The year was 1848. John A. Sutter was building a new sawmill in Coloma, near Sacramento, California. The area was mostly wilderness. He never expected the treasure that the unexplored land held. In January 1848, the chief builder of the sawmill found Sutter one rainy afternoon. The chief made him lock all of the doors to his office. Then, in a secret voice, the chief told Sutter about a discovery that would change the entire West Coast of the United States. He had discovered gold in the stream near the sawmill.
Sutter asked all of his workers to keep the news a secret for just 6 weeks. But it was hopeless. The news spread like wildfire. Everyone wanted some gold. The American West was advertised all over as a land full of promise and wealth. Soon accounts of gold were greatly exaggerated. In early 1849 the editor of the New York Tribune wrote: “Fortune lies upon the surface of the earth as plentiful as the mud in our streets.” People had gold fever.
Tens of thousands of men traveled to the West Coast to seek their fortune. These men were nicknamed “forty-niners.” Have you heard the song “Oh My Darling, Clementine”? That folk song is about the miners who came west. High in his hopes, one man called California “a land of glittering dreams.”
However, life was not always rosy for the miners. Their day-to-day life was very difficult. Most miners never found the slightest trace of gold, much less enough to strike it rich. Still, the vast California countryside contained endless possibility. This sense of possibility was the allure of the American West.
One of the greatest fortunes made from the gold rush had nothing to do with gold. In the spirit of invention, Sam Brannan came up with a scheme. He had found out about the gold from a reliable source. But at first the tale seemed too tall to believe. Brannan changed all of this. He ran through the streets of San Francisco yelling and carrying a bottle of gold dust.
Why did he want everyone to know about the gold? Well, Brannan never even planned to search for gold. He had no interest in digging or panning for specks of yellow. Instead, he planned to make even more money. Brannan knew that the flocks of miners would need tools. He started a business selling them shovels. Brannan sold shovels to thousands and thousands of fortune-seekers. He made more money than all of them.
By the end of 1849, most of the gold was gone. Still people kept digging. The population of California grew steadily. At one point, on average, 30 homes a day were built in San Francisco! Soon the huge population increase of the West Coast would lead to the United States’ decision to build a continental railroad.
Excerpt from “Oh My Darling, Clementine”
In a cavern, in a canyon
Excavating for a mine
Dwelt a miner forty-niner
And his daughter Clementine
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling, Clementine
You are lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine