What were the routes to the California Gold Rush?
The main routes initially (1846–1848) were the Truckee Trail to the Sacramento Valley and, after about 1849, the Carson Trail route to the American River and the Placerville, California gold digging region.
The Gold Rush Trail: California Highway 49
Many of these historic and picturesque towns still exist, linked by California Highway 49, the Gold Rush Trail. The original mining-era buildings in these towns are now home to unique shops—but my interest lay elsewhere, …
Travelers on the California Leg of the Southern …
Pioneer travel correspondent Bayard Taylor made this observation in 1849 as thousands of adventurers on the southern trails to the California gold fields crossed the desert country between the Colorado River and the …
Gold Rush: 1848–1860: "I Saw the Elephant" | Picture This
The much more famous 1849 Gold Rush started after President Polk announced the discovery in an address to Congress in December 1848. ... to scurvy, to disease, to taking the wrong trails, to attack by Indians or the elements. Each leg of the trip could cost several hundred dollars for supplies, tickets, or wagons. By the end of 1849 around ...
Disease and Death on the Overland Trails – Legends of …
During the 1849 California Gold Rush, travelers carried the bacteria along the Santa Fe Trail and other overland routes. The epidemic thrived in the unsanitary conditions along the trails, peaking in 1850 as it was stoked by the immense numbers of pioneers on the overland trails in 1849 and '50 seeking their fortunes.
Klondike Gold Rush ‑ Definition, Map & Facts | HISTORY
The Klondike Gold Rush was a mass influx of prospecting migrants to the Canadian Yukon Territory and Alaska after gold was discovered in those regions in 1896.
Suggested Readings | Trails of Hope: Overland Diaries and …
Madsen, Brigham D. Gold Rush Sojourners in Great Salt Lake City: 1849 and 1850. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1983. Madsen, Carol Cornwall. Journey to Zion: Voices from the Mormon Trail. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997. Madsen, Susan Arrington. I Walked to Zion: True Stories of Young Pioneers on the Mormon Trail. Salt Lake City ...
1860–1861 History – National Pony Express Association
Thousands of people moved west on the Oregon and California Trails starting in the 1840s, followed by the 1847 Mormon exodus to Utah and the 1849 Gold Rush. The growing West needed fast mail communication beyond the Rocky Mountains.
The Pioneer Line to California: An Adventure in Transportation
Only one commercial wagon train was ready to roll in 1849, the first year of the rush: the Pioneer Co. of Fast Coaches (known as the Pioneer Line), which was …
The Hudspeth Cutoff | California Trail Interpretive Center
Pioneers in 1849, the 49'ers, hoped to start prospecting for gold as fast as possible. So, anything that got them closer to their goal faster than others was worth the risks. In this heat of the California Gold Rush, two experienced and talented mountain men, Hudspeth and Myers, created the Hudspeth cutoff to try and save valuable time.
Oregon Trail: Length, Start, Deaths & Map | HISTORY
Some people continued south into California, especially after the Gold Rush started in 1849. Dangers on the Oregon Trail Many settlers looked at the Oregon Trail with an idealistic eye, but it was ...
California Trail • FamilySearch
Several western gold and silver strikes, productive farm land, lumber, and ranching all increased traffic on the California Trail. The California gold rush attracted adventurers and gold seekers from around the world after gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. An estimated 90,000 arrived in 1849, about half of them Americans.
From Waupun to Sacramento in 1849: The Gold Rush …
the California Gold Rush of 1849 was a long time aborning. On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall discovered gold while ... lowed the gold trail to Australia when the quest extended outside California in the 1850's. Among leading Wisconsinites who succumbed to gold fever were William S. Hamilton, James
The Hudspeth Cutoff
On July 19, 1849, Benoni M. Hudspeth and John J. Myers lead a large party of 70 wagons from Missouri through a new, more direct route. This shortcut cut off the northernmost part of the California Trail to try and save time …
The California Gold Rush, 1848-1855 | United States History I
Many travelers died on the trails from weather, disease, conflicts with Native Americans, and starvation, such as the ill-fated and infamous Donner Party. Gender and sexuality During the gold rush. Figure 3. This 1891 etching by Andre Castaigne imagines a men-only ball during the 1849 California Gold rush.
The Pioneer Line to California: An Adventure in Transportation
The second passenger train rolled into California "in a crippled condition," as well, and that spelled the end of the Pioneer Line. According to historian Mary McDougal Gordon, a total of 13 more passenger trains set out for California in 1850 and 1852. Only a few, she writes, reached the gold fields; the others broke down along the trail.
