We hope that you will enjoy reading a little bit about the history of the town that founded our school. All articles have been copied in their entirety and references given. If you have any questions please call the school.
Indian Diggings Marble Links
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Please find below various articles about the history of the town of Indian Diggings.
Community Profiles – Indian Diggings
by Doug Noble • January 8, 2013
The first report of the discovery of gold at what would become the town of Indian Diggings, occurred in 1850 when a party of white men from Fiddletown (formerly called Oneida and then a part of El Dorado County) came across several Indians panning gold in the bed of what would soon be known as Indian Diggings creek.
Located some twenty-five miles southeast of Placerville near the Amador/El Dorado County line, the town of Indian Diggings soon became one of the richest surface and creek "diggings" around, and by 1855 was one of the largest towns in the southern part of El Dorado County with nine stores, five hotels, the usual number of saloons and some two thousand people.
The Indian Diggings post office was established on November 22, 1853 with Jacob Wolf ans its first postmaster. Because of a decrease in population, on June 15, 1869 it was moved a few miles north to Mendon (a Gold Rush town that no longer exists). It was moved back to Indian Diggings (now changed to Indian Diggin's) on March 23, 1888 and then moved to Omo Ranch on November 30, 1935.
Indian Diggings was one of the County's earliest school districts (1856). The Indian Diggings Elementary School District still exists and is now one of the two smallest districts in our County (Silver Fork being the other).
The first school was located about half way between Indian Diggings and Omo Ranch, some three miles distant. When the mining town was effectively abandoned, the school was closed and moved from the canyon up onto the ridge.
Water to serve the town and the mines was brought from the South Fork of the Cosumnes River by way of the Indian Creek and Cedarville ditches, built in 1852. Three years later two new ditches were added, bringing more water from the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River.
These two new ditches cost a sum of $200,000 each and supplied the miners of Brownsville, Indian Diggings, Cedarville, Fair Play, Spanish Creek and, across the county line to the south, Pokerville (Plymouth), Arkansas Diggings, Michigan and Cook's bars.
The town, including every store, hotel and saloon, was totally destroyed by fire on August 27, 1858. After being rebuilt, fire again swept through the town only three years later, leaving much of it in ashes. A third major fire occurred many years later, when Justice Jinkerson ordered the intentional burning of a row of shacks called the "Street of Painted Ladies," because the town was taking on a somewhat tarnished reputation and the name "Whore House Gulch."
Although the town suffered through several major calamities, it is better known for the interesting acts of some of its citizens.
In the summer of 1855 a ditch superintendent left town taking along all of the ditch company's money and another man's wife. Caught at Nevada City, the man gave up the money, but kept the wife.
A few months later, at a performance of a traveling circus, a husband was confronted by another man who had taken the injured party's wife to the event. After firing several audience alarming shots at the husband, he escaped. Fortunately, the husband recovered, although crippled for life. Who the wife went with is not reported.
Two Indian Diggings' miners arguing over a game of ten pins, attempted to settle it by the honorable method, a duel in the middle of the street. Neither man was hit by the other's pistol bullets, so one of the men went back to his cabin to fetch his rifle. Before he could return and do any real damage, some friends intervened and settled the argument.
In 1860, a dispute over water rights occurred between some miners living on Cedar Creek and a Dr. O.P.C. White, who had dammed the creek. When they tried to destroy Dr. White's dam, he killed two of them, McGee and Sweeny, and injured the third, Delory. With the aid of friends he succeeded in avoiding arrest and the next spring left California to return to his home State of Tennessee where he lost his life in the Civil War.
The day of the murder, the Coroner, Dr. Eckelroth, left Placerville for Indian Diggings in the company of a Mike Welch. About ten o'clock that evening they reached Buck's Bar and found the water running quite high. Welch led the way across and was washed down the rapids and never seen again. Dr. Eckelroth escaped.
By the 1870s, due mostly to the State's ban on hydraulic mining, Indian Diggings had become almost a ghost town. Its post office, the daily stages, the stores an most of its eight hundred voters were gone. All of the gold mines had closed and the mining industry had been reduced to just the Aitken and Luce marble sawing mill that was started in 1858 and was still producing some of the finest marble for monument, building and ornamental purposes in the country.
