Pioneer Pieces: California Needs an Incentive

How to lure people to this new territory along the Pacific coast - especially in the wake of folks like Daniel Webster who saw no good or profit in anything outside the eastern United States?

Enter John Sutter and James Marshall, partners in that now famous mill at Coloma.  Marshall thought he saw a glint of gold in the sand one day in January 1848 and picked up the small nugget to change the course of US history forever.

Between January 1848 and the fall of 1848, the locals from San Jose and San Francisco enjoyed their own friendly gold digging picnic.  There was no violence, few disputes about claims, and just an overall good time was had by all.

Then the news of the discovery of gold reached the East coast in the fall of 1848...President Polk who was a avid believer in the possibiliries of the West all along - was very vocal about his I-told-you-sos to the Websters of the East.  He talked about the abundance of gold in California for anybody willing to make the trip - which turned out to be every able American who was fast enough to pack a carpetbag before their neighbor got the idea.  The canals, rivers and trails were soon overflowing with pioneers who couldn't get to California fast enough.

Next time - By River West