The discovery of gold in 1848 by James Marshall sparked a massive wave of westward migration. The largest influx occurred in 1849, and those prospectors who sought their fortunes became known collectively as forty-niners, in reference to the year they arrived.
Why People Went West. Why did so many Americans go to the West? In 1848 gold was discovered in California, creating the famous Gold Rush of 1849. ... The hope of striking it rich by mining gold in California or silver in Nevada continued to attract settlers to the West for decades.