Today Indian Diggings remains as a small, rural El Dorado County community with a huge and exciting history.
Sources for this story also include: "History of California Post Offices, 1849-1976", researched by H. E. Salley (1976); "History of California", by Theodore Hittell (1897); "California Gold Camps", by Erwin Gudde (1975); "California Place Names", by Erwin Gudde, 3rd Edition (1974); "Mother Lode of Learning – One Room Schools of El Dorado County" by Retired Teachers Association of El Dorado County (1990); "I Remember..., Stories and pictures of El Dorado County pioneer families", researched and written by Betty Yohalem (1977); and the "History of El Dorado County, by Paolo Sioli (1883), reprinted and indexed by the El Dorado Friends of the Library (1998).
INDIAN DIGGINS
California's El Dorado Yesterday and Today, by Herman Daniel Jerrett, 1915 .
Submitted by Sandy Denney
Returning to Placerville we find that in 1856 George C. Handlin & Company were operating a stage line between here and Indian Diggins. A town of no little consequence in the early '50's, and the home of many Indians who were mining here for some time before the whites made their appearance in 1850, at which time the native miners were discovered, hence the name of the place that soon grew to prominence in the county. The town is about twenty-five miles southeast of Placerville, near the southern boundary of the county. Indian creek passes within the town limits and was unusually rich. By 1856 the camp had reached the height of its prosperity, with a population of more than fifteen hundred, that supported nearly a dozen stores, several hotels, and saloons, drug store, fraternal orders, in fact, a camp with every convenience that a thriving town could afford in the early days. Some idea of the travel into this old camp may be formed by the number of stages running between the town and Sacramento, there being two daily and one tri-weekly, besides the one to Placerville. Indian Diggings was a place noted for something more than its gold, it being the home of the marble beds used for building and ornamental purposes, which are waiting for capital to further develop. The town was several times visited by fire and totally destroyed August 27th, 1857, and practically destroyed in the year 1860. One of the first hotels was run by J. W. Gilmore, who was also Postmaster. Others who lived here during the town's prosperous times were Hall & McPherson, hotelkeepers; W. & S. Grubbs, T. D. Heisquell, P. Gibson, G. & J. McDonald, H. C. Sloss, L. S. Bell, J. R. Head, B. R. Sweetmond, J. G. Busch, A. Riker, J. S. Lock, J. P. Cantin, R. H. Reed, John Cable, John Patterson and A. J. Lowry, later of Placerville. Indian Diggings was not behind her sister camps politically, for she sent to the Legislature, as representatives of El Dorado county, the following: George McDonald, Tyler D. Heiskell, H. C. Sloss, John C. Bell, John Eraser, A. F. Taylor and Thomas Fraser, later Registrar of the United States Land Office in this State. The old town has followed many of the others, and now—well, she has assisted the writer in bringing to a close her historical career.
Indian Diggings
Source
The History of El Dorado County, California by P. Sioli, pages 196-198
Indian Diggings was first discovered by a company of white men from Fiddletown (Oneida), who were on a prospecting trip, in the fall of 1850. They found several Indians there at work panning out gold in the bed of the creek, which was suggestive of the name adopted. A town soon sprang up, rich gravel deposits having been discovered in the hills north of where the town is now situated. The distance from Placerville in a southeast direction is twenty-five miles; from Oneida (Fiddletown), Amador county, twelve miles--the line between El Dorado and Amador being only a few miles to the south from the place. Indian Diggings creek, upon whose banks the town was built, was among the richest surface or creek diggings in this part of the State, and have paid well by tunneling and by hydraulicking also. At one time (in 1855) the town was one of the most promising in the southern portion of the county. There were nine stores, five hotels, the usual number of saloons, etc., with a population of fifteen hundred persons. The necessary water for working the mines, etc., was brought in the camp by means of the Indianville and Cedarville ditches, built during the summer of 1852, tapping the South Fork of Cosumnes river, and a water-power saw-mill was built at Brownsville, where it has done a paying business for several years. In 1855 the number of ditches was increased by two, providing water from the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes from a point four miles above Py Py Valley. The expense of constructing these ditches was $200,000 for each. These ditches supplied the miners of Brownsville, Indian Diggings, Cedarville, Fairplay, Spanish creek and from thence it was taken across over the county like to Pokerville (now Plymouth), Arkansas Diggings, Michigan and Cook's Bars.
