The rush to the gold fields falls naturally into two parts: the earlier including the population of California, near enough to hear of the find and get to the diggings in 1848. The later came from all the world, but could not start until the news had percolated by devious and tedious courses to centres of population thousands of miles away. The movement within California started in March and April. Further prospecting showed that over large areas around the American and Sacramento rivers free gold could be obtained by the simple processes of placer mining. A wooden cradle operated by six or eight men was the most profitable tool, but a tin dishpan would do in an emergency. San Francisco was sceptical when the rumor reached it, and was not excited even by the first of April, but as nuggets and bags of dust appeared in quantity, the doubters turned to enthusiasts. Farms were abandoned, town houses were deserted, stores were closed, while every able-bodied man tramped off to the north to try his luck. The city which had flourished and expanded since the beginning of 1847 became an empty shell before May was over. Its newspaper is mute witness of the desertion, lapsing into silence for a month after May 29th because its hands had disappeared. Farther south in California the news spread as spring advanced, turning by June nearly every face toward Sacramento. The public authorities took cognizance of the find during the summer. It was forced upon them by the wholesale desertions of troops who could not stand the strain. Both Consul Larkin and Governor Mason, who represented the sovereignty of the United States, visited the scenes in person and described the situation in their official letters home. The former got his news off to the Secretary of State by the 1st of June; the latter wrote on August 17; together they became the authoritative messengers that confirmed the rumors to the world, when Polk published some of their documents in his message to Congress in December, 1848. The rumors had reached the East as early as September, but now, writes Bancroft, "delirium seized upon the community." How to get to California became a great popular question in the winter of 1848-1849. The public mind was well prepared for long migrations through the news of Pacific pioneers which had filled the journals for at least six years. Route, time, method, and cost were all to be considered. Migration, of a sort, began at once.