On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter originally from New Jersey, found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. At the time, Marshall was working to build a water-powered sawmill owned by John Sutter. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City which transferred the American Southwest to the United States. When the news got out about the gold, people from all over the world headed for California, speeding statehood and permanently transforming the territory. During the next seven years, approximately 300,000 people came to California (half by land and half by sea) to seek their fortunes from either mining for gold or selling supplies like food, clothing, burros, lumber, picks, and shovels to the prospectors.
Henry Bigler[3] and Azariah Smith,lik e other workers at the mill, were veterans of the Mormon Battalion, and wrote about their experience in journals. Bigler recorded the actual date when gold was discovered, January 24, 1848, in his diary. This gold find started the California Gold Rush the next year.
Impact[edit]
The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill caused a large mass of migration to California. After the finding of gold California changed dramatically, going from 14,000 non-natives to an estimated 85,000 newcomers to California in just a year. Many from the eastern states dropped everything they were doing to head West in hopes of becoming rich. There was significant mass immigration of fortune-seekers from many countries. Roughly 60,000 Chinese immigrants, 7,000 Mexicans, and tens of thousands from many other countries[7]. There were roughly 81,000 newcomers in 1849 and another 91,000 in 1850. Many died from turf wars over mine claims and diseases that broke in the towns as there was not very good sanitation. Small villages and towns had turned into bustling cities with all kinds of people. Towns were popping up overnight all over California starting in 1849 into the early 50's. The infrastructure for the number of people that had come was not there. These towns lacked sewerage, police, fire departments. Fires were a regular occurrence and wiped out whole towns. Many whites were not happy with the idea of all the foreigners taking their jobs. There were higher taxes for the foreigners and many hate crimes and riots towards the foreigners. These foreigners also helped shape California into more of what it is today. It created a diverse state with many different ethnic groups. The Chinese immigrants contributed to the fishing industry while the Italians contributed to the development of the Napa valley wineries. Every culture has left an impact on California.
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