All language subtitles for Drain the Oceans Series 2 04of12 Buried Secrets of the Gold Rush 1080p

Narrator: Gold fever.

Builds fortunes.

And destroys lives.

John: If you're the first
in you make a fortune.

If you're the last in
you lose all your money.

Narrator: A century later, the
hidden story of the gold rush

Lies deep below
the rivers, lakes

And even the streets
of the american west.

Imagine if we could
empty the oceans,

Letting the water
drain away,

To reveal the secrets
of the sea floor.

Now, we can.

Using accurate data, and
astonishing technology,

To bring light once
again into a lost world.

What can a mystery
shipwreck tell us about

The deadly perils
of the gold rush.

Lindsey: About 100,000
people set off and only
about 30,000 made it.

Narrator: When being
first is everything, is
any risk worth taking?

Robert: He was asked,
"do you wanna slow down?"

And he's like,
"no, let her rip."

Narrator: And what
extraordinary secret lies

Buried beneath one of
america's greatest cities.

Deborah: There could be as
many as 100 vessels buried

Under the streets
of san francisco.

(theme music plays).

Narrator: This
is gold country.

The rugged north west of
the american continent.

An epic landscape that's
home to a truly epic story.

James: The quest for gold
has been the defining
aspect of world history.

Great movements of people,

The rise of new states, of
new cities, of new nations.

We can't under estimate
the power of the gold rush.

Narrator: Throughout the
19th century hundreds of
thousands of fortune hunters

Raced to the gold fields
of north america,

Knowing that just a few nuggets
can transform their lives.

In 1896, the most
extraordinary rush of
them all starts here.

In the klondike.

Deep in yukon territory,
northern canada.

One of the most remote
places on earth.

At the heart of the
region, sits lake laberge.

And in the lake, a
gold rush mystery.

An international team of
maritime archaeologists

Have come here to investigate
the klondike gold rush.

Even in the height of summer
the waters of lake laberge
are dangerously cold.

Lindsey: You only have about
30 to 40 minutes in the water
before you freeze to death.

Narrator: But the team is
willing to take the risk
because of what's lying

On the bottom of the lake.

Lindsey: As you swim toward
the wreck it comes at you
out of this brilliant green,

Like a ghost ship.

Like it just is
waiting for you.

Narrator: It's clearly a ship.

But like no other ever
found in the yukon.

In their short time
underwater, the team record
glimpses of the wreck.

They want to know
what it's doing here.

To understand more, we can
turn to high resolution
scans and data mapping.

Use powerful
computer software.

Empty lake laberge and
reveal a remarkable sight.

Exposed to the light
of day for the first
time in over 100 years,

A complete 19th century steamer.

Perfectly preserved,
right down to the
logs in its boiler.

But with its open decks,
it seems more suited to the
sub-tropical mississippi

Than the frozen wastes
of northern canada.

So what's it doing here?

Delving into historical records,
the team pieces together

A story that starts in
the summer of 1896.

Prospectors explore deep
in the yukon valley.

In a tributary of the
klondike river, native
american skookum jim mason

And his partners are
panning for gold.

They find so much they rename
the place bonanza creek.

James: The klondike discovery
of gold in canada's yukon,

Couldn't have happened in
a more inopportune place.

It's very much out of the way
and it's also sub-arctic,

So it gets very cold,
very, very cold.

Narrator: More prospectors
strike it rich and soon,
word spreads, like wildfire.

By the summer of 1897,
fortune hunters jostle for

Places on ships heading
north from seattle.

100,000 people are trying
to reach the klondike.

Before them an epic challenge.

First, a voyage to alaska,
then over land to the head
waters of the yukon river,

The jumping off point for a
perilous journey downstream
to the gold fields.

And simply to reach
the head waters they have to
cross a huge mountain range.

The quickest way through
is also the hardest.

John: The chilkoot trail was
the shortest land route

Into the head waters
of the yukon river.

But the problem of getting
into those head waters
was that 3600 foot pass.

And the last four miles
was at a 35 degree slope.

Narrator: By the time
the army of prospectors
arrives, it's deep winter,

With temperatures
down to minus 40.

Lindsey: Many people
couldn't make it.

You would pass out
from exhaustion.

Be unable to continue.

Countless numbers turned
back at that point.

They just were
unable to keep going.

Narrator: Those that do
reach the river are still
300 miles from the gold.

And the yukon is frozen solid.

