Forty Niners-someone who went to CA to find gold in 1849

CA Before the Rush 150,000 Native Americans and around 12,000 Californians, Spanish or Mexican descent, lived in California. John Sutter asked the Mexican government to grant him 50,000 acres in the Sacramento Valley. Sutter sent James Marshall, a carpenter, to build a sawmill nearby the American river-found gold.

Rush for Gold People heard of Marshall’s discovery and soon people rushed to the American river. People like gold because it is scarce, beautiful, easy to shape, & does not tarnish. Soon, more gold was found in other regions.

Life in the Mining Camps Dangerous- lots of violence Miners spent their days in icy streams, where exhaustion, poor food, and disease made their health bad. Women and children populated the Gold Rush mining camps, such as the Union Hill Mine in Sierra County in this undated photograph.

Miners from Around the World White Americans, N.A., Free Blacks, Enslaved Blacks, Mexicans, Europeans, South Americans, Australians, and Chinese worked in the mines. Whites and Chinese

The Impact of the Gold Rush Ended in 1852 250,000 came to CA Caused economic growth-San Francisco become a center of banking, manufacturing, shipping, & trade. Californians lost property Native Americans died from diseases brought by the new people & many were hunted and killed. CA had enough people to apply for statehood-became a free state in 1850.