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California Gold Rush

On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall was constructing a sawmill when he

discovered a gold nugget in the American River, northeast of present-day Sacramento. This

discovery was reported in the San Francisco news in March, but not many people believed it.

However in May, Sam Brannan sparked the ignition of the gold rush. He had collected a bottle

filled with gold dust and brandished it all around San Francisco. Now the residents and

everyone who didn’t believe it before, had proof of the discovery. Everyone, in and near town,

quit their jobs and rushed to the gold fields. The “New York Herald” caught wind of this

discovery in August and printed it out to the public. This turned the “rush” for gold, into a“stampede.” Gold Seekers from everywhere traveled over mountains, plains and sea to get to

California. The length and difficulty of the routes inspired the construction of the Panama

Railway, the world's first transcontinental railroad. The population of California grew so fast, that

it was incorporated into the Union as the 31st state in 1850, only two years after the United

States had acquired it from Mexico.

The news of the gold couldn’t be contained in the States however. The gold rush

triggered a global emigration of ambitious fortune-seekers from China, Germany, Chile, Mexico,

Ireland, Turkey, and France. Many of these gold-seekers did not intend to stay and live in the

United States, but to come and acquire as much gold as possible before returning home. During

the early days of the gold rush, everyone expected to become rich. No one was bothered by

others finding gold. Foreigners mined along side of everyone else. However as gold grew

scarce, the influx of Chinese and other foreign laborers led to ethnic tensions in California.

Emigrants also took advantage of the skills they brought with them and started businesses,

trading posts, importing goods to sell to miners, farming and ranching. More people were

making fortunes from selling supplies to miners, than the miners themselves.

Despite the ethnic tensions it caused, the Gold Rush forever changed the demographic

face of California by making it one of the most ethnically diverse states in the Union by the

middle of the 19th century. Before the gold rush, California was largely populated

by missionaries and Native Americans. The total population of California was about 2000 non-

natives. By late 1849 there were about 15,000 people, and in 1850 about 20,000 people. By

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1853 there were over 300,000 people living in California. This massive emigration of gold-

seekers quickly and greatly exhausted the rich surface and river placers in California. The

miners eventually moved when there were no more gold in California, and silver was discovered

in Nevada in 1859.