What’s a Gold Trek and how I got involved

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be one of the miners who came to California in the 1850s, looking for gold?

Well, a bunch of 4th graders got to experience that all through March in Columbia Historical State Park. My mom, my sister, and I got to be the ones selling them supplies!

A little while ago, probably in February, one of our docent friends at Columbia State Historical Park told us about an event called Gold Trek. She asked us if we wanted to volunteer this year, and we said yes! And here the story begins…

What is Gold Trek All About?

Gold Trek is an event where 4th graders from local schools and schools from the Bay Area come to Columbia State Historical Park and act as if they were miners heading for the gold mines. 

Each class is divided into groups with about 5 students each, and each group starts off with 30 Eagles, which are little gold coins that the students use as currency.

Everyone starts at the beginning, where:

• A doctor is selling a First aid kit,
• a Map Maker selling maps (who would’ve guessed?),
• a Bakery selling jerky, dried fruit, beans, and hardtack, and
• a Merchant selling rope, blankets, pickaxes, shovels, shotguns, gold pans, wheelbarrows, and wagons.

After the students bought what they needed, they would continue down the road until they reached River Crossing. The volunteers at the River Crossing station would roll a dice to decide whether or not the travelers made it safely across the river.

The next station is Letters & Lemons, where the volunteers will try and sell the students… letters and lemons!

In the 1850’s many miners caught a disease called scurvy along their journey, and the lemons helped fight scurvy. The letters contained a message from the traveler’s “family”, and I can’t really tell what was inside of it.

Further down the road, there was the Gold Grease station, which was just a scam. They would also try and convince the travelers to take the shortcut, but if they only read the letter… Oh well.

After that, a volunteer with a ‘broken ankle’ needed help, and the students could decide whether or not to help him. 

Then came the end, where the students would be ‘graded’ on how well they did. And if they wanted to, they could go pan for gold, too.

In a way, this event tested the students’ teamwork and gave them a chance to buy and trade for necessities.

Lots of decision-making. Team building. Leadership skills practicing opportunities. Great event for all of us!

Preparing For Gold Trek

As the docents helping to organize this event, we needed to have period costumes to wear. A few weeks after we found out about the event, we went to the Costume Resource Center the park has for its volunteers. Each of us got a dress and a SUPER cool coat. These clothes were made to fit the 1850 time period and would be very expensive if we were to lose them or destroy them. For example, my costume had a total value of 775$!

I’m pretty sure all three of us accidentally put the dresses on backward when we were first trying them on. 😂

Our Experiences Volunteering In Gold Trek

Our first time going to Gold Trek was March 7. When we arrived, we put on our costumes and walked around, finding where our stations would be. My sister and I got to be at the station Letters & Lemons, while our mom was at the very beginning. 

Since it was our first time, and our mom wasn’t there with us, my sister and I were slightly nervous. But when the first group of 4th graders arrived, and we did our little speech about the letters and lemons we were selling, we realized it wasn’t really that bad, and actually quite fun!

On the second week, I got too sick to go, but my mom and sister went and worked at the Letters & Lemons stations again. On the third week, however, all three of us went and worked at the Bakery, where we were selling jerky, dried fruit, beans, and hardtack to the 4th graders!

Me and my sister had a competition where whoever had the most eagles in their cup by the end of the event would win. My sister ended up winning by like, 20 eagles, so oh well…

One of the things I noticed was that some of the groups of 4th graders would come back to the Bakery, after they had bought everything else they needed for their journey, and spend the rest of their eagles on food. What they didn’t know, was they would need those eagles later on.

Conclusion

All in all, this event was one of the funniest we’ve participated in since becoming a docent at the Columbia State Historic Park.

The event that I’ve been most excited about is… Diggins!! 

In May of 2023, our mom brought us to Columbia after learning that there was an exciting historic event going on in this old town. What I saw wasn’t just some old buildings from the 1800s, but a living town. A portal to the past.

People were panning for gold, baking bread in a furnace, ironing clothing, casually walking around the town, and so much more

I can’t wait to be able to participate in the very event that started our journey of volunteering at Columbia. That event is coming up again in 4 weeks! Mark the calendar and make a day trip to Columbia on one of these dates.

I felt so inspired by the event and was left wondering if I could participate as an actor, and here we are! Can’t wait to write another blog about my experience at Diggins from the perspective of a volunteer and not a visitor.

If you haven’t already, go check out my first posts about our lovely state park:

1. The 2023 Sonora Christmas Parade From a Bear Perspective

2. Visiting the incredible Columbia State Historic Park

If you’d like to learn more about the Columbia State Historic Park, click these:

1. Friends of Columbia State Historic Park Website

2. California Department of Parks and Recreation

3. Columbia State Historic Park Events

Click here is you’d like to become a docent at CSHP yourself!