Gold Rush: 6 letters saved through the years written by Joseph Barton about his journey from Pennsylvania to the gold fields in California -- fascinating real history written in 1852!

(Also, look at a similar page with letters from Everett Barton about his journey from Missouri to the gold fields in the Klondike in 1897)

Gold Rush:  A short history and important dates

Gold Rush Exhibits:  online exhibits from the Museum of the City of San Francisco

Gold Rush History:  all sorts of links to web pages about the gold rush

Untold Stories of the Gold Rush:  from the Oakland Museum of California

Women in the Gold Rush: learn about women who were in the gold rush

Visit the State Historic Parks:
Marshall Gold Discovery Park
Sutter's Fort
Empire Mine

The picture shows a large gold nugget from the Eureka Mine in Tuolumne County, California.  The nugget is in the Smithsonian.