1848: The Beginning of California Gold Rush

Preface: The script I’m currently writing, out of personal interest, incorporates elements related to Oakland gangs and Chinese tongs. To better understand the historical causes and consequences, I began reading the Report on Asian Organized Crime published in February 1988 by the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. To trace the story properly, one has to go back to the earliest Chinese presence in the San Francisco area. Although I had heard about it before, I had never studied it carefully.

The beginning of the story is actually quite simple. On January 24, 1848, at Sutter’s Mill in Northern California, located in Coloma near the Sacramento River, James W. Marshall, a carpenter, discovered shining gold flakes in the water while building a sawmill for landowner John Sutter. Sutter originally wanted to keep it secret, since he hoped to develop agriculture and lumber, not see the area overrun by gold seekers. But the news spread quickly by word of mouth. At the time, California had only recently been ceded from Mexico to the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (1848). The first miners were local workers, Mexicans, and Hawaiians. As newspapers and merchant ships carried the news, San Francisco’s port erupted with excitement, as merchants, sailors, and adventurers abandoned their work and rushed inland to seek gold.

Before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, California was still Mexican territory. Mexico had gained independence from Spain in 1821, acquiring vast lands including present-day Texas. Texas was sparsely populated, mainly by Native Americans and a few Spanish ranchers. To develop the frontier, the Mexican government in the 1820s allowed American settlers to immigrate into Texas under the condition that they convert to Catholicism and obey Mexican law. Soon, tens of thousands of Anglo settlers entered Texas, bringing English, slavery, and Protestant beliefs. By 1830, these “Americans” outnumbered Mexican residents.

In 1829, Mexico abolished slavery, causing outrage among Texas settlers who depended on slave labor to grow cotton. The following year, Mexico passed laws restricting further U.S. immigration into Texas, which further heightened tensions. In the fall of 1835, settlers launched an armed revolt against the Mexican government, beginning the Texas Revolution. Its main leaders were Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and other Anglo-American figures. Mexican President and dictator Antonio López de Santa Anna personally led troops north to suppress the rebellion.

Sam Houston (1793–1863) was born in Virginia, a U.S. political and military leader who had fought in the War of 1812. He moved to Texas in 1832 and soon became a leader of the settlers, eventually chosen as commander-in-chief of the Texian Army. In April 1836, he led his forces to victory in the Battle of San Jacinto, defeating Santa Anna’s army in just 18 minutes and securing Texas independence. Later, he became the first president of the Republic of Texas (1836–1838). After Texas joined the U.S., he served as governor and senator of Texas. Because he opposed Southern secession before the Civil War, he was forced to resign as governor in 1861. He is remembered as the “Father of Texas,” and the largest city in the state, Houston, bears his name.

Stephen F. Austin (1793–1836), also born in Virginia, is called the “Father of Texas Colonization.” In 1821, he received permission from the Mexican government to bring settlers into Texas. He organized the “Old Three Hundred,” the first and most influential group of Anglo settlers in Texas. At first, Austin advocated for autonomy within the Mexican system rather than outright independence. In 1833, he traveled to Mexico City to petition for reforms, but was imprisoned for more than a year by Santa Anna’s government. After his release, he shifted to supporting Texas independence. Austin, another “Father of Texas,” lends his name to the state capital.

Antonio López de Santa Anna (1794–1876) was a Mexican general and politician, one of the most controversial figures in Mexico’s history. He rose as a national hero for resisting Spanish colonial rule, but later became known as a dictator and was harshly criticized for repeated failures. In 1835, he centralized power, abolishing local autonomy and sparking rebellion in Texas. In 1836, he personally marched north, winning at the Alamo and ordering the Goliad Massacre, but was decisively defeated and captured at San Jacinto by Houston. Forced to sign a ceasefire, he lost Texas. In the 1840s, he returned to power and commanded Mexico during the U.S.–Mexican War, but was defeated again. Later he lived in exile in Cuba and Jamaica before dying in Mexico.

