Joaquin
Murrieta
Many people believed that there wasn’t a Joaquin Murrieta. But
for the people who believed he was real, they think that he was born
in 1830 and died in 1853. He was born in Mexico and married a woman
there and then moved to California. When a $20 monthly tax was
placed on the foreign miners, he became angry. For revenge, he
started robbing mining camps and stage coaches. When the California
governor offered a reward for this bandit’s
capture, dead or alive, Texas Ranger Harry Love claimed the reward. He
brought the head of the man he claimed was Joaquin to the governor. Many
people believed that the ranger killed the wrong man.
Juana Briones
Juana Briones was born in 1803 and died in 1889. In the 1800s women were not given many rights. Juana Briones ignored the widely-held beliefs that women couldn’t own land or own their own businesses. Juana was a mother of 13 children - 8 of them were her own children and 5 were adopted. She left her husband (something almost unheard of in those days) because he was abusive, which means he would hit her. Juana was known as a medical woman who helped others with their illnesses. She was also a successful businesswoman who ran a dairy. When she moved to San Francisco, she acquired 4,400 acres of land, which she kept throughout her life even when California went from being a part of Spain, then Mexico, and finally the United States. She took her case all the way up to the Supreme Court who finally granted her the right to keep her land.
Bret Harte
Bert Hart was born in 1836 and died in 1902. Bret Harte
was a writer and wrote many famous books. One of his famous books
was called “ The Luck of the Roaring Camp ”. The
book was about the gold fields of California. When Bret was older,
he represented the United States in Germany and Scotland.
Phillip Amour
Phillip Amour was born in 1832 and died in 1901. Phillip supplied miners with meat from his own shop called the “Butcher Shop”. With the money he earned, he built himself a meat-packing company called "Amour & Company” in Chicago. This company is still in business and is famous for its hotdogs.
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss was born in 1829 and died in 1902. He was an immigrant
who came to San Francisco in 1850. When he came, he made a new
type of pants that was strong enough for miners to wear. He used
canvas material for the pants but later changed it to denim. He
added copper fasteners to the pockets so they wouldn’t rip easily. Levi
and his brother made a fortune on the pants, which are still worn by
millions of people today.
John Sutter
John Sutter was born in 1803 and died in 1880. When he was
building a sawmill, Sutter’s employee, John Marshall found flakes
of gold. This
was the beginning of the California Gold Rush. Sutter tried
to keep the discovery to himself but word got out. People started
to destroy his goods and livestock as they poured onto his land looking
for more gold. Sutter asked Congress to pay him for the damages caused
by the gold seekers since the government failed to protect his land when
California became a state. He
asked for $50,000 but Congress failed to vote on it, and Sutter died
2 days later.