During the gold rush, Sam Brannan became one of the most successful businessmen in California. 1. They had left New York to escape religious persecution. They had made the journey by sea, and on arrival in San Francisco (then called Yerba Buena) they had tripled the city's tiny population. m
2. Quickly recognizing a gap in the market, he bought up all the picks, shovels and pans he could find, and then ran up and down the streets of San Francisco shouting “Gold, gold on the American River!' 3. No, he was planning to sell shovels. And having cornered the market, he ended up with a lot more gold than the person who had to dig for it.
4. A metal pan that sold for twenty cents a few days earlier was now available from Brannan for fifteen dollars. In just. nine weeks he made $36,000. 5.
In the end, though, Sam Brannan lost his fortune and his health, as did many of those who first benefited from the gold rush. Alcoholism finally led to his downfall, and California's first millionaire died an unnoticed death.