Jan. 24, 1848: Gold!

A bit of trivia:

Most people associate the phrase "There's gold in them thar hills" with Mark Twain, speaking of the California gold rush. But he actually copied the phrase from Dr. M. Stephenson, director of the U.S. mint in Dahlonega, Georgia, the site of the first major gold rush in the U.S., in 1828. He spoke this line from the steps of the mint building in a futile attempt to convince the miners to remain in Georgia to mine, rather than to flock to California after gold was discovered there. The 'them thar hills' were the mountains around Dahlonega. There is still some gold being taken from the Dahlonega mines.

Excellent! that is exactly how the story was told to me by someone that lives there.