Brannan's words might well mark the conception of gold fever. The previously predominant skepticism burst like a dam into an unbridled zeal to make it to the American River. J.S. Holliday documents the dreamy feelings of one of the spellbound:

"A frenzy seized my soul. . . . Piles of gold rose up before me . . . castles of marbles, thousands of slaves. . . . Myriads of fair virgins contending with each other for my love—were among the fancies of my fevered imagination. . . . In short, I had a very violent attack of the gold fever."

The rush was largely a regional phenomenon at first. Most of the people who made money with little investment came from the local area and made their claims before the end of 1848. What historian Brian Roberts calls the "poor man's rush" included Mexicans from Sonora, a few South Americans from Chile, and some deserting soldiers...