On January 24, 1848, a carpenter named James W. Marshall bent down along the American River and unknowingly altered the trajectory of a continent. What he found glittering in the cold water near Sutter’s Mill was not merely a fleck of metal, but the…
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On December 5, 1848, President James K. Polk delivered a message to Congress that changed the nation forever. He said gold had been found in California. His declaration set in motion one of the most transformative episodes in American history: the California Gold Rush.…
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On August 19, 1848, The New York Herald, one of the most influential newspapers of the time, made history by being the first major publication to break the news of the California Gold Rush to the East Coast of the United States. This announcement…
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