The Goal of this site is to provide a detailed look at crimes that occured during the Califoria Gold Rush as well as taking a look at the formation of Vigilance Comittees and take a look at famous criminals and their crimes and the legislation that resulted from the Gold Rush Crimes
The Beginning of Madness
It all began onJanuary 24th 1848 when the First piece of Gold was found in a creek in Sutter's Mill in Sacramento, California. A man by the name of James W. Marshall had just set into motion the California Gold Rush. News travelled fast as Sanfransisco's populous increased from somewhere around 800 people to around 100,000 by the end of the year. People emigrated from across the world to take their shot at striking it rich. The Gold brought much more then these men, it brought their; desperation, anger, jealousy, and most importantly their crime. Crime was an unfamilar topic to a city that the year prior was composed of 800 people. The Gold gave birth to a civilization of ;Claim jumping lawlessness , murder, Vigilance Comittees, and the exclusion of many races.