--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The first treasure California began to…" description: "\"The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land.\" — John Jakes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png" --- # The first treasure California began to surrender after the… ![“The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land.” quote by John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png) > “The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land.” [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Gold Rush transformed California, but its true wealth was the land itself. **In simple terms:** Gold rush changed focus to land value. Key Takeaway Value natural resources over fleeting riches. Themes history environment value Mood reflective serious Type historical educational When to use this quote - urban planning - heritage preservation - environmental policy Key Concepts resource economics colonialism land rights Questions to Reflect On - How do we protect land amid development? - What lessons does history teach about resource exploitation? A Different Perspective Economic booms can obscure lasting assets. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [California](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/california/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Gold rush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold-rush/) [Surrender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surrender/) [Treasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/treasure/) ## Related quotes > [in California I began to think that, except on the beaches, no-one had the use of their legs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rumer-godden/in-california-i-began-to-think-that-except-on-the-beaches-no-one-had/) [Rumer Godden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rumer-godden/) > [“Conquest was not satisfying if it began with a surrender.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/conquest-was-not-satisfying-if-it-began-with-a-surrender/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [Unless action is taken soon - unless we can display the same vision of that earlier period - we will lose the treasure of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-schiff/unless-action-is-taken-soon-unless-we-can-display-the-same-vision-of/) [Adam Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-schiff/) > [“A half-century later, Mark Twain would say that the gold rush drastically changed the American character, ending the tradition of patient apprenticeships, the gradual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-hamill/a-half-century-later-mark-twain-would-say-that-the-gold-rush/) [Pete Hamill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-hamill/) > [Prudence is not the same thing as caution. 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It was truly a revolution in psychiatry, and a gold rush for drug companies, who suddenly had hundreds of new disorders they could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-ronson/name-it-was-truly-a-revolution-in-psychiatry-and-a-gold-rush-for-drug/) [Jon Ronson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-ronson/) > [When more Chinese started coming after the Gold Rush, employed on large projects like the Pacific Railroad, anti-Chinese sentiment became shrill.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/when-more-chinese-started-coming-after-the-gold-rush-employed-on/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [California is a tragic country — like Palestine, like every Promised Land. Its short history is a fever-chart of migrations — the land rush,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/california-is-a-tragic-country-like-palestine-like-every-promised/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [It's a gold rush ad we're selling the shovels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josh-williams/it-s-a-gold-rush-ad-we-re-selling-the-shovels/) Josh Williams ## More by John Jakes > [“Why did people ignore the lessons of history and their own senses, deny a law of life immutable as the seasons, and erect twisted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/why-did-people-ignore-the-lessons-of-history-and-their-own-senses/) [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) > [The house burned an hour before midnight on the last day of April. The wild, distant ringing of the fire bells woke George Hazard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-house-burned-an-hour-before-midnight-on-the-last-day-of-april-the/) [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) > [Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/be-yourself-above-all-let-who-you-are-what-you-are-what-you-believe/) [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) > [No writer should minimize the factor that affects everyone, but is beyond control: luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/no-writer-should-minimize-the-factor-that-affects-everyone-but-is/) [John Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/) > [“Yet how strong was friendship? 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A woman in Santa Barbara, California, sent a $40,000 check.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-abel/even-with-clothing-naked-animals-there-were-people-who-wanted-to-send/) [Alan Abel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-abel/) > [We need to incorporate that age-old concept of redemption into the work that we do in the criminal justice system in California.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/we-need-to-incorporate-that-age-old-concept-of-redemption-into-the/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) > [The Urban Literate Southern California Sub-Group of the Early Atomic Period has not yet produced a distinct body of folk music of its own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-hinton/the-urban-literate-southern-california-sub-group-of-the-early-atomic/) Sam Hinton > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Many militarists would like to see California's votes vanish from the national electoral system, which would then become more Republican.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-swanson/many-militarists-would-like-to-see-california-s-votes-vanish-from-the/) [David Swanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-swanson/) > [When I started in California, people would say, 'Enterprise who?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-nicholson/when-i-started-in-california-people-would-say-enterprise-who/) [Pamela Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-nicholson/) > [Take one round-trip flight between New York and California, and you've generated about 20 percent of the greenhouse gases that your car emits over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tatiana-schlossberg/take-one-round-trip-flight-between-new-york-and-california-and-you-ve/) [Tatiana Schlossberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tatiana-schlossberg/) > [These French-style caramels are handmade in California. It's always hard to give them away!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/these-french-style-caramels-are-handmade-in-california-it-s-always/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [The D.C. playbook is obsolete. It's time for the people of California to bring the agenda to Washington, not the other way around.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-de-leon/the-d-c-playbook-is-obsolete-it-s-time-for-the-people-of-california/) [Kevin de Leon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-de-leon/) > [While there is an attempt by the Trump people to say that California isn't really America. California certainly seems like America to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-frum/while-there-is-an-attempt-by-the-trump-people-to-say-that-california/) [David Frum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-frum/) > [I'm from California, but my father, who passed away when I was young, was from Newark. When I was kid, we would go back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carson-daly/i-m-from-california-but-my-father-who-passed-away-when-i-was-young/) [Carson Daly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carson-daly/) > [“God will break California from the surface of the continent like someone breaking off a piece of chocolate. It will become its own floating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ruby/god-will-break-california-from-the-surface-of-the-continent-like/) [Laura Ruby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ruby/) > [You could have a hit in California that no one had heard of in Oklahoma.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wanda-jackson/you-could-have-a-hit-in-california-that-no-one-had-heard-of-in/) [Wanda Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wanda-jackson/) > [My first encounter with yoga was in 1969 with my older brother Doug. I was thirteen years old, and he was eighteen. 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Swensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-f-swensen/) [Browse all 2,036 California quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/california/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Jakes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-first-treasure-california-began-to-surrender-after-the-gold-rush/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "California" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-first-treasure-california-began-to-surrender-after-the-gold-rush/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd8/john-jakes-23092_california_the-first-treasure-california-began-to-s_938894.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The first treasure California began to surrender after the Gold Rush as the oldest: her land.” — John Jakes", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Jakes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-jakes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The first treasure California began to...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-first-treasure-california-began-to-surrender-after-the-gold-rush/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-jakes/the-first-treasure-california-began-to-surrender-after-the-gold-rush/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```