ABSTRACT
January 1848 was auspicious for what became the largest gold rush in American history starting in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. On the 24th day of that month, gold was discovered at John Sutter's mill in Coloma, El Dorado County, California. Water became a formidable tool in extracting gold. Hydraulic mining was a much more efficient, albeit wasteful and environmentally destructive, technique than panning for gold in a river or stream. The impact of wide-ranging new settlement and uncontrolled extractive mining also was devastating to the environment, especially rivers and streams. California was part of a large geographic area where gold deposits led to a mad rush for wealth and prosperity. California's indigenous people participated in the gold rush as miners.
