FAN FAVORITE: California Gold Rush | Battlelines | 3

American History Tellers

Wondery

Society & Culture, Kids & Family, History, Education For Kids

4.7 • 18.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 August 2025

⏱️ 44 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

For white settlers, the Gold Rush offered a chance for fortune, but for California’s Native inhabitants, the sudden hunger for gold spelled disaster. As the numbers of miners grew, they forced Native people off their ancestral lands, often starving or slaughtering them in the process. As California became a state, informal policies that discriminated against indigenous Californians became law. Soon, the state would deploy militias to violently put down Indian resistance.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, history buffs, if you can't get enough of the captivating stories we uncover on American
0:04.7	history tellers, you'll love the exclusive experience of Wondry Plus.
0:08.4	Dive even deeper into the past with ad-free episodes, early access to new seasons, and
0:13.0	bonus content that brings history to life like never before.
0:16.2	Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple podcast and embark on an unparalleled journey through
0:21.4	America's most pivotal moments. A listener note, this episode contains descriptions of racial and
0:27.3	sexual violence and may not be suitable for everyone.
0:44.0	Imagine as a cold, stormy night in December 1849.
0:48.7	You're riding a horse across the ranch where you work in Napa Valley, California.
0:51.4	Normally, you'd be fast asleep by now.
0:54.6	Your boss expects you to be up for work by 5 a.m.
0:57.6	And he's been known to beat workers who show up late.
1:02.8	Most of his laborers, like you, are from the local Pomo and Wapo Indian tribes.
1:06.3	But tonight, you're praying your boss doesn't find out where you are.
1:10.7	Because you and another ranch hand have borrowed two of the boss's horses so you can steal a cow from
1:12.5	his herd. White miners have pushed tribes like yours off your ancestral lands, and as a result,
1:18.9	your people are starving. In an act of desperation, leaders from a nearby Pomo village hired you
1:25.2	to take one of the cows.
1:32.7	As you approach the field of cattle, you turn to your partner, a fellow Pomo named Shook.
1:34.5	I think we should back off tonight.
1:37.2	The lightning and thunder have the cattle spooked.
1:38.5	They look fine to me.
	...

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