1 Lesson One I

Lesson One LESSON ONE The Adventure Begins: “Boys I believe I have found a gold mine!” I. OBJECTIVES ♦ To describe the society in California (Native Americans and Californios) that long pre-dated the discovery of gold, and to char- acterize the nature of its economy (based upon cattle raising and foreign commerce) in the 1840s. ♦ To analyze the growing tensions between the Californios and the U.S. settlers on the eve of the Gold Rush. ♦ To understand what the discovery of gold at Sutter’s sawmill was like through the words and images of participants and contempo- rary observers. ♦ To trace how gold fever spread during the first year after gold discovery. II. TEACHER BACKGROUND INFORMATION ohn Augustus Sutter, a German-born and Swiss-educated immigrant, came Jto America in 1834. Sutter had been unsuccessful in business ventures in Switzerland and believed that he would have better economic opportunities in the United States. After arriving in the United States, he purchased land in Missouri. In 1838, he gave up his Missouri homestead and ventured over- land on the Oregon Trail. After a brief stay he continued to move westward to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii). In 1839 he set sail for Alta California and persuaded Mexican authorities to give him a substantial land grant. Sutter convinced Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado that his colony in the interior of California would be a reliable bulwark against foreign intruders and ‘hostile’ Indians. Mexican authorities were concerned about the “mountain men” and settlers who were coming into Alta California from the United States. They feared that with continued migration California might separate from Mexico as Texas had done just a few years earlier. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens 1 Lesson One Sutter received over 40,000 acres of land and was given the title of “Com- missioner of Justice and Representative of the Government on the Frontier of the Rio del Sacramento.” The new Mexican commissioner brought in Hawaiian laborers and constructed a fort near the junction of the Ameri- can and Sacramento rivers. Sutter was finally on the way to achieving success as a businessman. From “Sutter’s Fort” he began to engage in other activities and before long his settlement, named “New Helvetia” after his native Switzerland (Helvetia), became a haven for American emigrants and a concern to Mexican authorities. When the Bear Flag Revolt broke out in 1846, Sutter first maintained his allegiance to Mexico but when John C. Frémont arrived at New Helvetia, Sutter cooperated, providing Frémont with a base during the Mexican-American War. The community grew even more rapidly and Sutter decided to construct a new sawmill to meet the growing demand for lumber. He hired James Wil- son Marshall, a carpenter and mechanic from New Jersey, in 1847 to over- see the building of the mill on the south fork of the American River east of Sutter’s Fort. On the morning of January 24, 1848, while inspecting progress on the mill, Marshall observed tiny particles glistening in the water. An eyewitness, Henry Bigler, described the scene in his autobiography. He wrote that Marshall gathered the particles of gold in his old white hat and announced, “boys I believe I have found a gold mine.” The adventure begins! III. MATERIALS Document 1 View of laborers engaged in “trying the tallow” (rendering fat), Pencil and Watercolor, William Rich Hutton, 1848 In this 1848 watercolor, William Hutton captured an essential part of California’s cattle trade. The Indian laborers “try,” or melt down, the fat of the cattle in cauldrons over open fires to produce the substance known as “tallow” that would be used in products such as candles and soap. The watercolor provides firsthand information about the process. (Captions are provided, courtesy of the Huntington, Peter J. Blodgett, Land of Golden Dreams: California in the Gold Rush Decade, 1848–1858 [San Marino: Huntington Library Press, 1999]). 2 The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Lesson One Document 2 “California mode of catching cattle: with a distant view of the mission of St. Joseph,” Forbes This view of vaqueros lassoing a cow provides important visual evidence about the California cattle trade and the roots of the western cowboy in Mexican California. Document 3 Letter from John A. Sutter to San Francisco merchant William Leidesdorff, May 11, 1846 In this letter, written by John Sutter to a San Francisco merchant, notice the dependence on Indian labor, including using Indians as a commodity of exchange. Document 4 Autobiography of Henry W. Bigler A description of the discovery from one of the handful of witnesses to Marshall’s find and whose diary has been critical in helping us assign a date to the discovery. Document 5A Gold Rush lettersheet reproducing Sutter’s account of Marshall’s news, a portrait of James W. Marshall, and