8.1
EXTRACTING THE FAR
WEST
IN THE NINETEENTH
CENTURY
1845 - 1925
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2. GREEN VERSUS GOLD
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The Green Dominion
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The Golden State
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Co-mingling of green and gold
3. Green Versus Gold
Green Dominion
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Organic nature: animals trees,
fields
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Trade in otter pelts, whales,
hides and tallow,
redwoods
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Environmental impacts
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Preservation and restoration
of habitats and
species
Gold Dominion
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Inorganic economy: gold,
water, coal, oil
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Market economy based on gold
standard
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Resource exploitation
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Development of railroads and
highways; malls
4. Sea Otter Trade
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Trade in "soft gold" Pacific
coast otter pelts.
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Vitus Bering, Danish captain
for Russia, 1741.
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John Webber, 1778 sea otter
drawing.
5. Alexander Baranov
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Manager of Russian America fur
company, 1790
- 1818.
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Created Alaskan empire in
Sitka.
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Formed alliance with Boston
sea captain Joseph
O'Cain, 1803.
6. Russian Sea Otter Trade
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Aleutian Alaskan natives
captured otters with
pronged bone spears.
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Aleuts brought to California
by Boston sea
captain Joseph O'Cain for otter trade, 1803.
7. Aleut Baidarkas
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Aleuts forced to labor for
Russians.
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1780s: 1 sea otter skin worth
one year's income.
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Otters gone by 1842.
8. Fort Ross Russian Outpost, 1812
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Hunting bases at Fort Ross,
Bodega Bay, Drake's
Bay, Farallon Islands, and Channel Islands to San Quintin in Baja.
9. Green and Gold
Green
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Six biotic provinces of
California
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Green gold agriculture
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Fertility
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Green and golden parks: Golden
Gate Park
Gold
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Seven states of California
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White gold water power
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Wealth
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Green gold theme parks;
shopping malls
10. The Seven States of California
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1. Deserts: Sun, Minerals
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2. Sierra: Trees, Gold
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3. Northeast: Fire, Forests
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4. Northwest: Water, Trees
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5. Central Valley: Soils, Farms
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6. Central Coast: Fish, Ports,
Earthquakes
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7. Southern California: Oil,
Citrus
11. United States Acquisitions
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Texas, 1845; Oregon, 1846;
Mexican, 1848;
Gadsden, 1853
12. American Progress
13. Westward the Course of Empire
Takes its
Way
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Emanuel Leutze, 1861, U.S.
Capitol
14. Gold Mines in California
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Mother Lode: Sutter's Mill
south to Mariposa.
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Belief that a mother vein was
source of all
gold in region.
15. Gold Particle
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Bacteria accumulate gold, 0.1
mm/24 karats
16. Gold Prospector
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Gold found in Sierra Nevada,
Cascades, and
Rockies.
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Deposits form as hot liquid
gold flows into
fissures and cracks in earth.
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Eroded placer gold in streams;
veins and lodes
in solid rock.
17. Perils of the Journey
18. And the World Rushed In
19. Types of Gold Mining
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Panning, cradle, pick, sluice,
hydraulicking.
20. Discussion Questions
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Is the "Golden State" of
California a direct
result of a bountiful environment?
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Who or what are the winners
and losers in
California's environmental history?
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