The California Gold Rush (Expansion of America)

A single event on January 24, 1848—the discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada foothills—brought thousands of people to the country’s western shores. A New Jersey carpenter, James W. Marshall, was building a sawmill for a Swiss immigrant who was raising cattle on his ranch in northern California. At the time, California was a province of Mexico. But when Marshall looked into the river and saw something glitter, the timing of his discovery would prove to be very important.