a small view of the sawmill During the 1850s the San Francisco publishers Britton & Rey printed and sold this lettersheet to capitalize upon Sutter and Marshall’s growing celebrity. It bears Sutter’s version of the discovery, a portrait of Marshall, and a view of the mill itself. Lettersheets were used as illustrated stationery. Document 5B Transcription of Captain Sutter’s account of gold discovery The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens 3 Lesson One Document 6 Three Years in California, Walter Colton, New York, 1851 (Open to a passage concerning gold fever in Monterey in June, 1848.) This account by the American alcalde of Monterey depicts the first impact of gold fever, falling upon native Californian and immigrant alike. Document 7 Letter from William Reynolds to his brother John, December 27, 1848 In this letter a San Francisco resident describes the Gold Rush scene in California, including the great migration already reaching California from Hawaii, Latin America, Guatemala, and Mexico. He also discusses how the Gold Rush has caused price inflation. IV. LESSON ACTIVITIES 1. Using an overhead projector, show students Documents 1, 2, and 3. Hold a class discussion about life in California on the eve of the Gold Rush. Ask students to respond to the “Questions to Consider” provided on each document. 2. Distribute copies of the “Document Analysis Worksheet” (provided on page ii) and use the overhead projector to guide students through the process of analyzing primary source documents. (After this guided practice, students should be able to analyze future documents on their own or in groups.) Using Documents 1, 2, and 3, make sure students understand how to analyze both image and text documents. Have students point out some of the spelling, capitalization, and grammatical errors found in Document 3. Explain to students that letters written during the 19th century were full of grammatical errors because most people only had a grade-school education. However, in spite of the technical errors, the writing was often quite eloquent. 3. Show students Documents 4, 5A, and 5B. Use the questions provided on the documents to guide a discussion of gold discovery, including the setting of the find, and the reactions of those involved. 4 The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Lesson One (Explain to students that Document 5A is an example of a “lettersheet.” The lettersheet was a form of illustrated stationery commonly used during the Gold Rush for writing letters home. Lettersheets usually consisted of illustrations depicting scenes from Gold Rush California, and text describing the scenes. Often the lettersheets were quite humorous. There was a growing market for lettersheets during the Gold Rush, and many printers made a handsome profit by printing them. Lettersheets also served to promote the region.) 4. Show students Documents 6 and 7. Discuss with students how gold fever led to the depopulation of Monterey in 1848, yet at the same time San Francisco grew by leaps and bounds as emigrants from across the nation and around the world rushed in. Choose from among the following activities a. Have students create an illustrated lettersheet portraying pre- Gold Rush California, the discovery of gold at Sutter’s fort, or the effects of gold fever. b. Have students create comic strips based on the Sutter lettersheet. c. In pairs, ask students to take the role of a newspaper reporter interviewing Sutter or Marshall. Devise a list of interview questions such as: What brought you to California before you discovered gold? Are you excited about the discovery of gold? What will you do about the influx of people onto your land? How will this discovery benefit you? What do you predict your future will be? d. On a world map, ask students to trace Sutter’s travels from Switzerland, to the East Coast (probably New York or Boston), to Missouri, to the Sandwich Islands, and finally to California. e. Have students write letters “home” describing the discovery of gold at Sutter’s fort or some other gold-mining claim. f. Ask students to write a newspaper article describing the discovery of gold in California, or the rush to find it. The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens 5 Lesson One g. Based on their textbook account of this period in California history, ask students to create a “3-Flags” bulletin board. Flag One: 1826—Mexican California Flag Two: 1846—the Bear Flag Flag Three: 1848—California under the U.S. Display the flags on the bulletin board and have students list the major events that occurred during each time period. h. Based on their textbook account of this period, have students work collaboratively to design a “Three Flags Magic Mountain” theme park. What rides would they include representing the events that occurred under each flag? How would they choose to repre- sent each event? i.

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