Original subtitles

As morning broke On Christmas Day, 1849,

San Francisco laid in ruin.

In just a matter of hours,

The largest city In the western United States

Had been destroyed.

Entire city blocks Were leveled.

The damage totaled to over $100 million in today's money.

Thousands were left homeless.

But for some, the disaster Was an opportunity.

In the months following The great fire,

A different kind of gold rush Broke out,

As looters repeatedly torched San Francisco.

Brands: there were Enterprising people who realized

That one of the ways Of getting gold

Was to burn down the banks, Burn down the hotels,

Burn down the city.

Then, as soon as the embers Were even starting to cool,

These vandals would come in,

And they would sift Through the ashes.

They would basically be Gold mining

In the ashes Of these buildings.

Narrator: Throughout 1850,

San Francisco was burned To the ground

Four separate times.

With all that turmoil,

People began fleeing the city By the thousands...

...In search of a new place To call home.

Joining the migration

Was Charles Robinson And Boston Company.

He followed the masses east Around the San Francisco bay,

Where eventually they came Across a new town

That had recently formed At the base of the goldfields

Known as Sacramento.

In this fertile valley,

Miners were building new homes

And setting down More permanent roots

On whatever land They could find.

Brands: San Francisco was The first city that developed

Because it was the easiest To get to from outside.

But it had the disadvantage

That it was hundreds of miles From the goldfields.

And so there was A very strong incentive

For some kind of community To develop

Closer to the goldfields.

Narrator: For Robinson and Boston Company

And hundreds of others Like them,

Sacramento wasn't just a place To get rich quick.

It was a place to call home.

But while Sacramento Was on the rise...

San Francisco Was descending into chaos.

As the fires raged,

The once-flourishing city fell Into a state of anarchy.

Crime ran rampant

As violent gangs Ruled the streets.

In the states back east,

Law and order Was well established,

And justice ruled.

But California Wasn't yet a state,

So there weren't any laws At all.

[ horse whinnies ]

California was a place

That was literally lawless

Because laws didn't apply And weren't enforced there.

You couldn't rely on the sheriff To protect you.

Narrator: With the people of San Francisco

Paralyzed with fear In the wake of the fires,

One man looked To take advantage.

Sam Brannan had risen From a simple shopkeeper

To become the richest and most Powerful man in San Francisco.

But all that power Made him a target.

Brannan was Constantly being threatened

By gangs and rival upstarts.

But now, With the city in chaos,

Brannan saw an opportunity

That had never existed before.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Bagley: each of these fires Creates more and more paranoia.

And once you have one Of these catastrophic fires,

People like to point fingers And blame different characters.

And, in many ways, Plays into Brannan's hands,

'cause he can play on that fear To increase his own power.

These men have destroyed Your town.

They have taken your gold.

They will keep doing it Until we rid ourselves of them.

The justice of this land Is not for me to decide.

It's for you, the people, To decide.

But if you want me to act, By god, I will act.

We will root out the evil That has come to our town.

Yeah!Yeah!

Saddle the horses!

[ indistinct shouting ]

Narrator: in one fell swoop, Sam Brannan became the law.

And now he was going to use that Power to take out his rivals.

He started a gang...

[ grunts ]

...To cleanse the streets Of San Francisco.

They were called The vigilance committee,

A group of hired guns

Who took orders directly From Sam Brannan.

With Brannan's committee Now controlling the streets,

William Walker, Oliver Martin, And John Fowler,

Who'd been laying low Since robbing Brannan's house,

Knew they had To get out of town.

But Brannan's first target Was a legitimate shopkeeper

Whose business was getting too Big for Brannan's comfort --

John Jenkins.

[ knock on door ]

[ girl screaming, Dog barking ]

Jenkins was arrested

On trumped-up charges Of burglary

And brought to trial,

Where Sam Brannan Had appointed himself

Judge, jury, and executioner.

Brannan: you, john Jenkins,

Have been convicted

Of wanton destruction Of this town

And of grand theft of property

From the people of this town.

[ gavel bangs ]

Bagley: the defining event Of the vigilante movement

Is the lynching Of john Jenkins.

Man: "And Moses said Unto them, stand still,

"And I will hear What the lord will command

Concerning you."

They dragged Jenkins Up to the square,

And they put the rope Around Jenkins' neck.

And the vigilantes lynched Their first victim.

[ crowd gasps ]

The whole episode Was both grotesque

And ultimately A despicable, illegal murder.

Narrator: with the lynching Of john Jenkins,

Sam Brannan was no longer Just a ruthless businessman.

Now he was a king.

Narrator: by spring of 1850,

Thousands of gold miners

Had flooded in To the new city of Sacramento.

Among them was Charles Robinson And Boston Company.

And now that they were All settled in,

They were ready To get back to gold mining.

