加州淘金热调查课题gold.doc

How it Started? Top of Page Sutters Fort(Source: Library of Congress) John Sutter was a Swiss emigrant who arrived in California in 1839. He became a Mexican citizen and received a land grant of 50,000 acres in Sacramento Valley. He built Sutters Fort at the site of present day Sacramento. At Sutters Fort he developed farming and other businesses. Sutters Fort became a rest station for travelers and immigrants to California. Above right is a picture of Sutters Fort at the time of the Gold Rush. In 1847 John Sutter hired James Marshall to build a sawmill at a site named Coloma. At the right, below, is a picture of the Mill at Coloma. Sutters Mill(Source: Library of Congress) On January 4, 1848, James Marshall picked up a piece of metal at the mill that looked like gold. He took the metal to Sutter. They tested it and confirmed that it was gold. Sutter was afraid that the discovery of gold would take his workers away from the fields. He was also concerned that gold would bring prospectors onto his land. He asked Marshall and the others working at the mill to keep the gold a secret. But word got out! By late 1848, word had spread across the country. On December 5, 1848, President James Polk speaking to Congress confirmed accounts of gold. The discovery of gold in California became national news. The California Gold Rush was the largest migration of people to California, and started California on the road to what it is today. On this Page: Rush for Gold Books on the California Gold Rush Links to other Sites on the California Gold Rush Rush for Gold Top of Page By 1849 the gold rush was on. People from all over the United States and the World were rushing to California. People caught Gold Fever in the hope of striking it rich. Many gold seekers arrived expecting to find rivers overflowing with gold. Unfortunately, most found riverbanks crowded with miners. Most prospectors were previously storekeepers, cooks, carpenters, teachers, farmers or some other trade before