California Gold Rush

GOLD!!!

• James W. Marshall discovered gold on January 24, 1848.

• Marshall was inspecting a ditch at Sutter's saw mill when he saw a sparkle beneath the water.

• John Sutter wanted to keep it a secret, but…

…the word got out…

…and the world rushed in!

Nathaniel Currier, "The Way They Go to California," 1849, lithograph. California Historical Society, Fine Arts collection, FN-00033.

Who Rushed In?

How did they get here?

• over land

• by sea

What was life like for…

the miners?

What was life like…

for the people living in San Francisco?

How did it change life for…

the Native Americans?

How did gold mining change the landscape of California?

Why was the Gold Rush such an important period in California’s

History?

BibliographySlide 1: gold digger: http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~orloski/images/miner.jpg Slide 2: Martin Behrman, "Marshall in front of Sutter's Mill," gelatin silver copy photoprint from a daguerreotype.

Artistic Source: Carleton E. Watkins after an 1849 daguerreotype attributed to Robert Vance. California Historical Society, Photography, Martin Behrman Collection, FN-12015, VIP01403. This image found on: http://www.californiahistory.net/chapicslarge/suttetsmill6.1.jpg

Slide 3: Nathaniel Currier, "The Way They Go to California," 1849, lithograph. California Historical Society, Fine Arts collection, FN-00033. This image found on: http://www.californiahistory.net/goldFrame-rushed.htm

Slide 4: Chinese and white miners: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/images/wimg630/oc52mnrs.gifA Woman Miner Alongside the Men: www.goldrush.com/~joann/women1.jpgMom and children: http://www.collodion-artist.com/Gallery/6x8_2.jpgAfrican American miner: http://www.viewimages.com/Search.aspx?mid=2160532&epmid=1&partner=Google

Slide 5:Ship: http://class.csueastbay.edu/anthropologymuseum/physex/shipchar/images/romepaint2.jpgWagon: http://www.boisestate.edu/history/issuesonline/fall2004_issues/art_features/or_calif2.jpg

Slide 6: Miners camp: http://www.ralphmag.org/CA/gold.htmlSlide 7: San Francisco in 1850: http://gregnoevly.home.mindspring.com/Niantic.jpgSlide 8: Miners Interacting with Native Americans:

http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/science_under_sail/images/indians_california.jpgSlide 9: Charles Christian Nahl, "Hydraulic Method of Mining," ca. 1857, wood engraving. Published by Hutchings & Co.,

San Francisco. W. C. Butler, engraver, San Francisco. California Historical Society, Fine Arts collection, FN-04124: http://www.californiahistory.net/goldFrame-diggings.htm

Mine tailings: http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/sia/30.2/images/vanbueren_fig05bhi.jpgSlide 10: George Tirrell (dates unknown), View of Sacramento, California from Across the Sacramento River, about

1855-60, oil on canvas. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston: http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/art-viewsacr.html