Museum Mania
World Wide Web Treasure Hunt #4

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On January 24, 1998 I was pleased to attend the opening activity of the California Sesquicentennial (150th birthday) in Coloma California. Walking in Coloma was like stepping back into history. People were dressed in period costumes and there was a bustle of all kinds of activities like gold panning, weaving demonstrations, and much more. The California Gold Rush changed our country forever. People from all over the world heard about the gold that was being found here in our great state. Some people made vast fortunes from the gold. Some people made vast fortunes off of the gold miners themselves. Take some time and really read these pages that I take you to. I think you will be amazed by the tenacity and resourcefulness of these miners. The cyber road traveled on this treasure hunt will take you to about ten sites. You will be able to glean a lot of information about this moment in history. Some of the results of the Gold Rush were good and other events were tragic. However, all of the events that happened as a result of the Gold Rush, directly shaped California and helped lay a foundation for what our state is today. Since we are celebrating our State's 150th birthday, it's only fitting that we should do a little cyber exploration of the California Gold Country. I hope you will enjoy the hunt and learn something about our great state.

Warmest Regards and Happy Hunting!
Candace Jackson

You may occasionally find that some of the links do not work.  Sometimes this is a temporary server problem.. 

This situation will give you an opportunity to advance your searching skills on the Internet. Be a super sleuth and search for the answers.

*Clue #1 Let's go back in history to when California was Alta California. California and Mexico were colonies.
To which country did these colonies belong?


Who was the last Mexican appointed governor of California?


*Clue #2 We're going on a little historical cyber treasure hunt of one of the most important gold discoveries, in the world, The California Gold Rush.

Who ran through the streets of San Francisco shouting about the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill on the American River?
John Bidwell
John Sutter
James Marshall
Major Pearson B. Reading
Marshall Thurgood
Sam Brannan

The above person became one of the wealthiest persons in California. What did he do to become so wealthy?
He opened up hotels.
He discovered gold.
He sold tools to the miners.
He sold real estate.
He invested in dot com stocks.
He opened up grocery stores.

*Clue #3 Sutter’s Fort was Sacramento’s earliest settlement. The fort became the destination for early immigrants coming to California. Click on this page and type in John Sutter in the search box provided.  Now find the information about Sutter's Fort and click on that link.

In which continent was Mr. Sutter born?


In which town was Sutter's Mill built?


On which river was Sutter's Mill built?


*Clue #4 In 'The Event That Would Shape California's Origin, what was one kind of test that Marshall and Sutter both used to determine whether the gold was real?


Army records show that 716 enlisted men deserted between July 1 of 1848 and December 31 of 1849.
Why did these men desert the army?


**Clue #5 CpaTeam.com has an excellent page on educational sites which lead to about 80 California Sesquicentennial links, which is the largest collection of links that I've found. From the CpaTeam 'education page', click on the 'California Sesquicentennial Pages' and then Click on 'California's Gold Rush Country: 'Virtual Tour'. In 1848 there were approximately 5,000 miners actually working and looking for gold in California. How many miners arrived in California by the year 1849?
14,000
6,000
90,000
1,000,000
900,000
50

What was the favored route for returning home from California?
land
sea

I found an incredible story in the Oakland Museum Web Site that I think would be of interest to anyone interested in the Gold Country and it's tales. A 43-year-old woman looking back at her family's journey to San Francisco in 1848 writes this story. The woman writing the story was only ten years old at the time of journey. It's a long article, but one well worth reading, when you have time. You can see how long and perilous this journey was and understand what going by ship in those days meant. Some people risked everything in search of gold.

* Clue #6 Take a look at the prices of goods from San Francisco in 1848. Take a look under 'Homestead Movement into the Sierra'. Next time you go to the grocery store check out the price of a 20 pound bag of potatoes.
Does this price of the potatoes look cheap or expensive to you?
Cheap
Expensive


In what state was the golden spike driven that signified the completion of the cross country railroad?

*Clue #7 California's natural resources have changed over the past 100 years. What happened to California's gold resource?


The largest known mass of gold found in California was discovered in 1854. How much did it weigh?

Now here's a math question. If gold was worth forty dollars an ounce, how much was the above gold mass worth?


Quartz mining began in 1849. Was quartz mining an above or below ground mining process?

Below
Above

*Clue #8 Next, we're going to the Gold Rush Chronicles.
One of the first ways official ways that the miners got their mail was from the Pony Express.

Who organized the pony-delivered mail in the eastern part of the United States?

How long did the Pony Express to California last?


Why do you think the Pony Express was not a financial success?


*Clue #9 California celebrated it's Sesquicentennial and commemoration of California's 150 years of Statehood for three years. California was made a state shortly after the discovery of gold by the 49ers. The last year of Sesquicentennial celebration took place in the year 2000.
In what year did Californians first celebrate their state's historic journey to Statehood.


*Clue #10 A Treasure Hunt in My Library is a fiction book that teaches library skills. In this book a fourth grade boy gets an assignment at school on the California Sesquicentennial. He and his second grade sister learn all kinds cool and interesting things about the library.

Will Mat Johnson find that Melville Dewey invented the Dewey Decimal Classification System before or after the discovery of Gold in Coloma?

Before
After



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