A collection complied to assist students and educators with visual aids for educational programs pertaining to the introduction of California Gold Rush History. James Marshall discovered gold in the year of 1848, along the American River, at Sutter's Mill (present day Coloma, California). President Polk, the 11th President of the United States made a landmark announcement to the world of Marshall's discovery. The news from President Polk started one of the largest mass migration of individuals to one place ever in recorded history. Between 1848 and 1852, California's population grew from 14,000 to 223,000. The gold rush was an opportunity for migrants to make a better life for themselves and families. By ship around Cape Horn, by foot through the Isthmus of Panama, or the overland trails by wagon, travels to the Territory of California were long and deadly. Those who survived the journeys fulfilled the dream of Westward migration. These migrations connected cultures from all over the world to develop the diverse population and abundance in opportunity that lives on, in California today.