From Sea to From Sea to Shining SeaShining Sea

Part 5Part 5

The California Gold The California Gold RushRush

Gold in California!Gold in California!

While the Mormons were going to Utah, immigrants were on the trail to Oregon, and settlers continued going

into New Mexico, people were also were heading to California in huge

numbers. Some exciting news from the Sacramento Valley had come out.

Gold had been discovered!!!

When Mexico had owned California, one of the few

foreigners they had let in was John Sutter from Switzerland. He was

granted 50,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley. He wanted to

build an agricultural empire.

In 1848, Sutter sent a carpenter named James Marshall to build a sawmill on the American River.

The American River

One day, Mr. Marshall inspected the canal that brought water to Sutter’s Mill. He later said:

“My eye was caught by a glimpse of something shining….I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump for I felt certain it was gold.”

Site of the 1848 California Gold Strike.

The news was impossible to keep secret. People excitedly

abandoned their regular jobs in nearby San Francisco, and flocked

to the gold fields in the Sacramento Valley in hopes of

getting rich. Soon gold was also found in the rivers and streams flowing out of the Sierra Nevada

Mountains.

San Francisco prior to the Gold San Francisco prior to the Gold RushRush

San Francisco in 1851San Francisco in 1851

In 1849, 80,000 people from around the world came to the region. They became known as “forty-niners”.

A 49er who wished to reach California from the East had a choice of 3 routes, all of them which were very dangerous.

Almost as dangerous as the throwing combo of Joe Montana to

Jerry Rice!!! ☺

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for Travelersfor Travelers

Option #1Option #1

Sail 18,000 miles around South America and up the Pacific coast.

Dangers faced, included rough storms, seasickness, and spoiled or rotten food.

Option #2Option #2

Sail to the narrow Isthmus of Panama, cross overland where you had the chance of catching a deadly tropical disease, and then hoping for a boat to sail on to California.

Option #3Option #3

Travel the trails across North America. On the way, you had to brave flooded rivers, prairies, mountains, and the other hardships of the trail.

At first, gold was found near the

surface, and you could dig for it

with knives. Later, people

“panned for gold”.

Surface MiningSurface Mining

Thousands came to get rich, and often “Boom Towns” sprang up

quickly. If towns were abandoned, they became known as “Ghost Towns”. The vast majority of

people never “struck it rich”, but many miners stayed and California grew rapidly. Often, people made more money selling supplies to the

miners, than people ever made mining for gold.

If gold or other important minerals were found, a town might suddenly start

growing, whereas a few weeks prior, no one had lived there.

The denim jeans created by

German immigrant Levi Strauss were

wildly popular. He is a great example of

someone who made money off

of the Gold Rush.

California’s Unique CultureCalifornia’s Unique Culture

►Native Americans Native Americans faced a lot of faced a lot of problems. Many problems. Many were driven from were driven from their homes, and their homes, and sometimes died of sometimes died of starvation or they starvation or they were murdered.were murdered.

►By the 1870’s, only By the 1870’s, only 17,000 remained.17,000 remained.

►Many Mexican-Many Mexican-Americans lost Americans lost lands that had been lands that had been in their families for in their families for years. They years. They struggled to keep struggled to keep their customs alive.their customs alive.

►They did get the They did get the state constitution state constitution written in both written in both English and English and Spanish.Spanish.

►Thousands of Thousands of Chinese were Chinese were attracted by attracted by stories of stories of “mountains of “mountains of gold”.gold”.

►At first they At first they were welcomed were welcomed as workers, but as workers, but then were then were driven off as driven off as they tried to they tried to mine for gold.mine for gold.

►Free blacks did Free blacks did try to search for try to search for gold. In the gold. In the 1850’s, 1850’s, California had California had the richest black the richest black population in the population in the U.S.U.S.

►As with other As with other minorities, they minorities, they were denied were denied certain rights.certain rights.

San Francisco turned into a major, bustling city, that for decades was

the most important city on the West Coast. Its population went

from 500 people in 1847 to 150,000 in 1870. Today, it is still a major center of banking, trade, and tourism. Its population today is around 800,000 people, with the

surrounding metropolitan area numbering in the millions.

Throughout much of California, there was a lot of violence and

crime without much law enforcement in the years following

the Gold Rush. VIGILANTE JUSTICE (taking the law into your

own hands) was common. California grew so quickly, that it soon had enough people to apply

for statehood. As we soon will see, that caused problems back in

the United States.