Over a century and a half ago, James Marshall's famous gold discovery, in the tailrace of John Sutter's recently completed lumber mill
on the American River, easily ranks as one of the world's great events. While Concord's "shot heard round the world" was nearly instantaneous, the momentum of the gold rush actually took a while to gain momentum.
Here's a quick test: What year was that token nugget discovered?
Most people think 1849. The actual year was 1848. And it was even early in the year: January 24 to be precise! And technically this wasn't even the first gold discovery in California.
To understand the delay between the discovery and the actual rush, we need to study the speed of communication before Statehood, from California to the Eastern States. We also have to remember the skepticism of the people of news reports they read in the papers.
The time was ripe for migration, given California was in the process of being ceded to the United States following the Mexican-American War and the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hildago, signed February 2, 1848 — a full week after Marshall's discovery.
First reports of the gold discovery arrived in San Francisco within a month and in the East during the summer. Few took notice, however. Even the military leadership in California was initially skeptical of the quantity of riches. Then a combination of marketing and bureaucratic reporting combined to ignite one of the greatest migrations in history.
The marketing started with the famous parade of Sam Brannan in May through the streets of San Francisco exclaiming gold on the American River while holding a bottle of gold. Since he had already cornered the market in mining supplies, the excitement he created drove up the prices of his goods many fold. Within weeks the town of San Francisco began to empty.
Following this jolt in San Francisco, the Military Governor and his staff began to research the mining resources. In July, Colonel Richard Barnes Mason and Lieutenant William T. Sherman personally toured the gold fields. In August they summarized their findings and sent them, along with 230 ounces of native gold, to the War Department in Washington. The report 
and the gold took four months to reach Washington, but when they got there, the reception was immense.
Upon formal confirmation from his military officers, President Polk reported the gold discoveries in his December State of the Union to Congress.
As further proof of their validity, the Secretary of War sent the first shipment of gold to the Philadelphia mint, where it was used for a series of war medals for the heroes of the Mexican American War and 1,389 "Quarter Eagle" gold coins with a $2½ face value. In order to demonstrate to the public the California gold, these coins were stamped with "CAL." on their reverse above the eagle.
Eleven months after the gold discovery, the public now had their proof: Their Commander and Chief had presented it to Congress, and real California gold was circulating as money for all to see! The length of time for all this to happen is why San Francisco's football team is the 49ers , not the 48ers!
Hi Ryan, I'm the Curator at our Los Angeles museum, and I really enjoy reading your post. Yes, many people are misinformed about the "official" gold discovery that sparked the gold rush, and some people even think that the U.S. purchased California specifically for the gold. I usually mention the earlier 1842 Spanish gold discovery in Southern California, but that was a quiet and much smaller discovery. Maybe we'll write a post on that soon.
Yes, you're absolutely right that gold was discovered in Southern California several years before it was discovered in Northern California. That would be a fantastic topic for a future post.
I also would be interesting in knowing when the first Wells Fargo office was opened in Los Angeles and where it was located. On the Plaza?
Wells opened the first office in Los Angeles in 1854. It was in the Bella Union Hotel, across the street and a little south of the plaza. Unfortunately, the building was demolished for a parking lot. Hmmm, Maybe a video blog in the future.