1849 The California Gold Rush

1849. The California Gold Rush. Written by Cynthia Kennedy Hensel. Focus Question. What was the effect of the Gold Rush on westward expansion?

1849年。 加利福尼亚淘金热。 作者：辛西娅·肯尼迪·亨塞尔。 探究问题： 淘金热对西进运动产生了什么影响？

Gold! On the morning of January 24, 1848, James Marshall went to inspect the new mill his crew was building. In the mill's water, he spotted something shiny. He collected several pieces and showed his crew. They tested the pieces. It was gold. Four days later, Marshall went to show John Sutter, who owned the mill. Sutter had no wish to be overrun with gold hunters. Everyone agreed to keep the secret. Gold had been discovered in California.

黄金！ 1848年1月24日清晨，詹姆斯·马歇尔前去检查工人正在建造的新磨坊。 他在磨坊的水流里发现了一个闪闪发亮的东西。 他捡了好几块，拿给工人们看。 他们检测了这些石块。 这真的是黄金。 四天后，马歇尔去找磨坊的主人约翰·萨特展示黄金。 萨特可不希望这里挤满淘金的人。 所有人都约定要保守这个秘密。 加利福尼亚发现黄金了。

Keeping a Secret In 1848, the world was very different from today. There were no phones, TVs, or radios. There were no roads or railroads connecting California with the states in the east. It was harder to get a message from the east coast to California than it is to get a message to Mars today. At the time of Marshall's discovery, California belonged to Mexico. Nine days later, Mexico signed a treaty that gave California to the United States. Neither side knew about the gold. The secret got out when Sam Brannon found out. Brannon had a store at Sutter's Fort, where John Sutter lived. Brannon wanted to cash in when he heard the news, but he wasn't interested in mining. Instead, he bought all the shovels in San Francisco. Then he filled a bottle with gold dust and ran through the streets yelling about the great discovery. The city of 850 people almost emptied after Brannon sold them each a very expensive shovel.

秘密难守 1848年的世界和今天大不相同。 那时候没有电话、电视，也没有收音机。 也没有公路和铁路连接加利福尼亚和东部各州。 那时候从东海岸送信到加利福尼亚，比现在给火星发信息还要难。 马歇尔发现黄金时，加利福尼亚还属于墨西哥。 九天后，墨西哥签署条约，将加利福尼亚划归美国。 双方都不知道黄金的事。 山姆·布兰南得知消息后，秘密就泄露了。 布兰南在约翰·萨特居住的萨特堡开了一家商店。 布兰南听到消息后打算趁机赚钱，但他对淘金没兴趣。 他反而买下了旧金山所有的铲子。 接着他装了一瓶金砂，跑遍街头大喊这个伟大发现。 布兰南把铲子卖给所有人后，这座有850人的小城几乎走空了。

Panning. Unlike in most places, the gold in California was not locked deep under the ground. Erosion had long ago washed the metal down the mountains into the rivers. All people needed for placer mining was a shovel and a shallow flat pan. Placer mining works because gold is much heavier than gravel. The prospectors stood in the rivers and shoveled gravel into their pans. They removed large rocks, then carefully swirled the pan. The dirt and gravel spilled over the edges with the water. The shiny flakes of gold stayed at the bottom of the pan.

淘砂采金法。 和大多数地方不同，加利福尼亚的黄金不藏在地下深处。 长久的侵蚀作用早就把黄金从山上冲到了河流里。 砂矿开采只需要一把铲子和一个浅平底淘金盘就够了。 这种方法能行得通，是因为黄金比砂石重得多。 淘金者站在河里，把砂石铲进自己的淘金盘里。 他们捡走大石块，再慢慢摇晃淘金盘。 泥土和砂石跟着水溢出了盘边。 闪闪发亮的金箔就留在了淘金盘底部。

People from California and Oregon soon showed up to work the rivers near Sutter's Mill. Some of them were European, and some were Native American. Others came from Mexico. Next came prospectors from South America and Asia. At that time, it was easier to get to California from China than from the East Coast.

加利福尼亚和俄勒冈的人们很快赶来，开采萨特磨坊附近的河道。 其中一些是欧洲人，一些是印第安人。 还有一些人来自墨西哥。 接着，南美洲和亚洲的淘金者也来了。 那时候，从中国到加利福尼亚，比从东海岸到这里还要方便。

The 49ers. Back in the eastern states, gold fever didn't take hold until 1849. That year, 90 ,000 people joined the gold rush. These were the 49ers. Many gold seekers were clerks, teachers, or lawyers. Nine out of ten were men. Many couldn't cook, wash a shirt, build a shelter, or harness oxen to pull a wagon. Many left behind families. They planned to quickly make a fortune and come home. Around the tip, about half of the forty -niners decided to go by ship. More than 500 ships left Eastern and Gulf ports in 1849 for California. Ships took from five to eight months to sail from the East Coast around the tip of South America and back up to California.

四九淘金者。 美国东部各州直到1849年才掀起淘金热。 那一年，九万人加入了这场淘金潮。 他们就是“四九淘金者”。 很多淘金者原本是职员、老师或是律师。 十分之九的淘金者都是男性。 很多人不会做饭、洗衣服、搭帐篷，也不会套牛拉车。 很多人抛下了家人。 他们打算快点赚一大笔钱就回家。 大约一半的四九淘金者选择坐船前往加利福尼亚。 1849年，超过五百艘船从东部和墨西哥湾港口出发前往加利福尼亚。 从东海岸绕过南美洲南端再北上到加利福尼亚，航程需要五到八个月。