Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Bee: Gold Rush Cost in Environmental Damage
This site discusses how the California gold rush left lasting damage of the California environment. Read how the state's environment has been forever changed.
Other
The Gold Rush: Gold Country
A great look at the people who made money providing services for the miners in the California Gold Rush.
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.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Land of Golden Dreams: Li's Journey: China to California
Li is a 14-year-old boy from Guangdong, China, who travels to California during the Gold Rush. Read about his journey on a sailing ship from Southern China to San Francisco. Along the way experience, the sights and sounds of sea travel...
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Natives and Immigrants
This site provides a tour through the history of natives and immigrants to the California Gold Rush area, including African American, California Indian, Chinese, and Latino.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: The Gold Rush
The 1848 discovery of gold in the territory of California prompted 300,000 hopeful prospectors to flood into the region, altering it forever.
American Geosciences Institute
American Geosciences Institute: Earth Science Week: Gold Panning
Have students simulate the Gold Rush by panning for gold in the classroom.
University of California
University of California: Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection
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...
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco: The Gold Discovery
This site contains information on the dramatic impact of the California Gold Rush. From "The History of California," published in 1897.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Indians' Misfortune Was Stamped in Gold
This CalGoldRush site discussses the triumphs and hardships of Indians during the California gold rush. Some became rich, but many were sold into slavery.
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Prospecting Coyote Hole
This resource presents information on African American miners during the California Gold Rush.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Rivals in the Newspaper Field
This article from the Sacramento Bee discusses the rise of journalism during the California gold rush. Many journalists left their jobs and headed west to cover this great event.
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.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Sacramento Was Gateway to Gold
Read about the growth and importance of Sacramento as a mining town in the California Gold Rush. From a larger site from the Sacramento Bee.
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Mexican American War, 1846 1848
After reading this section of a chapter on "Westward Expansion," students will be able to identify the causes of the Mexican-American War and describe the outcomes of the war in 1848 and the effect of the California Gold Rush on westward...
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of San Francisco: African American Rights Gold Rush Era
Provides information concerning African American rights in the California gold country before the Civil War.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: His Path Back to Japan Was Paved With Gold
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the life of Manjiro Nakahama, a Japanese immigrant who made enough money during the gold rush in California that he was able to return home to Japan.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: 'Real Women' Who Defied Stereotype
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the role of the women during the gold rush in California. They served in a variety of roles and many made more than miners. This page tells their stories.
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: 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.
Other
Object of History: Chinese Miners (Chinese Immigration During the Gold Rush)
An image is provided of "Gan Saam Meets El Dorado," which depicts the Chinese miners in California during the 1850s in search of gold.
OpenStax
Open Stax: Making a Living in Gold and Cattle
In this section, students will learn about the major discoveries and developments in western gold, silver, and copper mining in the mid-nineteenth century. They will be able to explain why the cattle industry was paramount to the...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Searching for Gold: A Collaborative Inquiry Project
Contains plans for six lessons that ask students to research the Gold Rush before teaching each other about it. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to sites used in the lessons as well as...
Curated OER
National Park Service: Death Valley National Park
Death Valley acquired its name during the California Gold Rush, but the Timbisha Shoshone inhabited the region long before. The severely hot and dry national park is packed with history, culture, incredible geology, and, believe it or...