They spend the rest of the
winter chopping down trees
and building makeshift boats.

Lindsey: Many of who
were building boats had
no experience at all

And so they actually would
call these boats coffin boats.

These rough structures that
were meant to pass through
these incredible rapids and

Even the deep water lake.

And so many of them, you
would die in that boat.

Narrator: One thing is clear.

In the yukon of late 1897,
the key to striking it
rich is transport.

Which casts new light
on the mystery wreck.

It's definitely
not a coffin boat.

Where they use oars,
this has a paddle wheel.

Where they use sails
and muscle power,
this has a boiler.

And where they are made of
wood and nails, this has
iron plates and rivets.

Faster and stronger
than any wooden rival, a
gold prospector's dream.

John: It's the old rule
that if you're the first
in you make a fortune.

If you're second in
you maybe break even,

And if you're the third in
you lose all your money.

Narrator: A key question
remains, how could a heavy
metal ship have gotten here?

Across some of
the most unforgiving
terrain on the planet.

And with no obvious
river route to the coast.

The answer lies in the
drained wreck itself.

The sheets of metal which
make up the hull are crudely
riveted and bolted together.

The boiler is unusually
small for a steam ship.

In fact, every part of the
steamer is small, light
and crucially, portable.

This is its secret.

It doesn't sail here at all.

It is carried.

Its metal hull and engine are
hauled over the mountains.

John: The hull was
made in san francisco.

They added engine components
to it from seattle and then
the whole thing was shipped up

In pieces, hauled across
the mountain and assembled.

There's nothing like it.

Narrator: The designers of
this prefabricated steam ship

Are a remarkable pair
of entrepreneurs.

Husband and wife, albert
and clara goddard.

James: Goddard realizes the
key to opening up the run
is to use a modern steamer.

Iron hulled.

Strong and efficient.

What the goddard's
come up with is genius.

Narrator: May 1898, an army
of gold prospectors jostle
for position waiting for

The ice to melt and 7,000
handmade boats stand ready.

James: "the long grip
of winter and darkness
is coming to an end.

The ice is beginning
to crack and groan as
the temperatures rise

And everybody's poised and
waiting for that moment."

Narrator: Suddenly
the way north is open.

The race is on.

Lindsey: There's an incredible
scene like rush hour traffic.

With all these
ridiculous little boats.

Narrator: And one boat
enjoys a huge advantage.

Assembled during the
depths of winter,
weighing 15 tons,

With a flat bottom

Built to navigate shallow
stretches of the yukon river

And named after her designer,
the a j goddard.

The prospectors crammed
on board paid for

The privilege of getting
to the gold fields quickly.

Piloted by clara
goddard herself.

Lindsey: We don't have
a written record of what
happened, but 22 people

Crowded on to this
tiny boat where there's
no interior cabin.

There's nowhere to go to
get out of the elements.

Narrator: Steaming ahead
at a steady six knots,

She leaves the makeshift
coffin boats in her wake.

But downstream lies the
fearsome white horse rapids.

Three miles of raging
rock strewn waters.

Unknown numbers of people
lose their lives here.

But the goddard's flat bottom
design helps them navigate
through the rapids with ease.

And after just five
days, she arrives in
the boom town of dawson,

Gateway to the gold fields.

Lindsey: As the goddard
steams into dawson city it
was met with cheers from

The towns people, who
had never seen such a boat
come into the town before.

It was quite a reception.

Narrator: It's a huge success.

Now albert and clara plan
to make their fortune

Running prospectors back
and forth to dawson.

But the goddard never
makes the trip again.

What goes wrong?

Narrator: Archaeologists want
to know why the a j goddard

Never travels to the
klondike gold fields again

And today lies at the
bottom of lake laberge.

Now drained, the wreck seems
to be in perfect repair.

But accounts from the late
19th century reveal an issue

That albert and clara goddard
hadn't thought through.

Gravity.

Lindsey: When they were going
to the gold fields, they were
going with the rapids,

They were going down river.

Now when they're returning,
they're having to go up river
past some really strong water.

The goddard wasn't
built for that.

Narrator: The goddard's
boiler is small.

Small enough to be
carried over a mountain.

But too small to generate
the power needed to plough
upstream through the mighty

White horse rapids.

The goddard's have
miscalculated.

Lindsey: At some points they
had to tie ropes to the boat

And pull it through the
more difficult sections.

Narrator: The goddard
never attempts the
run to dawson again.

Her days of transporting high
paying prospectors are over.

