The California Gold Rush began in 1849. However the first site of gold was in 1848. In 1848 a carpenter from New Jersey found flakes of gold in a river at the base of the Sierra. This started tons of people to go searching for gold in the gold mines. These people were later called 49ers. A few days after the discovery of gold, The Mexican-American war ended, do to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo being signed. Ending this war left California in the hands of the United States. Many people from different states such as China, Oregon, Hawaii, Peru, and even Mexico came to California in search of gold. During this time there were 6,500 Californios. Californios were people of Spanish or Mexican decent. There were 700 foreigners. Foreigners were the first primary Americans. The biggest population were the Native Americans. There were 150,000 Native Americans. Most people during the Gold rush who went searching for gold died of starvation. The gold rush quickly got California approved as the 31st state of the Union. Caliofornia was named the golden state.