Gold Rush

1. What was "gold fever?" 

• A. A disease caused by exposure to radioactive gold 
• B. A sudden rise in gold prices caused by the discovery of gold in California 
• C. A mental illness that caused people to mistake worthless metals for gold 
• D. The desire to get rich quick by acquiring California gold

2. Which of the following people was most likely to be a "49er?"

• A. A 50-year-old man who was a college professor of geology 
• B. A 30-year-old female farmer from Oklahoma 
• C. A 40-year-old man who was born and raised in California gold country
• D. A 20-year-old farmer from Missouri 

3. Place the following events in sequence: A) Gold is discovered in California; B) California becomes a state; C) The Alaska gold rush begins 

• A. A, B, C
• B. B, A, C 
• C. C, B, A 
• D. A, C, B 

4. What can you infer about California from the information presented in the movie?

• A. Before 1849, its capital city was San Francisco 
• B. Before 1849, relatively few people lived there 
• C. Before 1849, it was impossible to reach by land or sea
• D. Before 1849, it had a reputation for being lawless and violent

5. You were most likely to strike it rich in the California Gold Rush if you: 

• A. Got to California very quickly after gold had been discovered 
• B. Used devices like the long tom and the cradle 
• C. Avoided mining camps 
• D. Took the sea route to California instead of the land route 

6. If you wanted to go from New York to California by ship, you would: 

• A. Travel through the Panama Canal 
• B. Sail northward to the Arctic Ocean, head west, and then go south past Alaska 
• C. Sail through the Great Lakes, and then travel west along the Missouri River
• D. Sail south all the way around the tip of South America, and then go north again 

7. Which word best describes mining camps? 

• A. Wealthy 
• B. Placid 
• C. Rowdy 
• D. Large 

10. Why did the gold rush end? 

• A. California passed a law against gold prospecting 
• B. Most of the land in California was bought up by fortune-seekers 
• C. All the easy-to-find gold was quickly taken
• D. The Civil War broke out, and prospectors had to go and fight