Before they ever really begin.

Instead she becomes
a humble ferry boat,
here on lake laberge,

Where she spends the
next three years

Carrying supplies for
prospectors back and
forth across the lake.

There's a final question.

Why does she now
lie on the bottom?

There's no sign of damage
on the wreck itself.

But in October 1901, lake
laberge is hit by the
worst storm of the year.

The goddard's are working
the lake, carrying four
crew and one passenger,

Suddenly she's surrounded
by a mass of churning waves.

John: You're used to
seeing ocean storms with
these mountainous waves,

And they're very high.

You don't get waves like
that on lakes, they often,
at maximum 6 to 8 feet high.

But where their danger is, is
they're much closer together
and they're much steeper.

Narrator: Waves crash on deck
and water fills the firebox,

Leaving the goddard powerless.

She drifts carried
by the storm.

Lindsey: Finally, enough
water floods into the hull,
going through the hatches,

That it just weighs too much
and it sinks to the bottom.

Narrator: Two men somehow
make it to the shore.

But three drown.

The goddard still lies at
the bottom of the lake.

A telling example of
the hope, the ingenuity,

But also the disappointment

At the heart of so
many gold rush stories.

Lindsey: About 100,000 people
set off for the gold fields
and only about 30,000 made it.

For those who got
there, the best claims
were already staked,

So they arrived and
everything was taken.

Narrator: Gold to the value
of nearly $900 million in
today's prices is unearthed

In the three years of
the klondike rush.

But fewer than 4,000
prospectors ever find any.

And only a few hundred
make big money.

Today, little evidence of
those dramatic days remains.

The yukon is once again a
realm of forest, snow and ice.

But 1500 miles to the
south, and 50 years earlier,
there is another gold rush.

One that changes america
and the world forever.

200 years ago, san francisco
is a tiny settlement.

James delgado, archaeologist
from search incorporated

Wants to know how it turned into
the global city it is today.

The key is a single discovery.

Right next to san francisco's
iconic trans america pyramid.

Where over 40 years ago,
delgado first glimpses
something extraordinary.

James: In may 1978 I was
standing basically right here,

Looking down at the
outline of a ship in the
mud 20 feet below me.

Narrator: A wooden ship,
right in the heart of
the financial district.

Buried beneath the streets.

What is it doing here?

To learn more, we can
use the latest computer
imaging technology.

Stripping away the
21st century surface.

Peeling back 150 years
of urban development.

Even draining away
the thick layers of silt
that lie under the city.

To expose the ghostly
outline of a sailing ship
from the mid 19th century.

Its name, the niantic.

An ocean-going merchant ship,
the workhorse of the seas,

Built to carry cargo
from the us to china

And across the world.

So, what's she doing beneath
the streets of san francisco?

Narrator: The story of the
ship under san francisco
starts in January 1848

Amid the foothills of the
sierra nevada mountains.

James marshal, a
carpenter spots something
yellow and shiny in the

Water channel of a saw
mill he's building.

James: When asked what it
is, he says, "boys, I believe
I found me a gold mine."

And in that simple act of
plucking a sun struck fleck
of gold from that mill race,

James marshal set off one
of the most incredible
migrations of human kind.

The california gold rush.

Narrator: Over the
next decade, 300,000
people will head west.

Ordinary men and women
abandon their homes,
jobs, farms, and families,

Driven by the chance
to find gold.

Richard: People came
from England, ireland,
France, germany.

In fact, it probably was the
first time, on the planet,

That so many people
from all over the world

Gathered in one place.

Narrator: The 49ers,
as they're called,

Face a huge challenge
getting to the gold fields.

Crossing the continent
takes months.

They risk starvation,
disease or attack by hostile
native american tribes.

It's faster by sea and
many 49ers head to panama,

Crossing the isthmus through
swelteringly hot jungle.

Thousands pay the
ultimate price.

James: At one stage, panama
city had more dead 49ers

Buried in its soil than
it had living panamanians.

Narrator: Those that
survive, begin the third
leg of their journey,

Sailing north to san francisco.

One of the ships that
will make that voyage
is the niantic.

Recently converted
to carry passengers.

San francisco's
marime archives reveal
what happened next.

Deborah: This is the
niantic log book.

Here.

James: This is like
the iconic scene.

Narrator: The skipper,
captain henry cleveland,

Crams 249 fortune
seekers on board.

Each paying an exorbitant
amount of money, desperate
to get to california.

