Oakland Museum of California
Oakland Museum of California: Gold Rush! California's Untold Stories
View a virtual tour of a real exhibition at the Oakland Museum of California that commemorates the 150th anniversary of the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on January 24, 1848, and the frenzied rush to California of gold seekers from...
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
Object of History: The Gold Nugget
Audio-pictorial overview of the story of the California gold rush.
Other
Gold, Greed, & Genocide: The Story of California's 1849 Gold Rush
Use the table of contents to explore this site which recounts the plight of the Native Americans who lived in California before the Gold Rush and the impact of the gold rush on their lives.
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.
Sacramento Bee
Gold Rush: 'Real Women' Who Defied Stereotype
This CalGoldRush.com site discusses the role of the women during the gold rush in California. They served in a variety of roles and many made more than miners. This page tells their stories.
Oakland Museum of California
California's Untold Stories: Art of the Gold Rush
The Oakland Museum presents an exhibit of art that show the miners, mining towns, new cities, and people of the Gold Rush. Be sure to read the overview of the exhibit to get the historical background.
Other
Ailello Studios: The Land of Glittering Dreams
Learn some interesting facts about the California Gold Rush through images, personal stories and other writings.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Westward Expansion and Reform
Part of a longer time line describing the history of the American West, this section covers the period 1829 to 1859 with hyperlinks to stories and people of this time period.
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.
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte
Text of the short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" by Bret Harte, an American author who often wrote about the California Gold Rush. (Free site registration offers some additional features, e.g., the ability to insert annotations.)
Curated OER
Chinese Laborers Build Central Pacific Railroad Trestle in the Sierra
Published in 1924, the book, "The Story of California from the Earliest Days to the Present," by Henry K. Norton, relates the lives of the Chinese who immigrated to California to participate in the gold rush. He also recounts the...
Blackdog Media
Classic Reader: Von Kempelen and His Discovery
"Von Kempelen and His Discovery" by Edgar Allan Poe was written as a hoax to deter "forty-niners" from rushing to California in search of gold. Read the full text on this site.