In short, Houston, Austin, and Santa Anna fought several decisive rounds. In the Battle of the Alamo (February–March 1836), Santa Anna’s forces besieged San Antonio’s Alamo mission, defeating about 200 Texian defenders—nearly all killed. This became a rallying cry: “Remember the Alamo!” Soon after came the Goliad Massacre (March 1836), when 400 Texian prisoners were executed on Santa Anna’s orders. Finally, at the Battle of San Jacinto (April 21, 1836), Houston’s troops overwhelmed Santa Anna’s army in just 18 minutes. Santa Anna was captured and forced to agree to a ceasefire.

As a result, on March 2, 1836, Texas formally declared independence, establishing the Republic of Texas. Its constitution closely modeled the U.S. and legalized slavery. The U.S., divided by debates over slavery, did not immediately annex Texas but recognized its independence. Mexico refused to recognize Texas’s sovereignty until 1845, when Texas formally joined the U.S., triggering renewed conflict. The U.S. claimed the border was the Rio Grande, while Mexico insisted on the Nueces River further north. Meanwhile, Manifest Destiny was rising in U.S. politics, with the belief that America’s destiny was to expand westward to the Pacific. The U.S. coveted not just Texas, but also California and New Mexico.

In 1846, U.S. President James K. Polk sent troops to the Rio Grande, where clashes with Mexican forces broke out. Congress quickly declared war. U.S. forces soon seized key points in California and New Mexico. In 1847, U.S. troops landed at Veracruz and marched to Mexico City. By September, they had captured the capital, leaving Mexico’s government in disarray.

Polk sent envoy Nicholas Trist to negotiate with the provisional Mexican government. Though recalled, Trist refused to leave and pressed ahead with talks, ultimately producing a treaty. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed near Mexico City. Its terms:

• Mexico recognized Texas as part of the U.S., with the Rio Grande as the boundary.

• Mexico ceded about half its territory, including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Wyoming.

• The U.S. paid $15 million and assumed $3.25 million of Mexican debts to U.S. citizens.

The treaty expanded U.S. territory by one-third, giving it access to the Pacific. Mexico, losing half its land, suffered a lasting national trauma. Before this treaty, California was Mexican territory, already home to rancheros, miners, and laborers. When gold was discovered, they were among the first to join.

Mexico had a long tradition of mining (silver in Zacatecas, gold in Guanajuato). Many Mexican miners were skilled professionals, far more experienced than American farmers from the East. Once the news spread, miners and merchants from northern Mexico, especially Sonora, flooded into California. In the early 1850s, San Francisco even had a “Sonora Town,” a Mexican immigrant enclave.

Aside from Mexicans, Hawaiians (Kanakas) were also among the first to mine gold. At the time, Pacific shipping routes were very active, and the Kingdom of Hawaii served as a key stop between Asia and North America. Many Hawaiians worked on whaling ships, merchant vessels, and in the fur trade, and naturally ended up in California ports. When news of gold reached Honolulu, some sailors deserted their ships, or arrived with trading vessels and went directly to the mines. Early mining records often list “Kanakas” as a distinct group.

By spring 1849, news had reached the eastern U.S. and abroad, unleashing the flood of “49ers.” They came by land—crossing the continent via the Oregon Trail and California Trail—or by sea, either around Cape Horn or through Panama. The migrants included not only Americans, but also Chinese, Chileans, Peruvians, Mexicans, Australians, and others. By 1852, the Chinese population in California had surged to 20,000, about 10% of the state’s total.

San Francisco exploded from a tiny port of a few hundred residents into a city of 30,000 in just a few years, the capital of the Gold Rush. California became one of the most intensely migrant-driven regions in the world. Yet lawlessness reigned: violence, robbery, and racial discrimination were widespread. Chinese, Latinos, and Native Americans were often excluded. With the population boom, California became the 31st U.S. state in 1850. The easily accessible placer gold was soon exhausted, and mining shifted to capital-intensive deep-shaft and hydraulic methods. Ordinary prospectors could no longer survive, turning instead to farming, commerce, and railroad work. Many Chinese, denied mining rights, opened laundries, restaurants, and grocery stores, laying the foundations of the community.