JUST FOR KIDS

How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush

If you want to know what it was really like during the California Gold Rush, this book is a great place to start. It isn’t a textbook telling all the facts, this is the inside story of the gold rush told by one of the miners himself, Thomas Hartley. Thomas tells the story from the day he heard about the discovery of gold in California. All the people around him can talk about is gold, “how much and how to get it and how to spend it once you’ve got it.” Of course, they forget to talk about all the work…and the danger. Thomas’s story includes blisters and rotting teeth, scurvy, dysentery, scheamers, crooks and murderers. A true adventure that just might end in fortune.

• Look Inside How to Get Rich in the California Gold Rush
• Online Game - See if You Can Strike it Rich
• American Experience Wayback U.S. History for Kids: Gold Rush!
• California’s Untold Stories: Gold Rush!
• In His Own Words: The Discovery of Gold in California by Gen. John A. Sutter

The Legend of Bass Reeves

Gary Paulsen, the author of this book, calls it “the true and fictional account of the most valiant marshal in the West.” Mr. Paulsen adds a little here and there to fill in the places where history left gaps…but for the most part, this is the story of a real guy - the first African-American U.S. Deputy Marshal west of the Mississippi - and this was in the 1870s! Bass became a legend, even in his own time. Some outlaws turned themselves in once they heard it was Bass that would be looking for them!

Bass was born to slave parents in the 1830s but escaped to the Indian Territory during the Civil War and lived with the Seminole and Creek Indians. After the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed slaves in 1863, Bass returned from the Indian Territory and settled in Arkansas. Because he knew how to speak several tribal languages and knew the land so well, he was hired as a U.S. Marshal. In his lifetime he brought in over 3,000 outlaws. This book is the story of how he went from being a child slave to being one of the most respected lawmen in the West. A really inspiring story and fun to read too. Bass was not boring and thought up all kinds of interesting ways to trap outlaws or trick them into custody. He could fight and he could shoot when he had too, but mostly, he was smart! Truly, one-of- kind!

• Read an Excerpt from The Legend of Bass Reeves
• U.S. Marshals Trading Cards
• The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History: Bass Reeves Biography
• United States Marshal’s Service History