The California Gold Rush
A Brief Overview
It was around 10:00 AM on January 24th, 1848, and James Marshall gazed out at the desolate Californian landscape as he began another day of work on John Sutter’s sawmill. At this time, the region was not yet even an American state, never mind the global hub it is today, home to Hollywood, Silicon Valley, and, of course, Disneyland. Despite now being the most populous state, back in 1848 the territory was more sparsely populated with roughly 157,000 inhabitants, the vast majority of which were Native Americans or people of Spanish or Mexican descent known as Californios. But this was all about to change. Looking down into the river running beneath his feet and seeing a glint of yellow on the bedrock, John Marshall made a discovery that would echo around the surrounding foothills and be repeated in every town in the country before building to a deafening crescendo, as there was suddenly one word on the lips of the whole world: GOLD!
James Marshall at John Sutter's sawmill, 1851.
1849 handbill from the California Gold Rush.
A '49er panning for gold.
In the following years, thousands of people would flock to California in what became the biggest migration in American history. From all corners of the world they came, eager to seize from the earth some of this precious metal that would bring them instant wealth. In 1849 alone, 80,000 “Forty-Niners” arrived in the Golden State; by 1854 around 300,000 dreamers had made the journey. Very few of these prospectors knew anything about mining prior to their arrival, and so they learnt by watching and imitating others. In the early years of the gold rush, they operated on a low technological level — all one had to do was wash gravel using a pick, pan, shovel, and hope that they got lucky.
However, their golden dreams were all too often shattered as the the gold they craved proved elusive to many, meaning the majority of miners struggled to make substantial fortunes. As the gold in rivers and streams eventually dried up, it became almost impossible for the individual miner to make much of a profit. To mine the gold in drier terrain and climates, more industrial equipment was needed, meaning mining companies began to spring up. By the mid-1850s some companies employed 50 workers or more, paying them a wage in return for their efforts in the mines. One such company is depicted in the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction, as guests queue through an old mining camp and company office, before boarding possessed mine trains that have been abandoned by the Big Thunder Mining Company. For the individual miner though, the gold rush was generally not the get rich-quick-scheme they had expected. Many prospectors returned home empty handed after enduring repeated failures; others soldiered on in the goldfields, perhaps too embarrassed to depart until they had made the fortune they had promised to loved ones they had left behind.
In truth, the real winners in the California Gold Rush were merchants. Soon after gold was discovered in January 1848, Samuel Brannan realised the find presented him with a great economic opportunity — not in digging for gold, but in selling goods to the thousands of people that would soon venture to California to try their luck. Brannan owned a store at Sutter’s Fort and decided to drum up business by taking some of the precious metal to San Francisco to convince people of the fortune they could make by going to the mines. After buying up all the picks, shovels, and pans he could find and selling them to these eager prospectors, Brannan quickly became far wealthier than any miner. Throughout the 1850s and 1860s he was one of the richest men in all of California, and was the Gold Rush’s first millionaire. Of course, Brannan was not alone in his commercial exploits. Many other merchants had similar success stories; in fact, several companies and institutions that are world famous today can trace their humble beginnings back to 1850s California. Levi Strauss, a German-born tailor, got his start by selling sturdy work trousers to miners, opening a store in San Francisco that would eventually become a billion dollar empire selling Levi’s denim jeans. Leland Stanford was a successful wholesaler in California before he became a railroad baron and eventually opened the renowned university that bears his name. John Studebaker sold wheelbarrows to prospectors before he became an automobile giant in Indiana. Thus, despite the romantic notion of the individual miner journeying west to strike gold and make his fortune, it is clear he would have been far better off had he opened a store and sold goods to other miners instead.
Merchant Samuel Brannan, the California Gold Rush's first millionaire.
