James W. Marshall accidentally found gold in the riverbed at Sutter's Mill in Colima, California. On December 5, 1848, President James K. Polk delivered a message before U.S. Congress confirming that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California. Soon waves of immigrants from around the world invaded the Gold Country of California or the "Mother Lode". Squatters soon took over Sutter's land and stole his crops and cattle. The gold-seekers were called "Forty-niners".
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