California Gold Rush

I am studying in history about the California Gold Rush which was a big thing in California.  So I am going to tell you a little about it.

Would you go to California if you heard there was gold there free for taking?  Well, many people did.  The mad rush to California started in 1849.  Men and woman had heard that John Sutter's Fort in California had discovered gold. These men and woman traveled by land or sea just to get to California for gold.

Sadly, only 1 in 20 walked away rich.  A lot of men would look, and look for gold and not find any. Some men did find lots of gold. This caused prices of items and food to go up. Woman started to do laundry for 5 nuggets of gold each.  One egg went from 49 cents to 3 dollars and 50 cents.

California was a long journey for some people.   Although men traveled a long way, they still thought it was worth it.  Well I don't think it was!

Best History Ever!

This year in history we are learning about the Oregon Trail.

This summer I was so lucky and actually got to go see the Oregon Trail ruts,

all the signatures on Register Cliff,

 and visited Fort Bridger.  

We are doing a simulation on the Oregon Trail.  We have to pick out a character that we want to be.  For example, you can be a hunter, banker, scout, farmer, blacksmith, or doctor.  I chose to be a hunter. Then you have to choose 3 other people to bring with you on the long journey to Oregon. I like this because you play a game while learning about all the exciting and interesting facts of the Oregon Trail.

My mom also is reading us a read aloud called Bound for Oregon by Jean Van Leeuwen.  It is about a girl who moves to Oregon with her family.  They have to leave her grandma behind, which makes her sad.  They go through hard and frustrating times on the trail.