"The “Forty-niners” (49ers) who arrived in 1849, among which are counted those from Latin America: Peru, Mexico and Chile, were part of the advancement that lead to the creation of the State of California”
“In 1848, the gold fever in California had started. Thousands of men and women from the United States and other parts of the world, among them several Peruvian citizens, moved to the new territories searching for gold.
California had become a kind of no man's land, it had just been annexed to the United States. After the territorial conquest of this country over Mexico, under the government of American President James Polk, it still did not have a properly established government.
The Peruvians living in San Francisco were not only gold seekers, but also merchants and ship owners, and their faith became an issue of interest for their countrymen.
The newspaper "El Peruano" had published articles that described an environment of crime, hunger and disease in California, threatening the lives of our nationals and their investments.
In 1849, by order of the President of Peru, Marshal Ramón Castilla, the Peruvian warship "General Gamarra" sailed from the port of Callao to California, responding to the call for help from Peruvian emigrants: Entrepreneurs, merchants and ship owners, who were in San Francisco infected by the gold rush.
The Peruvian warship "General Gamarra" was equipped with 16 guns, 9-month provisions and a crew of 136 men, under the command of the commander José María Silva Rodríguez, making a display of power naval that Peru boasted.
Violent riots erupted in the city and the local authorities, unable to control them, requested the support of the crews of some foreign vessels. The Commander of the Gamarra sent an well-armed detachment of Peruvian marines to help the law enforcement officers, and order was re-established.
The gold rush considerably multiplied the number of inhabitants in California, building the foundations of what the year after the arrival of the "Gamarra" was declared State # 31 of the United States of North America.
The “Forty-niners” (49ers) who arrived in 1849, among which are counted those from Latin America: Peru, Mexico and Chile, were part of the advancement and creation of the Californian State.” Source: boletinmaritimo.blogspot.com