California+Gold+Rush

   __    **/./ California Gold Rush /./  (1848-1855)  Page Created By: CS-OS, ND-SOTH, HL-SOTH, WD-SOTH ** __ __ If gold hadn't been found in the west or California, how would that effect the economic activity of today -- or -- any other concerns of today?__

**__Background Info:__** Gold was first discovered by a man named James Marshall at Sutter's Mill. Word spread like wildfire that gold was found. The gold seekers or people who sought for gold even went through hardships like sailing by boats and traveling with wagons were called the "forty-niners". They started with panning for gold then moved on to more advanced techniques as time went on. Many of them returned with little money or none as they headed their journey back home. -WD-SOTH <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">**__Why is this question important to U.S. History?__** This question is very important to American History because the Gold Rush was an important event of that time since it the population grew over in the West, and if it never occurred, life would have been different back then but it could even have an impact on us today. So asking if gold was never found in California or in the west it leads us to many different answers on how it could effect us today. ~WD~SOTH<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

This question is important to U.S. History because the Gold Rush was a really big deal during that time period. It increased the number of people moving out west, and had a big impact on America. There was more trade going out of the west coast, and the U.S. would potentially be very different if it weren’t for the California Gold Rush. Not only did it have a big impact on people then but it has and could’ve had a big impact on us today. ~HL-SOTH~

The Gold Rush may had founded many different things. I think it is a great "What If" question. We might even be able to find out about why the current economy has taken a slow turn or other things like that. Also the Gold Rush had a huge impact on that current time. It effected many different people from all over. It actually maybe even united the nation slightly creating a huge land slide of people to come from all different states to trek to CA. _Neely_

<span style="font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**<span style="font-size: 110%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; color: rgb(9, 200, 9);">__Answer to the question:__ ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">Gold was discovered by James Marshall. He was constructing a mill by present day Sacramento in California when he found gold. The discovery was then published in many different newspapers and the word was spreading and becoming national news. As you would have guessed, the population grew quickly; workers abandoned their jobs, and many people came from different states and countries. So, when gold was discovered everyone became eager to travel and start a new life.

People thought that when they would arrive at California, gold would be overflowing in the rivers since it was such a big deal. But really, the riverbanks were crowed with minors searching for gold. In the late 1850s gold was becoming harder to find, causing people to become upset and poor. Many were upset because they took such a difficult journey to reach California. Most people took wagons rather than go by foot because you could pack much more gear including food, clothing, ammunition, etc. The disadvantage was that the trails were very hard and long since they had to travel mountains and through deserts. When coming by sea there were storms, diseases, and it was an expensive trip. A guy by the name of Shufelt came by sea and people in his party died. Read about his journey at this <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">[|site] <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">. The sad thing was that many people gave up everything they had to travel to California for a new start on life and ended up finding little or no gold so it was definitely not worth making the journey. When gold was discovered in Nevada the California Gold Rush ended.

If gold was never found in the west, the United States wouldn't be the same. If you think about it people traveled from all over the country and even from different countries, so from around the world just to go to California in search for gold. That means that the population grew a lot causing people to move to the west more quickly then originally. The more the people the more ideas and different businesses started, which made the trade industry grow. Also the 49'ers learned a lot about traveling and all the rough times. Many family members would die due to diseases. People were poor as mentioned earlier so people would steal, gamble, and kill just to get money since finding gold wasn't working out well. Many of the things that happened back then stayed with us causing our country to have many benefits but also have some losses from the gold rush. (WD-SOTH)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> The Gold Rush was a sudden discovery that made many people instantly move to California. The word of gold made many people made the "get rich quick" scheme pop up in everyone's mind. Even the richer of the classes packed up and moved out. The holucinations of swimming through your own gold, being able to buy everything you wanted, and backing in the light of your sudden gain was to much for many people to resist. People found themselves packing before even their own family members had known what happened. Suddenly in 1848 huge numbers of settlers went on the long hard travel to California with never ending dreams of luxury. ..

I followed a story by a man named John A. Sutter. Sutter was a hard working middle class, middle aged man. With a steel saw slung over his back and his determination for a good day at work he went off to start a new project. That day his project was to build a saw-mill. The owner and contractor of the saw-mill was James W. Marshall. Marshall would later discover gold himself. Sutter followed Marshall all the way to present day Sacramento, California. Sutter was also in the need of another mill so he decided that he would travel with Marshall to find some good deals. Many were offered to him, but he refused even the finest of offers. He preferred to go and explore the wilderness, wanting a somewhat more secluded place for his new saw-mill on the banks of Sacramento. Later that week Sutter was quietly sitting in his office when Marshall burst through the door. He appered to be soaking wet. Sutter, suprised and pleased to see him--knowing for that a sudden apperence like that might just as well be good--, told Marshall to have a seat. Marshall insited that he could take Sutter to a secluded place where no one would be able to hear their conversation. And over that one conversation a dream was both made and fufilled...