[ indistinct conversations ]

They teamed up with a group Of veteran miners in town,

Led by a guy who'd been In California for years

And was well known Around Sacramento --

James Allen.

These guys had been A part of the gold rush

From the very beginning,

And like everyone else,

They were finding the gold Harder to come by.

Thankfully, Boston Company's Chief engineer,

Sylvester edgerly, Had some new ideas.

Edgerly, you explain.

Well, the idea is That we construct a dam

To divert the river,

Then we can dry. out The river bed.

I figure with 30 men,

We could have it built Within two weeks.

Narrator: A river diversion.

It would mark the beginning

Of a new era In gold-mining technique,

Where in order To find the gold,

Miners would have To alter the land.

After two solid years Of mining,

The banks of the rivers had been picked dry.

But the gold-rich riverbeds Had been left untouched.

All the miners had to do Was get underneath the water.

Brechin: miners during The gold rush realized

That in order to get more gold From the stream beds,

You have to essentially reroute The entire river.

Narrator: but to move a river, You need to build a dam.

It was a massive undertaking

That required a level Of engineering

Unlike anything The goldfields had ever seen.

Using nothing but sheer Ingenuity and manpower,

Robinson and his men Were going to alter the course

Of the American River,

A 60-foot-wide waterway That runs 30 feet deep.

That's 230,000 pounds of water

Straining against the freshly Cut boards every second.

One small miscalculation,

And the whole thing Could have blown.

A single man can go out And pan in the river,

But it takes 20, 30, 40 people To dam a river, divert it,

And then dig out the sandbars Immediately below the dam,

So cooperation Becomes very important.

Gonna have to go One level higher at the top.

Narrator: they were no longer Just Boston Company.

Now they were part of A tight-knit community of miners

In the city of Sacramento,

Working together in the hopes Of making a fortune.

After weeks Of round-the-clock work,

Their dam was nearly complete.

The structure now stood Over 12 feet tall,

Made up of nearly two tons Of wood, dirt, and rock.

They put everything Into the dam --

Weeks of work and sweat, And all their money...

Okay. We got a leak.

...In a last-ditch effort To find some gold.

If it didn't pay off, Their entire rush would be over.

That's good. Yeah.

[ dog barking ]

[ horse whinnies ]

In the months Following the great fire,

Sam Brannan had rebuilt San Francisco.

And with his vigilance committee Patrolling the streets,

He was now more powerful Than ever.

But little did he know His biggest opportunity yet

Was just around the corner.

By the winter of 1850,

The modern equivalent Of over $7 billion worth of gold

Had already been pulled Out of the hills of California,

And all that fortune

Was attracting more prospectors By the day.

The gold rush was drawing The country west

Faster than ever before In American history.

Brands: until the late 1840s,

The population was moving Across north America

From the eastern part Of the United States.

But it was taking generations.

The expectation was That California

Would probably take Half a century to fill up.

California would not be applying For statehood

For many, many years.

Then gold was discovered,

And California filled up With enough people

To form a state Within the first year.

Narrator: with California On the fast track to statehood,

It didn't take long

Before ambitious politicians In washington

Started heading west.

These weren't Cash-strapped prospectors

Looking to get rich quick.

These were power-hungry men...

Like William Gwin,

A former congressman From the state of Mississippi.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Gwin saw California as a chance To advance his career.

Mr. Brannan.

Mr. Gwin. Welcome to San Francisco.

You've done quite well Out of California.

Its population's Almost 100,000.

Really?

That makes it eligible For statehood.

I plan to be Its first senator.

And if you Help me get elected,

You'll have a valuable friend In government.

I plan to make California

The most prosperous state In America,

With several large cities, Not just one.

The big mining corporations Are coming.

And they want To base themselves

Next to the goldfields In Sacramento.

I know it's Just a trading post now,

But when we're finished,

It'll be Another San Francisco.

Sam Brannan realized

Everything was About to change.

Well, hello, sir.

Hello there.

Narrator: big business Was on its way to California.

Back east,

Large companies were doing A different type of mining,

As they were developing New technologies

To dig up massive amounts Of coal, copper, and iron ore.

Those big companies Were now realizing

That the gold in California Wasn't going to run out.

And with their heavy machinery And large-scale operations,

They could pull more gold Out of the hills

Than any miner with a tin pan Or wooden sluice box.

All they had to do was get Their equipment to California

And start digging money Straight out of the ground.

The rush would soon be over For the little guy,

And Sam Brannan Was going to take advantage

With his biggest scheme yet.

All he had to do was get control Of the land

The big companies were after Before they got there

So he could be the one

To sell it to them At massively inflated prices.

Brechin: Sam Brannan made a fortune

Supplying tools and supplies To the miners

Because there's a constant And growing demand for them.

But that's not enough.

He understands That the lasting fortunes

Are made by those people Who got control of the land

By whatever means necessary.

