The California Gold Rush

One of the most famous moments in US history: The California Gold Rush. This historic event has spawned many fictional novels and is a favorite of many.

The time of the California Gold Rush wasn’t the first-time gold was struck in the U.S. The first gold strike in America was in North Carolina in 1799. Here and there, people found gold; but these can be compared to the calm before the storm.

The blast that shook the world that started the Gold Rush was fired by accident in 1848. It all started with John Sutter who was trying to build a saw mill. One of Sutter’s employees, James Marshal, discovered flakes of gold in the river near the mill. He looked into it, and sure enough, it was gold. That was on January 24 1848. The two men made an effort to keep the news secret, but the story got out and was eventually announced by the President (which, of course, exacerbated things).

The Gold Rush emptied towns as people rushed to stake claims. News finally reached the East coast in 1849, at which point those people rushed as well (these people are called the “Forty-niners”). Even Asians immigrated to try their hand as gold seekers. The population of California at the end of 1849 (this excludes the Indian population), sprang from 800 (in 1848) to an estimated 100, 000 (in 1849)!

Despite the mass immigration to California, the trip was actually very expensive and quite dangerous. There were three ways to California from the East Coast:

1. By sea around Cape horn (at the bottom of South America) – a 6 months journey
2. By sea until you crossed Panama, and then sea again – 1 month (Unfortunately, this passage was not widely used until near the end of the Gold Rush)
3. Across the land – 4-6 months

However, though it was dangerous, as time went on, travel became easier. This helped to encourage Americans to populate the West and the Gold Rush was quite influential in expediting the process of annexing California as a state (California had been Mexican territory but California applied for annexation in 1849, and by 1850 it was granted).

Through the first few years into 1852, 81 million dollars’ worth of gold was extracted! Adjusted for inflation, this totals at almost 2 ½ billion! Incredibly, for a few years, the amount of gold extracted continued to rise.

However, in 1857, the number “only” amounted to 45 million and the amount continued to decrease from there.

Although the gold rush did some good things for the U.S., it also brought on some unfortunate sanctions, such as the following:

1. Men left their families in hopes to strike it rich. Few struck it really rich. Many fathers and sons died traveling. Others, after the expensive commute, found that they were broke and could not make it back, thus separating them from their families forever. This led many of these men to drunkenness and thievery in their depression.
2. Many Americans at this time believed in an ideology known as “Manifest Destiny.” This belief essentially states that Americans had the right to settle anywhere they chose. This led many disillusioned Americans to force the Indians out of California, or even shoot them if they resisted.
3. Many of the Asian (mostly Chinese) gold seekers were often discriminated against.

On a rather ironic note, neither of the two men who originally discovered the California gold (John Sutter and James Marshall) struck it rich. Sutter never even got to start his saw mill because of the major change in the California landscape.

It’s strange that nobody remembers them anymore.

The Westward Expansion

By the mid-1800’s, the ideology of Manifest Destiny encouraged further expansion in the United States. It was a widely held American belief that it was their right to colonize and take all of North America (a right to expand).

As settlers set out to stake out the west, they traveled in covered wagons in groups called “wagon trains,” as it was safer to travel in groups. The dangers along the way included terrain, Indians, and food scarcity. Generally, all families only had one wagon unless you were rich and could afford a second. All the worldly goods one owned (that they wanted to take) had to be loaded into the wagon AND still leave enough room for passengers and all the food and water one would need for the journey. Of course, water could be obtained from springs and food from wild animals (such as the buffalo), but one would want to be prepared.

Let me be clear: these wagons were not very large. To be exact, the Prairie Schooner (which was the most commonly used 19^th century wagon for long distance transportation) was typically about 4 feet (1.2 metres) wide, 9 to 11 feet (2.7 to 3.4 metres) long, and 2 to 3 feet (0.6 to 0.9 metres) deep. With the bonnet (the tarped covering), the wagon was about 10 feet (3 metres) tall.¹

In other words, you would have to leave almost everything of your former life behind (e.g., most of your possessions, friends, culture, etc.). This was not an easy trip at all.

There were several trails that could be taken, the most popular of which was the Oregon trail. It was the longest trail at 2000 miles long, and was desirable because of the cheap, or free cost on the land. However, due to the distance, it was a life-time commitment to make the trek; and unless your family came with you, you may not see them again.

Another trail, the Mormon trail, was famous in particular with the Mormons. It is called such because of the religious ostracism that occurred that forced them to move westward to Salt Lake City.

There is another famous trail which is known today as The Old Spanish Trail. Those of you who know your history will know that, before the Louisiana Purchase was made (that gave the possession of the greater portion of what is today the United States to America), Napoleon had conquered the area from Spain; consequently, its name. What made this trail particularly unique was not only its age, but also its location. While the other main trail started in the Missouri area, The Old Spanish Trail started in the west near where Los Angeles is located today.

There was also one last trail, only, this trail wasn’t for humans, it served animals. This trail, the Chisholm trail, ran from the Texas ranches all the way to Missouri. The trail was made so that Texan farmers would not bring their cattle through the other ranches and spread ticks to the Missouri farmers’ cattle (of which the Texan cattle were immune).

These trails were used up until 1869, at which point the Transcontinental railroad replaced them.

Sources:

1. https://www.britannica.com/technology/prairie-schooner