King of the wheeling, dealing entrepreneurs was Sam Brannan (left). The man who pulled the trigger on the gold rush was expanding his sphere of influence--and earning unheard of profits. While miners talked of gold, Brannan shrewdly bought up carpet tacks-- every tack in California. By cornering the market, he could extort huge profits, a technique he executed flawlessly--over and over. But Brannan was only the first in a long line of entrepreneurs who made their fortunes without digging for gold.

In 1853--according to legend--this man stitched a pair of pants out of canvas; sturdy pants that later became popular with the miners--very popular. His name: Levi Strauss (left). But during the gold rush, Strauss was best known for his prosperous dry good business. It wasn't until 1872 that he added a critical innovation to canvas pants, the metal rivet--a breakthrough that would change the course of American fashion.

This New York butcher decided one day to walk to California. Eventually, he opened a meat market in Placerville--and later took his profits to Milwaukee, where he set up a meat processing plant. His name was Phillip Armour (right), and the Armour meat packing company became one of the nation's largest.

Armour's neighbor in Placerville, was an enterprising wheelbarrow maker who dreamed of bigger things. After saving every dime for six years, he left California for his home in Indiana. There, he plowed his profits into the family wagon-making business. The man's name was John Studebaker (left) and the family enterprise would go on to build covered wagons for the Oregon-bound pioneers, and later--automobiles.

These two businessmen also looked west and saw opportunity. Sensing the unsettled atmosphere in California--they offered what many miners desperately wanted: stability. The offered secure, honest banking, transportation, even mail delivery. They were Henry Wells and William Fargo (above). Their company, Wells Fargo, became a giant in the banking industry.

The most famous celebrity of the gold rush era came to California as a complete unknown and took a job writing for the San Francisco Call. It wasn't long until his fanciful story about a frog jumping contest in nearby Calaveras County thrust him into the national spotlight. His name: Samuel Clemens--Mark Twain (left). Clemens boss at the Call was also destined to become a best-selling author, Brett Harte. Unlike Clemens, Harte wrote almost exclusively about western characters--colorful stories about miners, bandits, and gamblers. His tale of an orphaned baby adopted by a group of rough miners would make him famous and rich.

For every famous success, there were a thousand smaller stories of people who used their wits, not their shovels-- to find a fortune. Creative entrepreneurs were everywhere--looking for a new angle--a new way to make money, more money.