A Day to Remember

A Day to Remember

For Californians the Day to Remember has to be January 24, 1848

Boys, I believe I have found a gold mine!"  With these words, James W. Marshall set the California Gold Rush in motion—a chain of events that would shape California and the American West.  James Marshall had a work crew camped on the American River at Coloma near Sacramento building a sawmill for John Sutter. On the cold, clear morning of January 24, Marshall found a few tiny gold nuggets. Thus began one of the largest human migrations in history as a half-million people from around the world descended upon California in search of instant wealth.

Of course, there are other January dates worthy of remembrance. On January 1, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. On January 29, 1891, Queen Liliuokalani assumed the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaii determined to return Hawaii to native Hawaiians. On January 1, 1906, the California and Hawaiian Sugar Refining Company sent a letter to “The Sugar Trade” announcing their intention to enter the sugar refining business before April 1, 1906. On January 16, 1920, the 18th Amendment to our Constitution went into effect bringing prohibition to the United States. And on January 3, 1959, Alaska was admitted to the Union as a state.