California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California, 1849-1900 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/25/2008 - 22:21
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Image, Miner and Pack Burro, unidentified publication, California as I Saw It
Annotation

The 190 works presented on this site—approximately 40,000 written pages and more than 3,000 illustrations—provide eyewitness accounts covering California history from the Gold Rush through the end of the 19th century. Most authors represented are white, educated, male Americans, including reporters detailing Gold Rush incidents and visitors from the 1880s attracted to a highly-publicized romantic vision of California life.

The narratives, in the form of diaries, descriptions, guidebooks, and subsequent reminiscences, portray encounters with those living in California as well as the impact of mining, ranching, and agriculture. Additional topics include urban development, the growth of cities, and California's unique place in American culture. A special presentation recounts early California history, and a discussion of the collection's strengths and weaknesses provides useful context for the first-person accounts.

Literary Sources
Paintings and Prints
Personal Accounts
California
diaries
gold rush
gold rushes
miners
mining
pioneers
ranches
ranching
settlers
urban development
Images
Text
Civil War & Reconstruction, 1850-1877
Devel. of the Industrial US, 1870-1900
Emergence of Modern US, 1890-1930
Cities & Suburbs
Daily Life
Economy
Ideas & Ideologies
Labor
Literature
Media
Rural Life
Science & Tech.
Western States
Klondike Gold Rush, Seattle Unit, National Historical Park [WA] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:33
Description

Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park preserves the story of the 1897-98 gold rush and Seattle's role therein. At that time, 70,000 people gathered in Canada's Yukon gold fields, hoping to find their fortunes.

The park offers interactive exhibits, including computers which provide access to participants' journals and personal accounts; films upon request; educational programming between September and May; two traveling trunks; a series of speakers; and Junior Ranger activities. Education programs require reservations. Summer (June 15th through Labor Day) offerings include gold panning demonstrations, guided walking tours of Pioneer Square Historic District, and films about the gold rush. The website offers lesson plans, activities, a teacher resource guide, a scavenger hunt for download, a coloring page, and links to relevant historical websites.

City Of Rocks National Reserve [ID] Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 01/08/2008 - 13:28
Description

The City of Rocks became a landmark in 1843 for California-bound emigrants. Today, the City of Rocks National Reserve is managed by the Idaho Department of Parks and Recreation and the National Park Service, and is first and foremost a recreational area. The smooth granite faces offer exceptional rock climbing. In addition to recreation, visitors to the reserve can enjoy the unique geology, flora, and history of the area. Many of the emigrants left their signatures on the rock spires in axle grease.

The site offers indoor and wayside exhibits. The website offers visitor information, historical information, and information on the geology and ecology of the reserve. In order to contact the reserve by email, use the "contact us" link located on the left side of the webpage.

Old Sacramento State Historic Park [CA]

Description

Old Sacramento State Historic Park is a cluster of noteworthy, early Gold Rush commercial structures. Historic buildings include the 1849 Eagle Theater; the 1853 B. F. Hastings Building, once home to the California Supreme Court; and the 1855 Big Four Building. Old Sacramento's historical significance comes from it being the western terminus of the Pony Express postal system, the first transcontinental railroad, and the transcontinental telegraph. With over 50 historic buildings, Old Sacramento has more buildings of historic value in its 28 acres than any area of similar size in the West.

A second website for the park can be found here.

The park offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, living history programs and events, and other educational and recreational events.

Online Archive of California Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 01/25/2008 - 22:21
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Photo, Joseph Sharp, 1849 gold miner of Sharp's Flats, Online Archive of CA
Annotation

This archive provides more than 81,000 images and 1,000 texts on the history and culture of California. Images may be searched by keyword or browsed according to six categories: history, nature, people, places, society, and technology. Topics include exploration, Native Americans, gold rushes, and California events.

Three collections of texts are also available. Japanese American Relocation Digital Archive furnishes 309 documents and 67 oral histories. Free Speech Movement: Student Protest, U.C. Berkeley, 1964–1965 provides 541 documents, including books, letters, press releases, oral histories, photographs, and trial transcripts.

UC Berkeley Regional Oral History Office offers full-text transcripts of 139 interviews organized into 14 topics including agriculture, arts, California government, society and family life, wine industry, disability rights, Earl Warren, Jewish community leaders, medicine (including AIDS), suffragists, and UC Black alumni.

Artifacts and Objects
Official Documents
Oral History
Paintings and Prints
Personal Accounts
Photographs
Speeches
agriculture
AIDS
California
colleges
exploration
explorers
Free Speech Movement
gold rush
gold rushes
industry
internment
internment camps
Japanese Americans
Native Americans
students
suffrage
UC Berkeley
universities
wine
World War II
Images
Text
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Learn Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Great Depression & WWII, 1929-1945
Postwar US, 1945-Early 1970s
Contemporary US, 1968-Present
General
African Americans
American Indians
Asian Americans
Business
Consumer Culture
Economy
Education
Ethnicity
Gender
Health & Medicine
Ideas & Ideologies
Immigration
Labor
Media
Military History
Politics
Radicalism
Reform
Religion
Science & Tech.
Western States
Women

Gold Rush!

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Painting, Sunday Morning in the Mines, Charles Nahl
Annotation

In commemoration of the 1848 California Gold Rush, the Oakland Museum opened a series of exhibitions and created this online companion site. Sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, this virtual tour of the museum's exhibition offers an extensive (roughly 5,000-word) narrative of the Gold Rush and its history, illustrated with over 50 images of posters, photographs, artifacts, and art related to the Gold Rush. Three audio narratives discuss details of the discovery of gold and the resulting massive westward migration. Also included on the site are 28 images of artwork and 22 photographs of related subjects.

Site visitors can explore the experiences of Chinese, Latino/Californio, Native American, and African American peoples who participated in the Rush. Links to three curriculum sites and sample curriculum materials are available for grades 4, 5, 8, and 11; five curriculum units and 18 lesson plans can be purchased from the museum. The site is ideal for researching California history and westward expansion.

Advertising
Artifacts and Objects
Paintings and Prints
Photographs
California
gold rush
Audio
Images
Text
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Learn Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Expansion & Reform, 1801-1861
African Americans
American Indians
Asian Americans
Latinos
Rural Life
Western States

Beatty Museum & Historical Society [NV]

Description

The Beatty Museum and Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the historical heritage of the Bullfrog Mining District and Southern Nye County. The museum chronicles the history of the area, from its prehistoric origins through the Bullfrog gold rush.

The museum offers guided tours and exhibits of local history. The website offers visitor information, a history of the area, and online research resources.

Independence Mine State Historical Park [AK]

Description

The Independence Mine State Historic Park commemorates the early history of Alaska, which first became populated during the gold rushes of the late 129th century. Gold was first discovered in the Independence Mine area in 1886, and within 20 years two major mines were operating in the area. Today, large portions of the mines are open to visitors year round.

The State Historical Park offers self-guided as well as guided tours, a visitor center, and a museum. The website offers visitor information and a history of the park.

Using Google Maps in Class to Connect Liberty with the Gold Rush Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/09/2009 - 16:22
Description

Eighth-grade American history educator Eric Langhorst demonstrates how he uses Google Maps in class to show students historic sites.

Gold in the Black Hills: Annie Tallent, 1874 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/16/2009 - 12:34
Description

This presentation, told partially from the perspective of a prospector's wife, Annie Tallent, looks at the push of prospectors into the American West to find gold, focusing on the expedition of Tallent, her husband, and several other prospectors into the South Dakota Black Hills and on the tension between prospectors, the military, and Native Americans.

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