Still Finding Gold in El Dorado County

By Shirly Richards and Mary Cory

In 1847, John Sutter and millwright James W. Marshall traveled from Sacramento along the South Fork of the American River searching for a mill site. They chose a spot on the river that the Native Americans who lived there called Cullomah, now known as Coloma. The Miwok and Maidu people inhabited the area. Few if any settlers were recorded in the area that became El Dorado County until after Marshall made his startling gold discovery on January 24, 1848.

Within months, word of this discovery reached all areas of the globe. The news promoted visions of gold just lying on the ground, free for the taking! Adventurers began to flock in with the first news and, soon, argonauts were arriving from Europe, Mexico, Russia and all over the United States. Many came from Chile, Peru, Australia and China.

Thus began the great California gold rush, right here in El Dorado County. At this time, the only road into the area was one running from Sutter’s Fort in Sacramento along the South Fork of the American River to Coloma. As far back as 1826, the Jedediah Smith expedition sought to cross the Sierra Nevada in this area but was stopped by Indians and rugged terrain. It wasn’t until 1844 that U.S Army Captain John C. Fremont, on his way to Sutter’s Fort, led his starving, freezing troop of topographers over what is now known as Carson Pass, soon to become a route to the gold fields.

By the summer of 1849, tens of thousands of people flooded every canyon and ravine, to find the sudden riches that would change their lives. Historians estimate the population swelled to 200,000 people!

The miners needed food, shelter, tools and services. People of the Washoe tribe lived mainly along the Truckee and Carson rivers east of the mountains. These people had traveled and traded along their traditional routes, many of which became the trails and rough roads used by the new miners. The most widely used trade route was from San Francisco through Sacramento. Soon our area sported everything from livery stables to dancehalls, enterprises that often proved more profitable than mining. One success story is that of John M. Studebaker, who came to El Dorado County in 1853 to seek his fortune mining gold. He quickly found that hopeful miners would pay him handsomely for one of his well-built wheelbarrows. After five years, he returned to Indiana with his fortune of $8,000 to invest in his family’s wagon making business. Sometime later he founded the Studebaker Automobile Company.

Dry Diggins was the original name of a gold camp that sprang up along the canyon creek, later called Hangtown Creek. Robberies and murders were prevalent for a time, and with no organized justice system the citizens were compelled to deal out their own justice. When men were suspected of a crime, the townspeople would convene and try the case. Dry Diggins was nicknamed “Hangtown” after several men were hung from an oak tree. The stump of the oak tree is still under the floor of the present saloon, the Hangman’s Tree. After three years, as the town grew, the residents wanted a more appropriate name. It became Placerville in 1854.

When California became a state in 1850, Coloma was the county seat of El Dorado County, but the faster growing town of Placerville replaced it in 1857. California is called the Gold Discovery State due to the hard and unrelenting work of these seekers of a better way of life. During the middle- to late-1850s, as gold ore became scarce, thousands of these 49ers returned home, many without having found the Golden Fleece. But some stayed to become farmers, loggers, builders and merchants while enjoying the good health and vigorous life they found in this wild and beautiful county.

The Tahoe wagon road, generally following the route of the present Highway 50, was a difficult passage over steep terrain, but it carried thousands of wagons and carts to and from Nevada. The wagon road became an important interstate thoroughfare. In the beginning, the road was closed by snow in the winter. A Norwegian miner, known as Snowshoe Thompson, became a local hero when he strapped on homemade skis in 1856 and delivered the mail across the winter Sierra from Placerville to Genoa, Nevada. He continued the route for several years.

Dozens of communities formed along this important wagon route. The area now known as Kyburz was formed in 1861. Phillips, three miles west of Echo Summit, was established in1859 with a hotel and supply station. Ranchers regularly grazed their cattle in the high meadows of the Sierra during the summer and moved them to and from their winter grazing along the same wagon road. They were part of the growing importance of agriculture. An important source of income was wheat and other grain crops needed to supply feed for the many cattle, dairy cows, as well as sheep, horses and work oxen in El Dorado County. Orchards were planted, yielding crops for trade and commerce. By 1855 they recorded 1,608 apple trees, 1,159 peach trees and 3,000 grapevines. Pear, cherry and plum trees were planted in abundance later in the century. The potato was another major crop. There were 40 sawmills to accommodate the growing lumber industry. And a 75-mile telegraph line now ran through the county. Amazingly, by 1870, the total population of the county had leveled out to only 10,300, a figure not exceeded until World War II.

Again, transportation was a critical element in the growth of the county. In 1856, the railroad from Sacramento only came as far as Shingle Springs. Not until 1888 did it arrive at Placerville. The old emigrant road, now known as Mormon Emigrant Trail, joined the Carson Valley in Nevada to Placerville and points west. In 1860 the Pony Express was established to transport mail between St. Joseph, Mo., and Sacramento. It followed this same route, establishing Pony Express station stops such as Pacific House and Strawberry, along the way. The Pony Express only lasted until 1861, but places like these and Sportsman’s Hall in Cedar Grove, another Pony Express station stop, live on today.

