Coffee With Jeff

In 1848, a worker of John Sutter found gold in California. Sutter had reason for wanting to keep the find quiet, but he didn’t count on Samuel Brannan, who was soon running down the street yelling “Gold! Gold on the American River!” Brannan, a former Mormon, businessman and journalist, wasn’t crazy – and had no desire to look for the valuable mineral – but he knew that a mad rush of fortune hunters was his key to fame and fortune. He would become California’s first millionaire, only to die poor and in relative obscurity. Show notes and links: Ann Eliza Corwin Brannan (1823 – 1916) (findagrave.com) Brannan Before the Brooklyn (byu.edu) The Start of the California Gold Rush (1849) (youtube.com) Sam Brannon (1979) – YouTube (youtube.com) Sam Brannan and the Gold Rush: Biography & History – Video & Lesson Transcript (study.com) Sam Brannan (sierrafoothillmagazine.com) Latter-day Scoundrel Sam Brannan | HistoryNet (historynet.com) Samuel Brannan (spartacus-educational.com) HISTRORIANS REPORT (ecv