Hawai‘i and the California Gold Rush
The news of the discovery of gold in California at Sutter’s Mill on January 24, 1848, did not reach Hawai‘i for six months. Only fourteen days away by ship, there was still no regularly scheduled travel between the two places. This swiftly changed when Hawai‘i learned of the discovery. In June, when the newspaper Polynesian ran the first reports of the California bonanza, “Gold Fever” struck the Islands. Editor Charles Hitchcock described the fever as “a restless sensation,” “a wild expression of the eye,” accompanied by haste in obtaining implements for digging and washing gold and securing passage on the first ship out.
People deserted their occupations in the hopes of making their fortunes. Retail and wholsesale stores were stripped of goods and supplies, which sold at greatly inflated prices. The editor added “The little city of Honolulu has never before witnessed such an excitement.”
The summer before the discovery, there were some 460 people in California including 40 Hawaiians. By August of 1848, there were 4,000; by the following year, 80,000—it is not recorded how many were Islanders. Editors themselves caught the fever, abandoning their print shops either to hunt for gold or witness the excitement.
By 1850, the human tide between California and Hawai‘i was again an even flow. Having expended their resources or regained their good senses, many returned to the Islands, joined by newcomers attracted to Hawai‘i’s growing opportunities.