Narrator: Ever since the gold rush began,

Sam Brannan had been rigging The game in his favor.

That game just got A whole lot bigger.

Narrator: By the middle of 1850, Over 100,000 people were crammed

Into the gold fields Around Sacramento.

But the lack of gold had Started to drive some miners

To leave the safety Of the established claims

And trek off on their own, Deeper into the wilderness.

Eymann: They had to go out and find

Some place that somebody Didn't already claim.

And they had to often go Farther into the mountains

In order to do that.

That meant rougher terrain.

It meant colder water.

There were wild animals -- Very dangerous.

Narrator: into this Treacherous environment,

One man was trying to get As far away from civilization

As he possibly could.

[ insects chirping ]

Narrator: After weeks on the run,

William Walker was finally safe From Brannan's men.

Along with Oliver Martin And John Fowler,

Walker had teamed up With another mining company,

100 miles northeast Of San Francisco,

On the bear river.

And that company had a secret Weapon for finding gold.

The miners Called it quicksilver.

I'll be damned.

Narrator: quicksilver is Better known today as mercury.

And it's been used in mining Since ancient times.

During the California gold rush,

A bath of the liquid metal Was added to the base

Of a standard gold washer.

As the lightweight rocks And sediment fell in,

The mercury bonded to even The smallest specks of gold.

Mercury is like a magnet For gold.

They are attracted To each other.

And the old-timers knew this.

And in order to get a lot Of the small gold

That was floating Out their sluice boxes

Or to get the most gold,

They would use mercury.

Walker: hurry! Let's go! Let's go!

Narrator: the miracle substance Did most of the work.

All the miners had to do

Was reach in And find their fortune.

But what no one knew At the time

Was that these men Were exposing themselves

To a highly toxic material.

[ indistinct whispering ]

[ laughs ]

Mercury was one of those Chemicals at the time

That was used Quite prolifically

But had numerous hazards That were accompanied with it.

I mean, mercury makes you Go crazy.

Ware: you'll absorb it into Your skin through your fingers

Or into your bloodstream By inhaling it.

And you'll eventually lose Your teeth or your hair.

[ laughs ] And it'll kill you.

[ distorted ] Any luck?

[ distorted ] What do you think?

[ laughter ]

[ gulls calling ]

Narrator: meanwhile, Sam Brannan Was looking to take control

Of Sacramento And the surrounding goldfields

So he could sell it

To the big mining companies From back east

For a massive profit.

And to get control Of that land,

Brannan had just the play He needed.

Thousands of miners Were building homes in the area.

But they didn't actually own The land.

The land itself was owned By just a small handful of men,

Men who had been in California Since before the rush

And who resented the newcomers.

You have this ready-made Conflict that exists

Of who owns the land And who has the right to it.

Is it these people Who has originally gotten it

As a land grant From the mexican government,

Or is it the people

That are coming in and setting Up their livelihood?

Narrator: Brannan realized He could exploit the situation

And use the conflict between The landowners and the settlers

To his favor.

He headed to Sacramento To meet with the landowners

To convince them To sell their right to the land

Before they realized What they were giving up.

Now, I know that each of you Might be feeling angry.

While you've been cultivating The land,

Others have stepped in And become rich from gold.

Well, I want to propose You get something back,

Something to reward you For all your hard work.

Now, I know that each of you

Purchased land From the mexican government,

Land you bought Fair and square.

I also know that there are Squatters living on this land

Who feel they have the same Right to the land as you.

Well, I'm sorry to say

There's nothing you can do To remove them,

Which means the land Is of no value to you.

Sam Brannan was an opportunist.

He knew how to capitalize On things, saw the opportunity.

He was a superb salesman, And he knew how to say,

"What I'm telling you Is the truth.

"And if you back me up,

If you help capitalize me, You, too, will make a profit."

Now, I think That you've been wronged,

And I want To make things right

By buying that land From you.

What about the gold?

Who knows Where the good lord

Has chosen To bury his treasure?

So if there is Any gold found,

I will, of course, Share it with you.

Bagley: The old California families

That had been there For generations

And had deeds From the mexican government,

They essentially wound up

Being swindled by Sam Brannan

And cheated out of their land.

Narrator: Brannan wasn't concerned

About keeping his promises To the landowners.

All he cared about were The big companies

Who were, at that very moment, On their way to California

From cities like Boston, New york, and philadelphia.

And since there wouldn't be A transcontinental railroad

For almost another 20 years,

The only way to get that Heavy equipment to California

Was by ship.

The clock was ticking.

Brannan now had control of the Land those companies were after,

But he knew he'd never be able To sell it to them

With so many settlers Still living there.

As far as he was concerned,

Those settlers Were now squatters

Illegally occupying his land.

So he sent his own hired guns

All the way to Sacramento

To clear the city --

By force, if necessary.

