1. The California Gold Rush

3. These early gold seekers called “49ers” traveled to California by sailing ships and covered wagons across the continent.

4. There’s Gold in Them Hills January 24, 1848 James Marshall, a carpenter, was working for John Sutter, building a saw mill.

5. Shhhhh!!! When Sutter and Marshall realized it was gold, they wanted to keep it a secret! It was too late, the workers at the mill had already found out!

7. Gold Rush??? How to get to California? Land???Water?

8. The Panama/Nicaragua Route By boat to Panama –Overland and upriver –Then wait for another boat to take you to California The quickest route –If you didn’t get robbed or killed in Panama –Or Catch Malaria

9. South America Route

10. Overland Trail The cheapest route –Most people took this route –Must get to California before the snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains –“The Donner Party”

12. The Gold Rush

13. The Growth in Population 1848 –812 people living in San Francisco 1849 –80,000 people came to California in search of wealth 1850 –25,000 people living in San Francisco

14. The Gold Myth Once you were in California, your cares were over. –You could bend down and pick up gold in the streams. –You just needed a strong sack and a strong back to haul it all down from the hills. –You’ll be rich in no time at all.

15. Who Got Rich? The Storekeepers –The people who sold things to all those miners who poured into California –Prospectors had to eat –They needed tents, shovels, shirts, and pants

16. Above: Levis clothing Below: Levis Logo Audio: The Story of Levi Strauss & Co.

17. Techniques for retrieving gold At first a technique called panning was used to retrieve gold from streams and riverbeds. Hydraulic mining – Using pressurized water to erode soil and screen for gold deposits.

18. California Gold Rush!!!

21. Major Gold Finds 1848-Sutter’s Mill – California Gold Rush 1859-Pike’s Peak - Colorado 1857-Comestock Lode - Nevada 1876-Black Hills – South Dakota 1890’s-Klondike - Alaska

22. Pikes Peak or Bust the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush of 1858-59 began Spring of 1859 – 100,000 “59ers” set off for Colorado

23. Comstock Lode 1857 – Silver Vein discovered in Nevada

26. Minerals Extracted 192 million ounces of silver 8.2 Million Ounces of Gold

27. Minerals Extracted 12 Million Pounds of Silver $4.5 billion in today’s currency 500,000 pounds of gold $ 10.8 billion in today’s currency