...Environmental Impact: California Gold Rush The Gold Rush of Yesterday and Its Effect on the Environment Today The California Gold Rush of 1848 produced more than a just a fever for the fortune seekers. It also produced an impact upon the environment whose effects can still be witnessed today. In 1848 the call went out across the nation, there is gold in Sutter’s Mill. As the word spread settlers and immigrants began their long treks across the plains and from far foreign lands across the seas to California. Up until the discovery of gold, much of the Californian lands had been unsettled. Between the years 1848 and 1866 some 350,000 emigrants had traveled to California in search of their fortune.1 This massive influx of such a vast number of people placed a huge burden upon the land and resulted in the dishevel of its indigenous people. As the population rapidly increased so did the need for food, water, and shelter. The requirements placed upon the land by its new population were great. The natural wildlife of the area was quickly over hunted for their meat and furs. The rivers were over fished and huge forests were clear cut to provide the demand of construction materials in support of structures and dwelling. In the lower lands trees were cut to clear land needed for farming and to provide fuel material to the mines. Natural water ways were redirected and damned to support the mining efforts. These changes only further exasperated the dwindling fish and fresh...
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...Part A The California Gold Rush was an important discovery that contributed to the development and expansion of the United States. Prior to the Gold Rush California was a remote and sparsely populated area with no government control. People could come by sea or land which made it a great location when the Gold Rush exploded. The California Gold Rush brought 300,000 people across the United States to the West (Wikipedia, 2004). Of the 300,000 half arrived by sea and half came from the east overland on the California Trail and the Gila River Trail (Wikipedia, 2004). At first the gold nuggets could be picked off the ground. Later, gold was recovered from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques. Towards the end heavier equipment was used to retrieve the gold. When the gold was first discovered they wanted to keep it quiet. There was fear of what would happen to the land and agriculture if there was a mass gold search, but rumors spread and people saw the profits that could be made. Many hurried to set up stores to sell gold digging supplies and then announced and spread word of gold. It didn’t take long for this exciting news to take off. Soon all the newspapers along the east coast were reporting the findings and wealth to be made in California. The effects of the Gold Rush were substantial. In six years, San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents to a boomtown of about 36,000 (Udall, 2003). Roads, churches, schools and other towns...
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...In 1849, John Sutter struck gold at his mill in Sacramento, California, beginning one of the most pivotal events in United States History. During the next few years, hundreds of thousands of Americans pioneered out west hoping to become prosperous, and strike it rich. Many of these men would lose all of their money, and live in poverty for the rest of their lives. A very small percentage; however, would strike it rich and never have to work again. This influx of people during the Gold Rush led to the development of a new state, but also ruined the lives of thousands and thousands of people. Almost all resources of the west coast were depreciated, and the gold was virtually gone within 2 years. The pioneers arrived to California very unprepared...
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...Did you know the California Gold Rush was the largest mass migration in American history? The California Gold Rush wasn’t the first gold rush in history but many people think it was. Some miners struck rich and were better off than they were before they came to Coloma. Others weren’t as successful and were sick and out of money. The California Gold Rush took place in Coloma, California from 1848 to 1855. This was a time of excitement and prosperity for many Americans. In addition it was a tough and hard time for foreigners and some of the Americans.The gold rush was a challenge for many individuals because of the crime, quality of life, and the difficult trave. During the Gold Rush there was many crimes which caused hardship for some of the miners seeking for their fortune.Majority of the crimes the crimes were property theft and the number of crimes increased with every new miner (Saffer 44). One of the reason that the miners stole from others was that many were unsuccessful and had to steal to get food or make money to be able to get back home. “ A gang called the Hounds raided Chileno...
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...Escape to the California Gold Rush Yellow fever, malaria, and cholera are all disease that people in present day US don’t get often, but many pioneers caught these nasty diseases on there long, hard trek to California. In 1847, the US defeated Mexico in their fight for California and other territory in the Western US. One year later in 1878, the first nugget of gold was found in California as US territory. This gold nugget sparked millions to take the long trek to California seeking riches in gold. Many people traveled by boat coming from China, Peru, Mexico and many other places along with the settlers of the East in the US. The pioneers during the trek to the California Gold Rush had faced numerous challenges on there way to California including...
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...The Gold Rush impacted California by creating opportunities for entrepreneurs, attracting immigrants to the territory and causing the development of cities and towns. The Gold Rush was sparked when gold was found at Sutter’s mill in 1848. Many people from all over the nation and the world soon poured into the area for a chance to become wealthy miners. However, many people found that it was easier to make a living by servicing the miners. Just as much money was in this business as in mining itself. As miners poured into California, businesses and towns would need to be made to help the miners and the local economy of the area. The Gold Rush united a nation that was separated into east and west. Not only did the Gold Rush unite a nation, it...
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...push was the California gold rush. The search for a new life would bring in 300,000 determined, economy boosting Americans. The California gold rush united the new western land with the eastern U.S., setting the stage for western expansion. The risk of taking the treacherous journey to California did not seem very appealing to the easterners before this race began. The combining of the east and west, caused by the California Gold rush is well explained by a "National...
