On January 24, 1848, James W. Marshall accidentally discovered gold in Coloma, California. "I picked up one or two pieces and examined them attentively," he later wrote. "Gold...I know it to be nothing else." The California Gold Rush was born, and soon Americans, Chinese, South Americans, Europeans, and Australians alike flocked to the West in hopes of securing their fortunes. But the life of a miner, they quickly discovered, lacked the glamour they'd envisioned and was fraught with uncertainty and danger. Nicknamed the '49ers for the year, most failed to strike it rich, but their settlement in California changed the American landscape forever. The flood of people spurred construction, transforming once isolated outposts like San Francisco and Sacramento into the bustling cities we know today. By 1850, the rush had turned into a trickle, so miners moved on, following more promises of gold in the Kansas and Nebraska territories. But the international title California acquired as the Golden State remained.