James: Here's niantic's
passengers coming out in
boats to meet the ship.

Deborah: They would
have charged around
$250, in 1849 prices,

Which today's is about $5,000.

So very much more than the
going rate would have cost.

But they had no other option.

Narrator: Niantic arrives in
san francisco in July 1849.

Home to just a few thousand
traders and sailors.

But her log book reveals
that niantic's passengers

Aren't the only ones
dreaming of riches.

James: Captain cleaveland
holds off anchors and has
his passengers ferried ashore

By boat with their baggage.

But he begins to worry,
as he should, because
gold fever is rampant

And his crew are
beginning to mutter.

"baggage ashore, five
of the crew deserted."

The last entry here
July 12th 1849 is the

Crew is breaking out the
last of the run, everything
that's stored in the ship.

Narrator: One by one, the crew
deserts and heads for the hills.

A week after arriving
in san francisco,

The ship sits in the cove
almost completely empty.

So why didn't the ship's
owners simply hire another
crew and sail her away?

The answer to that also
lies beneath the streets
of san francisco.

Removing yet more
tons of ancient silt,

Reveals that niantic
is far from alone.

She's just one of a vast
fleet of ghost ships,

Lying deep beneath
the modern city.

Evidence of an
extraordinary story.

James: In 1849 alone,
762 american ships
come to san francisco.

Joined by hundreds of others
from around the world.

Narrator: Scores of
vessels are now moored
alongside the niantic,

All bringing prospectors
to california.

Deborah: Unfortunately,
most of these vessels
arrived in san francisco

And their crews deserted.

James: What you find,
ultimately, is a scene
described by contemporaries

As a forest of masts,
with hundreds of these
ships sitting there,

With no place to go
and nothing to do.

Narrator: And now another
astonishing part of the gold
rush story comes into play.

In just six months,

San francisco's population
leaps from 5,000 to 25,000.

The town needs
to grow and fast.

Entrepreneurs come up
with the perfect solution.

Ships like niantic
will become the city.

Deborah: So these savvy
businessmen decided,

"we're gonna use these
vessels for a new function."

They were hauled ashore
and used for store ships.

They were also used
for boarding houses, as
churches, as offices.

Narrator: Niantic is hauled
on to the mud flats and
converted into a warehouse.

James: And so it is that
getting close to 200 of
these ships are converted,

Temporarily or permanently,
into floating buildings.

Narrator: Landfill is dumped
into the shallow waters of
the cove and the city grows.

Soon, it extends around
the beached ships, far out
into san francisco bay.

Richard: There's
construction everywhere.

On the piers. On land.

You can hear the sounds of
the city are just a cacophony
of construction sounds.

That began at dawn and
went into the night.

Narrator: What was
once sea, is now the
streets and sidewalks

Of san francisco's
financial district.

Deborah: There could be
as many as 100 vessels

Buried under the streets
of san francisco.

Only a small number of those
have been found but as new
buildings are built and new

Excavations are done,
it's likely that we're
gonna find more of those.

James: That's why we
refer to san francisco's
financial district

As a gold rush pompeii.

Narrator: Niantic holds
one last surprise.

Found in the wreck is
evidence of san francisco's
burgeoning wealth.

James: Jacquesson
and fils from reims.

A real small vineyard then.

Still a pretty
expensive champagne.

They continue to make it.

Woman: Oh, how cool.

Narrator: San francisco
isn't the only part of
california that's booming.

120 miles away, near the gold
fields of the sierra nevada
other towns are growing fast.

What can these strange
timbers at the bottom
of the sacramento river

Tell us of the dark
side of the gold rush?

Narrator: Sacramento.
State capital of california.

Through the city flows the
400 mile sacramento river.

In 1849, it's the vital
artery of the gold rush.

After landing in san francisco,

The 49ers continue their journey
to the gold fields inland

By sailing along the river.

Archaeologists discover a
wreck on the river bed here.

Right in the heart
of the modern city.

James: And in those dives,
what we found in the murkiness
of the sacramento river,

Was a portion of the hull
that broken at its back,
or it's keel, lying there,

But with the whole form or
the body of the hull itself
still there for us to see.

Narrator: Historical research
comes up with a name.

Lagrange.

A ship known to have
carried prospectors
to the city in 1849.

Today, archaeologists
return to the river
hoping to learn more.

But it's a challenge.

Foster: The sacramento river,
it's always carrying silt,

Because it runs down the valley.

