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There's gold in them there hills!
John Marshall discovers a gold nugget while working at Sutter's Mill. Soon, word spread across the country, drawing treasure seekers from far and wide. -
Period: to
California Gold Rush
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Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo makes California a territory of the United States of America. Formerly, California was a Mexican territory. -
Gold Fever!
President Polk tells Congress about the gold in California. Gold fever spreads even further and faster. Everyone wants to find wealth in California. -
Moving West
Gold seekers travel by land and sea to arrive in California during 1849. These travelers are often called the '49ers. -
Taxes!
California legislature passes the Foreign Miners' Tax, which states that every miner not from the United States, must pay a tax of $20 a month to stay in California. -
California becomes a state
California becomes the thirty-first state of the country. -
Tax repealed
Because of violence and protest from the miners, the Foreign Miners' Tax is repealed by the state. -
Growing and growing and growing
California's non-native population is 250,000 people. It was around 15,000 before the gold rush. -
Taxed, again
Foreign Miners' Tax is back, but reduced from $20 a month to $3. -
Taxes change, again!
The Foreign Miners' Tax is raised to $6. There are more than 25,000 Chinese immigrants in California, which all must pay this tax. -
Hydraulic mining
By the mid-1850s, hydraulic mining uses water to reach gold lying deep beneath the surface. Soil is washed away, flooding streams and rivers, and ruining farmland.