Three Overland Routes to Pioneer California
From far western Nevada pioneers followed 11 trails over the Sierra Nevada mountains into the California gold country and beyond. The Butterfield Overland Mail route was established to provide a non-snow route to and from California.
Gold Rush Trail
How do you get to The Gold Rush Trail? For those of us with a love for Gold Rush history, I'm going to make a unique suggestion . . .
The California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush started in 1849. Who discovered gold in California that started the Gold Rush? James W. Marshall was the first to discover gold, at Sutter's Fort in California. ... Problems with Native Americans on the trails to California increased.
The 49ers and the California Gold Rush
The Gold Rush of 1849 was sparked by the discovery of gold in early 1848 in California's Sacramento Valley.Its impact on the history of the American West during the 19th century was immense.
Gold Rush Desert Trails to San Diego and Los Angeles in 1849
The San Diego Corral of Westerners' Gold Rush Desert Trails to San Diego and Los Angeles in 1849, however, provides an important addition to the understanding of the Southland's relatively hidden place in the history of the Forty Niners.
Gold Rush Desert Trails to San Diego and Los Angeles in 1849
The San Diego Corral of Westerners' Gold Rush Desert Trails to San Diego and Los Angeles in 1849, however, provides an important addition to the understanding …
California Gold Rush | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica
Overview of the California Gold Rush, the rapid influx of fortune seekers in California that began after gold was found at Sutter's Mill on the American River in early 1848. The Gold Rush reached its peak in 1852. According to estimates, more than 300,000 people came to the territory during the Gold Rush.
The California Trail – Rush to Gold
WEBIn the two decades of the 1840s and 1850s, the California Trail carried over 250,000 gold-seekers and farmers to the state's goldfields and rich farmlands. It was the greatest mass migration in American history.
The Lost '49ers
Since most of these pioneers began their exodus to California in 1849, they are generally referred to as '49ers. One of the supply points along the trail was Salt Lake City, where pioneers prepared for the long journey across the Great Basin desert before climbing over the Sierra Nevada to the gold fields of California.
Gold Rush: California, Date & Sutter's Mill | HISTORY
On January 24, 1848, James Wilson Marshall, a carpenter originally from New Jersey, found flakes of gold in the American River at the base of the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Coloma, California. At the time, Marshall was working to build a water-powered sawmill owned by John Sutter, a German-born Swiss citiz…
The California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush was the mass migration of Americans and others to California in search of gold, which was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1848. It led to …
Sierra history: The Gold Rush winter of 1850 (part 2)
TAHOE-TRUCKEE, Calif. — The first big wave of Gold Rush Argonauts swarmed into California via ship or overland trails in 1849. Besides the stories of instant wealth, many forty-niners
An Interactive Map of Key Events Throughout the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush. Sutter's Mill; Oregon-California Trail; Chinese Immigration; ... 1849: Prospective miners begin westward move. As news spread that gold was in California, thousands of people (the majority of which were men) sought to travel there from all across America and the world. ... This trail would lead to the gold mines of ...
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush would transform California and fuel the westward push of the United States. ... In 1849 alone, $10 million worth of gold was pulled from the ground, and over the next few years this number grew. ... The three main routes used by American gold seekers were the Oregon-California Trail, the Cape Horn route, and the Panama ...
The Panama route to gold rush California | My …
With the Mexican War over and California now American territory the Pacific Mail Steamship Company had acquired a contract to deliver mail from Panama to San Francisco.
Official Map & Guide
By 1849 the lure of instant wealth and ... The gold rush added new trails to California. Mountain man Jim Beckwourth and surveyor William Nobles opened routes across the Sierra Nevada, while thousands traveled to the goldields across Mexico . …
The Gold Rush in California
The 1848 discovery of gold in California set off a frenzied Gold Rush to the state the next year as hopeful prospectors, called "forty-niners," poured into the state. ... In 1849, California established a state constitution and government, and formally entered the union in …
Park Archives: California National Historic Trail
By 1849 the lure of instant wealth and tales of gold beckoned at the end of the 2,000-mile California Trail. The story of the men, women, and children who traveled overland to the …
The Gold Rush | American Experience | PBS
The sight of gold in the rushing waters of the American River sent a ripple around the world and set the stage for an event that would forever change a city, a fledgling state, and the nation.