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The California Gold Rush is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how gold changed where people lived, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.6.3-5. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 23 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

The California Gold Rush

D2.Geo.6.3-5

NameDate

Choose the best answer.

1.Why are the gold seekers called "forty-niners"?
  • A.Most of them arrived in 1849
  • B.There were only 49 of them
  • C.They were all 49 years old
2.Why did new towns spring up beside rivers in the Sierra Nevada foothills?
  • A.It never rained beside the rivers
  • B.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams
  • C.The Spanish missions built them
3.In the 1850s California made miners who were not US citizens pay special taxes. Who did this hurt most?
  • A.The governor
  • B.Miners from New York
  • C.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
4.How did San Francisco change after gold was found?
  • A.It stayed the same size
  • B.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  • C.Everyone left it
5.How did most forty-niners from the East travel to California?
  • A.By airplane
  • B.By train across the country
  • C.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
6.When did California become a state?
  • A.In 1850
  • B.In 1776
  • C.In 1959
7.Chinese immigrants came to California in large numbers in the 1850s. Which is true?
  • A.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  • B.None of them stayed in America
  • C.They were welcomed by every law
8.Where did the gold seekers come from?
  • A.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China
  • B.Only from Spain
  • C.Only from California

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.6.3-5 · Set 23 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — The California Gold Rush

Set 23. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Most of them arrived in 1849
  2. 2.Miners settled where gold could be found in the streams
  3. 3.Mexican, Chilean and Chinese miners
  4. 4.It grew from a small town to a city of tens of thousands
  5. 5.By wagon across the country, or by ship around South America or across Panama
  6. 6.In 1850
  7. 7.They worked hard as miners and in businesses but faced unfair laws and violence
  8. 8.From across the United States and from countries such as Mexico, Chile and China

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.6.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.