Of Things Past and Imagined
  • Home
    • About me
  • History
  • Book reviews
  • Authors & Illustrators
  • Blog

History

The California Gold Rush of 1849

3/23/2018

 
Picture
On February 2, 1848, the American-Mexican War ended with the signing of a treaty that left California in the hands of the United States. Eight days before, carpenter James Marshall had found flakes of gold in the American River in the Sierra Nevada mountains while building a sawmill of John A. Sutter, who owned a ranch in Sacramento Valley. To test if it was gold, Marshall tried to break the nugget between two rocks - only to find out that it could change shape, but not broken. He was sure that what he had discovered, was gold.

Marshall and Sutter tried to keep the discovery for themselves, but Mid-March, a San Francisco newspaper published an article reporting that gold had been found at Sutter's Mill. Within two weeks, the paper's staff had left to go to Sutter's creek. They were soon followed by about 75% of the male San Francisco population, who turned their backs on their fields and labors in the expectancy of making quick fortune with finding gold. By August, some 4,000 miners had reached the area.

The news soon spread worldwide, and by 1849, 80,000 men from the Americas, Britain, Australia, Europe and China arrived in California by ship or by the Californian trail. The would-be gold-miners migrating were called "forty-niners". The California population rose to over 200,000 in less than three years. Few women accompanied their husbands in the early years, and they took on the responsibility of running farms and businesses.

Read More

    Archives

    November 2020
    April 2020
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All
    14th Century
    15th Century
    16th Century
    17th Century
    18th Century
    19th Century
    20th Century
    America
    Art
    Eternal Women
    France
    Germany
    Literature
    Middle Ages
    Netherlands
    Paris Noir
    Roman Empire
    United Kingdom

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
Photo used under Creative Commons from fusion-of-horizons
  • Home
    • About me
  • History
  • Book reviews
  • Authors & Illustrators
  • Blog