▁till ▁the ▁ 1 9 5 0 ▁census ▁with ▁a ▁total ▁population ▁of ▁ 1 0 , 5 8 6 , 0 0 0 ; ▁ 5 , 2 9 6 , 0 0 0 ▁males ▁compared ▁to ▁ 5 , 2 9 1 , 0 0 0 ▁females . ▁ ▁Early ▁arrival s ▁ ▁Women ▁of ▁all ▁different ▁status es , ▁classes , ▁and ▁races ▁were ▁involved ▁in ▁the ▁California ▁Gold ▁R ush . ▁ ▁The ▁rapidly ▁increasing ▁California ▁population ▁had ▁very ▁few ▁women ▁and ▁women ▁found ▁a ▁my ri ad ▁of ▁different ▁opportun ities ▁which ▁were ▁normally ▁not ▁available ▁to ▁them . ▁As ▁word ▁of ▁the ▁gold ▁r ush ▁spread ▁so ▁did ▁the ▁word ▁of ▁opportun ities ▁for ▁women ▁to ▁work ▁in ▁the ▁women ▁poor ▁gold ▁fields ▁and ▁communities . ▁Some ▁of ▁the ▁first ▁women ▁to ▁show ▁up ▁were ▁women ▁from ▁southern ▁California , ▁Son ora , ▁Ch ih u ah ua , ▁A cap ul co , ▁and ▁San ▁Bl as . ▁Since ▁Son or an ▁women ▁pre domin ated ▁they ▁all ▁were ▁typically ▁all ▁l abeled ▁‘ ’ ’ S on or ans ’ ’ ’ ▁or ▁‘ ’ S en or itas ’ ’ ▁by ▁the ▁min ers . ▁They ▁were ▁soon ▁joined ▁by ▁women ▁from ▁Pan ama , ▁E cuador , ▁Peru ▁and ▁Chile . ▁Since ▁Chile ans ▁pre domin ated ▁all ▁the ▁South ▁America ▁Lat inos ▁were ▁all ▁typically ▁called ▁‘ ’ ’ Ch ilen os ’ ’ ’ . ▁ ▁As ▁word ▁got ▁back ▁to