THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH

It all started when John Stutter picked up a piece of metal that looked like gold. He took it to be tested and it was confirmed real gold. By the late 1848 word spread and the discovery in California became National news.

Gold was discovered in California on January 24, 1848

Gold was first discovered by James Wilson Marshall while he was building a sawmill for Sutter on his property.

After gold was found in California 300,000 people came to search; 150,000 of those people came by sea.

The people that traveled to California mostly came from America but also from Europe, Australia, Asia, and Latin America.

3 ROUTES

• Around cape horn (6-8 months)
• The isthmus of Panama (2-3 months)
• Over land route (3-5 months)

49'ERS
Early gold seekers were called forty-niners because they came to California in 1849. They all came to Sutter's Mill in Coloma, C.A.

Sutter's Mill was built by John Sutter. He was a Swiss immigrant who came to California. He also made Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. He couldn't control all the people who came seeking for gold; they overran his property leaving a mess.

The people first panned for gold getting the gold from streams or rivers. The tools they used were pans that they put in the river and carefully examined for gold nuggets.

After a while 49'ers started mining for gold. Mining for gold they would use picks, and shovels. They also dug for gold in caves.

The California Gold Rush didn't have a specific stopping point. It lasted for several decades.

Only a few people were lucky to find gold. Others didn't. Some would steal the gold other migrant workers would find. The whole thing was a mess.

Fun Facts.
- Gold was actually found by Mexicans in the 1830s not knowledgable of it worth.
- a total of $ 2 billion worth of precious medal.

- California did not have the first gold rush in American history. Fifty years before Sutter's mill the first gold rush in American history got underway after a 17 pound gold nugget was found in Cabarrus County

- Thousands of Gold Rush prospectors got rich, but John Sutter wasn't one of them.
- The woman would take care of the men, such as making breakfast, lunch, dinner, and cleaning their clothes.

THE END.