During the first quarter of the 20th century, the automobile arrived, and the Tahoe wagon road became a branch of the Lincoln Highway. This state-maintained highway connected Sacramento to the Lake Tahoe region of El Dorado County, and tourism soon became an important industry. El Dorado County became known for its recreational attractions, majestic scenery and quiet atmosphere. Summer resorts such as Bijou, Al Tahoe and Tallac Village, established in the late 19th century, grew as part of the resort industry around the shores of Lake Tahoe. Eventually they were incorporated in the new town of South Lake Tahoe in 1967. By the 1960s, the county’s population had grown again, numbering about 30,000.

El Dorado County, one of the state’s original 27 counties, is well named. El Dorado means “The Gilded One.” Our early history surely was a golden one, influencing the growth of the entire state. Our county’s rich, gold-filled foothills attracted people from all over the world and later became the thoroughfare between San Francisco and the silver bonanza in Virginia City. Later, because of its extensive forests, it became an important source of lumber. The county’s economy is now based on agriculture, trade and commerce.

The fortune the pioneers made is here for us to enjoy in the country that they tamed, the complex history we share and our way of life. One hundred and fifty years later, visitors are delighted to know that the history of this unique era is being preserved. Our museums and historical attractions provide us a glimpse of the daily life of our own predecessors.

There is now a growing interest in historical events, as well as in the life of the Native Americans who lived here. Archaeological investigations began to bring to light information about their lives and the beautiful woven baskets and other artwork made by the talented women of the tribes. Many groups have made a concerted effort to preserve the gold rush history. For example, when James W. Marshall died in 1885, the funeral was held at Emmanuel Church in Coloma on the hill near Marshall’s cabin, and Marshall was buried on top of the hill behind the present park. Later, his burial spot was donated to the state by Placerville Parlor No. 9 of the Native Sons of the Golden West. At the urging of the Native Sons, the legislature appropriated funds for the Marshall monument. It was erected in 1890 and designated as the first state historic monument. In 1945, renewed interest in the gold discovery caused the mill site to be designated a state historic landmark. Further properties in the area were acquired by the state. In 1962, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park was officially named and dedicated. Emmanuel Church is still a remarkable historic building, and is used by the public for weddings and other special occasions.

Just north of Placerville lies a 61-arce park, the site of nearly 250 exploratory diggings that were first made by the Chileans starting in 1848. The Gold Bug mine was opened under the name “The Hattie” in 1888. In 1926, it was renamed the Gold Bug and continued operation until World War II. The property was acquired by the city of Placerville in 1965. In 1985, Hangtown’s Gold Bug Park and Mine joined the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors now have the pleasure of entering an actual gold mine. It is a 352-foot horizontal drift hard rock mine. Through the work of a group of Placerville residents, the park was developed to include a covered picnic area, a restored stamp mill, a gift shop and museum, improved hiking trails to many of the old mine sites and a restored pond on Big Canyon Creek. Both these important sites and the El Dorado County Museum have facilities to welcome tourists and residents alike.

Many businesses in the county have been in continual operation for more than 100 years, and several for 150 years. There has been a hotel on the corner of Main Street and Quartz Avenue since 1849. The original building burned in the great fire of 1856, and in 1857 a brick structure—the Historic Cary House Hotel—was erected. The Placerville Hardware Store just celebrated its 150th anniversary. Randolph Jewelers also has been in business for 150 years. Combellack’s Men’s Store was opened in the late 1880s and has been continuously operated by the Combellack family. There are several other businesses claiming this longevity in the county’s many communities. In Georgetown, the American River Inn was originally built in 1853 as a boarding house and has offered residents and tourists a place to stay for the last 150 years.

Looking up and down the main streets of these towns, you can see many other buildings that were built in the middle- to late-1800s. The Fountain Tallman Museum, the Chamber of Commerce and the El Dorado County Historical Museum offer a booklet to guide you on a walking tour of Placerville.

At the present time, well over a dozen 100-year-old Victorian buildings have been restored and put to use as bed and breakfast inns. They include gold rush hotels, splendid Victorian mansions and farmhouses. All these properties have been lovingly restored yet retain their historic feel. Each is unique and was required to validate its historic background to the city of Placerville or El Dorado County officials.

People are still finding gold in El Dorado County. The population more than doubled between 1960 and 1980. In the next 20 years, the population doubled yet again to 162,586 people in 2001. Tens of thousands of foreign and domestic visitors each year visit our attractions to experience the feelings and learn the facts of the most important period in the history of this state. We urge you to visit El Dorado County and enjoy our history.

There are dozens of historical accounts of the gold rush and the ensuing 150 years of the charm of El Dorado County. We offer an abbreviated list for further reading pleasure. These titles and more are available at the El Dorado County Museum, Hangtown’s Gold Bug Park, Marshall Gold Discovery Park and the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce:

Placerville Reflections by Elizabeth Fairchild and Jon McCabe, 2002
I Remember by Betty Yohalem, 1976
Old Hangtown by Jack Winkler, 2000
Historical Perspective of the Pleasant Valley Area by George Peabody, 1988
El Dorado and Diamond Springs, California by Alan Patera, 2001