The California Gold Rush ( 1848 – 1855 ) began on January 24 , 1848 , when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter 's Mill in Coloma , California . The news of gold brought some 300,000 people to California from the rest of the United States and abroad . The Gold Rush initiated the California Genocide , with 100,000 Native Californians dying between 1848 and 1868 . This began the process of white people becoming the majority in present-day California . Later White Americans from the East Coast of the United States and Midwestern United States arrived
California Genocide
California Genocide
White Americans in California