During the “49er Gold Rush” close to 100,000 people went to California from the United States, Europe, and every other corner of the globe. Gold seekers from Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and China continued to sail across the Pacific along well established trade routes (Houghton). The journey was far more complicated for citizens of the United States. A voyage from the East Coast to California around Cape Horn was 17,000 miles long and could easily take five months. But this route was by far the safest and very well established. There was a shorter alternative: sailing to Panama, crossing the isthmus by foot or horseback, and sailing to California fro

m Central America's Pacific Coast. However, until 1850 there was no regular steamship travel in the Pacific, and passengers might find themselves stranded in Panama for weeks or months waiting for a ship to California. And this was also very costly venture. And lastly for those without money for a sea passage or with heavy cargos of household goods to bring, the only route to California laid the Overland Trail across the Plains and through one of the mountain passes. But there were some restrictions for time, because it was a very long journey to travel in wagons.

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When the miners finally reached California’s gold fields it wasn’t all what they dreamed about, it was back breaking work. The conditions were very harsh on most of the men. It was a very brutal daily routine, and they had to build their own homes. Clearly life in the mines was devastating, both physically and emotionally. Not everyone who came to California during the Gold Rush planned to earn fortune by panning for gold. Yes, it was a craze, but not everyone was destined to be rich. There were some restrictions along the way as well. There were committees formed and they set some mining code rules. Non-white parties couldn’t get claims on the land that they had established and found gold on. They only had rights to use the land, but couldn’t clai

Some topics in this essay:
Gold Rush, Town” People, Americans California, Trail Plains, Pacific Coast, Sutter's Mill, Cape Horn, Hawaii China, United Europe, John Marshall, gold rush, california gold, coast california, found gold, california gold rush, pacific coast,