Editing California gold rush (section)

===Transportation and supplies===
[[File:California Clipper 500.jpg|thumb|Advertisement about sailing to California, {{Circa|1850}}]]

In what has been referred to as the "first world-class gold rush,"<ref name=HillWorld>{{harvb|Hill|1999|p=1}}</ref> there was no easy way to get to California; forty-niners faced hardship and often death on the way. At first, most [[wikt:argonaut|Argonauts]], as they were also known, traveled by sea. From the East Coast, a sailing voyage around the tip of South America would take four to five months,<ref name=BrandsCape>{{harvb|Brands|2002|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ageofgoldcalifor00bran/page/103 103–121]}}</ref> and cover approximately {{convert|18000|nmi|mi km|}}. An alternative was to sail to the Atlantic side of the [[Isthmus of Panama]], take canoes and mules for a week through the jungle, and then on the Pacific side, wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco.<ref name=BrandsPan>{{harvb|Brands|2002|pp=[https://archive.org/details/ageofgoldcalifor00bran/page/75 75–85]}} Another route across [[Nicaragua]] was developed in 1851; it was not as popular as the Panama option. {{harvb|Rawls|Orsi|1999|pp=[https://archive.org/details/goldenstateminin0000unse/page/252 252–253]}}</ref> There was also a [[Isthmus of Tehuantepec|route]] across Mexico starting at [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]]. The companies providing such transportation created vast wealth among their owners and included the [[U.S. Mail Steamship Company]], the federally subsidized [[Pacific Mail Steamship Company]], and the [[Accessory Transit Company]]. Many gold-seekers took the overland route across the continental United States, particularly along the [[California Trail]].<ref name=RawlsTravel>{{harvb|Rawls|Orsi|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/goldenstateminin0000unse/page/5 5]}}</ref> Each of these routes had its own deadly hazards, from shipwreck to [[typhoid fever]] and [[cholera]].<ref name = HollDeath>{{harvb|Holliday|1999|p=[https://archive.org/details/rushforrichesgol00holl/page/101 101], [https://archive.org/details/rushforrichesgol00holl/page/107 107]}}</ref> In the early years of the rush, much of the population growth in the San Francisco area was due to steamship travel from New York City through overland portages in [[Nicaragua]] and [[Panama]] and then back up by steamship to San Francisco.<ref name="Stiles 2009">{{harvb|Stiles|2009}}</ref>

While traveling, many steamships from the eastern seaboard required the passengers to bring kits, which were typically full of personal belongings such as clothes, guidebooks, tools, etc. In addition to personal belongings, Argonauts were required to bring barrels full of beef, biscuits, butter, pork, rice, and salt. While on the steamships, travelers could talk to each other, smoke, fish, and engage in other activities depending on the ship they traveled. Still, the dominant activity held throughout the steamships was gambling, which was ironic because segregation between [[wealth gap]]s was prominent throughout the ships. Everything was segregated between the rich vs. the poor.<ref>Rohrbough, Malcolm. "No Boy's Play: Migration and Settlement in Early Gold Rush California." ''California History'' 79, no. 2 (2000): 25–43. Accessed December 7, 2020. {{doi|10.2307/25463687}}. pp. 32–33</ref> There were different levels of travel one could pay for to get to California. The cheaper steamships tended to have longer routes. In contrast, the more expensive would get passengers to California quicker. There were clear social and economic distinctions between those who traveled together, being that those who spent more money would receive accommodations that others were not allowed. They would do this with the clear intent to distinguish their higher class power over those that could not afford those accommodations.<ref>Rohrbough, Malcolm. "No Boy's Play: Migration and Settlement in Early Gold Rush California." California History 79, no. 2 (2000): 25–43. Accessed December 7, 2020. {{doi|10.2307/25463687}}. p. 33</ref>

[[File:SanFranciscoharbor1851c sharp.jpg|thumb|Merchant ships fill [[San Francisco Bay]], 1850–51.]]

Supply ships arrived in San Francisco with goods to supply the needs of the growing population. When hundreds of ships were abandoned after their crews deserted to go into the goldfields, many ships were converted to warehouses, stores, taverns, hotels, and one into a jail.<ref name = AbandonShip>{{harvb|Starr|2005|p=[https://archive.org/details/californiahistor00star_0/page/80 80]}}; {{cite web |title=Shipping is the Foundation of San Francisco{{snd}}Literally |publisher=Oakland Museum of California |year=1998 |url=http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/getin-pr01.html |access-date=February 26, 2013 |archive-date=December 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111227172242/http://museumca.org/goldrush/getin-pr01.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> As the city expanded and new places were needed on which to build, many ships were destroyed and used as landfill.<ref name = AbandonShip/>