August 1, 1862 - Jack Tewa discovers gold in Arrowtown

In August 1862, Jack Tewa (aka Māori Jack) sunk his shovel into the bed of the Arrow River and found gold. He took his findings back to his employer, William Rees. Rees wanted to keep the finding secret to avoid a gold rush but word soon got out. Within weeks, the number of men searching for gold in the Arrow River went from a few dozen to thousands.