USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Discovery of gold on his land brought disaster to Sutter. In the process of building a water-powered sawmill, a carpenter named James W. Marshall found flakes of gold in a streambed (January 24, 1848). The two men tried to keep the find a secret, but the news leaked out.

Detailed explanation-2: -James W. Marshall partnered with John Sutter to start a lumber business in 1847. Sutter had founded “New Helvetia”-later renamed Sacramento-and a vast agricultural empire in the Sacramento Valley.

Detailed explanation-3: -John Sutter (born Johann August Suter; February 23, 1803–June 18, 1880) was a Swiss immigrant in California whose sawmill was the launching spot for the California Gold Rush. Sutter was a prosperous pioneer and land baron when one of his sawmill workers found a nugget of gold at the mill, on January 24, 1848.

Detailed explanation-4: -He was famous during his own lifetime. In 1848 a Nisenan (indigenous native of California) working on Sutter’s land found the gold nugget that sparked the famous gold rush. The indigenous worker gave the precious metal to his superior, James Marshall, triggering a frantic scramble for riches.

Detailed explanation-5: -In 1848, James W. Marshall found shining flecks of gold in the tailrace of the sawmill he was building in partnership with John Sutter.