Digital collections of Civil War era newspapers are great
resources and are available at a number of different sites. One
that I want to highlight is UC Riverside’s California Digital
Newspaper Collection, which includes the Daily Alta Californian
(1849-1891) and the Sacramento Daily Union (1856-76). Each issue
can be downloaded as a PDF file. Several lesson plans are also
available on the site. Teachers may also want to check out the
USC Digital Library. This site offers several newspapers,
including the Los Angeles El Clamor Publico (1855-1859) and the
Los Angeles Star (1851-1864). Thousands of historic maps and
images, such as California’s first State House, can also be
downloaded.