People found gold in a river. Then thousands of people came to look for more.
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These are the new words for the Gold Rush. Match each word (1–8) to its meaning (A–H). Say your answers out loud — "I think 1 is D" — then check.
1 = D (gold) · 2 = F (a river) · 3 = B (a miner) · 4 = H (a tent)
5 = G (rich) · 6 = E (a shop) · 7 = A (a crowd) · 8 = C (a town)
Read each part. Then try the questions from memory, and talk about the last one.
It was January 1848, in California. At that time, California was quiet and had very few towns. A man called James Marshall was building a mill by a river. One morning, he looked in the water. He saw some small, bright, yellow pieces. They were heavy. It was gold!
The land belonged to a man called John Sutter. Sutter was not happy. He knew that gold could bring many people and problems. So he tried to keep the gold a secret. But a secret like this is very hard to keep.
Soon a shopkeeper called Sam Brannan heard the news. He was clever. First, he bought a lot of shovels and pans. Then he walked through the town of San Francisco with a bottle of gold. He shouted, "Gold! Gold from the river!" Now everybody wanted to go and find gold — and Brannan sold them the tools.
1. What did James Marshall find, and where?
2. What did Sam Brannan do to get rich?
1. He found gold in the water of a river, while he was building a mill in California.
2. He bought a lot of tools first, then told everyone about the gold. So he sold the tools to the crowds and became rich.
In 1849, the news went all around the world. Thousands and thousands of people came to California to find gold. People called them the "forty-niners", because it was the year 1849. They came from America, China, Mexico, Chile, Ireland and many other places.
The journey was very hard. Some people came in wagons across the mountains. Some people came on ships. The trip took many months, and some people died on the way. But everybody wanted the same thing: gold.
Life in the goldfields was difficult. At the start, there was gold in the rivers, and it was easy to find. People lived in small tents. New towns grew very fast. But there was not much food, and the shops sold things for a lot of money. One egg cost a lot! Most people did not get rich. The people who got rich were often the shopkeepers, not the miners.
1. Who were the "forty-niners", and where did they come from?
2. Why did most miners not get rich?
1. They were the thousands of people who came to California in 1849 to find gold. They came from all over the world — America, China, Mexico, Chile, Ireland and more.
2. The gold was hard to find after a while, and food and things in the shops cost a lot of money. The shopkeepers got rich, not the miners.
The Gold Rush changed California very fast. So many people came that, in 1850, California became a state of the United States. San Francisco grew from a small town into a big city. There were new roads, new banks and new shops everywhere.
But the Gold Rush was not good for everyone. Native people already lived on this land. When the miners came, they took the land. Many Native people lost their homes and their food, and very many of them died. It was a terrible time for them. Chinese people and Mexican people also had many problems, because other miners were not kind to them.
The land changed too. When the easy gold was gone, big companies used water to break the hills and move rivers. This made a mess of the land. The wild years of the Gold Rush were short — only a few years. But they made a new state, changed a country, and hurt many people and the land.
1. What good things did the Gold Rush bring to California?
2. Who and what had big problems because of the Gold Rush?
1. California became a state in 1850, San Francisco became a big city, and there were new roads, banks and shops.
2. The Native people lost their land, their food and their homes, and many died. Chinese and Mexican people had problems too. The land was also damaged.
This story tells us what was in a place in the past — gold in the river, people in the towns, food in the shops. We use there was and there were to say this.
Read the sentence and choose the correct one.
1. gold in the river. (gold = we do not count it)
2. thousands of people in California. (people = many)
3. a lot of new towns. (towns = many)
4. not much food in the shops. (food = we do not count it)
1. There was (gold — one uncountable thing)
2. There were (people — more than one)
3. There were (towns — more than one)
4. There was (food — uncountable)
Choose the correct word for each sentence.
1. There was gold in the water, so people were happy. (a small amount, "yes")
2. There wasn't food in the town. ("no" sentence)
3. There were people — many thousands of them! (a big amount)
4. Was there gold in the river? (a question)
1. some (a "yes" sentence)
2. any (a "no" sentence)
3. a lot of (a big amount)
4. any (a question)
Fill each gap with there was, there were, some, any or a lot of. Read it aloud when you finish.
In 1849, thousands of people in California. gold in the rivers, so people were happy. But new people every day, and soon there wasn't food in the shops. There were problems for everyone.
there were (people) · There was some (gold) · there were a lot of (new people) · any (food, "no" sentence) · a lot of (problems)
Use there was for uncountable things (gold, food) and there were for things we count (people, problems).
There is a real podcast about the Gold Rush. It is for native speakers, so it is fast and quite difficult — that is normal! You do not need to understand every word.
From the Noiser podcast network. About 50 minutes. Find it on the Noiser site, or search "Short History Of The Gold Rush" on Spotify.
Find it on Noiser →Do all three tasks out loud. Use the timer to keep talking.
Tell the story of the Gold Rush in your own words. Use these steps to help you: gold in the river in 1848 → Sam Brannan tells everyone → thousands of people come in 1849 → life is hard and few people get rich → California becomes a state, but Native people lose their land.
Try to use there was and there were, and some / any / a lot of, and some of the key words (gold, river, miner, tent, rich, shop, crowd, town).
Imagine you live in 1849. Everyone is going to California to find gold. Would you go too? Why, or why not? Think about the long journey, the danger, and the small chance of getting rich.
Tell a story of your own. Talk about a place and what was there. Use there was and there were, and some / any / a lot of.
Not sure what to talk about? Choose one: