On a cold January morning in 1848, a discovery by a little-known carpenter working just 40 miles away from Sacramento changed, not only the history of California, but also the world. The carpenter was James Marshall and his discovery was a nugget of gold, no larger than a pea.

Marshall had been hired by John Sutter to build a sawmill to help establish the dream Sutter had of an empire between the Sacramento and American Rivers. He named his budding city New Helvetia. The sawmill was to help prepare lumber to build the homes and businesses needed in New Helvetia. The area now known as Coloma, named for the Cullumah Indians who lived there, was chosen on which to build the mill due to the straightness of the trees in the area and the position of the American River. The river would provide the power to move the saws to cut the lumber. The river would flow through the millrace which would cause a huge waterwheel to spin. The movement of the waterwheel would cause a sawblade to move up and down. At the same time, a log would be fed into the saw and lumber would be cut. Each board that was cut from a tree would require 30 minutes of sawing. While building the tailrace for the water to speed through to power the waterwheel, Marshall uncovered gold.

At first, the news was to be kept secret. However, word leaked out. It wasn't until December of 1848 when President Polk gave a speech which confirmed the discovery of gold in the area known as California that people took the search for gold seriously. Once the speech was given, a worldwide phenomenon resulted. People from all over the world traveled to California, which wasn't even a state yet, hoping to strike it rich. Few found the glory they were after, but most couldn't deny that they were on the adventure of their lifetime!

This section of the website will provide links to gold rush sites that reside all over the Internet. Additionally, there is a link from this page to the Gold Rush simlulation in which the students will take part.

Links

The Discovery

Gold Fever! The Gold Rush Gold Rush Overview The Story of the Gold Rush-step by step The Gold Rush as told through Quicktime movies The Discovery of Gold, according to John A. Sutter A tour of the California Gold Rush with Shockwave

People of the Gold Rush

John Sutter James Marshall Sam Brannan Life as a Forty-Niner Women in the Gold Rush Stories from Pioneer Women The effect of the Gold Rush on Californios People to Know from the California Gold Rush The Gold Rush as seen by Natives and Immigrants

The Journey to California

Three ways to get to California Travel to California around Cape Horn Travel to California on The Oregon Trail Travel to California through the Panama Shortcut

First Person Accounts of the Gold Rush

A Gold Rush Diary A Collection of Letters Letter from Christmas, 1851 Patrick Breen's Diary from the Donner Camp Eyewitness to History-the California Gold Rush California as I saw it-Search for Gold Rush Writings

Timelines, Justice and Gold Rush fun!

Play Strike it Rich! Art of the Gold Rush Map of the Gold Camps Gold Rush Word Search Why is gold so valuable? Justice during the Gold Rush Fun Facts about the Gold Rush Panoramas of the Discovery Site Stories of the California Gold Rush Chronology from 1846-1849 with links!

Sunday in the Mines