After the tests showed that it was gold, Sutter expressed dismay, wanting to keep the news quiet because he feared what would happen to his plans for an agricultural empire if there were a gold rush in the region. Marshall brought what he found to Sutter, and the two privately tested the metal. Marshall found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill he was building for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter-known as Sutter's Mill, near Coloma on the American River. In January 1847, nine months into the Mexican–American War, the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed, leading to the resolution of the military conflict in Alta California (Upper California). Marshall, discoverer of gold at Sutter's Mill Marshall's discovery 1855 illustration of James W. The friars instructed them to keep its location secret to avoid a gold rush. Minor finds of gold in California were also made by Mission Indians prior to 1848. Mexican miners from Sonora worked the placer deposits until 1846. In 1843, Lopez found gold in San Feliciano Canyon near his first discovery. Mint, although otherwise attracted little notice. In November, some of the gold was sent to the U.S. They found several in the northeastern section of the forest, within present-day Ventura County. Lopez and others began to search for other streambeds with gold deposits in the area. Lopez took the gold to authorities who confirmed its worth. While the horses grazed, Lopez dug up some wild onions and found a small gold nugget in the roots among the bulbs. Californian native Francisco Lopez was searching for stray horses and stopped on the bank of a small creek (in today's Placerita Canyon), about 3 miles (4.8 km) east of present-day Newhall, California, and about 35 miles (56 km) northwest of L.A. Gold was discovered in California as early as March 9, 1842, at Rancho San Francisco, in the mountains north of present-day Los Angeles. See also: History of California before 1900 Earlier discoveries Gold worth tens of billions of today's US dollars was recovered, which led to great wealth for a few, though many who participated in the California Gold Rush earned little more than they had started with.Ĭalifornia goldfields (red) in the Sierra Nevada and northern California At its peak, technological advances reached a point where significant financing was required, increasing the proportion of gold companies to individual miners. By 1869, railroads were built from California to the eastern United States. New methods of transportation developed as steamships came into regular service. Although mining caused environmental harm, more sophisticated methods of gold recovery were developed and later adopted around the world. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning. In September 1850, California became a state.Īt the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of "staking claims" was developed. The new constitution was adopted by referendum vote the future state's interim first governor and legislature were chosen. In 1849 a state constitution was written. Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia and China. Of the approximately 300,000 people who came to California during the Gold Rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail forty-niners often faced substantial hardships on the trip. Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon, the Sandwich Islands ( Hawaii) and Latin America in late 1848. Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for Gold Rush immigration). The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. The Gold Rush had severe effects on Native Californians and accelerated the Native American population's decline from disease, starvation and the California genocide. The sudden influx of gold into the money supply reinvigorated the American economy the sudden population increase allowed California to go rapidly to statehood in the Compromise of 1850. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W.
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