2017-01-24 Tue

"Gold is where you find it"

Eons ago a child discovered a lustrous rock and for the first time, humans knew about Gold. It was first found in its natural state in streams across the globe. It is said to be one of the first metals discovered by humans. Gold became a part of everyday life - its beauty, lustre, malleability and resistance to tarnish made it precious.

Today, 169 years ago, Gold was discovered in California. Luck was an important factor when James Wilson Marshall discovered Gold in Sutter’s mill of the South Fork American River in Colona, California. His discovery started the Californian Gold Rush and modernization.

The Sutter’s Mill was a saw-mill, owned by a 19th-century pioneer John Sutter. During that time Marshall was working to build a water powered sawmill. After this discovery in 1948, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed in Mexico City which transferred the American south-west to the United States.

People from all over the world headed to California by sea and land to seek fortune from mining Gold or selling supplies. In the coming seven years approx 300,000 people came to California. This huge migration to west resulted in the mining of nearly 600 Million Dollars worth of Gold.

Ironically, the one who discovered this precious metal did not reap the benefits of his discovery. James Marshall died pennilessly.

To mark this event United States Postal Service issued a first-day cover in 1948. In the right corner, a stamp is shown which was issued on the 100th anniversary of this discovery.