Read Works
Read Works: Panning for History
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read about a Boy Scout trip that goes panning for rocks, minerals, and gold to learn more about history. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Streams Poisoned by Mercury
This CalGoldRush site discusses the damage mercury used in gold mining has done to California's environment
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: A Gold Rush Poem
A poem written in England but certainly expressing the hopes and dreams of those seeking gold in California. Included in the San Francisco Business Directory of 1864-65.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Californio to American: A Study in Cultural Change
This site has a lesson about the ranching industry, creation of California towns and the changes over time. Contains information, inquiry question, historical context, maps, readings, and images.
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in California: Coloma
Town where the California Gold Rush when James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's mill on January 24, 1848. Now a ghost town, it is a significant part of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park.
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in California: Columbia Historic District
Within two years of discovering gold in this town, it was the 3rd largest city in California. The historic district is now an open museum and the best preserved California Gold Rush town.
Curated OER
Science Kids: Science Images: Gold Nugget
This photo shows an enormous gold nugget. Known as the Mojave Nugget, it weighs 156 ounces and is the largest gold nugget found in California. Gold is a precious metal with the chemical symbol Au. For more information on gold, check out...
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in California: Sutter's Fort
A 19th century agricultural and trade colony, it was known for its connection to the Donner Party, the California Gold Rush, and the formation of Sacramento as well as its proximity to the California Trail and Siskiyou Trails. Now a...
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in California: Old United States Mint
Built for the San Francisco Mint in 1874 to handle the overflow from the California Gold Rush, this building is affectionately as The Granite Lady. It is one of the few that survivors of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake and served...
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Indian Gold Washing
This resource contains information and a picture about Indian prospectors. It also contains an audio clip.
Other
Gold Rush Players: Joaquin Murieta
Information about the notorious Joaquin Murieta, Mexican miner who became a legend after a book was written about him in 1854.
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Entertainment
Many individuals made money during the gold rush without finding any gold. This resource dicusses how many actors and musicians made money entertaining lonely miners. There is also an audio version.
Curated OER
Object of History: Chinese Miners (Chinese Immigration During the Gold Rush)
An image is provided of "Gan Saam Meets El Dorado," which depicts the Chinese miners in California during the 1850s in search of gold.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Journeys West
A series of lessons utilizing primary texts, including narratives, photographs, and maps, through which learners explore the following question: "What motivated thousands of people to journey west during the 1800s?"
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Gold Fever! Prospecting
This resource presents information about prospecting. You will learn about the history and see pictures on how it was done.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: The Chinese Question From a Chinese Standpoint, 1873
Lesson on how the Chinese in California confronted anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in the late 1800s. Comprehensive lesson with primary source materials.
Curated OER
Black Miner
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the triumphs African American's had during the California gold rush. Many blacks were able to purchase their freedom and the freedom of their families back home.
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Johann Augustus Sutter
This page contains a brief biography of gold rusher, John Sutter, from the book "Life in California before the Gold Discovery" by John Bidwell.
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: The Miner's Song
Published in "Hutching's California Magazine" in 1857 was a song expressing the hopes and dreams of those suffering from gold fever.
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Samuel Brannan's Bank
This site contains a poster of a new bank started by Sam Brannen in San Francisco during the gold rush.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Contested Territories
This site highlights the westward expansion of settlers in North America and the effects this expansion had on Native Americans between the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.
Curated OER
Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: California, 1904
A map of California from 1904 showing the State capital of Sacramento, major cities and towns, railroads, mountain systems, lakes, rivers, and coastal features. "California, first settlement made in 1769 by the Spaniards. Gold was...
Curated OER
Miniature Gold Spike Souvenir Presented by David Hewes to Benjamin Cox
In-depth look at the ceremony at Promontory Point upon the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The author discusses the preparation for the ceremony, the use of four ceremonial spikes, and what became of them. From an article in...
Curated OER
Wikipedia: National Historic Landmarks in California: Bodie Historic District
Establish in 1859, it became a Gold Rush boomtown in 1876. It is currently a State park preserved in arrested decay, neither restored nor destroyed. It is one of very few towns of this type to survive untouched.
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