Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, was the water-powered sawmill where James W. Marshall found gold on January 24, 1848, while supervising construction for John Sutter. The discovery, recorded by worker Henry Bigler and later confirmed by Joseph Libbey Folsom, set off the California Gold Rush and became a turning point in American history. Migration to California surged, transforming the region economically and politically and helping lead to statehood in 1850. The rush also devastated Sutter, as Native people fled, his farming operations collapsed, and miners stripped his property. Though the original mill is gone, the site remains preserved as the place where a global migration began.