The California Gold Rush

In 1848, shortly after the war with Mexico ended , James Marshall accidentally found gold in a stream  while building a saw mill.

 John Sutter , the owner of the land , wanted to keep it a secret . But the word quickly spread across America and even to the old World and China.  Within a year , one hundred  thousand people came to Sutter land .  These people were  called the Forty  - Niners . 

Many of then found gold and got rich. Many  mining towns  were started and many people got rich selling supplies  to the gold miners at high  prices .  

San Francisco went from a sleepy little town on the Pacific to one  of the most important cities in the west.  

The first comers had it easy because the gold was near the top. But most of the others Forty-Niners had to dig deep for their gold.  Many spent almost as much to get the gold as the gold was worth.  

The owner of the land, John Sutter , died penniless as he tried to get his land back from the Forty –Niners.