado2016.com.

eldorado2016.com

Sources:

Mountain Democrat: September 9, 1994; July 4, 1997; October 8, 1997; December 1, 1997; August 24, 1998; January 4, 1999; June 7, 1999

worldgoldpanningassociation.com/eldorado2016.com/championships