prospectors found gold in the california gold rush.
who found gold in the california gold rush?
prospectors
in january 1848 james w. marshall found gold at sutter's mill on the rancho, starting the california gold rush. sutter was forced to abandon his business ventures at the settlement after that, when the area was overrun by large numbers of gold-seekers. sutter's fort is preserved as a california state historic park. with the gold rush, sutter's workers abandoned him to seek their fortune in the gold fields. later, squatters occupied his land. by 1852, sutter was bankrupt.





























section::::rancho new helvetia.:post-statehood.
new helvetia
in january 1848, james marshall found gold in the sierra nevada portion of the american river, sparking the california gold rush. it is estimated that about two-thirds of the male population in oregon went to california in 1848 to cash in on the opportunity. to get there, they helped build the lassen branch of the applegate-lassen trail by cutting a wagon road through extensive forests. many returned with significant gold which helped jump-start the oregon economy. over the next decade, gold seekers from the midwestern united states and east coast of the united states dramatically increased traffic on the oregon and california trails. the "forty-niners" often chose speed over safety and opted to use shortcuts such as the sublette-greenwood cutoff in wyoming which reduced travel time by almost seven days but spanned nearly of desert without water, grass, or fuel for fires. 1849 was the first year of large scale cholera epidemics in the united states, and thousands are thought to have died along the trail on their way to california—most buried in unmarked graves in kansas and nebraska. the "adjusted" 1850 u.s. census of california showed this rush was overwhelmingly male with about 112,000 males to 8,000 females (with about 5,500 women over age 15). women were significantly underrepresented in the california gold rush, and sex ratios did not reach essential equality in california (and other western states) until about 1950. the relative scarcity of women gave them many opportunities to do many more things that were not "normally" considered "women's work" of this era. after 1849, the california gold rush continued for several years as the miners continued to find about $50,000,000 worth of gold per year at $21 per ounce. once california was established as a prosperous state, many thousands more emigrated there each year for the opportunities.
oregon trail