… was discovered by James W. Marshall on the property of Johann Sutter near Coloma, California, 163 years ago today. By the end of the year the rush was on; nearly 100,000 people arrived in California in 1849.
But these days, as The Gatlin Brothers sang —
All the gold in California
Is in a bank in the middle of Beverly Hills
In somebody else’s name
Many years later, entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs found a whole different kind of gold in the Silicon Valley….. 🙂
In 1919 D.W. Griffith and his troupe of actors found some gold in the village of Hollywood in the hills above Los Angeles.
In 1921 Donald Wills Douglas, Sr. found some gold in Santa Monica. Then he merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas and found a lot more gold.
And Walt Disney found plenty of gold in Annaheim in 1955.
Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin’ home every day,
Beatin’ the hot old dusty way to the California line.
‘Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin’ out of that old dust bowl,
They think they’re goin’ to a sugar bowl, but here’s what they find
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
“You’re number fourteen thousand for today.”
Oh, if you ain’t got the do re mi, folks, you ain’t got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.
You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can’t deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don’t swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
‘Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:
If you ain’t got the do re mi, boys, you ain’t got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.
There’s still gold in California for those that look in the right place.