| On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall | | | | respect for the law. Robbery, murder, and conflict |
| discovered gold in the American River, on the | | | | with Indians and bandits became common. With |
| property of his employer John A. Sutter. Despite | | | | the inability of local law enforcement to manage |
| their efforts to keep this discovery quiet, news | | | | this influx of crime, vigilante groups and lynching |
| soon got out that there was gold in the hills of | | | | became a common form of mob justice. |
| the River and by August of that year the hillside | | | | The journey from the East was a hazardous one, |
| was covered with tents as men from around the | | | | more men died of cholera than the feared Indians |
| globe, made their way to California to strike it rich. | | | | on that trek across the country. The hard |
| This was no planned event. The Mexican War had | | | | journey however, prepared the men for the |
| only just been won and the Eastern Seaboard | | | | harsh conditions of working for the gold. Although |
| was in a state of financial depression. California | | | | there was good money to be made, the cost of |
| Governor Richard Barnes Mason declared, "I have | | | | living was also high. Few of the prospectors |
| no hesitation now in saying, that there is more | | | | struck it rich, the wise ones become farmers or |
| gold in the country drained by the Sacramento | | | | storekeepers. |
| and San Joaquin Rivers than will pay the cost of | | | | The largest influx of settlers was in 1849 and |
| the present war with Mexico a hundred times | | | | hence the settlers were often referred to as |
| over." It seemed that the promise of gold was | | | | "forty-niners". $10 million dollars worth of gold was |
| too good to pass up. | | | | found in 1849. This rose to a peak of $81 million in |
| To begin with, men came from the West. They | | | | 1852. All in all, over $2 billion dollars worth of gold |
| were already close by, and they were hard | | | | was taken from the earth before mining became |
| working honest and trusting men. Soon however, | | | | almost dormant. |
| settlers began to make their way across the | | | | For more on the California Gold Rush, with links to |
| country from the East. | | | | recommended sites, visit California Gold Rush at |
| The gold attracted many outlaws with little | | | | "Surfing the Net with Kids. |