James W. Marshall

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James W. Marshall testing a gold nugget

James W. Marshall

American carpenter

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California Gold Rush
On January 24 his carpenter, James W. Marshall, found flakes of gold in a streambed. Sutter and Marshall agreed to become partners and tried to keep their find a secret. News of the discovery, however, soon spread, and they were besieged by thousands of fortune seekers. (With his property overrun…
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On January 24 his carpenter, James W. Marshall, found flakes of gold in a streambed. Sutter and Marshall agreed to become partners and tried to keep their find a secret. News of the discovery, however, soon spread, and they were besieged by thousands of fortune seekers. (With his property overrun…
Read More

Today in History—January 24
How a Sparkling Riverbed Reshaped the American West
…day in 1848, construction superintendent James Marshall spotted something sparkling in the riverbed while overseeing excavation for a sawmill for John Sutter in California.
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…day in 1848, construction superintendent James Marshall spotted something sparkling in the riverbed while overseeing excavation for a sawmill for John Sutter in California.
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John Sutter
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. Workers deserted the colony. Gold seekers and squatters overran Sutter’s land, stealing and destroying his goods and…
Read More
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. Workers deserted the colony. Gold seekers and squatters overran Sutter’s land, stealing and destroying his goods and…
Read More