preview

Essay On California Gold Rush

Decent Essays

The California Gold Rush started on January 24, 1848 when a man named James Wilson Marshall found gold while he was building a saw mill by the American River. The event that finally “sparked” the gold rush was in May 1848, when Sam Brannan ran in town with gold in a bottle shouting “Gold! Gold! Gold from American River!”. After that the Gold “Rush” started to pick up steam. It brought about 300,000 people to California. Most people arrived in 1849 they were called forty-niners. The Gold Rush peaked in 1852. At first people could pick up gold from the ground and dig for it but soon people started to pan for gold. They would first dig up dirt and mud. Then they would put it in a pan and swirl water around and around so that all that was left was the gold. The hope was to acquire enough gold …show more content…

Some people found gold nuggets. They also mined for gold. Some mines are still around today! Frank was one of the lucky few that made a prophet of mining for gold. Most of the miners where single men who came to find a fortune. I was very dangerous. There were bandits and thief’s that would try to steel the gold. When people would transport gold, there would have to be escorts to make sure that it wasn’t stolen. One spot that was important was Sacramento, California. The Gold Rush had a negative effect on the Native American population. Before the Gold Rush there was about 150,000 Native Americans living in California. After the Gold Rush, however the population had dropped below 60,000 people. By 1852 most of the surface gold had been found. That is why they started to mine for gold. Fun Fact California had no banks. The California Gold rush lead to many people moving west. Some people came over from England, like Frank. Mining for gold was extremely dangerous. For one thing, the mines could collapse on them. They could also run out of air. Or they could get hurt and not be able to get out. It was also easy to not eat enough

Get Access