Giving you all notice to vacate This land,

Or else be evicted.

Under whose authority?

The law.

This is all private land,

And you all are squatters.

Narrator: just over two years Into the gold rush,

Dozens of new mining techniques Were being used in the fields,

From gold washers To sluice boxes.

But one was working Better than most...

...The quicksilver machine.

Unfortunately For William Walker,

The mercury in the machine

Was beginning to take its toll.

Martin.

Yeah?

Take over. I need to rest.

Okay.

Brechin: mercury is an extremely Powerful neurotoxin.

It affects the nerves.

It will affect your brain If you get enough of it.

What happens is, Often, you'll start trembling...

...Because your nerves Are going haywire, actually.

They're being killed.

Your brain is affected.

People will have Severe depression.

You can start losing Your eyesight.

It's really Quite an ugly process.

Narrator: The mercury wasn't just proving To be harmful to the miners

But also the environment.

Less than 1/10 of an ounce Of the toxic substance is enough

To contaminate a small lake.

But over the course of the rush, 49ers used

Nearly 26 million pounds Of mercury

To mine for gold.

Very soon, the whole Sierra was Contaminated

With this very toxic metal.

Anywhere where there is gold Being discovered in that time,

You will find now mercury That wasn't there before.

It contaminates the streams.

It contaminates the earth And the water.

Narrator: even to this day,

Hundreds of lakes and rivers In northern California

Are still polluted By mercury from the gold rush.

While Walker descended Into a state of madness...

...40 miles to the south...

...Charles Robinson And Boston Company

Had found Their own mining method --

Diverting the American River.

But building the dam Was the easy part.

The actual gold was In the bedrock,

The solid rock base Beneath the riverbed,

And no one knew how deep They'd have to dig to find it.

We could be feet away From the bedrock.

Well, you know, there -- There's a better way.

What do you have In mind?

Brechin: they know that there's A lot of gold there,

But a lot of it is hidden.

And so, when you wanted to get At deposits of gold

That had been buried Or hard to get,

You had to blow up The rivers themselves.

Narrator: it would be Nearly 20 years before dynamite,

A relatively safe explosive, Was invented.

So instead, Miners in the goldfields

Had to rely on gunpowder To blast through the earth.

There was a tremendous demand For explosives up in the Sierra.

So a big industry in gunpowder Developed

First in San Francisco,

And then because the explosives Plants kept blowing up,

It would move to other parts Of the bay

That were outside of the city.

Narrator: with demand For gunpowder so high,

Prices were through the roof.

A single charge could cost Over $10,000 in today's money.

So, some miners decided to make Their gunpowder themselves.

Made up of sulfur, charcoal, And potassium nitrate,

Gunpowder is a highly unstable And easily combustible material.

If you don't know How to handle it properly,

The consequences Could be deadly.

Ware: it's not like A stick of dynamite,

Where you already know What it's gonna do.

The black powder, you got To experiment, see how much.

You get a teaspoon, Two teaspoons.

These guys were Basically all on their own,

And they didn't know how much It would take to crack a rock.

Have you ever used Explosives before?

No.

Brechin: Miners rely upon gunpowder

In large quantities To get at the gold.

And, of course, They often, themselves,

Became victims Of that technique.

I think you'd all Better stand back.

Narrator: as gold became harder To come by,

Thousands of 49ers Started using new explosives

To blast into The Sierra Nevada foothills.

It didn't take long Before those explosives

Were used for a new purpose --

Laying the first railroad tracks West of the Mississippi,

As the gold rush kicked off A 20-year building boom

That eventually tied The country together

With over 50,000 miles Of railroads.

Kurutz: the gold rush had A profound effect on the nation.

You had This tremendous economic force

Linking California And all of its wealth

Via the transcontinental Railroad,

Achieving that whole notion Of manifest destiny.

Narrator: Boston Company's River diversion was complete.

But to get at the gold Under the riverbed,

They had to try Their riskiest move yet.

Edgerly. Hey.

Any explosives are dangerous.

Black powder or nitro -- you had To be very careful with them.

I mean, you can lose your life Real easy.

Is he all right?

Is he breathing? I don't know.

Is he alive?

Just give him Some room.

Is he all right?

He's breathing.

Just give him Some room.

Needs some time, Okay?

Man: gold!

Gold! I heard that!

It's gold!

Gold?!

We found gold!

It's gold! It's real!

Hey. [ coughs ]

Give me a pick! Give me a shovel!

Give me a bucket!

[ indistinct shouting ]

You cracked Your glasses.

You did it! You did it!

Nice work!

You did it! You did it!

Nice work!

It's real!

[ cheering, laughter ]

Narrator: the men of Boston Company had finally found gold.

With this discovery, they joined A select group of men

Who had Actually struck it rich.

In the 2 1/2 years Since the gold rush began,

Over 150,000 people had flooded Into the goldfields.

