USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Thousands of would-be gold miners, known as 49ers for the year they arrived, traveled overland across the mountains or by sea, sailing to Panama or even around Cape Horn, the southernmost point of South America.

Detailed explanation-2: -Their journeys were long and difficult. They had to carry everything they needed, often pushing a wheelbarrow. If they walked from Melbourne to Ballarat, their journey was 113km and took at least three days. Miners often pushed wheelbarrows over incredible distances on rough tracks and across mountains.

Detailed explanation-3: -Life on the goldfields was exciting but conditions were harsh. The miner lived in a simple tent; canvas thrown across a timber frame, pegged to the ground over a dirt floor. For more comfort, he built a mudbrick fireplace at one end.

Detailed explanation-4: -Whole indigenous societies were attacked and pushed off their lands by the gold-seekers, called “forty-niners” (referring to 1849, the peak year for Gold Rush immigration). Outside of California, the first to arrive were from Oregon, the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) and Latin America in late 1848.