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PREVIEW COURSES
SOC 900 History of the
SOC 902 Monterey: Historic Capital of Monterey SOC 903 Los Angeles: Reflection on its Heritage SOC 906 California's Mission Period
Study Course Information and/or Registration Click Here to Bookmark This Site Now
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Teachers: The photos shown on the following pages are Information Sites you will visit as you take the Self-Directed (Independent) Social Science Study Course, SOC 901, "California's Gold Rush - 49ers/Miners," offered through the School of Professional Studies, Fresno Pacific University. Accreditation: Fresno Pacific University is the only fully accredited, Christian liberal arts senior school in the southern part of California's great Central Valley. The School of Professional Studies, through its Center for Professional Development (CPD), offers a variety of independent study courses to help meet the ever-increasing demand for professional growth for K-12 educators. To provide flexibility and to better serve the needs of the school community, these courses are delivered using a combination of modalities: printed materials and texts, audiotapes, videotapes, CD-ROM, and on-line distance learning. These courses are not on-campus courses. SOC 901, is a Self-Guided (Independent) Study Course designed to help teachers become more knowledgeable about the history of California. (Each of the courses offered by Bob and Elaine Kirchner is unique in its purpose, requirements, assignments, materials and visitation sites.) Inasmuch as travel is by the student's private car, the Self-Guided (Independent) study format permits the busy teacher/student to "self-determine" when to complete on-site visitation requirements. It also permits the student an opportunity to have family/friends share in both the "home" and "on-site" learning experiences. Travel is by the teacher's private car, and teachers may enroll at any time during the year. Teachers have up to one year to complete all course requirements. A weekend (or any two days) in the historic site area will allow the teacher/student time to complete On-Site Visitation requirements for each of the six Self-Guided (Independent) Study Courses offered by Bob and Elaine Kirchner. Off-site requirements may be completed at home, and the teacher has up to one year to complete all requirements. Many Interesting Photos are included in this preview; therefore, "download" time may take about a minute. If you have questions, please contact the instructor via email at the bottom of this page. Prior to taking the field study trip, teachers are to listen to the introduction tape by Dr. Jim Holliday, author of The World Rushed In.
 The first stop on the Gold Rush tour is a visit to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, located at Coloma, California. During the visit to the park teachers will see many interesting relics from the Gold Rush Period. The photos below are of the James Marshall statue. Marshall is credited with having discovered gold at Coloma, Californian on January 24, 1848. The bottom picture in the series of three photos shows visitors with their horses and buggies making their way up the dirt road in order to attend dedication ceremonies of the statue.
The person in the photo below, standing next to the sawmill, is generally believed to be James Marshall.
John Sutter sent James Marshall to the Coloma area to build a sawmill. Sutter needed lumber for the many projects which he was planning. In order to cut tree logs into lumber for buildings, Marshal needed a power supply. He chose to locate the sawmill along the South Fork of the American River. There, he had water for power, and he had trees for logs to cut into lumber. Marshall designed a millrace through which water from the American River would flow. The millrace was to be dug in the shape of the letter "C." A sawmill would to be built to straddle the millrace, and the American River would provide power to turn a paddlewheel attached to the sawmill. At the head of the millrace Marshall would build a "lock-type" device which could prevent the flow of water through the millrace during its construction. During the day, the flow of water was blocked while men blasted and worked to build the millrace. Each night water would be allowed to flow through the millrace and clean out the debris. Early one morning, Marshall was inspecting the tailrace (that area of the millrace through which the water flowed after having passed the paddlewheel) and he saw several shiny bits of "rock." He collected them and took them to the wife of Peter Wimmer, one of the workers. Mrs. Wimmer boiled the shiny "rocks" overnight in lye water which she used for making soap. The shiny "rocks" did not dissolve. James Marshall had found gold!
 Below: This end view of the sawmill clearly shows the sawmill and the paddlewheel which was powered by flowing water. Connected to the paddlewheel was a pitman arm that rotated a single-blade saw in a vertical direction.
In addition to the sawmill replica, visitors can visit the excellent MGDSHP museum, see gold rush exhibits, watch videos, take a walking tour of an area containing gold rush equipment, and walk along the American River where many historical landmarks have been located and identified.
 Below: An "arrastre" was a device used by the miners to crush ore so the small particles of gold could be recovered more easily. Animals were used to pull the large boulders over quartz-bearing gold.
