USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter originally from New Jersey, found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California.

Detailed explanation-2: -On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold on the property of Johann A. Sutter near Coloma, California.

Detailed explanation-3: -Overview. The 1848 discovery of gold in California set off a frenzied Gold Rush to the state the next year as hopeful prospectors, called “forty-niners, ” poured into the state.

Detailed explanation-4: -In 1848, James W. Marshall found shining flecks of gold in the tailrace of the sawmill he was building in partnership with John Sutter. This discovery changed the course of California’s and the nation’s history.

Detailed explanation-5: -Gold Discovered in California. Many people in California figured gold was there, but it was James W. Marshall on January 24, 1848, who saw something shiny in Sutter Creek near Coloma, California. He had discovered gold unexpectedly while overseeing construction of a sawmill on the American River.