Warm-up What can you infer about the settlement of California from this picture?

Warm-upWhat can you infer about the settlement of

California from this picture?

Objectives:

1. Explain the causes of settlement of California and Oregon.

2. Compare and contrast the settlement of California and Oregon.

• "It was a clear, cold morning; I shall never forget that morning. As I was taking my usual walk,...my eye was caught with the glimpse of something shining in the bottom of the ditch. There was about a foot of water running then. I reached my hand down and picked it up; it made my heart thump, for I was certain it was gold."

The Trails to the West

• In 1843 a group of one thousand pioneers left Independence, Missouri and headed west on the Oregon Trail

• The journey was 2000 miles and included 100 wagons and 5,000 cattle

• Travelers on the Oregon Trail usually left in May and arrived in Oregon in early October

• The journey to the west on the Oregon Trail becomes an annual event with thousands of people making the trip each year

Who settled in Oregon and why did people move there?

• Before 1840 Oregon was mostly settled by men who moved there to be involved in the fur trade

• In the 1840’s the demand for furs dropped, and fur industry was declining

• In 1846 the United States gained control of the Oregon territory

• The first settlers in the 1840’s were white missionaries who wanted to convert the Native Americans to Christianity

• Missionaries sent back reports about the land in the west

• They sent back stories about wheat that grew taller than a man and turnips that were five feet around

• Many farmers and their families moved to Oregon because of these stories about the wonderful land in Oregon

Who settled California and why did people move there?

• In 1848 the United States gained control of California when they signed the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo with Mexico

• In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's sawmill• Within a few days of the discovery word spread

to San Francisco • People rushed immediately to dig for gold;

carpenters threw down their saws, bakers left bread in ovens, and schools emptied as teachers and students went to look for gold

• The news soon spread to the rest of the United States and the world

• People from all over the United States, Europe, China, Australia, and South America rushed to California to search for gold

• In 1849 more than 80,000 people went to California

• Women were also part of the gold rush

• Some women went west to search for gold, but many others ran boarding houses, took in laundry, sewed, and ran bakeries

• Very few gold miners actually struck it rich, but people running businesses made a great deal of money

• Many miners who originally moved to California to mine gold stayed and ran businesses or started farming

"I advise you to rent the farm and make your arrangements to come to California by Oct. next if practicable...this is a country where an industrious man can earn money you can make yourself...independent in five years. The miners will not farm and they must eat." Jesse Smart, a Maine nurseryman, writing to his son from Tuolumne County in January 1853