Gold Rush People

The Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma, California is a place I’ve visited several times. It’s the spot where in 1848 James Marshall found some shiny flecks of gold in the river whilst working for his boss, John Sutter. As they say, the rest is history. People came from all over the world to look for gold hoping to get rich quick. (Not many actually did.) Those folks were called “49ers” and they later founded a professional football team.

The park is a magnet for school field trips and there were several going on when we arrived. At one point I found myself surrounded by a gaggle of 5th graders. It was slightly discombobulating.