True to its word, two days later, September 17, the Herald devoted the larger part of an inside column to a letter from its California correspondent “Paisano,” dated July 1. The correspondent admitted that the Herald Publisher, James Gordon Bennett, “had better fill his paper with, at least, probable tales and stories and not such outrageous fictions as rivers, flowing with gold.” But, believed or not, he went on, this was the situation in California. The entire population had gone to the mines, many to return a few days later with hundreds of dollars in dust and nuggets. Spades and shovels sold for $10 apiece. Blacksmiths were making $240 a week. Why, even a child could pick up three dollars worth of gold in a day from the treasure streams. In comparison with California, “the famous El Dorado was but a sand bank, the Arabian Nights were tales of simplicity!”

Here was news beside which the front-page items of Free-Soil party meetings and General Taylor’s grand fancy ball paled to insignificance. On September 18, the front page of the Herald was covered with recently arrived European news; a turbulent election in France, war in Italy, rebellion in Ireland, cholera in London. But again on page 3 was another letter from “Paisano,” describing the golden discoveries in California.

Two days later, New Yorkers read a reprinted article from the Washington Union in which the exciting news of the California placers was confirmed by letters from Commodore Thomas Jones and Naval Agent Thomas O. Larkin. The Union editor suggested that “the danger in California is from want of food for the residents, and still more for the stream of immigrants. Would not some of our merchants find it a profitable speculation to send cargoes of biscuit, flour, &c., ‘round to the Pacific coast?” The Herald answered that the United States Steam Packet California would sail from New York on October 2 for the Golden West.

By this time, the national capital was in a ferment of excitement. Partisan newspapers might continue to play politics on their front pages, but Democrats, Whigs, Free-Soilers, and Abolitionists alike had turned their attention toward the West. “There Mr. Webster,” sneered the Washington Union, “is the country you declared was not worth having! Why, it is a solid mass of gold, which, if worked properly, would pay for all the expenses of the late war in a fortnight.”

A provocative thought for the idea-men of Washington—though, unfortunately, Congress was not in session to help in the carrying out of ideas! If the often-defeated bill for a trans-continental railroad were brought up now, it would surely pass. Emigration to the new territory would drain off excess population from the crowded Northern cities. This would halt the current downward trend of prices and wages. Gold from California would fill the banks. Credit restrictions would ease. With the expansion of markets and industry, the old Bank of the United States might rise from its ashes, issuing its own currency backed by a never-ending stream of bullion from the West. “Here’s to our new territory! Here’s to the United States, bounded on the north by the Aurora Borealis, on the south by the procession of the equinoxes, on the east by the rising sun, and on the west by the day of judgment!”

Throughout September, the New York Herald continued stories on the California gold mines, most of them being paraphrased passages from “Paisano’s” first letters. The front pages continued to play up the campaign speeches of the leading candidates and the disquieting news from far-off Europe, but, at the same time, advertisements began to appear of parties organizing for the trip to California, along with notices that large stores of camping and mining equipment were for sale. No rush was yet apparent, however it would take official notification of the California strike to make the hardheaded Easterner leave civilization for the rigors of the West.

Meanwhile, the Royal Mail Steam Ship Europa sailed from New York on September 27, arriving in London on October 10. The editor of the London Times scanned the latest accounts from the United States, found an item regarding gold discoveries in California, and promptly buried it on page 4 amid the Latin-American commercial notices. Even though the unbelievable details were all included, the article concluded on a hesitant note:

The placera sand is said to be so rich, that if exported to England or the United States, it would be very valuable. Consequent upon this excitement, the price of provisions has increased enormously. We need hardly observe that it is necessary to view these statements with great caution.