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Gold Rush


            The California Gold Rush had many effects on the American people, westward expansion, the environment, economy and Indian relations ultimately affecting the world as a whole. When John Marshall first found gold in January 1848 at Sutter's Mill, word got out and people really did confirm their findings of gold and plenty of it that the "rush" began. It was for this reason that the miners were referred to as the "49ers" regardless of the year they arrived because it wasn't until 1849 that the influx of peoples to this once quiet country began to change California forever more.
             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 from 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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