Maps for the California Gold Country
California Mining Rivers:
Feather River
Yuba River
American River
Cosumnes River
Mokelumne River
Stanislaus River
Tuolumne River
Merced River
Of the approximate 300,000 people who came to California during the Gold Rush, about half arrived by sea and half came overland. While most of the newly arrived were Americans, the gold rush attracted thousands from Latin America, Europe, Australia, and China.
Agriculture and ranching expanded throughout the state to meet the needs of the settlers. San Francisco grew from a small settlement of about 200 residents in 1846 to a boomtown of about 36,000 by 1852. In 1849 a state constitution was written. In September 1850, California became a state.
At the beginning of the Gold Rush, there was no law regarding property rights in the goldfields and a system of “staking claims” was developed. Prospectors retrieved the gold from streams and riverbeds using simple techniques, such as panning.