At the beginning of the 1880s, rich gold placers were discovered in the upper reaches of the Amur. A law passed in 1865 that allowed private gold prospecting gave rise to a real “gold rush” on the Amur: thousands of people rushed to search for noble metal, dreaming of getting rich. This led to the creation of so-called prospector republics. The most famous of them was the Zheltugin Republic—or Amur California. First to flock to the shores of Zheltuga were escaped convicts hiding nearby. Then the Chinese arrived, calling the gold-bearing river Mohe. After a few months, other lovers of easy money began to come to the shores of Zheltuga from Russia as well. In the book “Gold,” Sylvester Alexandrovich Pospelov tells about the events of that time—gold mines, the life of gold seekers, the laws, and the structure of “Amur California.”