Why the two people who discovered gold in California never cashed in

Missing a golden opportunity

How the two primary people of the gold discovery in California failed to cash in.

On Jan. 24, 1848, gold was discovered on the American River. James Marshall, the first to find it, never made a fortune from it. On May 12, a pioneer named Sam Brannon ran through the streets of San Francisco shouting, “Gold, gold from the American River!” This ignited the “gold fever” that changed the course of the area. The area’s population doubled in a few short years and California became the 31st state by Sept.