Faith Voisin

Mrs. Harden

4 th/5 th Period

4 April 2024

Gold Rush Informative Essay

Who is Elsa Jane Forest Guerin? Elsa, better known as Mountain Charley, was an example of how women were treated badly. She played a significant role in how women were affected and lived with this treatment.

For a bit of background knowledge, the females who survived and made it to California were treated horribly by the men. During these times, there was not a good deal of jobs for them to do, however the wages were equal to those of men. On the downside, women were tricked, raped, and discriminated against. In my source, it says “Early in 1849 white miners from Oregon entered a Maidu village, raped several women, and shot the men who tried to resist” (Amplify Curriculum, page 615). This shows how women, of all races, were not seen as equals and were responded to with hatred. …show more content…
For example, even with the lack of jobs (especially for females), they hustled and worked with what they had. In my article, it says “One of the few options they had was employment in the sex industry”( Women of the Gold Rush - Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)). A certain number of women even had to sell their own bodies to survive, however, a few of them got lucky and started businesses. For an example of this is Harriet Pullen, who arrived poor and started baking to make money; over time she built her