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Americans Push Native Americans and Mexicans out
As the Gold rush develops and goes on, Americans continue to unrightfully slaughter and deport native Californians out of their homeland so the new settlers may profit. They continue to battle throughout this time. -
Gold Found in Coloma, CA
James W. Marshall, working under John Sutter, finds a shiny metal in a load of lumber. The two test the metal and discover that it is indeed gold. Sutter hoped to keep the discovery under the radar to protect agriculture. -
Rumor Spreads- the Secret is Out
"Gold! Gold! Gold from the American River!", shouted Samuel Brannan, a publisher of the San Francisco newspaper the California Star. Brannan is one of the "first responders" to the rush. He quickly sets up shop and begins to attract more attention to the area. -
Men swarm to gold
By June, 1848, two-thirds of San Franciscos male population left to go work in the gold fields. -
Thousands of men move to strike gold
By August, some 4,000 men had moved to mine gold. -
President James K. Polk confirms findings
During this time word had just reached the East Coast and most people were skeptics of the findings. In his inaugural address, president James K. Polk confirmed the positive findings of the large quantities of gold found in the west. “The accounts of abundance of gold are of such an extraordinary character as would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by the authentic reports of officers in the public service.” he said. -
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'49ers swarm to California
After conformation of the findings, people from all walks of life whether it be hawaii, Chile, the East Coast, or even China, swarmed to California to be apart of the Gold Rush. These men did whatever they could do get money to make their journey whether that be borrow money or mortgage their house, leaving their families behind. The rush caused such an uproar that by the end of 1849, the population grew from 8,000 (March 1848) to 100,000. -
California added to Union
Due to the Gold Rush, population and profit grew emensly and pushed California into becoming a free state in the Union. This is arguably the greatest utcome of the Gold Rush. -
Peak of Gold Rush
The gold rush reaches it's peak in 1852 with roughly $81 million worth of gold mined. More people continue to settle in California. -
Invention of Hydraulic Mining
After most of the surface gold was mined away by 1852, hydraulic mining was invented to continue to find gold under neathe the surface. It works as a high powered hose that dislodges rocks and destroys them. Hopefully revealing gold. This helped continue mining but destroyed even more agriculture and landscape. -
Population booms by end of decade
The population continues to grow despite decline in profits totaling roughly 380,000 California citizens by 1860.
