In January 1848, workers were building a sawmill for John Sutter on the American River. In which California town did they find gold?

A carpenter building the sawmill in Coloma spotted shining flakes in the water channel in January 1848. Who was he?

The huge crowd of gold seekers who poured into California during the Gold Rush were nicknamed the ___.

A man in Chile wrote in 1849 that he sold his tools and boarded a ship sailing north to California. What news had reached him that made him go?

Gold seekers sailed and walked to California from across the United States, Mexico, South America, and Europe. Large numbers also crossed the Pacific Ocean from what country?

In 1847 San Francisco was a settlement of fewer than a thousand people. Within a few years it was a busy city. What best explains that fast growth?

Mining camp stores sold shovels, boots, and flour at very high prices. How did most miners and most merchants come out of the Gold Rush?

During the Gold Rush, miners who came from China and from Latin America were often driven off their claims by force.

In 1850 California began charging some miners twenty dollars every month for permission to keep working their claims. Which miners had to pay that tax?

About 150,000 American Indian people were living in California in 1848. What happened to California Indian nations during the Gold Rush years?

American Indian nations of California, such as the Pomo and the Miwok, still live in California today.

The Gold Rush brought so many people that California skipped a long wait as a territory. In 1849 Californians wrote a state constitution and asked to join the Union. What happened next?

In 1848, news of the gold found at Sutter's Mill spread to the eastern states and to South America. How did the news travel that far?

After California's 1850 tax charged Chinese and Mexican miners twenty dollars a month to keep working their claims, what did most of those miners do?

Many miners from Mexico and Chile already knew how to mine gold, and newcomers learned some of their methods.

On what date in January 1848 did James Marshall first notice flakes of gold in the millrace at Sutter's Mill?

Gold seekers swirled water, sand, and gravel together in a pan. Why did the gold stay in the pan while the sand washed out?

Which ocean is along California's western coast?

What happened to California's population during the Gold Rush?

During the Gold Rush, many sailors left their ships in San Francisco Bay to go look for gold.

Which tool would a miner use to separate small pieces of gold from sand and gravel in water?

What is a boomtown?

Which group was already living in California before the Gold Rush began?

During the Gold Rush, some California Indians were forced to work in the gold mines for little or no pay.

Most of the gold seekers who rushed to California were young men.

Which treaty ended the Mexican-American War and gave the United States control of California?

Before it became part of the United States, California had been controlled by which country?

What was one major reason California wanted to become a state soon after the Gold Rush began?

Before California could join the Union in 1850, what issue caused a big debate in Congress?

California became a state before the Gold Rush began.

Which agreement let California join the Union as a free state?

When California became a state in 1850, it entered as a free state.

Which route did some gold seekers take to reach California by sea?

Most gold seekers from the eastern United States reached California by train.

What was one challenge travelers faced on the journey to California?

What happened to the price of everyday goods like food and tools in mining camps?

Which item would have been important for miners to buy during the Gold Rush?

The Gold Rush affected California's environment because mining disturbed rivers, soil, and hillsides.

What does migration mean in the story of the Gold Rush?

Some gold seekers sailed to Panama, crossed it by land, and then took another ship to California. Why did many choose this route instead of sailing around South America?