<Li> <P> Excavating a gravel bed with jets, circa 1863 </P> </Li> <P> Excavating a gravel bed with jets, circa 1863 </P> <P> Recent scholarship confirms that merchants made far more money than miners during the Gold Rush . The wealthiest man in California during the early years of the rush was Samuel Brannan, a tireless self - promoter, shopkeeper and newspaper publisher . Brannan opened the first supply stores in Sacramento, Coloma, and other spots in the goldfields . Just as the rush began he purchased all the prospecting supplies available in San Francisco and re-sold them at a substantial profit . </P> <P> Some gold - seekers made a significant amount of money . On average, half the gold - seekers made a modest profit, after taking all expenses into account; economic historians have suggested that white miners were more successful than black, Indian, or Chinese miners . However, taxes such as the California foreign miners tax passed in 1851, targeted mainly Latino miners and kept them from making as much money as whites, who didn't have any taxes imposed on them . In California most late arrivals made little or wound up losing money . Similarly, many unlucky merchants set up in settlements which disappeared, or which succumbed to one of the calamitous fires that swept the towns that sprang up . By contrast, a businessman who went on to great success was Levi Strauss, who first began selling denim overalls in San Francisco in 1853 . </P>

Who profited the most from the california gold rush
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