On December 5, 1848, President James Polk announced to the Congress that the gold deposits in California "would scarcely command belief were they not corroborated by authentic reports." Making reference to Governor Mason's report in his address, Polk noted that the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia had received a sample of the gold, and that it was verified as genuine.

After President Polk lent credence to the gold find, eastern newspapers began to run sensational stories of the discovery. Brian Roberts notes that these publications played a critical role in promoting the rush to California:

The gold rush was a phenomenon, a ritual, not merely an event or discovery. Before the ritual could begin, a sense of "eventicity" had to be created, made appealing to a buying public, nurtured into existence by imagination.

Writing for theNew York Tribune, melodramatic journalist Horace Greeley turned up the heat...