So to look for gold
rush ships, we need to use a
sonar that sees through that

Sediment to see the bones
of a gold rush vessel.

Yeah, so it's 1.6 aft,
and it's 0.5 starboard.

Narrator: Based on the sonar
data from the latest survey,

We can start to drain the
water from the river.

To reveal a gold rush wreck.

The partial remains of a
ship's hull clearly visible.

Exploring deeper inside,
reveals something surprising:

Metal ring bolts.

Like those used to restrain
captives on a slave ship.

But what would be their
purpose in the gold rush?

California is never
a slave state.

So the reason for the ring
bolts remains unclear.

To understand more, the team
delves into lagrange's past.

Man: Okay go ahead.
More out that way.

Woman: You see this
thing right here?

Man: Yeah. In line.
Turn the fish off.

Narrator: They discover
she's a sea going barque.

First used to take cargo
between new york and savannah.

Then, to cash in on gold
fever, she's converted to
carry 63 fortune seekers.

In early 1849, she sails from
salem, massachusetts,

Arriving in san francisco
seven months later.

Then she continues up
the sacramento river,

Before docking along
the water front.

From here, her
passengers travel on to
the gold fields on foot.

Man: Follow the
shoreline here.

Narrator: But a ship taking
prospectors to the gold fields

Wouldn't need
restraining bolts.

So, what are they for?

Local archives reveal
she spends the last
ten years of her life

Simply moored on
the river bank.

Did her crew desert to j?

Or is there another
explanation?

Gold rush california is a
dangerous and violent place.

Deborah: You had people
coming from all over the
world trying to strike it

Rich and that caused
tension because you had
people getting in brawls,

People pulling knifes,
people pulling guns.

Narrator: Along with
theft, assault and murder,
there's ethnic tension too.

James: So you have
the american mobs
assaulting chileans.

Other hispanics sent chinese
as well as native indians to
clear the land or to send a

Message that
you're not welcome.

Narrator: Sacramento
needs a solution.

And so lagrange is converted
from a sailing ship to
become a floating jail house.

James: It's out of town.

It's on the river.

It is controlled
and self-contained.

And so, it serves
a perfect purpose

As not only a place in
which you can incarcerate,

But one which you can completely
control and keep inaccessible.

Narrator: Today, the
prison ship, lagrange,

Lies beneath layers of
silt on the river bed.

And the reason she sinks,
casts light on another dark
chapter of the gold rush.

James: One of the biggest
fears of every gold seeker

Is that everybody else
gets to it first.

Narrator: Prospectors
take extreme measures

To get their hands on
whatever gold is left.

Blasting river beds and
cliff faces with high
pressure water cannons,

To expose hidden seams.

James: The california
landscape in the gold fields

Is dramatically changed forever.

Entire hillsides are
washed free of mud and of
anything growing on them,

Leaving only barren rock.

Narrator: The mud and uprooted
trees flow downstream.

The sacramento becomes ever
more clogged with silt.

Over time, it becomes
more prone to flooding.

When a huge storm
hits the city, la grange is
threatened by rising water.

The guards and prisoners
manage to escape.

But she sinks to the
bottom of the river.

Where today, she still
lies, as a reminder
that the lust for gold

Led many 49ers not to
a fortune, but disgrace.

In california, everything
comes back to the gold rush.

Many immigrants stay on,
building the great cities of

San francisco,
sacramento and stockton.

But others can't get
out quick enough.

Off the coast of
southern california,

Can the wreck of another
great gold rush ship explain

How even those who
managed to get rich,

Are always one false
step from disaster?

Narrator: Gold isn't just
transforming california,
by the early 1850s,

Some of those who struck pay
dirt are returning home.

To towns and cities back
east, to europe, to china.

Gold helps kick start the
economy of the entire world.

But those leaving the
golden state, put themselves
in a new kind of peril.

On December 1st 1853,
the steamship winfield scott
leaves san francisco for

Panama, carrying 450
passengers, and gold,

Today worth over $30 million.

Deborah: It was
a normal journey,

One that steam ships had done
many, many times before.

Narrator: The winfield scott
is an ocean-going steamer,

Whose builders declare no
expense has been spared

To achieve strength,
safety and speed.

She even has first
class cabins for those
who struck it rich.

Robert: These
ships are amazing.

Yeah, they were built
staunchly with white live oak.

They had four decks
and the machinery on these
were just state of the art.

Narrator: She has sailed this
route eight times before.

