Q 01/05

Where was gold discovered in January 1848, setting off the California gold rush?

A) Fort Ross on the coast

B) Rancho San Francisco

C) Placerita Canyon

D) Sutter's Mill at Coloma

Answer · why

D) Sutter's Mill at Coloma

James W. Marshall spotted the shiny metal in the tailrace of a sawmill he was building for John Sutter on the American River. Sutter wanted the news k...

Q 02/05

Roughly how many people came to California during the gold rush?

A) 30,000

B) 100,000

C) 1 million

D) 300,000

Answer · why

D) 300,000

About half came by sea and half overland. Enough of them arrived in the peak year to give the migrants their nickname, the forty-niners.

Q 03/05

Why were the gold seekers called 'forty-niners'?

A) They came from 49 countries

B) They paid $49 for a claim

C) Forty-nine ships arrived the first month

D) 1849 was the peak year of immigration

Answer · why

D) 1849 was the peak year of immigration

Ships and wagon trains poured in through 1849 after President Polk confirmed the discovery to Congress in December 1848.

Q 04/05

Which San Francisco merchant ran through the streets shouting 'Gold! Gold from the American River!'?

A) John Sutter

B) Levi Strauss

C) Samuel Brannan

D) Henry Wells

Answer · why

C) Samuel Brannan

Brannan, a newspaper publisher, had first confirmed the rumors, then made sure everyone heard them so he could sell them shovels.

Q 05/05

Which U.S. president confirmed the California gold discovery in an address to Congress in December 1848?

A) James K. Polk

B) Zachary Taylor

C) Millard Fillmore

D) Martin Van Buren

Answer · why

A) James K. Polk

The New York Herald had broken the story on the East Coast in August. Polk's endorsement turned a rumor into a stampede.