Provides pictures and information about hydraulic mining (using jets of water to break down gold-laden gravel banks) for gold.

This entry profiles the late Florence Griffith Joyner (1959-1998), affectionately known simply as FloJo, the track athlete who won gold and silver medals at the 1988 Summer Olympic Games.

From Ulysses S. Grant's memoirs is this description of his 1852 trip to California across Panama and his stay in San Francisco.

Written by James Hutchings in 1853, the ten commandments of miners show the life of the miner.

Provides biography of an African American 49er with first hand accounts.

A broad selection of images featuring the Sutter's Mill can be found on this site by Calisphere. By clicking on individual images you'll find high quality photographs and image information.

Shown are images and descriptions of artifacts that express the challenges that the migrants, Mexicans, and Indians shared in their quest for westward expansion in the United States during the 1800s.

Carol Hurst uses one of her own books, "In Plain Sight," as a basis for this lesson plan on the California gold rush. In addition to discussion questions about the book, Hurst provides ten activities designed to help students explore...

This site contains information about how people from New York and London viewed the California gold rush. From winter, 1849 issue of "The Pacific Spectator."

A map of the United States showing the population distribution in 1850. The map is coded to show population densities ranging from under 2 inhabitants per square mile to over 90 inhabitants per square mile. The map illustrates the...

The Wildflowers in bloom photo albumcontains an extensive look at beautiful images of many of the most showy wildflowers.

This CalGoldRush.com site discusses where people came from and the many routes that were taken to get to California. Many traveled the Mormon and Oregon Trails.

This is a brief biography featuring American realist author Bret Harte who drew attention to the life and sentiment of those in the West through his writings. Click on "Bret Harte Activities" for more resources.

Read about the attempt to keep slavery out of the newly acquired Mexican Cession, and so how this attempt revealed an increased split between North and South.

"Von Kempelen and His Discovery" by Edgar Allan Poe was written as a hoax to deter "forty-niners" from rushing to California in search of gold. Read the full text on this site.

This page contains a brief biography of gold rusher, John Sutter, from the book "Life in California before the Gold Discovery" by John Bidwell.

A map of the proposed isthmian canal routes in Nicaragua and Panama between 1848-1884. The map shows the two chief proposals, the Nicaraguan from Greytown on the Caribbean to Lake Nicaragua and Brito on the Pacific, and the Panama...