But this time she
never reaches panama.

The research vessel,
shearwater, is heading
towards the channel islands,

A few miles off the coast
of southern california.

She's carrying a
team of archaeologists,
plus experts from noaa,

America's scientific agnecy
that monitors climate and seas.

They want to learn
more about the final fateful
voyage of the winfield scott.

The channel islands
are home to a protected
national marine sanctuary,

But dd marx, an archaeologist
with search incorporated, and
her colleague,

Noaa official, bob schwemmer,
regularly dive the wreck.

Deborah: You never know
what you're gonna encounter.

The wind and the waves
and the seasons uncover
things and recover things.

So you might find new
features of the hull you
hadn't found before,

As well as new artefacts.

Narrator: In these waters
the sands continually shift.

So every expedition
is a new adventure.

These remains of the winfield
scott lie in shallow water.

Her wooden hull
has rotted away.

Her metal parts covered with
decades of marine growth.

To see her in detail, and
understand what happened here,

We can combine 3d scanning data
with visualization software,

And pull the plug on
the pacific ocean.

Slowly, the remains of
the winfield scott appear.

Hidden from view since
she set out laden with
the gold of california.

Two paddle wheels lie exposed
and a handful of metal parts.

But the most significant
thing about the wreck isn't
what it is, but where it is.

The drained landscape of the
channel islands reveals the
winfield scott is not alone.

Scattered across the
seabed, lie dozens
of other shipwrecks.

These waters are
clearly dangerous.

So why was she here?

In the mid 19th century,
most ships give the channel
islands a wide berth,

Sailing past them and
onto central america.

But in local archives,
researchers discover evidence
that the winfield scott

Decides to take a
calculated risk.

Robert: We're very
fortunate with the diaries
from some of the passengers

That were on board
the winfield scott.

The captain, simon blunt,
has studied the area for

The us costal survey
a few years before.

Narrator: And he's sure he
knows a safe route directly
through the islands.

Robert: Captain simon blunt
felt pretty confident about

Coming through the
santa barbara channel

Because it cut 100
miles off his course

And of course getting
to panama first,

Or panama to san francisco,
you got bragging rights.

Narrator: It's not
just bragging rights.

It's cold hard cash.

Competition is fierce
between rival shipping lines,

All vying for a
slice of the action

On this most lucrative run.

Deborah: The winfield scott's
owners were very keen on
getting there quicker,

That means they could turn
around and make a return trip,

Hence more money
in their pockets.

Narrator: On the night
of December 1st 1853,

The islands are
shrouded in dense fog.

But captain blunt
isn't worried.

Robert: He was actually asked,
in the wheelhouse, about,

"do you wanna slow down, it's
kind of getting you know foggy,
and a bit dirty out there."

And he's like,
"no, let her rip."

Of course he did.

11 knots right into
california real estate.

Narrator: The ship smashes
into the rocky coast
line of anacapa island.

James: Water begins coming in.

You're standing there
on a moment on a deck
that is heaving,

With timbers cracking
and moaning.

With steam hissing
out of pipes, as cold
sea water pours in.

With the hull ripping
and tearing on rocks.

Narrator: All the
passengers scramble onto
this windswept shore.

The ship's cargo of
gold is salvaged.

But some of those carrying the
precious ore in their personal
luggage aren't so lucky.

Passengers who've risked
everything to achieve
their gold rush dream,

See it lost on the sea floor.

James: To have that
voyage end in shipwreck
had to be heart breaking,

Because they would
have lost everything.

All that effort. All
that work. All gone.

Robert: Great job.

Deborah: That's really good.

It looks so cool.

Narrator: Today the wreck
of the winfield scott still
speaks loudly of the huge

Wealth generated in
the gold rush era.

Deborah: So within a
span of five years,

From san francisco
being a tent city,

In the blink of an eye really,
you had a bustling city,

And you had steam ships
like the winfield scott

That were able to have
passengers that could afford

A first class state room
on their way home.

Narrator: By the end of the
1850s, just a decade after
the first discovery,

$187 billion worth of
gold in today's money,

Is pulled from the
mountains of california.

An extraordinary
decade of adventure,

Endeavour and
sometimes heartbreak,

That utterly transforms america.

California becomes the
31st state of the union.

A booming economy that's soon
home to 400,000 settlers.

The gold rush opens
up the american west,
and in so doing,

Creates the modern
united states.

Captioned by cotter
captioning services.