![]() ![]() ![]() With an estimated 140,000 emigrants arriving in California via the California Trail between 18, routes were continually modified, tested or even abandoned. Many new routes were opened into California as a result of the Gold Rush. But now the pioneers' lust for wealth was threatening to decimate the Indians through the consumption of foods, lands, water and space. For centuries, Indians had lived in the West without outside competition for resources. Indians in particular suffered from the "Forty-Niners" who streamed across the land. Grass and clean water became scarcer as the trip wore on, and diseases like cholera took their toll. But conditions were harsh at best and many livestock were lost along the way. But by the spring of 1849, the largest migration (25,000 that year alone) in American history was already taking place.īetter-than-average conditions on the plains and in the desert that spring and summer helped soften the blow of the wave of emigrants. But it wasn't until December of 1848 that President James Polk confirmed the findings to Congress, which meant it was too late to start a trip for easterners. ![]() Many who already had arrived in California or Oregon immediately gravitated to the western Sierras. Both Marshall and Sutter tried to keep things quiet, but soon word leaked out. Marshall discovered a gold nugget on January 24, 1848, while at the sawmill. Gender stereotypes: Over-generalizations about the characteristics of an entire group based on gender. Gender roles: A set of social and cultural beliefs or expectations about appropriate behavior for men/boys or women/girls. Discover how the California Gold Rush began and learn about the. Marshall decided to build a sawmill on the South Fork of the American river, about 40 miles from Sutter's home. California Gold Rush: A period of time when thousands of migrants arrived in California to mine and search for gold. The Gold Rush in the mid-1800s brought many people to California who thought they could find gold and get rich. When he needed lumber in early 1848, he assigned the task to one of his men, James Marshall. John Sutter was a Swiss immigrant who came to California in 1839 with a dream of building an agricultural empire. Take your students on a virtual field trip to learn about the California Gold Rush. Within a year of its discovery, emigrants using the California Trail were flooding into the Sierra Nevada Range by the thousands. "I reached my hand down and picked it up it made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold." - James Marshall, 1848Īt a time when restless Americans were already itching to go west, the discovery of gold in California in 1848 was like gasoline on a fire. ![]()
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