The California Gold Rush - SuccessLink：加利福尼亚淘金热- successlink.ppt

Swain in “the diggings” By taking the Carson and Truckee trails, thousands had reached the gold mines before Swain and his crew. First mined at South Fork of the Feather River. Built a log cabin. (most lived in tents) Prices in California Pork: $1.25 Beans: $1.00 Sugar: $.75 Coffee: $.50 Pickaxes: $8 Coffee pots: $6 Frying pans: $6 In 1850, Swain and his friends left the Feather River and went to the Yuba. This made Swain Choose to stay in California a year longer. The Ending Toward the end of 1850 and beginning of 1851, Swain decided to go home. He had $500 in gold dust. He went home by sailing to Panama, crossed the Isthmus and sailed up the Atlantic Coast. William Swain went back to his farm in Youngstown. He told his stories about going west until his death in 1904. Biswell Family You will read letters from two brothers from Huntsville, MO, who went west to California. They wrote letters home about their trip. Compare and contrast their trip with that of William Swain. Notes taken from: Holliday, J.S. The World Rushed In (New York: Simon and Schuster), 1981. The California Gold Rush Gold has been discovered! In January 24,1848, James Marshall discovered gold in California. He had been working at building a mill for John Sutter and saw “something shining” in the American River. In 1849, the California Gold Rush began, and one of the greatest voluntary migrations in American history. California before gold Home to 150,000 Native Americans And 6,000 Californios: settlers of Spanish or Mexican descent. Cattle ranching was the big industry. Spain had looked for gold for years but never found. In February of 1848, the Mexican American War ended, giving the U.S. land from Texas to California. (Gold had been discovered 10 days before the treaty was signed.) Routes to California Sail 18,000 miles around South America at Cape Horn and up the Pacific coast—enduring storms, seasickness and spoiled food. Sial to the Isthmus of Panama, cross overland, and then sail nort