1. Pages 462 - 467

2.   Explain why the Mormons settled in Utah and the issues that divided Mormons and the federal government  Discuss the effects of the 1849 California gold rush  Describe how California’s population had changed by 1850 Objectives

3.   How did Mormon settlement and the gold rush lead to changes in the West? Focus Question

4.  Mormons Settle Utah  Before the end of the Mexican- American War, Americans had already started to settle in Utah  These people were Mormons, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  Church was founded in NY in 1830 by Joseph Smith  Smith said that heavenly visions had revealed to him  these visions are described in the Mormon holy book called the Book of Mormon

5.  Beginnings of the Mormon Church  Grew quickly  Followers were often in conflict with people outside of the church  Mormons believed that property should be held in common  Believed in polygamy, the practice of having more than one wife at a time  Hostile communities forced the Mormons to move from NY to Ohio, then to Missouri and Illinois  Joseph Smith was murdered in Illinois by an angry mob

6.  On the Move West  Brigham Young = new Mormon leader  Realized Illinois was no longer safe  Heard about Utah and led a party of Mormons along the hazardous journey west  Despite the dry climate, Mormons were able to set up an efficient system of irrigation and survive

7.  Conflict with the Government  After the Mexican Cession, Utah became part of the U.S.  Three issues divided the Mormons and the U.S. federal government  Mormon Church controlled election process in Utah  The Church supported businesses only owned by Mormons  Polygamy was illegal in the rest of the country  Issues were not resolved for more than 40 years  Eventually, Congress passed a law that took control of elections away from the Mormon Church

8.  Checkpoint  Why did the Mormons leave Illinois and move west?

9.  California  Before the U.S. obtained CA – 10,000 Californios (Mexican Californians) lived on the territory  A handful of wealthy families owned the land  After the Mexican Cession, easterners began to migrate to California  Wealthy Californios looked down on newcomers from East

10.  January 1848  A huge number of settlers reached California  James Marshall was building a sawmill on John Sutter’s land near Sacramento  One morning, he found a gold nugget in a ditch  The news spread like wildfire  By 1949, the California gold rush had begun

11.  Forty-niners  The prospect of finding gold attracted 80,000 fortune seekers  “Forty-niners” was a nickname given to these people who came in California in search of gold  In just two years, the population of California increased from 14,000 to 100,000

12.  Prospectors (Gold Seekers)  Searched throughout Sacramento Valley for gold  Dug up land, searched streams  Gold above ground was quickly found, but more gold was found in underground deposits, or lodes (layers)  Gold in lodes was difficult and expensive to mine  Required expensive and heavy machinery  As a result, companies took over the mining of underground lodes

13.  Water Rights  Water Rights = the legal rights to use water in a river, stream, or other body  Much of CA is desert, and settlers needed water for irrigation and mining  Landowners had the right to use water that flowed through their land  It was illegal to cut off water to one’s neighbors  In most of the gold territories, the law was ignored  The first people to reach a stream used as much water as they wanted  Disputes over water rights often erupted into violence

14.  Life in Mining Towns  Mining Towns = not very permanent places  These towns attracted both miners and people hoping to make money from miners  Miners were often willing to pay high prices for food and supplies  California was not yet a state, so federal law did not apply within mining towns  Vigilantes (self-appointed law officers) punished people for crimes, even though they had no legal right to do so

15.  Role of Women  Gold rushes were not like other migrations in American history  Most migrations included both men and women, young & old  Forty-niners, however, were mostly young men  The ratio of men to women was 12 to 1!  Unlike other areas of the country, California offered profitable work for women  Women worked in or ran boardinghouses, hotels, restaurants, laundries, and stores

16.  Drifting and Settling  Few forty-niners got rich  After the gold rush ended, many people stayed in the West  They gave up their drifting life and settled in the West for good

17.  Checkpoint  Why were water rights an important issue?

18.  An Unusual Mix of People  Gold rush brought enormous ethnic diversity to CA  People came from Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America  1860: population of CA was 40% foreign born  Immigrants enjoyed more freedom in CA and less prejudice than in the East

19.  Chinese Immigrants  China’s economy was in trouble in the 1840s  45,000 Chinese men went to CA in search for gold  This was one group of people who DID face prejudice in CA  Generally not given higher-paying jobs in the mines  Hired to do menial labor  Despite difficulties, the Chinese worked hard  Labor helped cities like San Francisco to prosper

20.  African Americans  Several thousand free African Americans lived in CA by 1850  Had own churches and newspapers  Still did not have equal rights – could not vote or serve on juries  HOWEVER, slavery did not take root in California

21.  Native Americans  For Native Americans, the gold rush brought even more tragedy  Miners swarmed onto Indian lands in search for gold  Vigilante gangs killed 2/3 of the Native American population of CA during the gold rush

22.  Impact on Californios  By 1850: only 15% of Californians were Mexican  Old ruling families no longer had a say in government  A heavy tax was placed on ranches  They had to prove that they owned their land, which was difficult because most received their land from Spain or Mexico  Even if Californios could prove their ownership, they had to sell their land to pay legal bills

23.  Checkpoint  What effects did the gold rush have on Californios?

24.  Focus Question Re-visited  How did Mormon settlement and the gold rush lead to changes in the West?