The Calfifornia Gold Rush

1. The Calfifornia Gold Rush 1848-1852

2. The Beginning The Calfirornia Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848. John Marshall, a foreman at Sutter’s Mill, found gold in an American River, right outside the mill in Coloma, California. He showed John Sutter, the owner of the mill, his findings.

3. John Sutter’s Secret • At first, John Sutter didn’t want to tell anyone about the findings. • He was of German/Swiss Immigration and he wanted to create an agricultural empire called Nuevo Helvatia. Or New Switzerland. He attempted to keep this a secret, figuring that if he took all the gold for himself, he could create his empire but soon the Francisco Newspapers found out and everyone on the west coast new about it.

4. Shortly after Marshall’s discovery, General John Bidwell discovered gold in the Feather River and Major Pearson B. Reading found gold in the Trinity River. This caused the Gold Rush to be in full swing by late 1849.

5. Migration to California • People began to flock from all over to find the newly found gold. • Immigration to California was started by the people in the Oregon County. People had settled there as early as 1840. • After the people from Oregon, people began coming from the Hawaii Islands(Sandwich Islands) • In the Autumn, new people were arriving from Mexico and in the Winter, people were arriving from all over South America.

6. Recognition on the East Coast On August of 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. On December 5, 1848, President James Polk told the Congress that there was Gold Rush happening in California, therefore causing more people to want to go there.

7. This was the first major recognition of gold in America as historians believe. In 1849, quartz mining began in Marisposa County, a county outside of Coloma. Many people understood that gold was found in quartz veins, meaning withing the quartz mines.

8. Many mining techniques, such as panning and cradling, were developed during the California Gold Rush. These techniques were later used in other gold rushes, such as the Klondike Gold Rush.

9. Statehood of California As more and more people found out about the Gold Rush, more people were coming to California. It is said that over 100,000 people came to California in 1848-1849. Because of the mass amount of immigration to California, California became a state in California became a state on September 9th, 1850.

10. Possibilities of Finding Gold It was said that during the 1840’s, about a nugget of gold was found for every person in the United States. However, during the 1850’s. one out of every 72 people found enough gold to be consided wealthy. In 1840’s, there was a 1 in 32 chance that someone would strike it rich. In 1850’s, there was a 1 in 172 that someone would strike it rich.

11. Wealth in the West Because of all the recognition, the Gold Rush was becoming more popular around the world. Because of this, California became an amazinly prosperous area. Because of all the people, resturants, mining towns, mining technology, and shops with mining gear were all created, which allowed Califonia’s population to become wealthy.

12. Becoming Lucky As the Gold Rush became more popular, it became increadibly harder for people to find gold. Since there was less of a chance to find gold as the gold rush became more popular, people were having to become lucky. If someone went to California and was not “lucky” enough to find gold, they would have had to start all over, not having a job or any means of income.

13. Since

14. Diffucluties with Travel Traveling to California was Difficult

15. Difficulties with Travel • Getting to California, unless living close to the region, was extremely difficult. • Many people had to be on the road, through mountains and other terrain, to get to California. • There was always the fear of robbers. Occasionally, people who needed money would rob people of their supplies as they were heading to California. They then would sell these supplies for a good sum of money.

16. Starting from Scratch • Because of all the different issues with traveling to California, many people had to decide whether they wanted to go to the Gold Rush or stay at home. • Due to the vast amount of land that had to be covered, very few people could make a round trip from home to California to home again. Therefore, to go to California, one had to drop everything and start from scratch.

17. Success Versus Failure As time grew on, many people were not successful in their attempt to get gold. They started from scratch in California, and then didn’t achieve what they sought out to achieve, destroying their life and causing them to have to find something else to do. Many families were destroyed this way, having to find a whole different life style.

18. The End of the Gold Rush Because of everything that was happening, in 1852, many people ceased to move to California. The ways to fail became overwhelmingly larger than the was to succeed. The Gold Rush roughly ended around 1853, although there is still accounts of people looking for gold all the way up to the 1860’s.