By getting a miner's licence and pegging out a claim.
Claim. A miner staked a claim.
They were called claim jumpers.
settlers came to California to claim more land for their country
There was a lot of claim jumping during the Gold Rush. The fights had to do with who owned a working claim.
Where you buy or claim the land that you will search for gold on
The Klondike Gold Rush.
You ask for THE figurative image and there would be many of them, however the origin of the expression is from the gold rush when people would stick a stake in the ground to claim a piece of land.
Gold Rush Alaska - 2010 The Wrong Claim 3-2 was released on: USA: 2 November 2012
Gold Rush The Dirt - 2012 Claim Secrets 2-9 was released on: USA: 3 January 2014
Gold Rush The Dirt - 2012 Claim Visit 1-1 was released on: USA: 9 November 2012
Oklahoma land rush
to find new land, claim his new land, and look for gold.