In 1857 all the water ditches in that section passed into the hands of J. M. Douglass, who held and operated them principally in his own interest until 1874, when they became the property of Charles E. McLane, of San Francisco, who is pursuing a more liberal policy towards the miners. There are several valuable claims still being worked at and near the old town, among which is to be mentioned the Bell and Dorsey claim, being owned and worked by McLane. Burrows & Co., Bell & Murry, Lamb & Co. and Patterson are successful miners in the vicinity.
On the evening of August 27th, 1857, the town was totally destroyed by fire, including every store and hotel of the place. Another big fire, that laid in ashes a large portion of the town, occurred in 1860. The history of the town is not entirely without those incidents that were the greatest necessity to make up a first-class California town. In the summer of 1855, a ditch superintendent left town, taking with him the funds of the company and another man's wife. He was overtaken at Nevada City and gave up the coin but stuck to the woman. In the fall of 1855, a man was shot at a circus by a man who had taken the wife of the injured party to the performance. The audience was considerably alarmed. After firing several shots, the party fled, and, by the aid of friends, escaped. The wounded man finally recovered, though crippled for life. A duel was fought to settle a dispute about a game of ten pins. Pistols were used without effect, when one party went back to his cabin for his rifle, with which he would "fetch him." The difference was settled by friends. In the flushest mining time the town had quite a communication with other parts and the outer world. In 1855 there were three stages running between the town and Sacramento, two of them daily, one tri-weekly--all doing a good business.
The miners on the different branches of the Cosumnes river were all supplied from this town. J. W. Gilmore was the first Postmaster, and one of the first hotel-keepers. He, as well as his estimable lady, will be remembered well by all who have shared his hospitality. They live now at the bridge spanning the Consumnes near Latrobe.
"Indian Diggings Lodge, No. 85, F. & A. M.," was organized in the summer of 1855, and continued with success until 1874, when it merged with Fiddletown Lodge. "Polar Star Lodge, No. 56, I.O.O.F.," was organized in September, 1856, and continued until October, 1863, when the hall and records were destroyed by fire. The hall was rebuilt at Fairplay. In 1858 a mill for sawing marble was erected by Messrs. Aitken & Luce, of Sacramento, which is worked successfully to the present time. The reputation of this marble for monuments, building and ornamental purposes is general, and is declared second to none yet discovered in the United States. A fine monument, as a specimen of this marble, was forwarded by the firm of Aitken & Luce to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia.
In 1860 a dispute about a water right occurred between some miners living a few miles below town, on Cedar creek, and Dr. O. P. C. White, formerly of Tennessee. The miners went prepared to cut White's dam, and while in the act two of the party--McGee and Sweeny--were shot dead, the third--Delory--barely escaping with his life. White, by the aid of numerous friends, succeeded in avoiding the officers until the following spring, when he left the State and gave up his life fighting for the South. Dr. Eckelroth, now of Tuolumne county, being Coroner, started from Placerville for the scene of the murdered men, in company with Mike Welch. The party reached Buck's Bar at about ten o'clock at night. The water being high, Welch, taking the lead, plunged in, the doctor following. Welch was carried down the rapids and never has been heard from. The doctor escaped.
S. J. Ensminger, now of Evansville, Ind., familiarly known as "Big Sam," spent several years, in early days, in dispensing beef to the denizens of Indian Diggings and vicinity. E. H. Perry settled here in 1850. He now is a thrifty farmer, living within a mile of where he first located, at the head of the creek which bears his name. He was a Deputy Indian Agent in 1851-52. Indian Diggings was a central point for Indians in early days. It was no uncommon sight at a "fandango" to see collected together fifteen hundred or more Indians of the forest.
Politically, Indian Diggings was quite an important point, and more than a few of those who have gained prominence in this county made their debut from this place. Among those who have represented the county in the Legislature the following were from this town: George McDonald, two sessions ; Tyler D. Heiskell, H. C. Sloss, John C. Bell (who was killed during the session by Dr. Stone, of Georgetown), John Fraser, Ed. F. Taylor and Thomas Fraser, afterwards Senator, now of Placerville. Of candidates who failed to be elected we mention J. W. Wilcox, the "Mariposa blacksmith." A good story has been told bout John. On one of his evening rambles, with a companion, among his neighbors' turkey roosts, he concluded that, as Christmas was nearing they would have a turkey dinner. When reaching up to catch a gobler, the old chap commenced, in a loud tone: "Quit! quit! " John and his comrade, supposing it to be the owner of the premises, broke and beat a hasty retreat, leaving their game behind them.
