To receive the newsletter by e-mail, sign up today!

California Gold Rush Mini Unit Study

Why study the California Gold Rush of 1848 if you are not focusing on California history as a subject? Besides being a fascinating subject that both children and adults enjoy, the Gold Rush was a seminal event in the history of the United States that also impacted the world. Prior to the Gold Rush, California was a sparsely populated land that wasn't even part of the United States yet. After gold was discovered, hundreds of thousands of people swarmed from the eastern United States, Europe, Asia and South America to the West via land and sea to seek their fortunes - helping propel California to a new status as a U.S. territory, and then two short years later in 1850 - statehood. Many believe that the Gold Rush helped solidify the American notion of instant wealth. Even today when we speak of obtaining newfound wealth, we use a term from this era  - "striking it rich".

In this mini unit study, you can: read articles about every facet of the Gold Rush, follow the geographical path of the miners on their way to California, enjoy a short story by an author who spent time in a mining town, read John Sutter's account of the discovery of gold, look at pictures, paintings, maps and other original Gold Rush materials, listen to stories about the impact the rush for gold had on women and other groups of people, plan fun rush-related activities and prepare a meal fit for a miner.

Reading

Over forty articles on the Gold Rush are presented here by the Sacramento Bee newspaper in a special section, covering every facet you could possibly think of. This really is the premier sight of Gold Rush information. Reading level is later elementary ages - but many pieces will work as read-a-loud's:

Gold Rush articles

Follow the geographical journey of the 49ers as they made their way to the fields of gold. See what happened as they traveled overland via the California-Oregon Trail, or by sea via the Panama Shortcut or sailing around Cape Horn:

49ers journey

For older kids, read a short story, "The Luck of Roaring Camp" written by Bret Harte (1836-1902), a writer who spent time in mining towns and wrote this colorful story that gives a good description of what daily life was like for the inhabitants.

Short_story

Primary Sources

Read John Sutter's personal account of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill:

John Sutter

The Huntington Museum has a wealth of primary source materials pertaining to the Gold Rush online. Look at letters, manuscripts, drawings, maps and artwork from the time period. The images can be enlarged and there are separate links to read all text on the documents throughout:

Huntington Museum

Multimedia

Listen to the stories of those involved in the Gold Rush. The stories are just a little bit politically correct, you'll hear about the impact of the Gold Rush on women, immigrants and the environment, but nothing from the male miner's perspective. Even so, it's well done and worth hearing:

Gold Rush audio

Test & Discussion Questions

After you spend some time on the Gold Rush, see if your children can answer these questions. Or, even better, scroll down the page past them to get to the discussion questions and fun activity ideas:

Questions and activities

Projects

Prepare a lunch or dinner that a typical miner would eat:

Menu

Baked Beans

Miner's Salad

Lemonade

Baked Beans

3 cups dried navy beans- about 1 1/2 lbs
3/4 pound salt pork or sliced bacon
1 onion
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup ketchup

2 tsp salt

Wash beans and put into large stockpot. Cover beans with 2 quarts cold water. cover, and refrigerate overnight. The next day, bring beans to boiling over medium heat; reduce heat and simmer, covered 30 minutes. Drain beans and save the cooking liquid.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Trim rind from the salt pork (if using). Cut slab of pork or bacon almost through ,at half-inch intervals. Next, put the onion in the bottom of very large oven-proof casserole. Add the beans, then bury the pork or bacon, cut side down, in the center of beans.

Heat the saved bean liquid to boiling over medium heat. Then mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Stir in 1 cup boiling bean liquid. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of this mixture over the beans. Bake covered for 6 hours. Stir once every hour - If beans become dry, add water. Remove cover in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

Miner's Salad

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1⁄4 cup pine nuts or crushed walnuts
1⁄4 cup vinegar
4 cups lettuce
1/8 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper

In a frying pan over low heat, stir nuts in oil until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Add vinegar, salt and pepper and let cool. Pour nuts w/liquid into a large salad bowl and add the lettuce. Mix together and serve.

Lemonade

3 1/2 cups of water
6 large lemons
1 cup of granulated sugar

Juice lemons. Mix water and lemon juice in large pitcher. Stir in the sugar, making sure it dissolves completely. Refrigerate.

Recommended Resource

Ballad of Lucy Whipple

This historical fictional book for readers ages 9-12 is a great accompaniment to the study of the California Gold Rush. Lucy is a spunky 12-year-old who journeys westward with her mother, brother and sisters in hopes for a better life - her mother's hopes, that is.

In the beginning, Lucy dislikes everything about her new home, the town of "Lucky Diggins" in California. It's dusty, dirty, and worst of all - it doesn't even have a library. She plots endlessly to try to return back East, or back "home". Life is tough for the family here as well, as they find there are no literal fields of gold. But in the end, Lucy learns that the definition of a home is one that includes her family.

The author, Karen Cushman, does a nice job here as always (she has written a few medieval historical fiction books for kids as well) with tying together an interesting and meaningful story with lots of historical flavor and facts.

Book (Paperback)

Authors: Karen Cushman

Buy used or new from $0.45

Release Date: May, 1999

Read more about the book on Amazon