John Sutter

• Swiss immigrant who came to California in 1839, intent on building his own private empire.

• Gold was discovered on his land

• When gold was discovered on his land, people came to search for it.

• It destroyed his colony and made him bankrupt

• Discovered gold while working for John Sutter

• Neither Sutter or Marshall were happy about it, so they kept it a secret

• Marshall was unhappy because he had a sawmill to build, gold hunters would get in his way

• Granted John Sutter the land to build a colony

• Led to huge economical boom in California

Sam Brannan

• Became the richest man in San Francisco

• Bought every pick axe, shovel, and pan in the region

• Ran through the streets of San Francisco holding up a bottle of gold dust as proof

Man with a brilliant idea

News spreads

• Rumors go to the East

• Sam Brannan- ran around screaming “gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!”

• “The Californian” first newspaper to mention the gold strike

Miners come to California

• whispers of a gold strike had drifted eastward across the country • Many people ignored it because it was a rumor • President James Polk gave a speech confirming that there was a

gold strike • Farmers left their fields, merchants closed their shops, and soldiers

left their posts and made plans for California

Diversity

Routes of Travel

Long Term Plans

Mexicans French Jews Chinese Americans

Land Sea

Stay in CaliforniaBecome rich and go back home

Irish Germans

Gold Miners

Traveling

By land By sea

2,000 mile walk…Fun!

Oregon-California Trail

Sea route around the tip of South

America (6 months)

Panama

The sea route

• favored by gold seekers from the eastern states

• Seasickness was rampant; food was full of bugs, or worse-rancid

• Water stored for months in a ship's hold was almost impossible to drink

• a quicker route • Much harder travel:

Malaria and cholera were common.

• Once they passed the Pacific, they were stranded

• They were stranded until a ferry would pick them up and bring them to San Francisco

• much shorter than the sea route, but it wasn't faster

• Walked westward alongside covered wagons at two miles per hour--->for up to six months

• the lack of water • Price for water as high as $100 per drink.

• fear of the Native American tribes along the Trail. But after the initial contact, fear often turned to friendliness.

Gold Nugget

Running out of gold

• By mid 1849, gold became harder to find• The miners moved to more advanced techniques for

extracting gold, but it was useless because gold reserves were declining and the number of miners was increasing.

• turned to poker and other forms of gambling• crime spread rapidly

Changes

• At first, miners banded together in informal companies to dam the rivers, reroute the water and expose the gold underneath

• When that failed, loose knit groups of miners were replaced by corporations

• hydraulic mining- caused a huge environmental problem for California

Gold Rush Affects on San Francisco

• grew from a small settlement to a boomtown

• Roads, churches, schools and other towns were built throughout California.

• A system of laws and a government were created, leading to the admission of California as a state in 1850

Events

1848: James Marshall discovers gold

1849: Gold Rush attracts people from around

1850: California is a state

1852: gold becomes scarce, better mining techniques become in affect

1853: population of California exceeds 3,000

1855: Sacramento becomes state capital

1859: Discovery of silver in Nevada ends California Gold rush

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Fun Facts

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The people

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True and False

100

• What was the football team formed from the California gold rush

Answer

• The san Francisco 49ers

Back to questions

• What was so special about John Sutter?

Answer

• Gold was first discovered on his land (Sutter’s Mill)

Back

• Who was known as the richest man in San Francisco

Answer

• Brannan Keenly

Back

• What made James Marshall so famous?

Answer

• He was the one who first discovered the gold

Back

• If people traveled by land from the east coast how far did they have to walk?

Answer

• 2000 miles (That would really suck)

Back

• What was the first newspaper to post about the gold rush?

Answer

• The Californian

Back

• True or false the Indians didn’t know the gold was there?

Answer

• False but they didn’t want it because it had no value to them

Back

• True or false California was already a state before the Gold Rush started?

Answer

• False but it automatically became a state in 1850 because of this

Back

• True or false people that weren't prepared for the trip to California would pay up to 100 dollars for a drink?

Answer

• True

Answer