1848: California Gold Rush brings miners and diseases

Some people from the Miwok, Maidu, and Nissenan tribes help James Marshall dig a millrace at Sutter’s Mill. Discovery of gold flakes in the millstream sets off the California Gold Rush. The influx of miners brings diseases that kill thousands of Native peoples. Miners also commit widespread acts of violence against Native villages and Native peoples throughout California and Oregon.

Demographers estimate that 100,000 Native peoples lived in California before the discovery of gold, but after the Gold Rush, the Native population declined to about 30,000.

Theme

Epidemics

Region

California