California Gold Rush

What could spur people to travel thousands of miles by foot, or to brave a dangerous six-month ocean voyage? The prospects of finding gold and making one’s fortune led thousands of people from many different cultures to journey west in 1848 to California, the Golden State. Discover the rich history of California’s Gold Rush through the direct links on The Times’ Launch Point Web site: https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/.

Level 1

Discovery Online, Wayback Machine: Gold Rush: Travel back in time to 1848 and find out how John Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma, Calif. Learn what tests Capt. John Sutter used to determine that it was really gold and hear Marshall and Samuel Brannan speak about the events that contributed to the mad rush westward.

https://www.discovery.com/stories/wayback/980323/wayback.html

Deer Creek School, in the Heart of Gold Country: If you thought the Whopper was a hamburger, guess again! View this 18-pound, glittering gold treasure and learn about the three methods--placer, hydraulic and hardrock--used for mining gold. Read about pioneering women of this time and discover little-known facts through some articles, a timeline and a photo album.

https://www.ncgold.com/goldrushtown/index.html

The Land of Glittering Dreams: Discover the history of the Gold Rush as you view this collection of 27 photographs, which includes Sutter’s Fort and the American River as well as mills, stores, schoolhouses, churches and, of course, the mines.

https://www.glittering.com/gallery/index.html

Level 2

Gold Rush! California’s Untold Stories, Oakland Museum of California: Explore the harsh realities of the ‘49ers’ lives as well as those of the natives and immigrants who experienced the Gold Rush. Listen to their stories, view art created during this time, and see the tools they used, clothes they wore and gold they found. You can even test your knowledge by taking a Gold Rush quiz.

https://www.museumca.org/goldrush/

PBS: The Gold Rush: What impact did gold fever have on California and America? Find out about the hardships of the westward journey over land and by sea, read about the collision of cultures and environmental destruction, and learn about the birth of one of the world’s great cities: San Francisco.

https://www.pbs.org/goldrush/allabout.html

The Great American Gold Rush: Although the Gold Rush started in 1848, gold actually was first discovered in California in 1842 by Francisco Lopez. Trace the series of events that led to California’s statehood through this timeline, which includes many facts and archival photographs.

https://www.acusd.edu/~jross/goldrush.html

Level 3

Discovery of Gold in California: “By this sudden discovery of the gold, all my great plans were destroyed. Instead of being rich, I am ruined,” John Sutter reported. Experience the Gold Rush through eyewitness reports and articles from the period. Find out what London and New York felt about the activities out West, read articles on the importance of the Chinese immigrant involvement, and learn gold-mining terms and methods.

https://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html

Personalities and Mining Camps: Mining camps like Chili Gulch, Copperopolis, Fiddletown and El Dorado sprung up as prospectors searched for gold. Explore California’s mining towns and meet a few colorful characters who contributed in their own way to our Golden State.

https://www.malakoff.com/gctgfr.htm

Gold Rush Sesquicentennial: “This is the best place for black folks on the globe. All a man has to do is work, and he will make money,” one miner reported to his wife as many African Americans found pay dirt. Learn about who the miners were, what their lives were like and how the Gold Rush affects our lives today.

https://www.calgoldrush.com/

EXPLORER’S QUEST

If you had been one of the gold miners, how much would you have paid for a glass of water?

CLUE: See PBS: The Gold Rush

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 80 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: The map’s scale is 1:63,360, or 1 inch on a map equals 63,360 inches (1 mile).

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine Department of Education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This week’s column was designed by Michele Menton, Chase Fitzpatrick, Alicia Ginte and Anna Manring.