In 1848, carpenter James W. Marshall was helping to construct a sawmill in the town of Coloma, California, when he came across something rather strange in a nearby stream - small flecks of a "bright, yet malleable" metal. After performing some tests, Marshall quickly identified the substance as our block of the week - gold ore.
Word quickly spread, and soon all able-bodied men in the area had abandoned everything to go gold-hunting. More and more prospectors arrived - about 300,000 in total, forcing Native Californians off their land and into slavery, disease and starvation. But the effects on California were transformative - the state went from being poor and sparsely populated backwater to a global reputation as the "golden state" in just a few short years.
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