The California Gold Rush

On December 5, 1848, President James K. Polk announced to congress rumors were true, and large amounts of gold had been found in California. Although the first gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in January, the news had been kept quiet for a while, although rumors flew. Orgeon and some of the islands had been the first outsiders to officially learn the news. Beginning late in 1848 with Eastern newspapers picking up the story, the Gold Rush was on with 300,000 people eventually flocking to the territory. Since the bulk of prospectors came in 1849, the group became known as "forty-niners."

The effects were monumental. For example, San Francisco had a population of about 200 in 1846. That had mushroomed to 36,000 by 1852. The gold rush also likely had something to do with California becoming a state in 1850 as part of the Compromise of 1850. New towns sprang up, schools were built, and roads were improved. In addition, there were other far-reaching effects, both negative and positive.

The California Gold Rush has been glorified and romanticized, but the reality of being there was much different. Prospecting turned out to be hard, dirty work in primitive conditions, and for all their toil, few people found enough to survive. If they did find something, claim jumpers, thieves, and shysters where eager to take it. It turned out to be a rough but exciting time in history.

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