Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE BEAR FLAG REPUBLIC
In June 1846 American settlers tanked up on liquid courage declared independence in the
northern town of Sonoma. Not a shot was fired - instead, they captured the nearest Mex-
ican official and hoisted a hastily made flag. Locals awoke to discover they were living in
the independent 'Bear Republic,' under a flag painted with a grizzly that looked like a
drunken dog. The Bear Flag Republic lasted only a month before US orders telling settlers
to stand down arrived.
California's Gold Rush
The Gold Rush era in California began with a bluff. Real-estate speculator, lapsed Mor-
mon and tabloid publisher Sam Brannan was looking to unload some California swamp-
land in 1848 when he heard rumors of gold flakes found near Sutter's Mill in the Sierra
Nevada foothills. Figuring this news should sell some newspapers and raise real-estate val-
ues, Brannan published the rumor as fact.
Initially Brannan's story didn't generate excitement - gold flake had surfaced in south-
ern California as far back as 1775. So he ran another story, this time verified by Mormon
employees at Sutter's Mill who had sworn him to secrecy. Brannan reportedly kept his
word by running through San Francisco's streets, brandishing gold entrusted to him as
tithes for the Mormon church, shouting, 'Gold on the American River!'
Other newspapers around the world weren't scrupulous about getting their facts straight
either, hastily publishing stories of gold near San Francisco. By 1850, the year California
was fast-tracked for admission as the 31st US state, California's foreign population had
ballooned from 15,000 to 93,000. Early arrivals from across the country and around the
world panned for gold side by side, slept in close quarters, drank locally made wine and
ate wok-fired Chinese food, and when they struck it rich, ordered the 'Hangtown Fry' (an
omelet with bacon and oysters).
With each wave of new arrivals, profits dropped and gold became harder to find. In
1848 each prospector earned an average of about $300,000 in today's terms; by 1849,
earnings were less than half that, and by 1865 they had dipped to $35,000. When surface
gold became scarce, miners picked, shoveled and dynamited through mountains. The work
was grueling and dangerous; the cost of living in cold, filthy mining camps was sky-high;
