Kristen Carter Carter 1
Mrs. Sandling
English II C.P.
5 March 2012
The Transfer over Time
On the cold, clear morning of January 24 1848, James Wilson Marshall found a few tiny gold nuggets along the American River near Sacramento (Gold).
This began one of the largest human migrations in history, knows as The California gold rush (Gold).
A half-million people from around the world descended upon California in search of instant wealth (The).
The mid 1800’s were major growing years for California. Not only did California grow in population but along with greater amounts of people also came greater amounts of buildings and farms. The California Gold Rush began abruptly, changed very quickly, and impacted California forever.
In January, Mr. Marshall discovered gold while constructing a saw mill along the American River. The discovery was reported in the San Francisco newspapers in March but caused little because most did not believe something so rare could be so close by (Mining).
The spark that ignited the gold rush occurred in May 1848 when Sam Brannan, a storekeeper in Sutter’s Creek, came across a bottle filled with gold dust around San Francisco shouting, “Gold! Gold! Gold! From American River!” (Mining).
The Essay on The California Gold Rush 3
Before the gold rush started in California, there were always suspicions that the region could have mineral wealth just like the rest of Mexico. The Spanish had already occupied California at the end of the 18th century; but this occupation was entirely for strategic reasons as they sought to exploit mineral wealth in the New World. A cowboy by the name Francisco Lopez had in 1842 brought gold ...
The residents of the city now had proof of the discovery and the stampede to the gold fields was on. San Francisco’s harbor was soon cluttered with ships deserted by their crews. Workers abandoned their jobs. San Francisco’s two
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newspapers were forced to close their doors as their staffs were struck by gold fever (PBS).
The populations of the coastal towns were had turned into nearly nothing because everyone was headed to the gold fields. The Gold Rush started almost overnight.
The New York Herald printed news of the discovery in August 1848 and the rush for gold accelerated into a full on race (Elizabeth 15).
Gold seekers traveled across the mountains and the Great Plaines to California. Others took the sea routes, either to Panama or around Cape Horn and then up the Pacific coast to San Francisco (Elizabeth 18).
Thirty thousand people assembled at points along the plains in the spring of 1849. A census of San Francisco in April 1847 reported the town consisted of 79 buildings including shanties, frames houses and huts. By December of 1849 the population had grown to an astonishing estimated 100,000 people (Elizabeth 20).
Once travelers settled, most never left. The majority of those who made the journey to the gold fields were not intending to stay, but planned to make some money and return to their origins.
California would never again be the same. The gold rush brought economic prosperity to California. Farms, ranches, stores, restaurants, banks and other businesses that grew to serve the miners continued to take advantage of California’s rich agriculture and thriving industry (Gold).
California was merely a small dot on the large map, unnoticed by others before the gold rush. Yet after the gold rush many mining towns became ghost towns, deserted by miners heading for Nevada. But, by this time California had established a growing economy of farming and industry (Gold).
People had come in by the thousands and settled down planning to gain great wealth. Men and women both traveled to California; therefore we can take from our former knowledge what we already know about men and women, and answer what happens next. People were
The Essay on The Gold Rush San Francisco
... towns existed for very short periods of time, because once the gold was gone, so went the people. The gold rush changed California in several ways. California ... Latin America also rushed for the riches! Because the gold rush took place in northern California, San Francisco became the ... responsibilities of the mass growth of people. People from all around San Francisco came there to trade with local ...
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multiplying every single day. When the gold ran out it didn’t matter to most of the young families. They had built a home there and started fresh new lives. If they were equipped to farm, then they had everything they needed there. Most people saw no reason to up and move again (Mining).
The California Gold Rush started quickly, changed California almost overnight, and impacted California forever. Sacramento was not supposed to be a state eligible to vote because of the microscopic population (Elizabeth).
At the time there was slim to zero education being taught; now some of the largest most prestigious universities stand in California. Some people would say that the gold rush didn’t benefit America as a whole, but I think it did great things for our country and expanded migration more than it would’ve ever been done before. People are so quick to settle and become comfortable with what they have, that they miss what they could have. The naive ways of James Wilson Marshall and Sam Brannan’s loud mouth altered the path of America’s history forever. The California Gold rush has made a place for itself in our history books today and hopefully forever.
