On January 24, 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill on the American River in Northern California. After James W. Marshall, who’d been overseeing the sawmill’s construction, found the gold nuggets he and his boss, John Sutter, attempted to keep the discovery a secret. However, word soon spread and by 1849 thousands of prospectors, who became known as 49ers, were flocking to Coloma, California, site of Sutter’s Mill, and the surrounding region, hoping to strike it rich.
The 49ers, most of whom were men, came from the eastern United States as well as other parts of the globe, including Europe, China, Mexico and South America.
By the mid-1850s, more than 300,000 people had poured into California. (In San Francisco alone, the city’s population soared from a thousand residents in 1848 to 20,000 citizens just two years later.) This huge influx of new arrivals helped speed up California’s admittance to the Union as the 31st state in 1850, a mere two years after the U.S. had been awarded the territory under the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, which ended the Mexican-American War.
Of all those who came to California, some 49ers grew wealthy but it was the merchants—those that sold goods and services to the gold seekers—who typically made more money than the miners. In fact, James Marshall and John Sutter, the two men linked with the start of one of the most pivotal events in California history, never got rich.
A century after the Gold Rush, the 49ers were memorialized when San Francisco’s first major league professional sports franchise, a football team, was named.
The team, which started out as part of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), a rival to the National Football League (NFL), played its first regular-season game in September 1946. When the AAFC folded three years later, the 49ers joined the NFL in 1950. In 1995, the San Francisco 49ers became the first NFL team to win five Super Bowls.
Examine the Gold Rush through the eyes of two people who made their way to California a few weeks apart and explore the far-reaching impact the Rush had on the nation's economic, geographic, and psychic landscape.
FAQs
A miner or other person that took part in the 1849 California Gold Rush.
What is the meaning behind 49ers? ›
Sorrell suggested the team be named "49ers" after the voyagers who had rushed the West for gold. It is the only name the team has ever been affiliated with and San Francisco is the only city in which it has resided.
Why was Gold Rush called 49ers? ›
Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called "forty-niners" (referring to 1849, the peak year for Gold Rush immigration).
What is the 49ers catchphrase? ›
“Faithful to the Bay” is the phrase that the 49ers will use. Which easily can be interpreted as a slap at the team that has left Oakland for Las Vegas.
What is a Niner slang? ›
The term “niner” is used instead of “nine” to differentiate it from “five”.
Why are they called Niners? ›
In short: the name is an homage to the California gold rush. According to the team's website, Allen E. Sorrell – a partner alongside team owner Tony Morabito – suggested the name "49ers" after the miners who rushed the West for gold in 1849.
What are the 49ers most known for? ›
San Francisco 49ers, American professional football team based in Santa Clara, California, that plays in the National Football League (NFL). The 49ers have won five Super Bowl titles (1982, 1985, 1989, 1990, and 1995) and eight National Football Conference (NFC) championships.
What is a 49 Native American? ›
49: An informal social celebration at an Indian gathering such as a powwow. 49in': Partying at a 49. All my relations: Signifies we are all connected, even the animals plants and nature (wind, water, rocks, etc,) from the Lakota Mitakuye Oyasin.
What does miner 49er mean? ›
Definitions of forty-niner. a miner who took part in the California gold rush in 1849. type of: gold digger, gold miner, gold panner. a miner who digs or pans for gold in a gold field.
What is the 49's mascot? ›
A nod to history and geography
It all makes perfect sense, actually. The “49ers” is the nickname for those who flocked to northern California in 1849 hoping to take advantage of the gold rush. The influx of opportunists was a boon for California's economy, and hastened its admittance into the union in 1850.
Who were the original 49ers? ›
The story of the original '49ers
The thousands of people who flocked westward to the gold fields in 1849 came to be known as California Forty-Niners. During the fall of 1849, many wagons remained in the vicinity of Salt Lake City because it was too late in the year to risk crossing the Sierra Nevada mountains.
What are 49er fans called? ›
The San Francisco 49ers have a large and dedicated fanbase called the 49er Faithful. They are also referred to as The Niner Gang or the Niner Empire, and this is due to the team's tremendous success in the 1980s and 1990s, winning five Super Bowl titles.
What does 49 mean in 49ers? ›
While I lived in Oakland in 1984, my friends told me that 49ers means the people that arrived to California in 1849 during the gold rush. It is, also a coincidence that the NFL was formed in 1949 and SF 49ers is the primary and original team. I was a fan of Joe Montana.
What is the 49ers real name? ›
The San Francisco 49ers, an original member of the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC), were the first major league professional sports franchise based in San Francisco, and one of the first major league professional sports teams based on the Pacific Coast.
What is the 49 in Native American slang? ›
After the Pow-Wow has finished, many of us, as young bucks do, would find ourselves at the after-party, more affectionately known as a “49.” Here young people mingle and, , for lack of a better term, “check each other out.” I know it may sound a little funny but after the seriousness of a Pow-Wow, “the 49” is a place ...
What do fans call the 49ers? ›
The San Francisco 49ers have a large and dedicated fanbase called the 49er Faithful. They are also referred to as The Niner Gang or the Niner Empire, and this is due to the team's tremendous success in the 1980s and 1990s, winning five Super Bowl titles.
What does a forty niner mean? ›
forty-niner. noun. for·ty-nin·er. ˌfȯrt-ē-ˈnī-nər. : a person who went to California in the gold rush of 1849.
What is the meaning of oh niners? ›
09er (pronounced "oh-niner") is slang created by teenagers in Neptune that defines a group of popular, wealthy, and powerful citizens, who generally live in the wealthy 90909 ZIP Code.
