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Launched the gold mining frenzy. Caused hordes of people to migrate to the area in hopes of finding wealth
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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.
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The Californian newspaper in San Francisco reports for the first time on the gold discovery in the Sierra, but most San Franciscans remain skeptical of the report.
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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.
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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!"
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The New York Herald becomes the first major eastern newspaper to tout the discovery gold in California.
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The first gold ship, bearing $500,000 bound for the United States Mint, sails from San Francisco.
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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.
