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Gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.
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Lasted from January 24, 1848 to 1855
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ends Mexican War, surrenders California and Southwest to United States. Mexican citizens who stay are promised full citizenship and property rights by the treaty.
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Henry Bigler finds gold downstream from Sutter’s mill site.
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On March 15, 1848, Marshall's gold discovery was reported by the San Fran newspaper.
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Mormons finish work on Sutter’s Mill, begin mining at “Mormon Island” on the American River below Sutter’s Mill.
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Samuel Brannan announces gold discoveries in San Francisco, kicking off local rush in California and eventually around the Pacific rim.
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New York Herald first major newspaper on East coast to report the discovery of gold in California.
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Mining in California stops for winter, many miners return home, planning to come back next year. Estimates suggest that about 5,000 people have gone to the foothills, and gathered roughly 12,000 troy ounces of gold during the year.
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California becomes the 31st state. Compromise of 1850 allows California to enter the union as a “free state,” due to “popular sovereignty.”
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US Government opens San Francisco Mint, to turn California gold into standardized gold dollars.
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Estimated that over 300,000 people have moved to California since the beginning of the gold rush and the gold rush ends.