Learning, Exploring and Discovering: Our Homeschool Life: California History Lesson 20 (Gold Rush)

California History

Gold Rush

Lesson 20

The Gold Rush

Gold was discovered in California just 90 days before the end of the war with Mexico. The discovery of gold brought a lot of attention to California. John Sutter was the man who took care of all the immigrants coming into California. He needed lumber to build items to help the travelers. John Marshall was hired to find a place for a sawmill. He found a good place on the American River. It was there that he first found gold. They tried to keep it a secret because John Sutter needed the men to do their work. If word got out about gold, his workers would be distracted. Sadly, news spread fast with the help of Sam Brannan. He knew that men would need supplies in order to keep up their stakes and thought he could get rich selling them the things they would need. So he went out into the streets of San Francisco shouting that gold had been found in the American River.

Gold fever struck and people left everything to search for gold. Letters were sent home to the east and the governor of California sent a report back to Washington D.C. After President Polk confirmed the rumors of gold in California, the Gold Rush began. People were called forty-niners because they began searching for gold in 1849. They came by land routes from every state in the Union, by sea around the Horn of South America and through the isthmus at Panama, and many came from Mexico as well. The fastest route to the gold field was around the Isthmus of Panama. It took 2-3 months. The longest route was around Cape Horn which took 6-8 months. The cheapest way to get to the gold fields was the overland route which took 3-5 months. Among the people who came to California hunting for gold were African Americans, Mexicans and the Chinese. About 1,000 African Americans came to California to search for gold. Some were free, but others were offered their freedom if they found $2,000 in gold. 1 in 4 miners were Chinese. Not many women joined the Gold Rush because it was too expensive to travel to California.

To begin searching for gold, a person first had to make a claim. He would use stakes to mark the boundaries of his claim. The gold that was first found in the American River was placer gold which means gold that is easily found on the earth’s surface. In the beginning, men panned for gold by scooping up some dirt from the riverbed and swirling it around in a flat-bottom pan. The gold settled on the bottom while the dirt washed out. This was the easiest way to look for gold. And the easiest place to find gold was along the rivers of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Later a rocker or cradle was built. Dirt was shoveled into it and water washed over it. Two men would work together to shake the cradle. The lighter gravel and muddy water fell through and the heavier pieces, like gold stayed behind. From this design, a Long Tom was created. 5-10 men would work a long trough that used fast moving water to sift through shovelfuls of gravel. The Mexican miners were skilled at dry digging along the mountains. The area where the largest amount of gold was found was called the “Mother Lode.” After several years, most of the gold had been mined from the rivers. Hydraulic mining began. This was where huge hoses were used to spray water against riverbank. The first of the gold found was called placer gold which means gold that is easily found on the earth’s surface.

Life in the gold camps was not easy. Most men did not have proper food or clothing. They stood in very cold water for long hours. Many became ill. Goods were very expensive. There was a lot of theft. Men entertained themselves by playing cards and watching bear fights and traveling entertainers. Sundays were a day of rest for the miners. On this day the men would wash their clothes and do their chores.

Some gold seekers made a fortune in gold, but many did not. Even men who found gold ended up poor because the cost of food and supplies was so high. The best way to become rich during the Gold Rush was to be a merchant, like Sam Brannan. Levi Strauss is another example. He became rich by creating denim pants for the forty-niners to wear. Because of the difficulties, the forty-niners left the mines by the mid-1850’s. Many returned home; but many stayed in California and helped it to grow. In fact, over 500 ships were abandoned in the San Francisco harbor because men left their jobs and went looking for gold. But San Francisco used the wood from the ships to build shops, hotels and warehouses. Many entrepreneurs set up new, independent businesses to help California grow.

Activities

1)Routes by Sea Map - Trace the three different routes with colored pencill