Gold Miners In The American West

Question 1

What was a ‘49er’?

Answer 1

A gold prospector

Question 2

Wives - miners - prostitutes - shopkeepers: which came last to the American West?

Answer 2

Wives came last to the American West. At first the men were only there to make a quick fortune, so they didn’t intend to settle down.

Question 3

In which year did California set itself up as a state of the USA?

Answer 3

1850

Question 4

The Donner Party tried to follow the route of a famous trailblazer. What was his name?

Answer 4

Lansford W Hastings

Question 5

Which of these modern towns started off as a mining camp?

Answer 5

Virginia City

Question 6

In the 1820s and 1830s, what did the mountain men go to the Rockies to hunt?

Answer 6

Beavers, bears and elks, not wolves and rabbits

Question 7

Gold was discovered in California in 1848. How many miners were there in California in the spring of 1849?

Answer 7

40,000

Question 8

What trade did most men turn to when they gave up their hopes for gold?

Answer 8

Farming

Question 9

What did the Donner Party have to abandon while crossing the Salt Lake Desert?

Answer 9

Cattle

Question 10

What stopped the party just 150 miles from what is now Sacramento, California?

Answer 10

Snow