🚀 go-pugleaf

>bill.berggren@support.com wrote:

>: Before the United States took California from Mexico in 1848 era, did the
>: Federal government know that there was gold in California, and was that the
>: motivating reason?

I believe that gold was found in Placerita Canyon, north of L.A., in the
1830's. This is the site of the "Oak of the Golden Dream". The story
is that someone taking a nap under a Live Oak tree dreamt of finding
gold. When he woke, he indeed found nuggets tangled among the roots.
There was a minor gold rush associated with the Placerita Canyon
find. (The name, of course, tells it all: 'placer', Spanish for sandbank, 
as in gold deposited along a stream-bed. 'Placerita', little placer)
 
There is an historical plaque located at roadside on the Antelope Valley
Freeway, somewhere near Via Princesa, I believe. I'm sure it tells
the tale better than I have here.