Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Gold Fever
A comprehensive site that offers a look at the "Gold Fever" of the California Gold Rush, with photos.
Other
19th Century Merchant Marine Digital Library
This resource is a gateway to digital collections dealing with merchant marines and shipping during the 19th century.
Other
California State Parks: Gold Rush
The California State Parks presents a brief unit on the California Gold Rush including three lessons which begin with the westward movement to California for gold, the actual process of mining for gold, then the effects of the rush on...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Life on the Great Plains
A detailed lesson plan that explores "the concept of region and how culture and experience influence the perception of regions." Site provides many excellent websites for young scholars and teachers to explore during their study of the...
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: On Your Mark, Get Set, Gold
This CalGoldRush.com site is an article that discusses where people came from, as well as the number of people involved in the California gold rush. The article focuses on the massive migration to California.
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Natives and Immigrants
This site provides a tour through the history of natives and immigrants to the California Gold Rush area, including African American, California Indian, Chinese, and Latino.
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Stories of the Lure and Legacy
Experience the Gold Rush through this multimedia presentation. See the art that reflects the environment, characters, and the role of women in the gold rush. Listen to an overview of the gold rush and its impact.
Kidport
Kidport: The California Gold Rush (1848 to 1859)
From here, access simple write-ups on the San Francisco Gold Rush. Topics covered include: "Life of a 49er," "Foreign Miners," "Law and Order," and "After the Gold Rush."
Other
Object of History: The Gold Nugget
Audio-pictorial overview of the story of the California gold rush.
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Land of Golden Dreams: California in the Gold Rush
A rich site on the California gold rush, 1848-1858. An online exhibit traces the gold rush using primary sources, a teacher page gives lesson plans from 4-12 and a kid's page offers further online adventures. Takes a long time to load.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History: 1865 1898: The American West: The Gold Rush
Describes the impact of the California Gold Rush of 1848 which brought hundreds of thousands of gold-seeking migrants to the region. This massive influx of people to a place with little law enforcement and no infrastructure led to...
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: California Gold Rush
The sources in this primary set document the broad "forty-niner" experience. Includes teaching guide.
Digital History
Digital History: The Gold Rush
See how the discovery of gold changed California and introduced lawlessness, violence, and vigilantism.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: Some Found Riches, Many Found Themselves
This site discusses how many miners never made it rich, but had an adventure of a lifetime during the California gold rush.
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Silver and Gold
This site provides a virtual tour of the mining of silver and gold in California through excellent photos and facts.
Other
The Gold Rush: Fever
This resource provides information about the Gold Rush, and fever that took place during westward expansion.
Museum of the City of San Francisco
Virtual Museum of San Francisco: Alvin Coffey, African American '49Er
Provides biography of an African American 49er with first hand accounts.
Oakland Museum of California
Gold Rush: Miners and Sluice Boxes
This resource provides a picture and short description of the miners' use of the sluice box.