The news of the discovery spread quickly, but few people were interested in the finding initially. There had been rumors of gold in California since Sir Francis Drake first landed there in the late 1500s, yet by early 1848, little gold had actually been found. It was not until Samuel Brannan took interest in Marshall's discovery that belief in the gold find began to take hold.
Brannan was a San Francisco merchant and real estate speculator who was a part owner in a general store at Sutter's Mill. When his customers began to offer gold in payment for goods, Brannan realized the rumor of gold was a reality. Brannan purchased goods and equipment that would be in demand by gold hunters in the future and moved these goods to his store at Sutter's Mill. On May 12, 1848, Brannan went to San Francisco, where he displayed a bottle of gold dust and spread the news that gold was being found on the American River.
Shortly after Brannan's announcement, nearly every town in California lost a majority of its population to the Sutter's Mill region.
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