Website
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Gold Fever! Prospecting

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource presents information about prospecting. You will learn about the history and see pictures on how it was done.
Online Course
Schools of California Online Resources for Education

Score: Gold Mountain Webquest

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
At this site from the Schools of California Online Resources for Education, students will travel back in time as Chinese Immigrants in this detailed WebQuest. By using the resources and links given, students will file a job profile,...
Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Sherman and the Discovery of Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
An account by William Tecumseh Sherman about the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill.
Website
Ducksters

Ducksters: California State History for Kids

For Students 1st - 9th
Did you know California's history included early explorers, Native Americans, the Gold Rush, and the Bear Republic? Learn about the history and timeline of the state of California on this site.
Handout
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Entertainment

For Students 9th - 10th
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.
Handout
Sacramento Bee

Gold Rush: Streams Poisoned by Mercury

For Students 9th - 10th
This CalGoldRush site discusses the damage mercury used in gold mining has done to California's environment
Website
Books in the Classroom

Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site: In Plain Sight

For Students 3rd - 5th
Carol Hurst uses one of her own books, "In Plain Sight," as a basis for this lesson plan on the California gold rush. In addition to discussion questions about the book, Hurst provides ten activities designed to help students explore...
Website
The History Cat

The History Cat: Westward Expansion

For Students 9th - 10th
Here you can learn about the Oregon Trail, Donner Party, the California Gold Rush, and life as a pioneer through text, images, video, and quotes.
Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: James Wilson Marshall (1810 1885)

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief biography of James Marshall who discovered gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, which led to the California Gold Rush.
Handout
Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee: Timeline of John Sutter

For Students 9th - 10th
John Sutter was the unwitting lynchpin in the California Gold Rush. Read the time line of events that show how he suffered for that discovery.
Primary
Other

Ailello Studios: The Land of Glittering Dreams

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn some interesting facts about the California Gold Rush through images, personal stories and other writings.
Handout
State Library of North Carolina

N Cpedia: Gold Mining in the Uwharries

For Students 9th - 10th
In the early decades of the 1800s, the southern Piedmont's gold mines attracted prospectors, investors, and miners. Tar Heel gold had first been found in 1799 on John Reed's farm in Cabarrus County, several miles west of the Uwharrie...
Graphic
Curated OER

Object of History: Chinese Miners (Chinese Immigration During the Gold Rush)

For Students 9th - 10th
An image is provided of "Gan Saam Meets El Dorado," which depicts the Chinese miners in California during the 1850s in search of gold.
Primary
Other

California Gold Country: James W. Marshall's Account of First Discovery of Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
James W. Marshall's own words about discovering gold at Sutter's Mill in California in 1848.
Lesson Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: America in Class: The Chinese Question From a Chinese Standpoint, 1873

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Lesson on how the Chinese in California confronted anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination in the late 1800s. Comprehensive instructional activity with primary source materials.
Handout
Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee: Polk Is Caught in the Rush

For Students 9th - 10th
This site discusses James K. Polk's place in the gold rush of California in the 1840's.
Handout
PBS

New Perspectives on the West: John Augustus Sutter (1803 1880)

For Students 9th - 10th
Biography of John Sutter, a Swiss settler who helped to develop Californian and saw his fortunes dwindle after the California Gold Rush.
Handout
Other

Yuba City: John Augustus Sutter

For Students 9th - 10th
This article traces the career of the Swiss American pioneer, John Sutter. The discovery of gold in 1848 at his lumber mill led to the California Gold Rush.
Primary
Museum of the City of San Francisco

Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: Samuel Brannan's Bank

For Students 9th - 10th
This site contains a poster of a new bank started by Sam Brannen in San Francisco during the gold rush.
Website
Oakland Museum of California

Giant Gold Machines Gold Dredges

For Students 9th - 10th
This page gives a brief explanation of extracting minerals by the use of gold dredges. This was a process that sped up the process of finding gold.
Website
Oakland Museum of California

Giant Gold Machines Hard Rock Mining

For Students 9th - 10th
This page gives a brief explanation of extracting hard rock quartz. This was a labor intensive process that was often dangerous, but necessary to find gold.
Handout
Sacramento Bee

The Sacramento Bee: Merchant Digs More Than Gold

For Students 9th - 10th
This short article discusses Heinrich Schliemann's gold mining experience, including the death of his brother, before discovering the lost city of Troy during his archeological period.
Graphic
Oakland Museum of California

Gold Rush: Miners and Sluice Boxes

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides a picture and short description of the miners' use of the sluice box.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Mining Boom

For Students 5th - 8th
The allure of getting rich quick by finding gold or silver was just a dream for most prospectors. Read about the gold and silver rushes that usually ended up enriching the mining industry, not the miner. Find out about the make-up of the...

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