California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush was the 1848-1858 gold rush, a type of mass hysteria, sparked by the discovery of gold near Sacramento, California. The period is marked by mass migrations into Northern California, almost exclusively men seeking an easy fortune. Most, however, barely found enough gold to pay for daily expenses. Nevertheless, it was among the most important eras of migration in American history, and led to statehood for California.

Gold discovered

On January 24, 1848, Marshall was inspecting the mill race, which had been dug too shallow and had just been deepened, when he saw something glint in the water. Elizabeth Jane "Jennie" Wimmer, the camp cook and laundress, had grown up in a prospecting family and used a lye soap solution overnight to verify that the 1/3 troy ounce nugget Marshall had found was true gold. Dubbing it the Wimmer Nugget, which was later appraised at $5.12, Marshall gave it to Wimmer on a necklace. It would later be displayed at the Columbian Exposition of 1893.

Related Topics:
January 24 - 1848 - Prospecting - Lye - Troy ounce - Nugget - Necklace - Columbian Exposition of 1893

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sutter wanted to suppress this fact because he was more concerned with expanding his utopian ideal of an agricultural empire than finding fortune in the cold American River. But when some Mexican workers working nearby found gold, rumors soon surfaced, and confirmed by San Francisco newspaper publisher and merchant Samuel Brannan, and the inevitable wave of immigration from around the world called the "49ers" soon invaded what would soon be called the Gold Country of California. As he predicted when he saw the gold nugget, Sutter was ruined as more and more of his agricultural workers left in search of gold and squatters invaded his land, shot his cattle and stole his crops.

Related Topics:
Utopia - American River - San Francisco - Samuel Brannan - Gold Country of California

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On August 19, 1848 the New York Herald was the first newspaper on the East Coast of the United States to confirm that there was a gold rush in California; by December 5, 1848, even President James Polk would announce this before Congress, significantly legitimizing the news.

Related Topics:
August 19 - 1848 - New York Herald - United States - December 5 - James Polk

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~