California gold rush
The California Gold Rush began in 1849, bringing people from all over the world to California, seeking nuggets of precious gold. It all started with a carpenter named James Marshall, who was building a sawmill on the American River when he found gold in the river. Word quickly spread of the riches in the California rivers and people from China, South America, Australia, Mexico, and Europe were all flooding into the land in hopes of striking rich.
Most of the Miners in California were men, there were very few women. Mining gold was hard and painstaking work. The long days were spent digging and sifting through dirt, mud and stones in the bone chilling rivers. Miners weren't the only ones making profits off the Gold Rush. Merchants in the area, sold their goods at incredibly high prices. Mining camps started appearing frequently along the rivers, usually wherever the nuggets were most common. After a long day mining approached a long and sometimes difficult nights. There were no police to keep order and the people took care of matters by themselves. Harsh and sudden punishments were dealt. "We have had murders, fearful accidents, bloody deaths, a mob, whippings, a hanging, an attempt at suicide, and a fatal duel." - Louise Clappe After the California Gold Rush ended it had really negatively affected the Indians settled in the territory. The population of about 150,000 to fall to 30,000 due to disease and warfare. However, the Gold Rush also had some positive turnouts. Enough people had traveled to California to form a state (the first in the far west), it became a free state in 1850. |