Explore the rich and complex history of California in just 13 minutes from its Indigenous roots and Spanish colonization to ...

A fire in San Ramon Wednesday morning severely damaged the historic 19th-century Harlan House, also known as El Nido House, ...

Estimated Time Required 2-3 class periods. Grades 6-12. Objective. In this lesson, students learn about the California Gold Rush of 1849 through miners’ letters and art/photos, then research the ...

By the end of the 1850s, the California Gold Rush fizzled out. The most profitable deposits in California became exhausted. And once that happened, many miners went to look for gold elsewhere.

During the peak years of the gold rush, the population of indigenous people in California dropped from some 150,000 to roughly 31,000, according to the International Indian Treaty Council.

California’s winter storms may have opened up some opportunities for seasoned gold-seeking hobbyists, but the terrain remains rocky in more ways than one.