During a gold rush, sell shovels: The Story of Samuel Brannan

The first millionaire from the California gold rush was a store owner named Samuel Brannan. He opened a store at John Sutter’s Fort in what is now Sacramento, California. This was the only store between San Francisco and the gold fields 35 miles northeast of Sacramento. He capitalized on this by purchasing every pickaxe, shovel and pan he could find, spreading hysteria about gold in the Sierra Nevada, and then selling the equipment for a ridiculous markup. He could purchase pans for 20 cents apiece and resell them for $15. He used the profits from his store to purchase large tracts of land. In the 1850s and 1860s Brannan was the richest man in California.
Mr. Brannan’s success, combined with the darker side of his personality let me to pursue some deeply bizarre schemes such as his participation in a vigilante group that led to some men being tried and hanged. He sailed to Hawaii to try and overthrow the king in a failed coup. Brannan built a resort on 3,000 acres he bought in Napa Valley. He hired Japanese gardeners and bought 800 horses. He would get into a drunken fight with some of his employees and be shot eight times, but he survived this. He then built a railroad to his resort, but it was too small for the rail to be profitable. His wife ultimately divorced him because of his infidelity. He was forced to liquidate his holdings to pay her half of his assets. He would ultimately be reduced to selling pencils door to door. He died on a small fruit farm near San Diego in 1889. He died poor, leaving his children only a few dollars each.
Works Cited:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/goldrush-samuel-brannan/