North America 1849: California Gold Rush
11 February 1849
11 Feb 1849
California Gold Rush
2 Oct 1843 Oregon Dispute
29 Dec 1845 Annexation of Texas
13 May 1846 Outbreak of the Mexican–American War
15 Jun 1846 Oregon Treaty
18 Aug 1846 Conquest of California & New Mexico
19 Nov 1846 Northern Mexican Theater
9 Mar 1847 Siege of Veracruz
14 Sep 1847 Battle for Mexico City
2 Feb 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
11 Feb 1849 California Gold Rush
9 Sep 1850 Compromise of 1850
14 Oct 1852 Opening up the West
30 Dec 1853 Gadsden Purchase
6 Dec 1855 Bleeding Kansas
2 Apr 1857 Filibuster War
29 Sep 1858 Mexican Reform War
18 Oct 1859 Raid on Harpers Ferry
Just days before the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in California. Despite attempts to keep the find secret, word spread across the country, reaching the East Coast by August. Over the following years some 300,000 people from all around the world traveled to California by land and sea in the first of the great gold rushes of the 19th century.
