2. It all started when John Sutter
picked up a piece of metal that looked
like gold. He took it to be tested and it
was confirmed real gold. By the late
1848 word spread and the discovery in
California became National news.

3. Gold was discovered in California on
January 24, 1848.

4. Gold was first discovered by
James Wilson Marshall while
he was building a sawmill for
Sutter on his property.

5. After gold was found in
California, 300,000 people came to
search; 150,000 of those people
came by sea.

6. They came mostly from
America but also some from
Europe, Australia, Asia, and
Latin America.

7. Three routes 49’ers came from were:
• Around Cape Horn (6-8 months)
•The Isthmus of Panama (2-3 months)
•Overland route (3-5 months)

8. Early gold seekers are called forty-
niners because they came to
California in 1849. They all came to
Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, C.A.

9. Sutter’s Mill was built by John Sutter. He was a
Swiss emigrant who came to California. He also
made Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento. He couldn’t
control all the people who came seeking for gold;
they overran his property leaving as mess.

10. They first panned for gold getting
the gold from streams or rivers.
The tools they used were pans that
they put in rivers to get gold.

11. After a while 49’ers started
mining for gold.
Mining for gold used picks and
shovels. Miners dug for gold in
caves.