Saturday, July 11, 2026

Question: Gold found in California in 1848 sparked a stampede of prospectors the following year. What nickname did those 1849 gold-seekers earn?

Answer: The Forty-Niners. James W. Marshall’s discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill near Coloma in January 1848 drew an estimated 300,000 fortune-seekers to California during the Gold Rush, and those who arrived in 1849 became known as the Forty-Niners. The influx also helped hasten California’s admission as a state in 1850.