California Gold Rush Essay

The California Gold Rush started in 1848 when a man named James Wilson Marshall found gold flakes in the American River near his job site in Colma, California. Marshall and his boss, John Sutter, tried to keep the gold a secret, but word traveled throughout the area. Townspeople began quitting their jobs in hopes the gold would make them rich. Then word spread to people all over America, and they began traveling to California to join the “quest for gold.” By the end of the first year of the Gold Rush, the population of non-native Californians grew by 80,000. By the end of the entire California Gold Rush era, the state had a population of about 380,000 people (History.com Editors, 2010). Though the population boom was impactful for the future

An engineer by the name of Theodore Judah began looking for investors to help him begin building the railroad that would stretch all the way to the Pacific Ocean. After finding investors from Sacramento, California, he created the Central Pacific Railroad Company. After forming the company, Judah went to Washington in search of Congressional approval for the daunting task of building what is now known as the Transcontinental Railroad. He gets approval from not only Congress but also from President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act, meaning the government would assist the Central Pacific Railroad Company on its building journey. What Judah did not realize is that another railroad company was going to compete for their government funding. In 1866 The Union Pacific Railroad, run by Dr. Thomas Durant, started building the Transcontinental Railroad started building westward from the Missouri River. The Central Pacific Railroad Company began its building in Sacramento, California, and continued east toward the Sierra Nevada. For every mile of railroad track that a company built, they would receive 6,400 acres of land and $48,000 in government bonds (History.com Editors, 2010). Incentivizing the building of the Transcontinental Railroad caused the two companies to race to complete more of the railroad than the other could so they could receive more government

What people do not realize is that the agricultural industry was also very, if not more, successful than the mining industry. Not everyone who moved to California in hopes of finding gold was successful. In fact, most people who moved to California specifically to mine gold never even found any. After mining was unsuccessful for many people, they had to find new ways to make money. Many of these settlers began to start farms or get jobs on farms. Because of the population boom in California, these farmers became successful. The land in California was rich in nutrients and the climate was perfect for the growth of many fruits, vegetables, and