History of the Gold Rush

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It’s December of 1850 and a fresh snow had drifted down upon the lush green hills of California. You kneel down and rub your hands together, ferociously at first but becoming gentler once you feel the friction heating up your palms. You glance down at your worn boots, torn denim pants, and exposed hands while pondering why you continued this madness of searching for gold. Maybe it was because you wanted to live life the easy way and bless your family with riches aplenty, or maybe it’s due to the fact that multiple of people have found happiness with their claims of gold. What ever the reason was, you knew that it was about to drive you to the breaking point. After this small thought you reach over and grab an elongated pan before dipping your hands directly in the arctic water. Your skin screams to be lifted out and warmed but you force yourself to shovel gravel from the river bed and drawing it up out of the water, sloshing dirt and rocks away with a twirling motion as you eagerly await the shimmery color of gold. You do this and to your disappointment all that was in the pan were rocks and dirt. You try again, this time your fingers bite at you due to the cold water. This process would be repeated multiple times and you were willing to do it. You were willing to do it for gold.
~**~
Throughout the years, people have been teaching the gold rush to a wide range of students. From the first mentions in elementary school to junior years in high school, the history of California includes one of the most famous times in history. Lasting for seven years, the terrain of “The Golden State” changed drastically. People from all over came to test their luck on finding gold, seeing if they had what it took to strike it rich. And because of th...

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...Rush Was No Joke. This Map Was a Prospector's Friend." Slate Magazine. Slate Magazine. 20 Jan. 2014

Baumgart, Don. "Gold Field Doctor Found More Disease Than Riches." Gold Field Doctor Found More Disease Than Riches. Nevada County Gold The Premier Online Guide to Nevada County. 17 Jan. 2014

"Levi Strauss biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. 17 Jan. 2014

"California Gold Rush." Wikipedia. 24 Jan. 2014. Wikimedia Foundation. 10 Jan. 2014

"John Sutter." Wikipedia. 25 Jan. 2014. Wikimedia Foundation. 10 Jan. 2014

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