"Now lock the doors," Marshall said in a rather urgent tone. Sutter had led Marshall into a different part of the office, but Marshall still insisted that it wasn;t good enough. "Didn't I tell you we might have listeners." His urgent tone warned Sutter that this must be extremely important. Sutter quickly walked over to the doors to lock them in a stiff, nervous manner. Sutter tried to reassure Marshall that there was no need to be anxious, but Marshall sat him down. Marshall showed him some material that he thought might be gold. He said that some of the men at the mil called him a crazy man, but he still thought otherwise.

"Read all about it! Read all about it!" A small newspaper boy would called from the center of the busy street. "Gold found in California." Crowds would quickly scurry over to him and pay him a nickle for the new news of gold. A woman would drag her small child over in a hurry to get through the crowd to buy her own paper. Soon after this incredible discovery people were moving by the hundreds in order to find their own secret fortane. Unfortunately, not all of these people were as fortunate as Marshall and Sutter. Most people often returned to their homes empty handed, spirits battered by the hard journey.

If gold was never found and the Gold Rush was never created California's population would probably be a lot less. Many people who went to the Gold Rush decided they didn't want to trek the long journey home and decided to try and make a living their. Also the discovery of gold instituted a lot of trade routes not only to other countries, but many people on the other side of the US wanted to get some gold too. I think it may have hurried the scientist and gave them a small push to hurry up and create faster traveling technologies. (ND-SOTH)

<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> People were moving to California like wildfire. Gold had been discovered in California and once the word was out people got excited. Read the first hand account of the discovery of gold on this [|site]. What people had wasn’t enough and they wanted more, just like people today, we always want more. When gold was discovered, people viewed this as another opportunity or chance to start over. People were moving from all over the world to try their luck at gold mining and panning. The people who came left everything behind and had pretty much nothing.

There were a lot of dangers with moving to California though, people would take boats or go by using a wagon, and would encounter disease, wilderness, running out of food and supplies, and Indians. In the personal account of Sheldon Shufelt, he describes the tough times of the travel, including death of those he was traveling with, and hardships with the ship. In his account he says that the journey on the ship was “long and tedious.” Once people got to mining or panning for gold their hardships weren’t over. The life at camps was difficult with a lot of disease and as Sheldon Shufelt said in his account, “ There is a good deal of sin & wickedness going on here, Stealing, lying, Swearing, Drinking, Gambling & murdering.” Read the full story of Sheldon Shufelt on this [|site.] Often times people would gamble away the money that they made that day, and some would make no money at all, and head back home if they could. Others would stay and try something else or just die in poverty.

If gold hadn’t been found in the west, a lot could potentially be different today. People moved from all over the world when gold was discovered. It increased the United States’ population greatly, and if gold hadn’t been discovered it would’ve taken longer for people to move out west. Trade also increased, and more goods were being exported to China and places around there, and we also imported a great deal from those places. The United States might not be as big as it is, because if people didn’t continue moving out west, the Spanish might have had control over that area longer. The U.S. was also affected by the hardships people encountered as talked about earlier. A lot of people died when they went out west, and if not they got into some bad habits. People started to gamble, and got into bad habits of losing all their money when they went out west. The gambling had affects on families as well when they would lose all the money they had due to their husbands’ mistakes. Families were torn apart when a family member died, and while a lot was gained, a lot was lost because of the bad habits people got into, and the death and gambling still hasn’t left us today. ~HL-SOTH~ <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: 'Courier New',Courier,monospace;">**Did you know during the gold rush ….?** ∑ Sugar $1.50 per pint ∑ Coffee $1.00 per pint ∑ Liquor $ 4.00 per pint ∑ The cost of traveling on a ship cost $500 - $1000 ∑ It was very hot in the west about 90 degrees

Men wore long pants in warm places because they didn't have any shorts with them also they didn't have that much clothes with them. Many people went to the gold rush. During the gold rush people got very rich. Some people went with and without gold. Also gold is very soft and easy to work with and they can make many things out of it including jewelry and other things. Some people got the gold and sold it for money thats how they got rich. There were about 40,000 prospectors at the gold rush. The gold rush started in 1848-1855 there were about 300,000 people at the gold rush some people came from hospitals, stores, and other places.

__**Sources used to create page:** [] [] [] []__ http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html

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