California Gold Rush
Despite what most people believe gold was not first discovered in California in 1848. Even Sir Frances Drake, said that gold was "occurring in abundance" It is well documented that Spanish and Mexican settlers reported finding gold in southeastern California in 1775, 1812, 1814, and 1824. But it was not until 1842 that it caused great public interest. Francisco Lopez Rancho may have started the great exploration for gold when he found a gold nugget while farming onions. Within weeks of the discovery, hundreds of gold seekers arrived, mostly from Los Angeles. In the following years it was estimated that somewhere between 80,000 and 100,000 in gold was taken to Mexico and even Philadelphia. At first gold was sold in Philadelphia for 19.00 an ounce. The California gold rush began in 1848 at John Sutter's Mill. James Marshall was an employee at Sutter's mill, whose job was to supervise the operation and construction of the mill. Marshall had a work crew camped on the American river in Coloma building a sawmill for John Sutter. On January 28, 1848 Marshall was the first to discover gold at Sutter's Mill and did so by accident. While fixing a wheel on a machine Marshall stumbled upon an odd lookin
------------------------------------------------------------------------ g rock. Which later of course turned out to be gold. Shortly after Marshall's discovery, General John Bidwell found gold in the Feather River. This consequently caused one of the greatest human migrations in history as over half a million people migrated to California in search for instant wealth. Immigrants from Europe Asia and South America joined Americans in the search for new wealth. Over 100,000 people took part in the California gold rush, many unmarried men from the eastern United States hoping to claim gold and return ho! Many prospered from the gold rush and not only those searching for gold as Phillip Armour found out. Armour sold meat during the rush and made enough money to become a giant in the meatpacking industry. Another person who prospered greatly from the gold rush was Leland Stanford. In 1852 Stanford discovered possibly the greatest find of the California gold rush when he found six pounds of gold in a less than twelve-foot tunnel giving him a profit of over 50,000 dollars in one find. John C. Fremont enjoyed the same good fortune when he had a land agent purchase land for him that later was found to be over flowing with gold. James Marshal was also collecting 20% of all gold mined in the Coloma area. Other streams and rivers nearby were also rich with gold. Very few
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 929
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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