-
Gold Discovered
James W. Marshall, a foreman building a lumber mill for pioneer landholder John Sutter, discovers gold in the American River east of Sacramento. -
Period: to
California Gold Rush
The discovery of gold in California led to the California Gold Rush. -
California Becomes Territory
California officially becomes United States territory with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ends the Mexican-American War by transferring nearly half of Mexico's lands to the United States -
Gold News Spreads East
San Francisco's California Star newspaper prints a six-page special edition, for distribution in the eastern states, touting "immensely rich" gold mines in California. -
Gold Announced in San Francisco
San Francisco merchant Samuel Brannan runs through the streets of the city, waving a quinine bottle full of gold while shouting "Gold, gold, gold from the American River!" -
Indians Mine Gold
More than half the miners in the gold fields in the first months of the Gold Rush are Indians, often brutally exploited by whites -
President James Polk Confirms Gold
President James K. Polk confirms the discovery of gold in California in an address to Congress, touching off a migration of hundreds of thousands of men hopeful of striking it rich in the goldfields -
Highway to Insanity
The New York Herald reports that the discovery of gold in California has "set the public mind almost on the highway to insanity." -
Gold Rushers Arrive by Ship
The first American Gold Rushers to sail for California via Cape Horn arrive in San Francisco -
California Requests Statehood
California delegates assembled in the coastal town of Monterey draft a state constitution, requesting admittance to the Union. -
Foreign Miners Taxed
The California legislature passes the Foreign Miners Tax, charging foreign nationals $20 a month for the right to work their claims. The measure is aimed mainly at Chileans and Mexicans, as Anglo miners seek to reduce competition for ever-scarcer placer gold. -
San Francisco Population in 1850
San Francisco's population, less than 1000 at the time of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill, is now estimated to exceed 30,000. -
California Becomes a State
In Washington, Congress agrees to the Compromise of 1850, which admits California to the Union as a free (non-slave) state. -
Mining Technology Advances
When easily harvested placer gold is played out, miners require more technologically-intensive techniques to uncover gold buried deeper underground. The heyday of the independent miner wanes as mines became heavily capitalized, large-scale industrial concerns -
Gold Amounts in 1851
$75 million worth of gold is extracted from California mines in 1851 -
Tax Targets Chinese
The California legislature passes a second Foreign Miners Tax, this time targeting Chinese competitors for golden riches -
Hydraulic Mining Invented
Edward Matteson, a placer miner frustrated by the ever-decreasing yield in free gold, pioneers the technique of hydraulic mining by fashioning a high-pressure hose to erode a hillside, freeing the gold buried within -
Supreme Court Limits Minority Rights
The California Supreme Court ruled that the Chinese, like Indians and blacks, have no right to give evidence in state courts. The ruling means that violence against racial minorities can be committed with virtual impunity, as only the testimony of a white citizen can be used as evidence in court. White miners' attacks on Chinese miners drive many from the goldfields -
Sacramento
Sacramento becomes the California State Capital -
Earthquakes!
A series of earthquake shocks began around 11:30 p.m., and continued until a little past 8 o'clock the next morning. There were six shocks but no damage was done. -
Silver discovered! Gold Rush is Over!
Discovery of silver in Nevada ends the California Gold Rush