
Chapter 17.4 The California Gold 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 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
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?