But fewer than 5%

Had actually found A significant amount of gold.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Let's have three cheers For edgerly!

All: hip, hip, hooray!

Hip, hip, hooray! Hip, hip, hooray!

[ laughter ]

Narrator: Boston Company May have finally hit it big,

But their celebration Wouldn't last long.

[ horse snorts ]

Big business from back east Was headed to California,

And Sam Brannan had a plan To cash in.

He knew The big mining companies

Were looking to buy up Sacramento and the goldfields,

Land that he had just bought For next to nothing.

The only problem -- That land was still home

To thousands of miners And their families.

Before Brannan Could sell his land

To the mining companies For a massive profit,

He would need to get rid Of the squatters

Who were now living there.

Well?

We've given them notice To leave, sir.

They're still there.

See that they're all gone By tomorrow.

The quiet streets Of Sacramento

Were about to get a taste Of Sam Brannan's wrath.

Brannan's men Took the city by storm,

Forcing families From their homes,

Burning their houses To the ground.

But Brannan wasn't going to stop With Sacramento.

Once he cleared the city,

He was going to come After the goldfields themselves

And every claim on it.

The miners had no idea What was coming.

[ gunshot ]

Narrator: by winter of 1850,

Sacramento had fallen At the hands of Sam Brannan.

But Brannan wasn't finished.

He knew the big mining companies From back east

Were almost to California.

And before they got there, He would need to get control

Of the most valuable land On the west coast --

The gold fields.

But what Brannan had No way of knowing

Was that going After the gold fields would lead

To the deadliest confrontation In the entire gold rush.

Word of Brannan's Violent takeover of Sacramento

Quickly reached Charles Robinson And Boston Company

At their claim On the American River.

Eymann: Charles Robinson believed that,

As an American coming To California,

You had a right to claim land That was available.

It was the sense That this is ours

And you, the wealthy people, Don't have the right

To take this away from us.

Narrator: But Robinson realized

He wasn't gonna be able To stop Brannan alone.

He partnered with James Allen, A veteran 49er,

Who'd been a part Of the California gold rush

Since the very beginning.

Got any Of that coffee left?

Sure.

Together, Robinson and Allen Began rallying

The men of the gold fields.

They formed a group known As the settlers' association

And began holding A series of secret meetings

In Allen's house.

For years, Sam Brannan had been Taking advantage of the miners,

Charging whatever he wanted

For supplies, booze, And prostitutes.

And the miners were Always willing to pay

Because they knew they could Go out and find more gold.

But now, By coming after the gold fields,

Brannan was threatening To take away

Something much more valuable -- Their chance to get rich.

The miners were Not going to stand for it.

If we don't fight, We're as good as dead.

[ indistinct conversations ]

Narrator: as word Of the settlers' meetings

Began to spread, Printed in newspapers

And circulated Throughout the gold fields,

More and more miners began Joining the cause.

You have this large group That have come in

And want their fair share.

They organize themselves

With Charles Robinson As a leader,

Gathering, having rallies,

Talking about How this isn't right,

How "We're gonna Take this back."

And they made their mark to say, "We're not gonna take this."

Narrator: Sam Brannan had made The worst move possible.

He'd given the miners a reason To unite against him.

But he realized They weren't gonna back down

Without a fight.

30 miles east,

William Walker had stumbled Upon a company with an edge.

For the better part of a month,

Walker had been manning This company's mercury machine,

Using a bath of the liquid metal To extract gold from dirt.

But that mercury was A dangerous,

Even deadly, poison.

And its effects were starting To take their toll.

Walker's condition was Getting worse.

And his journals show The havoc

The mercury was inflicting On his body.

As walker's body and mind were Deteriorating,

The company's leader discovered

That their gold had Gone missing.

Man: What are you doing?

Just give me the gold.

[ distorted, echoing ] Gold. Gold. Gold.

I can't do that.

Give me the gold.

[ groans ]

You'll hang for this, Walker.

Maybe I will.

Maybe I won't.

So long, boys.

Meanwhile, with the settlers' Association gaining traction,

Charles Robinson took Their case

To the legal authorities In California.

He started With the mayor of Sacramento.

I'll look into it, Just as soon as I can.

You have my word.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Narrator: But Robinson had no idea

That any legal authority In California

Answered directly To Sam Brannan.

I've had a visitor.

I know.

I don't think You're going to be able

To remove the squatters From their claim.

Settlers have a right To vacant land.

I own the land.

I advise you To quit while you're ahead.

If you try to take their claims, You will lose.

Bagley: when Sam Brannan made up His mind that he was right,

He was going to defend That position ruthlessly.

He was a businessman Who would brook no opposition,

And he was Obviously dangerous.

Narrator: Sam Brannan had everything,

But his greed wouldn't Let it stop there.

