A series of model derivatized guar polymer samples were crosslinked with three different metal-ion crosslinkers in order to better understand the complex chemical reactions involved in producing fracturing fluid gels. The gels were studied using steady shear viscosity and dynamic oscillatory measurements. Dynamic oscillatory mea~urements are often more sensitive probes of the structure of crosslinked gels than are steady shear viscosity measurements and, therefore, both viscosity and dynamic oscillatory measurements are needed to fully characterize fracturing fluids. We present examples of fluids with nearly identical viscosities but different moduli--indicating different network structures in the gel. The gels considered represent commonly used fracturing fluids such as titanat~ crosslinked hydroxypropyl guar (HPG), titanate crosslinked carboxymethyl hydroxypropyl guar (CMHPG), and aluminum crosslinked CMHPG. The effect of molar substitution of hydroxypropyl groups (MS level) on HPG crosslinked with two titanate crosslinkers is presented. The effects of MS and degree of substitution of carboxyl groups (DS level) changes for CMHPG gels crosslinked with titanates and aluminum ions are also presented.An explanation of the mechanism involved in titanate crosslinking is offered from evidence gathered from NMR and dynamic light scattering· experiments.