In November 1862, Thomas Arthur and Harry Redfern discovered gold in the area of today's Arthurs Point - about 4 ounces of gold within 3 hours! This was the beginning of one the largest gold rushes in Otago and the miners referred to the Shotover River as the 'richest river in the world'.br/br/Soon a remarkable discovery of gold was found further up the Shotover River at Māori Point by two Māori miners, Dan Ellison (Raniera Erihana) and Hakaria Maeroa. They could see on the opposite shore some promising appearances and boldly tried to cross the river. One of their dogs followed them and was washed away. Dan Ellison went to its assistance and could rescue the dog. At shore, he observed some particles of gold in the crevices of the rocks and started to examine the sandy beach beneath. With the aid of Hakaria, they gathered 25 pounds (or 300 ounces) of precious metal before nightfall.br/br/Charlestown boomed shortly after, being built on the flat land above Maori Point, peaking with a population of about 1,000 people. But by 1864 the easily gained gold had been won and the population dropped to about 400 people. Very little remains today of Charlestown; stones of a fallen chimney, a small plaque and an explanation booth mark the area.