How it Began
James Marshall was born in Lambertville New Jersey, on October 8th 1810. He left home when he was 24. At first he walked to Missouri and started to farm along the Missouri River. When the weather got bad in Missouri, he got sick. Once he realized he needed to get better he put it in action. He got better and decided to walk west to get to a healthier climate. James then took an emigrant train to the Oregon territory in 1844; he then decided that was not for him so he decided to walk to California. He arrived in Sutter's fort in 1845, at the age of 34. After that he was hired as a handyman by Captain Sutter. He knew deep down inside that he really wanted to farm, so he decided to buy a ranch but still work for Sutter. When James Marshall was inspecting a ditch for Sutter, he saw a sparkle in the ditch, he was certain that he found gold.
When James had told Sutter about the find; Sutter swore him to secrecy. If word had gotten out Sutter's empire would be ruined by all of the men and women who had come to look for gold. Eventually the word got out little by little. At first only a few gold seekers came, but the trickle soon grew. Some people believed that Marshall had magical power and made the gold appear in the river which made the angry: which led to them threaten to hang him. May 12th, 1848, word had reached San Francisco. San Francisco was a ghost town now because all of the stores closed. Even the newspaper in the towns have closed because there was no one left to read or write them. The town was beginning to be a disaster.By 1864 the gold rush had ended; the new thing would now be gold mining which lasted about 20 years. The California gold rush had lasted for 16 years.
Even though it seemed crazy for the men to leave their loved ones, they were making much more money then they would have been. In 1849 a factory worker had made about a dollar and a half for a 12 hour day; which added up to be about $390 a year. If you worked by looking in the ditches for gold, someone would have made about $25-$35 a day. That would have added up to about $6500 a year. That was a great deal because if someone wanted to look for gold in the ditches they could because it was free to anyone who wanted to take the time and find it. The difference is about $5110, which was a lot during the 18th century. So leaving family and loved ones was not such a bad idea when you were making a lot more money.
James Marshall was born in Lambertville New Jersey, on October 8th 1810. He left home when he was 24. At first he walked to Missouri and started to farm along the Missouri River. When the weather got bad in Missouri, he got sick. Once he realized he needed to get better he put it in action. He got better and decided to walk west to get to a healthier climate. James then took an emigrant train to the Oregon territory in 1844; he then decided that was not for him so he decided to walk to California. He arrived in Sutter's fort in 1845, at the age of 34. After that he was hired as a handyman by Captain Sutter. He knew deep down inside that he really wanted to farm, so he decided to buy a ranch but still work for Sutter. When James Marshall was inspecting a ditch for Sutter, he saw a sparkle in the ditch, he was certain that he found gold.
When James had told Sutter about the find; Sutter swore him to secrecy. If word had gotten out Sutter's empire would be ruined by all of the men and women who had come to look for gold. Eventually the word got out little by little. At first only a few gold seekers came, but the trickle soon grew. Some people believed that Marshall had magical power and made the gold appear in the river which made the angry: which led to them threaten to hang him. May 12th, 1848, word had reached San Francisco. San Francisco was a ghost town now because all of the stores closed. Even the newspaper in the towns have closed because there was no one left to read or write them. The town was beginning to be a disaster.By 1864 the gold rush had ended; the new thing would now be gold mining which lasted about 20 years. The California gold rush had lasted for 16 years.
Even though it seemed crazy for the men to leave their loved ones, they were making much more money then they would have been. In 1849 a factory worker had made about a dollar and a half for a 12 hour day; which added up to be about $390 a year. If you worked by looking in the ditches for gold, someone would have made about $25-$35 a day. That would have added up to about $6500 a year. That was a great deal because if someone wanted to look for gold in the ditches they could because it was free to anyone who wanted to take the time and find it. The difference is about $5110, which was a lot during the 18th century. So leaving family and loved ones was not such a bad idea when you were making a lot more money.