,
much larger than the whole of the United States at the end of the
Revolution. With the addition of Louisiana in 1803, of Florida in 1819, of
Texas in 1845, and of this region in 1848, the United States had
enormously increased her territory.

THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD

On the same day on which the treaty of peace was signed with Mexico
(February 2, 1848), gold was discovered in California.

Captain Sutter, a Swiss pioneer living near the site of the present city
of Sacramento--at Sutter's Fort, where Fremont stopped on his second
expedition--was having a water-power sawmill built up the river at some
distance from his home. One day one of the workmen, while walking along
the mill-race, discovered some bright yellow particles, the largest of
which were about the size of grains of wheat. On testing them, Captain
Sutter found that they were gold.

[Illustration: Sutter's Mill.]

He tried to keep the discovery a secret, but it was impossible to prevent
the news from spreading. "_Gold! Gold! Gold!_" seemed to ring through
the air. From all the neighboring country men started in a mad rush for
the gold-fields. Houses were left half built, fields half ploughed. "To
the diggings!" was the watchword. From the mountains to the coast, from
San Francisco to Los Angeles, settlements were abandoned. Even vessels
that came into the harbor of San Francisco were deserted by their crews,
sailors and captains alike being wild in their desire to dig for gold.

Within four months of the first discovery four thousand men were living in
the neighborhood of Sacramento. The sudden coming together of so many
people made it difficult to get supplies, and they rose in value. Tools of
many kinds sold for large prices. Pickaxes, crowbars, and spades cost from
ten dollars to fifty dollars apiece. Bowls, trays, dishes, and even
warming-pans were eagerly sought, because they could be used in washing
gold.

It was late in the year before people in the East learned of the
discovery, for news still travelled slowly. But when it arrived, men of
every class--farmers, mechanics, lawyers, doctors, and even
ministers--started West.

The journey might be made in three ways. One was by sailing-vessels around
Cape Horn. This route took from five to seven months. Another way was to
sail from some Eastern port to the Isthmus of Panama, and crossing this,
to take ship to San Francisco. The third route was overland, from what is
now St. Joseph, Missouri, an