Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor Michigan www cherrylakepublishing com Consultants John Putman Associate Professor of History San Diego State University Marla Conn ReadAbility Inc Editorial direction Red Line Editorial Book design Sleeping Bear Press Photo Credits John C H Grabill Library of Congress cover left 8 Currier Ives Library of Congress cover middle Library of Congress cover right 4 18 22 R H Vance Library of Congress 6 Bettmann Corbis 11 12 14 16 27 V Wolfenstein Orange County Californio families photographs 20 Britton Rey Library of Congress 24 Lawrence Houseworth Library of Congress 29 N Currier Library of Congress 30 Copyright 2015 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lüsted Marcia Amidon The California gold rush Marcia Amidon Lusted pages cm Perspectives library Includes index Audience Grades 4-6 ISBN 978-1-63137-615-3 hardcover ISBN 978-1-63137-660-3 pbk ISBN 978-1-63137-705-1 pdf ebook ISBN 978-1-63137-750-1 hosted ebook 1 California Gold discoveries Juvenile literature I Title F865 L89 2014 979 4’04 dc 3 2014004581 Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Please visit www p21 org for more information Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics Inc July 2014
Table of Contents In this book you will read about three people who experienced California’s gold rush starting in 1848 Many people went to California hoping to become rich As you’ll see the same event can look different depending on one’s point of view Chapter 1 4 Joseph Marks Builder at Sutter’s Mill Chapter 2 12 Charles Hayward 49er Chapter 3 20 Mario Fernandez Gold Prospector Look Look Again 30 Glossary 3 1 Learn More 3 1 Index 32 About the Author 32
1 4 When I came out West I never imagined I’d witness one of the biggest gold strikes in U S history I came to California to fight the war against Mexico in 1847 but afterward I found work at Sutter’s Fort John Sutter was building a sawmill about 40 miles away from his fort and he was desperate for strong able men I joined up glad for the chance to make Joseph Marks Builder at Sutter’s Mill
5 some money We even had a female cook Jennie Wimmer There were no other women anywhere nearby It had been a long time since we had a woman to cook good food for us We laid the timbers for the mill and built the undershot mill wheel This wheel turns as water pushes paddles spaced out around the wheel We also dug the millrace where the river water channels under the mill to turn the wheel James Marshall Sutter’s partner decided to let the flow of water carve out the tailrace This is where the water comes out from the wheel and goes back to the river I was working on the mill early on the morning of January 24 1848 Mr Marshall went down to the tailrace to see how deep it was getting It was so cold that ice crusted the edges of the rocks and sparkled in the riverbed Mr Marshall bent over to study the sandy river bottom He seemed curious about a gleam he saw there Then I saw him pick something up
