A Primary Source History of the Gold Rush

By John Micklos, Jr.

Inspire students with amazing stories from the California Gold Rush. With the use of personal accounts, newspaper stories, and other primary sources, the events of this fascinating time in history come to life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
• Release date: May 1, 2019
• ISBN: 9781496665119

John Micklos, Jr.

John Micklos, Jr. has written more than 50 children’s books spanning a wide range of ages and genres. His work includes picture books, poetry books, and numerous nonfiction books. Popular titles include One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me! (Penguin/Nancy Paulsen Books, 2017), which was chosen for inclusion in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program for multiple years. John’s other top-selling books include 125 True Stories of Amazing Pets (contributor) and 125 Cute Animals (contributor), both published by National Geographic Kids. He also has written dozens of biographies, history books, and social studies books for educational publishers such as Capstone and Cavendish Square. Biographies include Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Amelia Earhart, Alexander Graham Bell, Abraham Lincoln, Muhammad Ali, Sequoyah, Geronimo, and others. History topics include the Revolutionary War (six-book series), Civil War, Challenger tragedy, Gold Rush, Lewis and Clark Expedition, and many others. A resident of Newark, Delaware, John enjoys visiting schools (in person or via Zoom) and conducting writing workshops with students of all ages. His presentations and workshops center on writing poetry, nonfiction, and persuasive pieces, as well as the art of research and revision, to name just a few. Learn more about John’s work at www.JohnMicklosWriter.com.

Book preview

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER

TITLE PAGE

A NOTE ABOUT PRIMARY SOURCES

A GLEAM IN THE RIVER

GOLD FEVER

LIFE IN THE GOLDFIELDS

THE VEINS RUN DRY

CALIFORNIA KEEPS GROWING

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

GLOSSARY

INDEX

COPYRIGHT

BACK COVER

A NOTE ABOUT PRIMARY SOURCES

Primary sources are newspaper articles, photographs, speeches, or other documents that were created during an event. They are great ways to see how people spoke and felt during that time. You’ll find primary sources from the time of the Gold Rush throughout this book. Within the text, primary source quotations are colored brown and set in italic type.

A GLEAM IN THE RIVER

The California Gold Rush started by accident. James Marshall was building a mill beside the American River in northern California in early 1848. On January 24, as Marshall gazed down into the water of the millrace, he saw something gleaming. My eye was caught by something shining in the bottom of the ditch, he later recalled. I reached my hand down and picked it up. That gleaming something was a piece of gold. Soon Marshall spotted more gold. He