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James Willson Marshall discovered gold while building a saw mill along the American River at Sutters Mill, Sacramento, California. The owner, John Sutter, decided to keep their discovery a secret.
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In March, the San Francisco newspapers spread the first rumors about the discovery of gold at Sutters Mill. Most people at first did not believe it.
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Sam Brannan shook a bottle filled with gold dust shouting “Gold! Gold from American River!” around San Francisco. This attracted tons of people.
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The New York Herald printed news of the discovery. This turned the gold rush into a stampede. Seekers from everywhere, the mountains, pioneers moving westward, and countries like China, and Mexico. They all caught gold fever.
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Gold seekers were nicknamed "Forty-Niners" after the year that they came. Most of the 49ers barely found any gold. About 90,000 gold seekeer made their way over land or water all the way to California.
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Because many people couldn't find a lot of gold they had to stay in California. The gold rush brought many new people in search of gold to San Francisco which increased the population to about 100,000.4
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The land was empty and wild, because so many people were moving to this land in search for gold they decided to set up a goverment. The goverment was set to help control the land.
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Levi Struass moved to Sanfransisco to take advantage of the commercial hub, during the gold rush. He sold his goods and dried foods to the miners.
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In 1853 they hydraulic drill was invented. It became the new way to mine. The hydraulic drills could drill deeper into the ground.
Miners began leaving to work for companies who owned these machines. Eventually hydraulic drills were outlawed. -
Gold in San Frincisco was short. It was getting harder and harder to find gold. That, in a way ended the gold rush. Without gold there was no reason to rush. So people moved on and tried to find new places to mine.
