QUESTIONS TO TALK ABOUT
1. How was the gold rush different from other migrations west? (Think about why they came.)
2. How might California have been different if the gold rush had never happened? (Think about: population growth, racial diversity, and immigration, the types of people who came to California...)
3. Would you leave your home to join the gold rush?
4. What were some of the moral challenges the rushers faced? Why do you think these were problems for people who had never had trouble with them before?
5. If you read about the history of the Mormon pioneers, can you explain why they might have been reluctant to join the army? What would you have decided if you had been asked?
6. Why was it easier for women to be successful in gold rush California? If you are a girl, would you have been willing to go into that environment for the benefits? If you are a boy, do you think women should have gone in?
MAPWORK
1. Find Caloma, California
2. Find San Francisco
3. Most of the forty-niners came from New England. Find New England on the map. Plan a route the gold seekers could have used to come west. How far is the trip?
4. The Chinese could get to California before the New Englanders. Look at a map and find out why. Choose routes for others coming from other countries.
5. Trace the route of the Mormon pioneers.
TREASURE HUNTS:
1. Find out what connection Armour Hot Dogs have with the gold rush. Hint: The company was started by Phillip Armour.
2. John Studebaker's family made and sold wheelbarrows. Later, his family found another way to make money from things with wheels. What is a Studebaker?
3. Find out what connection Wells Fargo Bank has with the gold rush.
Connections and projects:
1. So much of what we know comes from journals the miners and others kept. If you haven't already, start your own journal. Think of what someone far into the future might want to know about you and your life.
2. Make a map of the gold rush areas.
3. Make a model of a gold rush town.
4. Go to your library and find books about the gold rush.
5. Find out how your state became a state.
6. Puerto Rico and Washington DC have both been considering becoming a state. Do some research on this and write a report. What would be the benefits of becoming a state? What would be the drawbacks? What process would they have to follow to become a state? How would this affect the country?
7. Fix a pioneer meal.
8. Make a covered wagon model.
9. Write a story about a gold rusher, or create a pretend journal of one. Create a newspaper written during the gold rush.
10. Start a rock collection.
11. Find a picture of gold as it looks when it is found. Find a picture of jewelry with gold in it. How does it get from the first state to the second?
12. Learn about the gold standard. Where does the government keep all the gold?