 Immediately across from the American River and the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park are hundreds of campsites. Other camping facilities, a bed and breakfast, and the Vineyard House are also very near.
The second Information Site to be visited by teachers enrolled in SOC 2001, California's Gold Rush - 49ers/miners, is the Northstar Mine Powerhouse, located in Grass Valley, California. The museum is excellent, the equipment on display outside is unique, and there is a beautiful picnic area with a stream running close by.
 Below: Copper plates such as these were located in front of the stampmill. (Note the five large stampmill stamps behind the plates. Each stamp weighed as much as 1,000 pounds.) Gold-bearing quartz rocks were crushed and a mixture of water, sand, gold, and other minerals from the crushed quartz (amalgamation) flowed over these copper plates which were coated with mercury. The gold adhered to the mercury. It was later scraped off the plates and taken to the retort room to be heated and separated from the mercury which was used again and again in the recovery process.
 Below: A Cornish pump was a device introduced to gold mining by the Cornish miners who had come to America from Cornwall, England. The Cornish miners were experienced copper and tin miners, and it was they who designed the Cornish pump as a tool for removing water from down in the mines.
 Below: A steam hoist provided steam power. This one-cylinder hoist ate numerous cords of wood each day. During the gold rush, lumber had to be shipped in for nearby forests were often stripped of all trees in order to feed steam engines.
The final Information Stop teachers are required to visit is the Empire Mine State Historic Park, also located in Grass Valley, California. Plan on spending several hours at this very interesting site. Pictured below are instructors and their wives as they worked together to develop California's Gold Rush: 49ers/Miners, a course of study for teachers. Also pictured is one of the Park Officials who helped in so many ways to make the course meaningful, practical, and interesting for teachers. The photo was taken in one of the several Empire Mine areas teachers will tour as they listen to taped interviews with the Empire Mine's outstanding docents.
 Teachers who visit to the Empire Mine will be treated to a walking tour of the beautiful grounds, and a video. Other points of interest include the Bourn Cottage, the headframe, assay shop, retort house, changing room, and a stampmill.
The Empire mine was closed during World War II, when the War Production Board halted nonessential industries, such as gold mining. "The mine reopened in 1945, but the price of gold remained fixed at its 1934 level of $35 an ounce, providing little profit. By the early 1950's, inflation had driven the cost of mining to $5 per ounce of gold. The company could not pay the miners enough to feed their families. Consequently, on July 5, 1956, the miners went on strike. For several months thereafter, while the strike continued, the big underground mining equipment began in January 1957. On May 28, the last pump was shut down and the mine finally closed. Its equipment was sold at auction in September 1959. By then, the total gold production by the Empire Mine had reached nearly six million ounces. (More than two billion dollars worth of gold at today's prices.)"
"The great pumps that once lifted a million gallons of water a day are silent now, and the mine is flooded 180 feet below the surface. Gone are the hundreds of Cornish miners who dug 367 miles of tunnels - some of which angled downward into the earth some 11,000 feet, nearly a full, vertical mile below the surface. Gone are the great hoists and cables that enabled the miners to travel thousands of feet down the shaft. Gone are the mules that pulled the ore trains through the tunnels. But the gold is still there, awaiting a time when deep, hardrock gold mining might again be profitable."
 The Empire Mine prospered after capitalist William Bourn gained controlling interest in 1869, but his death in 1874 was followed by a slump in production. The Bourn Cottage, shown below, is a featured attraction of the Empire Mine.
"The most important factor in the success of hardrock mining in California was the immigration of skilled miners from Cornwall, England, where hardrock tin and copper mining had been carried on for over a thousand year. These Cornishmen brought experience, skill and the latest technological advances in mining equipment. By 1890, the population of Grass Valley was reportedly 85% Cornish. And because every Cornish miner seemed to have an unlimited supply of relatives to recommend for every mine job, and since many of the miners wanted to undertake the hard, dangerous work only with trusted friends and relatives, the Cornishmen soon received the nickname, Cousin Jacks."
Would you like to have photos which you took during your Self-Directed Study Course trip placed on the WWW? If so, please send them to the instructor with your signature and date on the back of each photo. An effort will be made to display one or more of your photos along with other photos. Please write a brief description of the photo details: where taken, when, etc.
Other Self-Guided Independent Study Courses
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