In January of 1848, James Wilson Marshall discovered gold what working at a saw mill on the American River in California. The discovery was reported to the newspapers in March but nobody believed it was true.
The spark that ignited the gold rush occurred in May of 1848 was when San Brannan, a storekeeper in Sutter's Creek, brandished a bottle filled with gold dust around San Francisco shouting 'Gold! Gold! Gold from American River!' Many people now had proof that there was gold and flocked to the River in California. Many people abandoned their jobs and headed to inland to the River to find gold! The New York Herald printed news of the discovery in August 1848 and the rush for gold accelerated into a stampede. Gold seekers traveled overland across the mountains to California or took the round-about sea routes: either to Panama or around Cape Horn and then up the Pacific coast to San Francisco. By December 1849 the population had increased to an estimated 100,000, due to a massive influx of people. |
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The Truth is out!Gold has been struck in California!
Come to California today to get rich quickly and easily! Travel on land in Wagon Trains or sail around South America to get to the West Coast. |