The result was electric, said one future miner: I looked on for a moment; a frenzy seized my soul; unbidden my legs performed some entirely new movements of polka steps--I took several--houses were too small for me to stay in; I was soon in the street in search of necessary outfits; piles of gold rose up before me at every step; castles of marble, dazzling the eye with their rich appliances; thousands of slaves bowing to my beck and call; myriads of fair virgins contending with each other for my love--were among the fancies of my fevered imagination. The Rothchilds, Girards, and Astors appeared to me but poor people; in short, I had a very violent attack of gold fever.
The few thousands setters already in California were excited, but back east people through it was just more western tall tales. Months went by and finally the westerners sent back a tea box stuffed with 230 ounces of pure California gold, almost $100,000 in modern money. That convinced the President. His end of year message to Congress set off the biggest stampede in the history of the world: the California Gold Rush. During the year before the good news spread, there was more gold than Californians to dig it up. Sailors jumped overboard to head for the hills; ships could not leave San Francisco because there was not enough crew left to set the sails. Both Sutter and his neighbor John Sinclair used Indians who did not even have pans or shovels; they filtered river rocks through their handmade baskets. During the first year there were more natives mining for gold than settlers, although the Indians did not get to keep what they found. Through the hard work of his natives, Sinclair made almost half a million dollars in modern money during the first few months. As he feared, John Sutter's empire was overrun: As soon as the secret was out my laborers began to leave me, from the clerk to the cook . . . What a great misfortune was this sudden gold discovery for me. It had jut broken up and ruined my hard, restless and industrious labors, connected with many danger of life, as I had many narrow escapes before I became properly established. There is a saying that men will steal everything but a milestone and a millstone. They stole my millstones . . . The country swarmed with lawless men. I was alone . . .
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