Challenges Of Individuals During The California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush may have seemed like a time where everybody was becoming rich and living was easy, but that was definitely not the truth. The California Gold rush all started in late 1848 when gold was found in the American River. In pursuit to find gold and become wealthy, about 300,000 people packed their bags and headed West. This was the start of California. The gold rush was a hard time for many because the journey to San Francisco was difficult, not everyone succeeded, and there were many diseases and germs being spread. For most, the journey west was a difficult travel for most. First and foremost, one of the routes to Central America was a sea journey to the USA and then a land tread across the Isthmus of Panama. Arriving at the Pacific Ocean. Next another sea voyage to San Francisco. This trip took about 2-3 months and covered about 6,000 miles. This is a long trip to take while crammed on a bout with hundreds of other people. The boats had limited resources since the people were …show more content…
To begin with, people's outhouse contents, offal, garbage, dead animals, and mud filled the streets. The people living in California were exposed to all of the diseases and bacteria from the streets. People then became sick and weak. Second of all, on the journey to San Francisco many diseases were caught such as such as cholera while crossing the jungles in the Isthmus of Panama. They were not even at San Francisco and they had already contracted diseases making them very sick. Last, a mix of mercury and gold-bearing dust were burned in the miners cabins to isolate and consolidate the gold. Mercury causes brain problems so when it was mixed with gold-bearing dust these fumes were inhaled by the miners, causing various lung diseases and brain problems. This lead to a early death. The people of california were living in a community full of disease and