The California Gold Rush (18481855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James w. Marshallsl at Sutter's mills, in Coloma, California News of the discovery brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of theunited ststesand abroad.Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland.
The gold-seekers, called "Forty-niners" (as a reference to 1849), often faced substantial hardships on the trip. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the Gold Rush attracted tens of thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China. At first, the prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as pannning. More sophisticated methods of gold recovery developed which were later adopted around the world. At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few. However, many returned home with little more than they had started with.
The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. An estimated 100,000 California Indians died between 1848 and 1868 as a result of American immigration.sanfransisco grew from a small settlement to a boomtown, and roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. A state constitution was written and California became a state in 1850 as part of the compromise of 1820.
(18481855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James w. Marshallsl at Sutter's mills, in Coloma, California News of the discovery brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of theunited ststesand abroad.Of the 300,000, approximately half arrived by sea and half came overland.
The California Gold Rush began at SUTTER MILLSnear Coloma On January 24, 1848 James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River.
Marshall brought what he found to John Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay: he wanted to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were a mass search for gold.However, rumors soon started to spread and were confirmed in March 1848 by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan. The most famous quote of the California Gold Rush was by Brannan; after he had hurriedly set up a store to sell gold prospecting supplies,Brannan strode through the streets of San Francisco, holding aloft a vial of gold, shouting "Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!" With the news of gold, local residents in California were among the first to head for the goldfields.
At the time gold was discovered, California was part of the Mexican territory of California which was ceded to the U.S. after the end of the Mexican-American War with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848.
On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald was the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, President James Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress Soon, waves of immigrants from around the world, later called the "forty-niners", invaded the Gold Country of California or "Mother Lode". As Sutter had feared, he was ruined; his workers left in search of gold, and squatters took over his land and stole his crops and cattle.
