PBS
Baker's Gold
Students examine art of the California Gold Rush. In this visual arts instructional activity, students analyze the photography and art of Isaac Wallace Baker. Students also conduct further research about the miners of the era in order to...
Curated OER
Legacies of El Dorado
Students explore the development of urban California as it was driven by the Gold Rush boom. They study historical documents and participate in a variety of hands-on activities designed to reinforce the concept of the lesson.
Oklahoma State Department of Education
Narrative Prompt
Reading about history is nothing like experiencing it firsthand. Encourage your eighth graders to do the next best thing with a historical narrative prompt, in which they describe the experience of a first-time traveler on the...
Curated OER
Oh My Darling
Students discuss human interaction with the environment and sing "Clementine" with historical fiction lyrics. They create a map or model of a mining camp in which Clementine may have lived. They discuss what might happen to their...
Other
The California Gold Country: The Mining Camps
This site is based on the book The California Gold Country: Highway 49 Revisited by Elliot H. Koeppel. This page provides an interactive map showing gold mining camps that have survived and exist as towns today. Most of the place names...
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Silver and Gold
This site provides a virtual tour of the mining of silver and gold in California through excellent photos and facts.
Harp Week
Harp Week: Mining Life in California
Illustrated article from Harper's Weekly, October 3, 1857, page 632, focusing on Chinese workers and their life in California mining camps.
Other
Object of History: The Gold Nugget
Audio-pictorial overview of the story of the California gold rush.
Other
California Gold Country: No Place for a Woman?
Information about women in the California gold camps.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Justice Wasn't Pretty but It Was Quick
This CalGoldRush.com site contains information on justice and law in California during the gold rush. Many felons lost their lives at the end of a rope.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Some Found Riches, Many Found Themselves
This site discusses how many miners never made it rich, but had an adventure of a lifetime during the California gold rush.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Culture Took Hold Despite Tough Crowds
This resource contains information on the development of culture in California during the gold rush. Culture developed in spite of the harsh conditions and tough people.
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Art of the Gold Rush
The Oakland Museum presents an exhibit of art that show the miners, mining towns, new cities, and people of the Gold Rush. Be sure to read the overview of the exhibit to get the historical background.
Other
The Gold Rush: Despair
This page discusses what happened to many of the gold miners when the gold ran out in California.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Religion Reclaimed Souls
This article, entitled "Religion Reclaimed Souls as Mining Expanded," contains information on the developement of religion in California during the gold rush.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Boring Diet Gave Miners Appetite for Dining
This site discusses the eating habits of many of the miners during the California gold rush.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Wind Cave National Park: History of the Black Hills
Story of the discovery of gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota and resulting violations of 1868 treaty with Lakota Indians.