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James W. Marshall, a foreman working for Sacramento pioneer John Sutter, found shiny metal in the tailrace of a lumber mill Marshall was building for Sutter on the American River. After Private tests it turned out to be gold.
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Rumor began to sweep San Fransisco that gold has been found.
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On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald was the first major newspaper on the East Coast to report the discovery of gold. On December 5, 1848, President James Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in an address to Congress.
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The population of San Francisco exploded from perhaps about 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 full-time residents by 1850. Miners lived in tents, wood shanties, or deck cabins removed from abandoned ships.
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By 1850, most of the easily accessible gold had been collected, and attention turned to extracting gold from more difficult locations.
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853, hydraulic mining was used on ancient gold-bearing gravel beds on hillsides and bluffs in the goldfields.