He ordered a surprise raid On the settlers' headquarters,

With orders to haul in The association's leaders,

Charles Robinson And James Allen, dead or alive.

When Brannan's men arrived At Allen's house...

...Robinson and the rest Of the miners were

Back at their claim On the American River...

...Leaving James Allen To defend

The squatter headquarters Himself.

Need to search your house, Allen!

I ain't going anywhere!

I'm warning you, Old man!

Your house is Now on private property!

I'm gonna count to three!

One...

[ gun cocks ] ...Two...

Three!

[ gunshot ]

Man: fire!

[ coughs ]

[ gun cocks ]

Narrator: After killing the leader Of the mercury company

And robbing him of his gold, William Walker was laying low

In the outskirts Of the California gold fields...

Leaving his former partners To fend for themselves.

Oliver Martin and John Fowler Had no choice

But to take jobs working For a local mining company.

Man: move them rocks!

It's tough to watch.

I've actually physically seen

What these poor guys Have to endure

Working for the guy That has the good ground

For a little bit of money,

And they end up Just burning out --

Broken backs, broken dreams.

There's nothing left for them.

Narrator: After a year in the fields With nothing to show for it,

Martin and Fowler were Growing desperate

For their luck to change.

Somewhere off...

But a new rumor was Making its way

Through the mining camps...

...They say there's so much gold In that lake

That it just glistens In the sunlight.

...Whispers Of a deposit so rich,

It promised To make millionaires

Out of the first miners To reach it.

A lake of gold.

There was this rumor Of this golden lake,

That in the bottom of it was Just shining with gold,

And so people heard about this And said, "Got to go."

And there's a mass stampede To the lake of gold.

Narrator: For the thousands of miners Who had hit rock bottom,

News of the golden lake was A ray of hope.

Entire camps emptied out As men dropped everything

And set off on a race To find it.

Martin and Fowler Finally had a lead

That could land them Untold riches.

All they had to do was Find that lake.

James Allen had been Brutally killed

By Sam Brannan's thugs.

With Allen dead,

Charles Robinson was left To lead the settlers alone.

He finally realized

That Sam Brannan was Going to stop at nothing,

And so the miners would Have to fight back

With a deadly force Of their own.

Robinson began to mobilize The men of the gold fields

And arm them for battle.

They were going To march on Sacramento

And take back the city.

Once people began To think of California as home

Rather than simply a place To make money,

Then a different mind-set Set in.

These people thought this was Something worth fighting for.

"This is where I live,

And I'm gonna stand up For my rights here."

Narrator: Robinson knew he was leading His men into certain war,

But his resolve was firm.

As he wrote that night,

"From this position, We cannot be driven.

We are prepared To abide the result."

Meanwhile, Sam Brannan got word Of the settlers' plans.

As far as he was concerned,

The miners were All that stood in his way.

And to get complete control Of California once and for all,

He was going to have To destroy them.

Eymann: you have This large group of miners

That do not like the tactics That have been used

Because they were treated So brutally,

Because they were pushed, Their homes were destroyed.

They were pushed to the end To then have to fight back.

That leads to a point

Where there has to be A confrontation.

And in 1850, that led To the squatters' riots.

Narrator: On a seemingly ordinary day In 1850,

Dr. Charles Robinson led His detachment of armed miners

To the center Of Sacramento...

...Hoping to take back

What they believed to be Rightfully theirs.

But Sam Brannan came prepared With a force of his own.

Bagley: Brannan and Robinson are An interesting pair of rivals

Because they're a lot alike.

They both see themselves As representatives

Of the real America And the best Americans.

You have these dynamic,

Charismatic characters At either end.

They wind up In violent confrontation.

How much?

For what?

How much gold To make you all leave?

It's not about the gold.

Really?

I thought That's why we're all here.

What you did was wrong.

There's no right Or wrong.

This is California.

If you want something, You take it.

We've a right To this land.

It was unoccupied.

We settled here In good faith.

If you and your mob Don't leave...

I will kill all of you.

[ gun cocks ]

[ guns cocking ]

Narrator: after 2 1/2 years,

The California gold rush Came down to this --

The everyman miner versus

The richest, most powerful man In California...

...In a battle for control Of the gold fields.

Doc.

Hold.

[ gunshots, Indistinct shouting ]

Cover! Take cover!

Stay low!

[ grunts ]

[ grunts ]

Aah!

[ groaning ]

[ breathing heavily ]

[ groaning ]

Shoot again!

Aah!

[ gun cocks ]

Narrator: The once-tranquil streets Of Sacramento

Have been transformed Into a place of slaughter.

Five miners and three Of Brannan's men were killed

And eight more people wounded.

It was the single bloodiest day

In the entire California gold rush.

With blood still fresh In the streets,

The settlers scattered Into the hills, badly defeated.

Brannan arrested and locked up Any injured miners who survived.

And among them was Charles Robinson.

