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Clearly the man knew how to take advantage of a money making potential! And, as it happened, Samuel Brannan was the first to become a millionaire as a result of the California Gold Rush, but he did it by mining the miners (selling them the tools and supplies they needed), not the gold!
It all began on a dreary day in January, 1848 - the 24th, to be exact. James Marshall was the foreman of John Sutter's lumber mill project along the South Fork of the American River. While inspecting the tailrace (along with oft-forgotten Peter Wimmer), he spotted what looked like gold pieces in the water. He collected the samples and took them to Sutter for testing - not only had Marshall discovered gold, but Mr. Sutter determined it to be gold of the highest quality ("at least 23 carats"). Word spread and before long, masses of people from all over the world were forging new routes to the California goldfields in the hopes of getting to California as quickly as they could and acquiring overnight riches. The California Gold Rush was officially on! Not surprisingly, neither James Marshall nor John Sutter wanted word of Marshall's find to get around, but not for the reason you might suspect. Sutter had planned to construct an agricultural empire in California (in fact, the lumber from the mill was needed to complete his flour mill expansion). Sutter didn't want his plans ruined by a bunch of gold-grubbing prospectors overrunning his land in their efforts to get rich quick. But even in the scantily-populated California of 1848, it was impossible to keep such a find under wraps. Within two weeks of the discovery, the cat was out of the bag: from the workers at the mill, word spread to the men working at Sutter's Fort and - as Sutter had feared would happen - his men began to abandon their posts in favor of the easy riches they envisioned finding at the mill. The earliest gold-seekers were the Argonauts during the summer of 1848. They came first from Sutter's Fort, then from San Francisco (the California Star - owned by Sam Brannan, who was still spreading the word - called San Francisco a "ghost town" the day after Brannan's excursion with his vial of gold and his provocative cry). ![]() By summer's end prospectors were arriving from outside California: Oregon, the Sandwich Islands, Mexico, South America. Everyone was finding gold, they were finding it easily, and there was lots of it! Word continued to spread. Nearly 90,000 newcomers from all over the world had come to California - most seeking gold - when 1949 ended. These new prospectors came to be call 49ers, a term that was derived from the year 1849, and the California Gold Country was born! Sutter's Fort was the jumping off place for getting to the goldfields. But how did they get to Sutter's Fort?
Once they arrived in what we now call Old Sacramento, these Argonauts, these 49ers, rushed off willy-nilly, without a clue in the world about how to find gold! Heck, they didn't even know what it looked like! But they learned as they followed what was to become Highway 49 (the Gold Rush Trail). They learned what to look for and where to look for it. They learned about gold panning and they invented new gold mining methods. Some became rich, others were broken by the experience. But regardless of personal effect on individual people, the California Gold Rush changed the world forever! Continue to Discover the California Gold Rush here: The Discovery of Gold in California California Goldfield Routes The Gold Rush Trail Visit California Gold Rush Sites Panning for Gold Please continue your exploration of what Northern California has to offer by using the Nav Bar at the left, by using the links at the bottom of the page, or by using the customized search box below to find the specific topic that interests you. Like what you're finding here at DiscoverNorthernCalifornia.com? Then please share with your Social Network (see the buttons in the NavBar to the left, or at the bottom of the page). For more pictures of Northern California and other great stuff, check out my facebook page, www.DiscoverNorthernCalifornia.com. Become a fan, write on my Wall, contribute to the Discussion Board, post a Review -- join in the fun! ![]() Return to Discover Northern California Home Page from Discover The California Gold Rush |
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