1849 The California Gold Rush

1849 The California Gold Rush

Gold! On the morning of January 24, 1848, James Marshall went to inspect the new mill his crew was building. In the mill's water, he spotted something shiny. He collected several pieces and showed his crew. They tested the pieces. It was gold! Four days later, Marshall went to show John Sutter, who owned the mill. Sutter had no wish to be overrun with gold hunters. Everyone agreed to keep the secret: gold had been discovered in California.

Keeping a Secret In 1848, the world was very different from today. There were no phones, TVs, or radios. There were no roads or railroads connecting California with the states in the East. It was harder to get a message from the East Coast to California than it is to get a message to Mars today. At the time of Marshall's discovery, California belonged to Mexico. Nine days later, Mexico signed a treaty that gave California to the United States. Neither side knew about the gold. The secret got out when Sam Brannan found out. Brannan had a store at Sutter's Fort, where John Sutter lived. Brannan wanted to cash in when he heard the news, but he wasn't interested in mining. Instead, he bought all the shovels in San Francisco. Then he filled a bottle with gold dust and ran through the streets yelling about the great discovery. The city of 850 people almost emptied--after Brannan sold them each a very expensive shovel.

Panning Unlike in most places, the gold in California was not locked deep under the ground. Erosion had long ago washed the metal down the mountains into the rivers. All people needed for placer mining was a shovel and a shallow, flat pan. Placer mining works because gold is much heavier than gravel. The prospectors stood in the rivers and shoveled gravel into their pans. They removed large rocks, then carefully swirled the pan. The dirt and gravel spilled over the edges with the water. The shiny flakes of gold stayed at the bottom of the pan.

People from California and Oregon soon showed up to work the rivers near Sutter's Mill. Some of them were European, and some were Native American. Others came from Mexico. Next came prospectors from South America and Asia. At that time, it was easier to get to California from China than from the East Coast.

The Forty-Niners Back in the eastern states, gold fever didn't take hold until 1849. That year, ninety thousand people joined the gold rush. These were the forty-niners. Many gold seekers were clerks, teachers, or lawyers. Nine out of ten were men. Many couldn't cook, wash a shirt, build a shelter, or harness oxen to pull a wagon. Many left behind families. They planned to quickly make a fortune and come home. Around the Tip About half of the forty-niners decided to go by ship. More than five hundred ships left eastern and Gulf ports in 1849 for California. Ships took from five to eight months to sail from the East Coast, around the tip of South America, and back up to California.