PBS
Pbs: American Experience: The Gold Rush
This comprehensive site from American Experience examines many facets of the Gold Rush in California. Read a transcript of the film, find out about the many individuals and groups of people who arrived in California to try to strike it...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era, 1848 1865: Growth of Cities
Primary source images depicting the rapid growth of small settlements into big cities as people continued to come to California from all over the world during the Gold Rush.
Other
California State Parks: Gold Rush Overview
Get basic facts about the 1848 discovery of gold by John Marshall at Sutter's Mill and the subsequent Gold Rush in California and American history.
Vocabulary University
My vocabulary.com: Gold Rush California
This page has a variety of vocabulary puzzles and activities using 19 words pertaining to the Gold Rush in California. It also offers an extensive Vocabulary Word List of 286 words, and ideas for lesson plans on the topic.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era, 1848 1865: Disasters
A collection of primary source materials that highlight the risks of natural disasters associated with the California Gold Rush as people rushed in to seek their fortunes.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Environmental Impact
Original photographs depicting scenes from California during the Gold Rush. Illustrations of mines, miners at work, and the tools they used as well as the effect of the mining industry on California's landscape.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Chinese Transformed
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the role of the Chinese immigrants during the gold rush in California and the mark they made on history.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Gold in California
The gold rush in California accelerated the western migration of thousands of young American men, who streamed into California to find riches. See who else arrived in California and find out what they did. In addition, there is a map...
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
Univ. Of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Diversity in the Changing State
Explore original images depicting scenes of ethnic diversity in California during the Gold Rush years.
Calisphere: University of California Libraries
University of California: Calisphere: Gold Rush Era: Murder and Mayhem
A collection of primary source materials and informational text that looks at law and order in the "wild west" of California, identifying changing ethnicity in a growing population seeking gold and other resources.
Harvard University
Harvard Univ.: Immigration to Us, 1789 1930: California Gold Rush (1848 1858)
Describes the California Gold Rush and the impact it had on immigration to the United States and to the future demographics of California. Includes a high-resolution map of the gold region of California in 1851.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: Van Valen's Gold Rush Journey
In this superb interactive exhibition, students explore primary resources and learn about the reasons people left their homes to search for wealth during the California Gold Rush. Van Valen, along with four other men, set out in 1849 to...
University of California
The Bancroft Library: Italian Americans in California
An introduction to the history and culture of Italian immigrants and their descendants in California from 1687 to the present. Shows how the people, industries, and neighborhoods of an area change over time. Includes a virtual exhibit...
Other
Montana Junior College: Mining History and Geology of the California Gold Rush
The physical characteristics, history, and mining of gold in California are examined in this thorough site.
Read Works
Read Works: Westward Expansion the California Gold Rush
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the discovery of gold along the West Coast. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: His Path Back to Japan Was Paved With Gold
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the life of Manjiro Nakahama, a Japanese immigrant who made enough money during the gold rush in California that he was able to return home to Japan.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: 'Real Women' Who Defied Stereotype
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the role of the women during the gold rush in California. They served in a variety of roles and many made more than miners. This page tells their stories.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Land of Golden Dreams: California in the Gold Rush
A rich site on the California gold rush, 1848-1858. An online exhibit traces the gold rush using primary sources, a teacher page gives lesson plans from 4-12 and a kid's page offers further online adventures. Takes a long time to load.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Mother Lode Now Strikes Gold in Tourism
This CalGoldRush.com site contains an article on the effects that the California gold rush has on California's tourism. Many people still come from far lands to get a glimpse of what is was like to be a gold miner.
The History Cat
The History Cat: The California Gold Rush
Describes the events that led to the California Gold Rush, the lives of the miners, the discrimination faced by Chinese immigrant miners and African Americans, the women who mostly stayed behind when their husbands went west as well as...
Other
California Historical Society: California History Online
With over four hundred original images, this site covers periods in California's history from 1600 to the 1930s. Topics covered include the geography and climate of California, early aboriginal groups, the first European explorers, the...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: California Gold Rush
The sources in this primary set document the broad "forty-niner" experience. Includes teaching guide.
Other
Gold, Greed, & Genocide: The Story of California's 1849 Gold Rush
Use the table of contents to explore this site which recounts the plight of the Native Americans who lived in California before the Gold Rush and the impact of the gold rush on their lives.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Fortune Smiled on Many Black Miners
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.