Learn more about the California Gold Rush!

Once upon a time in our not so distant history the United States did
not spread 'from sea to shining sea'. As a matter of fact, there were whole
tracts of land in the west owned by other countries who were neighbors to
the United States. Click Here to see a map and learn just who those
neighbors were and record them below.

While the United States did not own all of the land yet, some of its
people moved out west anyway. One such man was John Sutter. John moved
to California in 1839 and built Sutter's Fort right where Sacramento can
be found today. Travelers used Sutter's Fort as a place to rest and buy
supplies in their travels. John Sutter hired James Marshall in 1847 to
build a sawmill on land Sutter owned in Coloma. Add Sutter's Fort and
Coloma to the map below.
 Do you know what a sawmill does? Write your answer below. Read the
beginning of this article to learn more and see pictures.

In John Sutter's time a sawmill used a large water wheel along a

river to turn pulleys. Those pulleys moved the gears attached to circular
saws. Men guided trees along the saw to cut it into lumber for building.
See a photo of Sutter's Mill right here.
One rainy night James Marshall rode in to Sutter's Fort and insisted
on speaking with John Sutter privately. He brought out of his pocket some
yellow metal he had found in the tail-race (water pool area) of the mill.
The men tested it several ways to determine if it was gold.

What are some ways to check a piece of ore to see if it is real gold or
fools gold? Read Here to find out and write two ways below.

Draw what you think a gold nugget looks like in the box below.

Now watch this slideshow to see amazing examples of real gold

nuggets.
 Before the year was over word got out about the discovery of Gold in
California. The Gold Rush was officially beginning.

Advertisements like this one cropped up

everywhere. Each one promising to get a person
quickly and safely to California, where the gold
would be easy to find.

*Make your own poster advertising the

California Gold Rush on another sheet of paper
and post it in your bedroom.

People came from around the country and the world to make their fortune
in the gold fields. Let's learn a bit more about how they got to California.

By Land:

Life in 1849 was slower than today. There were no cars, few trains,
and no airplanes. How could someone living in the East, maybe in Ohio or
Virginia, get across the continent to California? Write your answer
below:

*Find out: Click Here to find out how close your answer is, then write how
people traveled by land to join the Gold Rush below:

* Gather Your Supplies: Make your own paper covered wagon with this easy
craft.

Travel by land took over half a year and was not easy. Some people
decided there had to be a faster, easier way to get to California. What way
do you think they came up with? ______________________________________________
By Sea:

Did you guess that a faster trip to California could be made by ship?
It is true! In 1849 ships could sail from the East coast of the country
down around Cape Horn at the bottom of South America, then up to
California in as little as 5 months. Map the route a ship from Boston,
Massachusetts would take to California.

However, this was not an easy voyage either. What are some of the
challenges of traveling by sea that you can think of?

There were many stories about how easy it was to find gold, including the
idea that you could simply pick it up off the ground. Reality was far
different. Miners used a few basic tools during the beginning of the Gold
Rush, and these are pictured below.

The pick, shovel, and pan were all tools of the miner's trade.
* Read Here for a description.

Why could miners use a pan and some water to get gold out of a river?
Life as a Miner

The life of a miner was not easy. Imagine spending all day in and
around a river of cold water panning for gold. The comforts of home had
been left behind and a miner, more often than not, lived in a tent and
cooked food over a fire. List on the clipboard below some of the things
you would bring along if you were heading to the gold fields.

Congratulations!
You have finished this California Gold Rush
study and you can head for California!
Happy Mining!