Chapter

17.

4

The

Californi

a

Gol

d

Rush

• In the early 1840’s – Something bright and

shiny would catch America’s attention

– Gold…

John Sutter finds something shiny…

• 1848, California

– Sutter’s Mill• Owned by John Sutter

– Employee finds a nugget of gold about the size of a pea

– Worth thousands of dollars!!!

The California Gold Rush• 1849

– People go to California as fast as they can! • How fast?

– Population:» 1848 = 812» 1849 = 81,000

– Become known as the forty-niners

• What are they looking for? – The American dream…

» GET RICH QUICK!

People abandon their lives back East…

• Once people heard there was gold out west:– Farmers left their plows

– Blacksmiths left their forges

– Tailors left their needles

– Sailors left their ships

– Doctors left their patients

– American economy stalls!!

Prospectors look to get rich

• Prospectors– People who search for

gold along the banks of streams or in shallow surface mines.

– How do you find gold? • By playing in the mud!

– Called a sluice box.» Separates mud

from gold

Heading to California

• Failure to Prepare• Men put on their best

clothes and bought a few fancy tools

• Without preparation many men died

• Disease• Fatigue• Indian Attack• Rattlesnake Bites• Starvation• Freezing to death

The Gold Myth

• Once you were in California, your cares were over….right?– You could bend down

and pick up gold in the streams!

– You’ll be rich in no time at all.

– Not exactly.• By 1850

– The gold had run dry…

The Growth in Population

• 1848– 812 people living in San

Francisco

• 1849– 80,000 people came to

California in search of gold

• 1850– 25,000 people living in San

Francisco• Leave to go find gold elsewhere

– Oregon– Utah– Nevada

So who came for gold? Everyone!

So Who Got Rich?

• The Storekeepers– The people who sold things

to all those miners who poured into California

– Prospectors had to eat

– They needed items:• Tents• shovels• shirts• Pants

– Richest man = Levi Strauss

Life in the Mountains…

Some tried to tough it out…

Others realized they couldn’t go home…

Some planned on retiring…

Some had no idea, but thought it would be fun...

Lasting Effects of the California Gold Rush…

• How did the gold rush help California?– Brought people from

around the world to California• Cities become mixed

between cultures– Splits towns into

neighborhoods» China Town» German Town» Little Italy

– Gave California enough people to become a state!• Happens in 1850

Review Questions

• Where is gold first found in California?

• What is the name given to the people who come to California in during 1849?

• What is a prospector?