Today we get into some of the specifics on how this one event changed the course of history for the territory of California, hastened its road to statehood, impacted the US and global economy and helped to shape the culture of California. Sutter’s Mill, the spot of the first gold discovery, made many people wealthy, except for the man who owned the land. He would be driven into poverty and leave the state of California all together. So, we’re not saying you’re a gold digger, but if you went to California in 1849, you may have very well been.