United States History Student Edition

D

Planning a Trip to the Gold Fields In 1850, George Keller made the trek from his home in Ohio to California to mine for gold. Later, he used his experience to write a travel guide to help others who would undertake the difficult journey. PRIMARY SOURCE: TRAVEL GUIDE “ A mess of 6 persons should provide themselves with 3 wagons, and 12 mules or horses. Mules not less than 6 or 8 years old are preferable. Two of said wagons should be light 1 horse ones. In these load your provisions, clothing, (just enough to take you through) and other necessary baggage. The other may be a common two horse wagon—on which load forty or fifty bushels of corn, oats or barley. If you can, put a few extra bushels on your light wagons. See that these are well made; have the wheels high, and the beds water tight. . . . Be careful that you do not start with any unnecessary baggage, if you do you will throw it overboard before you get half way through. The road at present is strewed with nearly every thing from a steam engine to a child’s cradle, that has thus been disposed of. ” — from “A Guide of the Route from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean,” from A Trip Across the Plains (etc.) EXAMINE THE SOURCE 1. Identifying What supplies does Keller recommend travelers bring with them on their journey west? 2. Inferring From Keller’s instructions, what can you infer about the journey to California? What details does he provide to support your answer? The End of a Miner’s Day Leonard Kip wrote about his experiences in the gold fields for his hometown newspaper in Albany, New York. In this passage, he describes the chores prospectors dealt with after the end of the workday. PRIMARY SOURCE: MEMOIR “ [I]t is a curious sight to look around at the end of the day and watch the different pursuits of the miners. As soon as evening closes, all commence straggling back from the [gulches], at which they have been working during the day. Leaving their picks in the holes, they carefully bring back the pans, for the wash bowl is a valuable article, serving more uses than one; the least of which is the share it occupies in the preparation of the different meals. It is no uncommon thing to see the same pan used for washing gold, washing clothes, mixing flour cakes, and feeding the mule. ” — from California Sketches EXAMINE THE SOURCE 1. Analyzing Perspectives What hardships of the prospecting life does this passage relate? 2. Drawing Conclusions Why would prospectors use one pan for all the jobs described? E

TEXT: (t)Keller, George. A Trip Across the Plains, and Life in California. Massillon, OH: White’s Press, 1851; (b)Kip, Leonard. California Sketches, with Recollections of the Gold Mines. Albany: Erastus H. Pease & Co., 1850.

348