Departmental News

Posted:  Sep 11, 2015 - 12:00pm

The legendary Gold Rush of the late 1840s was a game changer in American history. The promise of overnight wealth — and the industries that rose up around the wealth- seekers — lured legions of people from all over the world to Northern California and to cities and towns along the Pacific Coast. But there were other Gold Rush ramifications — economic and environmental — as well. For example: the wholesale taking of tortoises from the Galapagos Islands by sailors and fortune seekers on their way to and from California.

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