On December 5, 1848, President James Knox Polk announced in an address to Congress that gold had been found in California, accelerating the California Gold Rush. While most artwork at the time, including this halftone Jared letterpress printed for this video, depicted older, bearded, rugged, Euro-American men as a typical gold miner, the California Gold Rush was actually the largest migration in human history. People from all over the world came to California in search of gold, including people from Australia, South America, Europe, the United States, and China. This halftone, which was made about 100 years ago, is a reproduction of a lithograph made by Charles Nahl and was published in 1884 in the book “Recollections of California Mining Life” by Henry DeGroot. This was printed with green rubber base ink using our Washington hand press, which was made in 1852. #SacHistoryMuseum #onthisday #goldrush #printing #letterpress