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...Everyone knows about the gold rush in California. We know that gold was discovered on January 24,1848, right before the end of the Mexican War the following month. With the end of the war meant adversity was going to be a huge challenge for this newly found territory that would later be known as California in 1850. Right away you have Spaniards turned Mexican then turned American, along with Mexican Americans. These people were known as Californios. Within a month the gold rush was in full swing, so how did these challenges affect the mining process? Was it fair for who found what and who got what? What did it do to the state of California? The gold rush had a large impact on the population within California. After James Marshall discovered...
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...we are now going to cover the Gold Rush an event that dramatically transformed the future of California. Albeit, the California Gold Rush has been introduced to all of you at some point in your education, most students still are unaware of the complexity and magnitude of this time in California history. The Gold Rush began shortly after California became US territory and sparked mass migration into California from all over the world. The culmination of these events changed the way of life for the various ethnic groups present during the Gold Rush. Now that I have given you all a brief introduction to California Gold Rush, we will now dive into the inner details of this historical period in California. The Gold Rush began when James Wilson Marshall found flakes of gold in the American river near his ranch while he was working for John Sutter. Once Capt. Sutter and Marshall confirmed his finding were in fact gold and in abundance along the...
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...The Gold Rush The California Gold Rush of 1848 greatly impacted California in numerous ways. The Gold rush began on January 24, 1848 in what is known as Sacramento, California at Sutter's Mill where 750,000 was extracted. There are many interesting parts to the Gold Rush such as how it started, the adventure to California, the mining and end of the Gold Rush, and the impact the Gold Rush had on California. The Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848 at Sutter's Milles when James Wilson Marshall was trying to build a water powered saw-mill. All of a sudden he saw a shiny rock and was sure it was gold. “It made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold,” he said. This event would change California forever. John Sutter the owner of Sutter’s Mill...
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...There were many participating factors that led up to the California Gold Rush. One was…well the discovery of gold on January 24, 1848. After John Sutter discovered the gold, he asked his workers to keep the gold discovery a secret but it wasn’t too long since word got out. Once it did, more and more people came to California for a chance to strike it rich. Many even left their old lives behind for this once in a lifetime opportunity. The California Gold rush was an important event in history because it impacted our nation. We gained a large amount of population than anticipated in the state of California. In fact, it was the largest mass migration in U.S history. Additionally, in 1848 we had about 157,000 people and by 1853 there were...
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...One of the most recalled time in American History has been during the 1850’s, which became known as the California Gold Rush. This was period of time when people did whatever they could to make their way to California, in search of gold. Many partook in this episode in American History, however, one young man was able to forever engrave his presence in the hearts of Mexicans during this time period. That man’s name was Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo, who after being faced with racial discrimination against Mexicans, decided to fight for Mexicans by sharing with them the spoils his group got after they confronted and stole from non-Mexicans. Joaquin Murrieta, also known as the Mexican Robin Hood, was the son of Joaquin Murrieta and Rosalia Carrillo....
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...A man named James Marshall found gold a place called Sutter’s Mill. He ran to tell the maker of the mill, John Sutter and he proved it was gold. They tried to keep it a secret, but word spread out across the world. In a couple weeks about 300,000 people were on their way to California, but some died of sinking in rushing water, and die waiting for the boat (land and sea traveling) and so there were less people arriving. The three routes were land, sea , and land and sea. None of these routes were guaranteed easy, land was the easiest(but still not easy) but the longest, sea was shorter but more dangerous for lack of food, fuel and medicine, and land and sea was really hard because sometimes they have to wait weeks or months for a boat to pick them up but in still was the shortest....
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...takes place east of Sacramento, California starting in 1848. The main character of this book is a carpenter named James Marshall. He was building a sawmill when he accidently saw an amazing discovery in the water. Little did he know that this discovery was about to change his life and shape our nation. The discovery James made was a small pea-sized nugget of gold. He found 5 of these gold nuggets in the water within 30 minutes of looking. For the next few years hundreds of thousands of people made their way across the continent to the gold fields. This is why it is called the “gold rush” because everyone rushed to get to the gold when they found out. Many people believe that the gold rush changed Americans outlook on life. They went from believing that hard work gave you a good life and afterlife to believing that everyone had a chance of getting rich quick from the gold. Chasing this wealth became a lifestyle that we still see in today’s...
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...The California gold rush started in 1849 where over 90,000 people went to california to mine for gold but it was not easy as it sounds for the gold rushers.some challenges people faced when traveling to California during the gold rush were weather they should choose the sea route or the land route, lack of or too much supplies, diseases, and how it would impact California. The first thing the 49ers did for the land route was gather supplies for their trip to California. The supplies they brought were wagons, rubber inflatable beds, stoves, shovels, lanterns, barrels of water, medicine forks, cups and dry food took up most of their space on their wagons. During the land route They usually started from Missouri and “tried to cover the 2,200-mile journey in approximately 123...
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