The document summarizes how the California Gold Rush was discovered in 1848 and led to a mass migration to California from around the world, especially from the United States, in pursuit of quick wealth. This migration transformed California from a sparsely populated territory into a boomtown region and state, and also had negative consequences for the indigenous Native American population, such as warfare, disease, and a dramatic decline in their numbers. The Gold Rush was influenced by the concept of Manifest Destiny, the idea that American settlers were destined to expand across the entire North American continent.