On August 19, 1848, the New York Herald newspaper published a two-column report on the findings of gold on the American River at Sutter’s Mill, making it the first newspaper on the East Coast of the United States to report of gold in California. President James K. Polk confirmed the reports of gold in an address to Congress on December 5, 1848. Around 90,000 people arrived in California in 1849 by land and by sea. By 1855, over 300,000 people came to California for the Gold Rush. How did the New York Herald get the news to publish? Well Nathan Hawk was hired by Sam Brannan to carry 2,000 copies of the April 1, 1848 edition of Brannan’s The California Star newspaper that was published in San Francisco. The newspaper included an article written by Dr. Victor Fourgeaud titled “Prospects of California.” This article discussed agricultural opportunities in California and the territory’s rich mineral wealth, especially gold. It also noted about the gold found at Sutter’s Mill on the south f...