With the bullet still lodged In his body,

Robinson was hauled off To prison,

Where he was charged With inciting a riot

And multiple counts Of murder.

Many people were injured As part of the squatters' riots,

And Charles Robinson was One of them.

And he was put into prison With his wounds intact.

And he was given no treatment

Except for what he could Give himself.

And so he Literally nursed himself

As he was held prisoner For the actions he took.

Narrator: With the miners retreating,

Brannan was convinced His aggressive plan had worked.

It was every bit the victory He'd hoped for.

90 miles away, In the Sierra Nevadas...

Oliver Martin and John Fowler Were still on the hunt

For the lake of gold.

They knew, If the stories were true,

That the find of their lives was Just around the corner.

Rumors of the lake had led Hundreds of hopeful miners

Thousands of feet Into the Sierra Nevadas,

Where the weather changed Quickly.

Just miles from the mild climate Of the gold fields,

Temperatures could plunge To as low as 40 below zero.

And many who risked the journey Were never heard from again.

After weeks on the hunt,

Martin and Fowler had found Themselves in the worst of it,

10,000 feet above sea level.

[ wind howling ]

But the men were certain That once they found that lake,

Their entire ordeal Would have been worth it.

It's there.

It's there! It's there!

[ laughing ]

No.

No!

Come on. Come on. Come on. Hey, hey.

[ sobbing ]

Kurutz: You have these wild rumors To "There's a lake of gold."

And, of course, Once they got there,

They found out That this was a hoax.

There's no truth to it.

Ware: some people -- They're exhausted.

They're out of funds.

They've lost their mind thinking They're gonna get rich,

And they haven't struck it For days and weeks and months,

And it's their demise.

It's the fever gone bad -- Exactly what it is.

Narrator: Having successfully cleared The squatters from his land,

Sam Brannan had won the battle For control of the gold fields

And was merely waiting On big business

To arrive in California So he could cash in.

His adversary, Charles Robinson,

Remained locked up In a Sacramento jail cell,

Awaiting trial for murder And leaving

The tens of thousands of miners Across California

Powerless and defeated.

One man left just in time

To avoid Falling under Brannan's control.

William Walker had Enough stolen gold

To survive comfortably On the outskirts of California.

But the same could not be said For the partners he'd abandoned.

Oliver Martin and John Fowler Had spent weeks

Wandering The treacherous Sierra Nevadas,

Searching for a lake of gold

That turned out to be Nothing more than a myth.

Wait till you see The second course.

Beaten down And running on empty,

The realization That their dream might be over

Was beginning to sink in.

I'm going for a walk.

I'll keep Your supper warm.

[ gunshot ]

[ voice breaking ] Oh, god. No.

No, john. No.

[ crying ] no!

[ sobbing ]

Ware: a lot of people think That gold mining is easy.

It's not easy. Conditions are hard.

Those early guys Coming out in wagons,

Changing Their whole lives around

To come out and get rich,

You only read About the ones that made it.

You never read About the other 999

That didn't make it.

Narrator: of the 300,000 men Who traveled to California,

Nearly 1/3 would die Before the rush was over.

Those who weren't stricken With illness or murdered

Took their own lives.

Brechin: many of these men were Just destitute.

They would often turn To drugs and alcohol.

They become Phenomenally depressed,

We know from their letters,

And there's a very high rate Of suicide.

Kurutz: they left Their wife and children said,

"I'm going To make my fortune,"

And it did not work out That way.

And they could not face The reality of going back home

To say that "I failed."

Narrator: For the vast majority of 49ers,

California had been a journey Of misery, disappointment...

...And loss.

The gold rush was The ultimate lottery.

But sometimes, When you play the lottery...

...You win.

[ laughing ]

[ grunting ]

Narrator: in the final days Of the California gold rush...

[ laughs ]

Narrator: ...Oliver Martin had been Burying his best friend,

John Fowler, When he stumbled upon

A 151-pound rock Of solid gold...

Worth the equivalent Of $3 million in today's money.

It was The single largest nugget found

In the California gold rush

And proof That even in the darkest days,

There was Still room for hope.

Oliver Martin may have had His own good fortune,

But a change was on its way To the gold fields.

The big mining companies were Almost to California,

And Sam Brannan's master plan Was nearly complete.

But the king of California was About to meet his match.

Narrator: During the California gold rush,

Not every fortune was made In gold.

Two 49ers, Henry wells and William fargo,

Started a company to securely Ship gold cross country.

It was called wells fargo.

20-year-old immigrant Levi strauss

Sold canvas for tents

Before realizing miners Also needed durable pants.

So he created The world's first blue jeans.

A 14-year-old carpenter named Jim Folger started

Roasting coffee for miners, Which he eventually turned

Into a multimillion-dollar Corporation called Folger's.

