CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH (1848-1852)
Introduction What would you do if you found something extremely valuable somewhere? It didn t belong to anyone, but you know it was worth a lot of money. Then, a few minutes later, you discovered that there was a lot more of it in the surrounding area. Would you tell someone? Keep it a secret? Make specific plans? Explain what you would do.
Discovery and the Forty-Niners In 1848, a carpenter named James Marshall was building a sawmill on the American River in northern California. Suddenly, he spotted something shining in the water. I reached my hand down and picked it up, he wrote later. It made my heart thump, for I felt certain it was gold. The discovery was made on the South Fork of the American River in the valley the Nisenan Indians knew as Cullumah (beautiful valley). The site was known as Sutter's Mill in present day Coloma, California. This event led to the greatest mass movement of people in the Western Hemisphere and was the spark that ignited the spectacular growth of the West during the ensuing decades.
Discovery and the Forty-Niners
Discovery and the Forty-Niners By 1849, tens of thousands of gold seekers from around the world had joined the California gold rush. About two-thirds of these forty-niners [forty-niners: the people who joined the rush for gold in California in 1849] were Americans. The motive of fortune also brought settlers from Mexico, South America, Europe, Australia, and China. The forty-niners first challenge was simply getting to California. From China and Australia, they had to brave the rough crossing of the Pacific Ocean. From the East, many traveled by ship to Panama in Central America, crossed through dangerous jungles to the Pacific side, and boarded ships north to San Francisco. Others made the difficult journey overland.
In 1849, there were only three possible ways to get to California for a person living on the east coast.
1. Overland- cutting across the country taking routes like the Oregon or Santa Fe Trail. 2. By ship to Panama in Central America, across dangerous jungles to the Pacific side. 3. By ship around the horn of South America
San Francisco Travel hub between those traveling by sea to get to California gold country April 1848 population: 850 December 1849 population: 25,000 Major growth Culturally diverse Lawlessness/ fighting Illegal activities
Life in the Mining Camps There was a row of canvas tents, [months later] there were two thousand men and the streets were lined with drinking saloons and gambling tables. -Luzena Wilson, mining wife at Coyote Diggings camp In the short space of twenty-four hours we have had murders, fearful accidents, bloody deaths, a mob, whippings, a hanging, attempt at suicide, and a fatal duel. -Louise Clappe
Life in the Mining Camps Wherever gold was spotted, mining camps with names like Mad Mule Gulch and You Bet popped up overnight. At Coyote Diggings, Luzena found a row of canvas tents. A few months later, there were two thousand men... and the streets were lined with drinking saloons and gambling tables. Merchants made fortunes selling eggs for $6 a dozen and flour for $400 a barrel. In fact, it was the merchants who made most of the money during the California Gold Rush, not the miners. With no police to keep order, the camps were rough places. Miners frequently fought over the boundaries of their claims, and they took it on themselves to punish crimes.
Life in the Mining Camps The miners spent long days digging up mud, dirt, and stones while standing kneedeep in icy streams. All too soon, the easy-to-find gold was gone. The day for quick fortune-making is over, wrote a miner in 1851. There are thousands of men now in California who would gladly go home if they had the money. By 1852, the gold rush was over. While it lasted, about 250,000 people flooded into California. For California s Indians, the legacy of this invasion was dreadful. Between 1848 and 1870, warfare and disease reduced their number from about 150,000 to just 30,000. By 1850, California had enough people to become the first state in the far west. These new Californians helped to transform the Golden State into a diverse land of economic opportunity.
In the Field Sluice for separation of gold from dirt with water Panning Excavating a river bed after the water has been diverted Hard, tedious work Long days (Approximately 16 hours) digging up mud, dirt, and stones while standing knee-deep in icy streams The day of quick fortune-making was gone. There are thousands of men now in California who would gladly go home if they had the money. Miner, 1851
Chinese Immigrants Gold Mountain, was what people in China called California in 1848. To poor and hungry Chinese peasants, Gold Mountain sounded like a paradise. There, they were told, You will have great pay, large houses, and food and clothing of the finest description... Money is in great plenty.
Chinese Immigrants Between 1848-1852 more than 20,000 Chinese immigrated to California (In 1852, 1 in 10 Californians was Chinese) Originally welcomed by Californians! Once mining became difficult attitudes, towards immigrants changed, especially the Chinese. 1852, state legislature passed law requiring foreign miners to pay monthly fee to mine. Most immigrants left, Chinese immigrants paid the tax and stayed Americans began to bully Chinese into leaving (cutting their queues (braids) and burning their shacks) Many Chinese then left the mines to open businesses or begin farms.
Chinese Immigrants The best eating houses in San Francisco, one miner wrote, were those opened by the Chinese. So many Chinese settled in San Francisco that local newspapers called their neighborhood Chinatown. Today, San Francisco s Chinatown remains the oldest and largest Chinese community in the United States. Most of the Chinese who came to California in search of gold hoped to return to China as rich men. A few did just that. Most, however, stayed on in the U.S. Despite continued prejudice against them, their hard work, energy, and skills greatly benefited California and other western states. The Chinese not only helped to build the West, but they also made it a more interesting place to live. Wherever they settled, Chinese immigrants brought with them the arts, tastes, scents, and sounds of one of the world s oldest and richest cultures.
Environmental Consequences The rush for riches became a disastrous time for the environment. Hydraulic mining: a method by which water is sprayed at a very high pressure against a hill or mountain, washing away large quantities of dirt, gravel, and rock and exposing the minerals beneath the surface. Hydraulic mining used gigantic, pressurized hoses that washed away mountainsides, polluted streams, killed fish, clogged rivers, and ruined farmlands.
Legacy By 1852 the gold rush was over, in that time 250,000 people flooded into California. Positive Legacy By 1850, California had enough people to become the first state in the far west Diverse groups of immigrants and culture Economic opportunities Negative Legacy Native American population dropped drastically from warfare and disease (between 1848-1870 population went from 150,000 to 30,000) Environmental consequences Over $2 billion worth of precious metals were extracted during the Gold Rush $81 million in gold was extracted by 1852 (then $45 million annually through 1857)
California Gold Rush Simulation
Objective to understand the long-term impact that the California Gold Rush had on ordinary families California Gold Rush Simulation Materials one copy of the Gold Prospecting Success Chart for each student a copy of the Gold Rush Simulation Response Sheet and corresponding Family Description per team California Gold Rush Simulation outcomes (1-20 outcomes) one 20-sided die per family
Procedure 1. Get into assigned groups of 3-4 2. Each group reads a fictional account of their family who is considering sending some or all of its members to California to seek their fortune 3. Each group member will decide which family member they will represent 4. Groups will discuss with each other who in their family will go to California. They may decide to send none, some, or all of the members of their family 5. Each person will fill out the Gold Rush Simulation Response Sheet to record their decisions and the outcomes 6. Once each group member fills out the response sheet, they may each role a 20-sided die to discover the outcome.
Situation: a member of your family comes home with fantastic news of the gold finds in California. They are very excited and want to go there as soon as possible. You decide to call a family meeting to talk it over. You must decide which of you will go and which will stay. You must make plans and think about what may happen as a result of your decisions. Talk it over with your family members and then record the answers to the following questions. You may turn in one answer sheet for the whole group.
Debrief