A Peck of Gold

Learners compare contemporary cultural differences with historical differences based on population percentage. In this cross-curriculum Gold Rush/math instructional activity, students analyze aspects of California's Gold Rush population...

Using a variety of online resources, learners study life and society in California during the gold rush. They use a map to identify area where gold was located, explore pre-selected websites, describe mining practices, and create an...

Upon hearing of the gold discovery at Sutter's Mill in California in the 1840s, a flood of migrants went West in search of wealth and fame. Others, such as Chinese workers, came from farther away. Using video clips from historians and...

A collection of primary source photos from 19th-century California which portray what everyday life was like during the California Gold Rush.

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.

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.

Article by Henry Sage explaining the history of California, how it became a state, and how President Polks desire to acquire California contributed to the Mexican-American War.

Digital collection features first-person accounts from the time of the Gold Rush and California statehood through the turn of the twentieth century. Presents detailed information about localities and people important to the state during...

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...

This collection at the University of California-Berkeley can now be accessed online through the Online Archive of California. It provides a vast collection of historically significant primary source images of early California and the...