Decisions
Miners had decisions about how they got to the gold fields of California. They got to go on wagons or on a ship. The worst thing about a wagon is that the wagon might break, and the best thing about the wagon is that it can hold a lot of food and clothes in it. The best thing about going by ship is that the miner can put lots of cargo in the ship and the worst part about going by ship is that the boat might crash at Cape Horn.
Miners had to decide if they would pan, cradle, or long tom for gold. Pan would be the worst because the miner would earn less gold than a cradle and a long tom. A cradle is the second best because it can earn more gold than a pan. A long tom is the best of all because it earns a lot of money.
Miners had to get a claim from about 100 square feet in the good gold strikes and about 10,000 square feet in the bad gold strikes. The size is important because if there is a gold strike that is really good, the miner would need to let other people be there too.
Miners had to decide if they would have a group of miners or if they want to be by themselves.
When things went wrong like, when someone thinks they are being mistreated they would call a camp meeting. At the camp meeting miners would discuss how the miner is mistreated, and then if it’s really bad, the thief would be hung on a noose.