Going+West+Roles+Prospector

Role 3: A Prospector in the California Gold Rush

It's 1849 and the California gold rush has swept the country, and the world. You dream of a better life, which you think you can get quickly if you find gold. People are getting rich from the gold they are finding in the American River. You want to be a part of this -- and so do 50,000 others from all over the world! In just 7 years, California's population rose from 800 to 55,000 people, all because of the GOLD RUSH. Only 1 in every thousand prospectors actually became rich during the California gold rush -- will you be one of the few?

Use the resources below to research your journey and your experiences in California. Things you might want to consider in your research are:

1. What were your reasons for heading West? 2. What items and supplies did you take with you? 3. What mode of transportation did you use? 4. What route did you follow and why? 5. What obstacles and hardships did you face along the way? 6. How did you deal with the Native people? 7. What did you find when you got there? 8. What tools did you use to mine or pan for gold?

Internet links to Web sites on the California Gold Rush [|http://www.pbs.org/goldrush/index.html]

http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/

[|http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/allabout.html]

http://www.ncgold.com/goldrushtown/

http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html

http://www.calgoldrush.com/

http://pbskids.org/wayback/goldrush/

http://www.huntington.org/Education/GoldRush/Entrance/index.htm

[|http://claim.goldrush.com/~joann/]