Whole indigenous societies were attacked Attack and pushed Motion off their lands by the gold-seekers , called Name_conferral `` forty-niners '' ( referring to 1849 , the peak year for Gold Rush immigration ) .

Of the approximately 300,000 people who came to Motion California during the Gold Rush , about half arrived Arriving by sea and half came Arriving overland on the California Trail and the Gila River trail ; forty-niners often faced substantial hardships Hindering on the trip .