By the end of the gold rush,

California was home To more millionaires

Narrator: By the fall of 1850,

Just 2 1/2 years Into the gold rush,

Big business finally arrived In California.

It was just what Sam Brannan had Been waiting for.

But his plan To sell them the land

Didn't work out Quite the way he expected.

Brannan quickly discovered

That the big companies wanted Nothing to do with him

And his violent tactics.

They had their own plans to get Control of the gold fields.

Big business put pressure On congress.

And on september 9, 1850,

Just 2 1/2 years After the gold rush began,

California was made The 31st American state.

Very quickly, The government ruled

That neither Sam Brannan Nor the miners had

Any right to the land.

And with the U.S. Government Now in charge,

The gold fields were Made available

To the highest bidders, Who just so happened to be

The big mining companies From back east.

Sam Brannan may have been

The biggest And most ruthless entrepreneur

California had ever seen,

But he'd just been outsmarted By big business.

His three-year reign as the king Of California was over.

For the miners, statehood meant A new opportunity

For their voices to be heard.

And now, with public elections Just around the corner,

They sought out a champion Of their cause,

A man who had stood up For the everyman

When no one else would.

And on October 7, 1850,

While still imprisoned On charges of murder,

Dr. Charles Robinson was elected To the California legislature,

Leaving the state with no choice But to drop all charges.

Once a broken man

Who had come to California To escape personal tragedy,

Charles Robinson was now One of the formative leaders

Of America's newest state.

[ cheers and applause ]

Big business Quickly moved in,

Bringing with it New and advanced mining methods

On a scale unlike anything The gold fields had ever seen.

Mining technology In California

Just grows By leaps and bounds.

They would use These giant water cannons

That would remove A huge amount of overburden --

Soil, rocks, et cetera --

Just blast it Out of the Sierra foothills

To get at the gold.

Narrator: these industrial Mining operations meant gold was

Being extracted from the hills At an unprecedented rate.

In the first 2 1/2 years Of the rush,

Independent miners,

Using little more than gold pans And manpower,

Pulled $7 billion worth of gold From the California hills.

But over the next five years,

Big business would uncover Roughly three times that amount.

Brands: American industry was Launching into its modern era,

So a lot of the gold mining In California was big business,

Big industry.

And it wasn't The sort of enterprise

Where individuals could enter.

If they did come out To California,

They would basically take a job Working for some corporation,

Which was not What most of them had in mind.

Narrator: Large-scale mining in California Would continue

For the next decade.

But for the everyman,

The gold rush had Come to an end.

Some chose To stay in California,

Taking jobs With the large mining companies

And working 90-hour weeks For meager salaries.

Others simply went home

And returned To their normal lives,

Like sylvester edgerly,

Who reopened his shop in Boston As if nothing had ever changed.

There were others Who vanished completely,

Like William Walker, Who disappeared from record...

...Only to reappear During the civil war...

...Where he died in combat.

The lucky few Who really did strike it rich,

Like Oliver Martin,

Lived out The rest of their lives

As the ultimate embodiment Of the gold rush.

With the money he made Off his find,

Martin opened one Of the largest mining companies

In the United States

And at his death was worth $30 million.

But even those Who didn't strike it rich

Had their lives forever changed By the rush.

After a successful turn

In the California State legislature,

Dr. Charles Robinson became A prominent American politician,

Going on to serve As the first governor

Of the state of Kansas,

Where he became A leading abolitionist

In the lead-up To the civil war.

And then there was Sam Brannan.

In a desperate attempt To reclaim his empire,

Brannan poured millions Into building a resort town

He would name calistoga,

A vacation paradise designed To appeal

To the new corporate moguls In the gold fields.

But Brannan represented The old California.

And big business wanted Nothing to do with him.

When calistoga was Finally complete,

Nobody came.

The fortune Brannan had amassed During the gold rush was gone,

And California's first Millionaire would

Spend his final days Selling pencils door to door

Before dying Penniless and alone.

Bagley: It's a classic California story.

His wild ways Ultimately do him in.

But I can't help But stand in awe

Of a man who could create Such a colorful legend.

And in many ways, The story of Sam Brannan is

The story Of the California gold rush.

Narrator: In just under three years,

The California gold rush had Transformed America.

Hundreds of thousands crossed The nation

In search of a new life

And a sense Of financial freedom.

For the first time In history,

The everyman had the chance To make it rich

And move up in the world.

Brands: the discovery of gold In California is

What I like to call

One of the great accidents Of history --

Accident in the sense That nobody saw it coming.

No one had any idea that There was gold in California.

No one had any idea That within two years,

California would be this magnet

For people From all over the world.

California sort of drew The world together

In this idea that there is A shortcut to wealth.

There is a shortcut To success and happiness.

And it established in many ways the mind-set

that made possible the industrial development

of the United States.

Narrator: The American dream was born.

And the world would never be the same.