The Macon Telegraph reported that in "the winter of 1829 and 30, when the precious metals having been discovered in great abundance upon our Cherokee soil, great numbers of people from Georgia and other States rushed to the Territory in search of its treasures."[REF] .
Other estimates were that in 1831 there were 6,000 to 10,000 miners between the Chestatee River and the Etowah River.