WHY ARE THEY GOING TO CALIFORNIA?

GOLD FEVER!

On January 24, 1848 gold was discovered on the American River near Sacramento

Just days later, Mexico and the United States signed a treaty which ended the Mexican American War, yielding a large portion of the Southwest –including California – to the United States

As news spread of The Gold Rush, tens of thousands of prospective gold miners traveled by land or sea to San Francisco and the surrounding area

HOW LONG DID THE GOLD RUSH LAST? HOW MUCH GOLD WAS DISCOVERED?

THIS CREATED HUGE GROWTH…

IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME!

San Francisco grew from a fishing village of less than 1000 in 1848

to become the  central metropolis of the new frontier

with over 100,000 people by the end of 1849!

NECESSITIES WERE NEEDED

This created a huge market for the necessities of life in California

  • Miner’s supplies

  • Furniture like chairs & tables

  • Dry Goods

  • Provisions…

  • And lots of Alcohol!

THESE ITEMS FETCHED

EXTREMELY HIGH PRICES

Beef

Pork

and Flour

 were $40 to $60  a barrel!

HOW MUCH IS THAT TODAY?
Read what the Smithsonian says

Tea

Coffee

and Sugar

were $12 a pound! 

HOW MUCH IS THAT TODAY?

Those that made the most money weren’t the miners themselves…

They were those who “mined the miners”!

AND SPEED WAS OF THE ESSENCE

There was a short window of time to fulfill these needs

Merchants needed to get items to California quickly before demand decreased and prices went down

Competition was Fierce!

THE EAST COAST HAD THE ITEMS NEEDED…

But with no railroad across the United States or through Panama

THE BEST WAY TO TRANSPORT THEM WAS BY SEA

The East Coast had excellent ship building capability

And..there were plenty of able seamen who had been involved in fishing, whaling or military operations

THESE CIRCUMSTANCES DROVE THE TECHNOLOGY

Clipper Ships and then Extreme Clipper Ships were built

over 160 were built in just 4 years!

Fast Ships

Less Cargo but of High-Value

With no Panama Canal,

the ships had to go around

Cape Horn – at the tip of South America

with notoriously rough conditions!

HOW LONG WAS THE JOURNEY FROM NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO?

MANY SHIPS MADE THE JOURNEY

In 1848 only 13 vessels entered San Francisco harbor

In 1850 there were 775!

HIDDEN SECRETS OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY
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