THE

CALIFORNIA

GOLD RUSHBy Alex Hermann

5A

Saint Ann School

The California Gold Rush 

went from 1849 until 1855

Gold Coin that was made for the 100 Year Anniversary of the Gold Rush

The Gold Rush began officially on January 24, 1848, when some rocks

thought to be gold were found by James W. Marshall at Sutter’s Mill in

Coloma, California.  

• Marshall worked for John Sutter so he gave him the rocks.

• Testing confirmed it was gold.

• Sutter wanted to keep the news quiet because he was scared of what would happen to his plans for a farm and lumber business  if a big search for gold happened near his land.

John Sutter

• Even though they tried to keep news of the gold discovery a secret, word still got out

• Newspapers started reporting that large quantities of gold were in the American River by Sutter’s Mill.

• 75% of all the men in California left their homes to head to the gold fields to try to become rich

• Within weeks over 4,000 men were in the river looking for gold

Once the word got out, Gold Fever hit all of California

• Word of the gold rush spread across the USA and even overseas

• Thousands of people, mostly men, gave up everything they had to go to California

• The population of California increased 10x over during the Gold Rush

• At the start there were 15,000 people and by the end over 150,000!!

The Gold Fields got very crowded

California was a territory at the start of the gold rush with very few people

By the end it had become the USA’s 31st state with many new towns and

lots more people

• Panning for gold was very hard and a slow process.

• Most men went home with nothing to show for all their hard work.

• The Gold Rush hit its peak in 1852

• By 1853 it was becoming harder to find surface gold

• Lots of people still came until 1855, but by then most of the gold was gone

A Gold Rush Town

The gold rush was the most significant event in the early history of California and

the impact has lasted even until today.