The+California+Gold+Rush!!

=1.)Topic:= =California Gold Rush= =2.) What I already know:= =Who: The citzens in the united states that wanted to move west.= =What: The citzens wanted to mine gold in order to be rich.= =Where: I'm not exactly sure but i know it was somewhere in California.= =When: The gold rush happened in the middle of the 1800's= =Why: Citzens wanted to get rich and they wanted to fast.= =How: They were able to get there by train, covered wagon, houseback, or by trail.= =How did the gold rush impact the quest to go west?= =The people were appealed to getting rich, some also wanted to have an adventure. So they moved west, in the hope of having a oppertunity to be wealthy= 3) What I want to know: Who:Who was it that found the gold? What:What were they doing trying to find the gold? Where:Where exactly did the location became known as? When:When did the news get to the east Why: What was it about the gold that appealed so much to american citizens. How: How did the people get there? Did they settle there after they hunted for gold? 4)My Research Stratagy: Who: Mr.D, Mrs. Brolan, Ms. Horn, or Ms. Brum What: California Gold rush. Where: school, public librarys When: In class or outside of school How: I'll use my thesis statement and my questions 5) Key words: "gold","california", "gold rush", "california gold rush",

Draft:

Most miners came by themselves, leaving everything behind at their old home to make the journey to California. The majority of the miners that came by themselves suffered from traveling by themselves. Some miners traveling formed communities and friendships, some of the past times they did were card games, gambling and betting. Miners lived mostly in tents and cooked their food over an open fire. Camps and mining towns mostly consitisted of canvas tents or wooden buildings for sheltor. Fires were very common in this era, some fires were bad enought to completely destroy mining towns. Heavy rain and snow during the winter months didnt help the living conditions get any better for miners, it also slowed down the hunt for gold. The cold, damp ground made it easy for miners to get ill. Some reasons why other than harsh weather conditions were the lack in nutritous meals, people had little to no fruits and vegetables. Also, bathing and washing clothes were not common which contributed to illnessesdue to lack of hygen.(kidport)What were the different incounters did travelers face with Native Americans.

The 49er's were desperate to travel to California in order to "get rich", some people risked there lives to get there, and some even died. There were some people referred to as Argonauts traveled by sea. Sailing from the East coast to the very tip of South America would take around 5 to 8 months, and the total amount of miles was 18,000. Another choice people toke was to sail to the Atlantic side of the Isthmus of Panama, take canoes and mules for a week throught the jungle, and then on the pacifif side, to wait for a ship sailing for San Francisco. Also there is a route used from Mexico starting at Veracruz. Tons of people used the overland route across the continental United States, particularly on the California Trail.(wikipedia)Next i will need to get more detailed information on the large amount of growth in San Francisco.

At the very beginning of mining for gold in California they used a method of mining called panning because of the gracel beds being so concertrated. Though panning couldnt be done on a very large scale the 49ers resorted to different forms of mining such as cradles,rockers, or long toms with processes larger volumes of gravel. In complex placer mining(the type of mining used) prospectors would divert the water for an entire river desperately pining for gold. Another method was called hydraulicking, hydraulicking was a method that involes digging a shaft anywhere from 20-40 feet deep into a bedrock along the shore od a stream. Tunnels are then dug alone the richest veins of pay dirt. The last resort of looking for gold in the California Gold rush was to recover gold washed down to a flat river.(wikipedia)

All together the gold rush brought a large amount of econonmic advances to California. Farming, stores, restaurants and tons of other bussinesses grew in order to serve miners. The gold rush also jump started the Manifest Destiny, causing thousands people traveling to western territories. The California Gold Rush greatly impacted the country's journey for the Manifest Destiny. The gold struck in california caused a chain reaction which increased the amount of citzens in western states. This also caused people to come from all over the world to California.

"Could this be gold? Or was it just fool's gold, a common mineral called pyrite, that is yellow in color,skiny." On the morning of January 24,1848 James Marshall went to inspect the work that was being done on the tailrace, which drained water aaway from the mill's waterwheel. He had wanted to make sure all the debris and loose dirt was being washed away, but as he glanced down at the water, he noticed a shiny substance in the water. He reached down, pulled out a small yellow substance, and wondered what is this? He then scratched it, gnawed on it, then decided to take it to his cabin. He wondered if it was gold, because there is a substance called pyrite that has the appearance of gold. Yet it just so happened that he knew exactly how he could find out if it was gold or if it was pyrite, he would pound it with a hammer, if it was gold it would flatten, if not it would be pyrite. It flattened! James Marshall had found gold. Which started the California Gold Rush of 1848.(Blumberg) I need to learn what exactly James Marshall did.

Eventally word got around to the east coast but not before word reached almost everywhere else. San Francisco was the first and the town was a ghost town, stores were shutdown,ships were abandoned, and you wouldnt find a single person in a house. People came from Oregon, the Hawaiian Islands, Mexico and Chile, and as soon as people in the east found out there was a stampede of prospectors leaving their homes, and loved ones to get rich, in 1849 a prosperous farmer could make about 200 or 300 dollars a year.(WGBH Education Foundation)

Many people from all over the United States travfeled to California after the discovery of gold in 1848. Most of the porspectors were storekeepers, cooks. carpenters, teacher, pr other trade before heading to California. By about 1850, the mining country became very populated. The majority of immigrants that moved there started bussinesses,trading posts, importing goods to sell to miners, farming and ranching. So they toke advantage of the skills they brought with them from where they once lived.(kidport)This impacted the growth in the population in California, and some people moved to other places other than California.