THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH - The first discovery of California gold took place on January 24, 1848, when a carpenter from New Jersey, James Marshall, spotted a gold nugget in a mill race he was building at the sawmill of John Sutter. Up until the Gold Rush, the population of California was about 13,000, half of whom were descendants of the original Spanish settlers. The United States had acquired California at the end of the Mexican War, and it might have remained sparsely populated for decades if the lure of gold had not become a sudden attraction.

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The California Gold Rush

by Robert McNamara 

The California Gold Rush was a remarkable episode in history sparked by the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill, a remote outpost in California, in January 1848.

As rumors of the discovery spread, thousands of people flocked to the region hoping to strike it rich.

In early December 1848, President James K. Polk confirmed that quantities of gold had been discovered.

And when a cavalry officer sent to investigate the gold finds published his report in a number of newspapers that month, "gold fever" spread.

The year 1849 became legendary. Many thousands of hopeful prospectors, known as "Forty-Niners," raced to get to California.

Within a few years, California transformed from a sparsely populated remote territory to a booming state.

San Francisco, a small town with a population of about 800 in 1848, gained another 20,000 residents the following year and was well on its way to becoming a major city.

The frenzy to get to California was accelerated by the belief that gold nuggets being found in stream beds would not be found for long.

By the time of the Civil War, the gold rush was essentially over.

But the discovery of gold had a lasting impact not only in California but on the development of the entire United States.

Discovery of Gold

The first discovery of California gold took place on January 24, 1848, when a carpenter from New Jersey, James Marshall, spotted a gold nugget in a mill race he was building at the sawmill of John Sutter.

The discovery was purposely kept quiet, but word leaked out.

And by the summer of 1848 adventurers hoping to find gold was already starting to flood into the area around Sutter's Mill, in north-central California.

Up until the Gold Rush, the population of California was about 13,000, half of whom were descendants of the original Spanish settlers.

The United States had acquired California at the end of the Mexican War, and it might have remained sparsely populated for decades if the lure of gold had not become a sudden attraction.

Flood of Prospectors

Most of the people seeking gold in 1848 were settlers who had already been in California. But confirmation of the rumors in the East changed everything in a profound way.

A group of U.S. Army officers was dispatched by the federal government to investigate the rumors in the summer of 1848.

And a report from the expedition, along with gold samples, reached federal authorities in Washington that autumn.

In the 19th century, presidents presented their annual report to Congress (the equivalent of the State of the Union Address) in December, in the form of a written report.

President James K. Polk presented his final annual message on December 5, 1848. He specifically mentioned the discoveries of gold in California.

Newspapers, which typically printed the president's annual message, published Polk's message. And the paragraphs about gold in California got a lot of attention.

The same month the report by Col. R.H. Mason of the U.S. Army began to appear in papers in the East.

Mason described a trip he had made through the gold region with another officer, Lieutenant William T. Sherman (who would go on to achieve great fame as a Union general in the Civil War).

Mason and Sherman traveled into north-central California, met with John Sutter, and established that the rumors of gold were entirely true.

Mason described how gold was being found in stream beds, and he also ascertained financial details about the finds.

According to published versions of Mason's report, one man had made $16,000 in five weeks and showed Mason 14 pounds of gold he had found in the previous week.

Newspaper readers in the East were stunned, and thousands of people made up their minds to get to California.

Travel was very difficult at the time, as "argonauts," as the gold seekers were called, could either spend months crossing the country by wagon, or months sailing from East Coast ports, around the tip of South America and then onward to California.

Some cut time from the trip by sailing to Central America, crossing overland, and then taking another ship to California.

The gold rush helped create the golden age of clipper ships in the early 1850s.

The clippers essentially raced to California, with some of them making the trip from New York City to California in less than 100 days, an astounding feat at the time.

Impact of the California Gold Rush

The mass migrations of thousands to California had an immediate impact.

While settlers had been moving westward along the Oregon Trail for nearly a decade, California suddenly became the preferred destination.

When the administration of James K. Polk first acquired California a few years earlier, it was generally believed to be a territory with potential, as its harbors could make a trade ​with Asia possible.

The discovery of gold, and the great influx of settlers, greatly accelerated the development of the West Coast. 

Robert McNamara

First-ever history editor for Amazon.com

Former magazine writer and fact checker for major publications including Rolling Stone, New York, and the Chicago Tribune

Experience

Robert McNamara is a history writer and former magazine journalist. He has served as a staff member at Rolling Stone and a freelance writer and fact checker for major magazines including New York, Esquire, Spy, and the magazine sections of the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News.

Robert served as the first nonfiction editor and the first history editor for Amazon.com. In that role, Robert wrote articles about books and authors, interviewed historians, and published reviews.

Robert has covered history for ThoughtCo (formerly About Education) since 2007. 

Education

Robert studied history and journalism at New York University.

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https://www.thoughtco.com/the-california-gold-rush-1773606