Among the early settlers of Indian Diggings will be remembered the names of W. and L. Grubbs, T. D. Heiskell, P. Gibson, G. & J. McDonald, H. C. Sloss, L. S. Bell (occupying still the same premises he did in 1851), J. R. Head (now Fiddletown), B. R. Sweetland, Hall & McPherson, hotel-keepers; J. G. Busch, now of Potter Valley, Mendocino county; A. Riker, now of Salinas county; J. S. Locke, now San Francisco; J. P. Cantin, San Francisco; R. H. Redd, John Cable, John Patterson and A. J. Lowry, now Postmaster of Placerville. But the town as it is now there is little to say. No one at all familiar with its early history can now visit the place without a feeling of regret that a place once the scene of so much business, excitement, sociability and enjoyment should so nearly be blotted out from the list of towns, and to be the abode of not to exceed thirty persons all told, and to find--in place of the daily stages, express and teams, its two livery stables, etc.--the solitary mail rider, not even at the town--for the Postoffice* has been removed to the adjoining town of Mendon, formerly Brownsville--supplying the people with the mail once a week. Instead of nine stores we now find one; in place of six hundred or eight hundred voters, the precinct polls about forty.
July 29, 2008
Indian Diggings
From the El Dorado Historical Museum web page
Located 25 miles southeast of Placerville near the El Dorado-Amador county border, Indian Diggings was founded in 1850 by prospectors from Fiddletown who happened upon some Miwok Indians panning for gold in the nearby Telegraph River. By the end of that year there were over 50 cabins, a store, and a saloon/gambling house. In 1853 the first post office opened. The population reached 2,000 in 1855 and there were nine stores, five hotels and numerous saloons. That same year it vied with Placerville to become the county seat which it lost by only a few votes.
Indian Diggings had a dubious reputation. And many interesting if not violent anecdotes surround the history of the town. The colorful history was partly recorded by a series of correspondence from Indian Diggings which were published in the Weekly Ledger Newspaper, printed 23 miles away in Placerville, regarding news from the town. These were signed "Miner". In another letter to a newspaper a miner who signed himself "Flat Broke" describes his visit to Indian Diggings and raves about the water system.
- An entire stretch of road known as "Whorehouse" gulch was ordered burned to the ground by Justice Jinkerson, hoping to somehow clear out the naughty night life.
- A Captain Cleghorn a Civil War Veteran with mental challenges was revered by local Native Americans and when he died his ghost was seen many times by locals.
- The father of the Birdman of Alcatraz Robert Stround lived in the town.
- In the summer of 1855 a man working on the Cedarville and Indian Creek ditches was caught in Nevada City after stealing the company's money and another man's wife. He gave back the money but kept the woman.
- In another situation, a man took another man's wife to a travelling circus performance. Confronted by the angry husband the man shot the husband in the leg who survived but was crippled for life.
- Two miners arguing over a gambling game (ten pins) decided to settle it over pistol duel in the middle of the street. Unable to hit each other one of the men went back to his cabin for his rifle. Friends intervened and stopped the men.
- Dr. White killed two miners living on Cedar Creek when they tried to destroy his dam. News reached Placerville and Coronor Eckalroth and a man named Mike Welch left for Indian Diggings. Arriving at Bucks Bar on the river late at night, Welch was washed down the rapids and never seen again; his body was never recovered. Dr. White fled to Tennessee where, when the Civil War came, he lost his life there.
The ban on hydraulic mining spelled the end of Indian Diggings in the 1870s and today it is a very small community. Only a few buildings remain including the Indian Diggings schoolhouse.
The cemetery is located on the road before the town site which is on private property.
From the Consumnes River to the Southern Mines
John Putnam
Gold Rush History Examiner
The Southern Mines centered around the San Joaquin River city of Stockton. The dividing line between the Northern Mines is usually considered to be the ridge between the Consommes and the North Fork of the Mokelumne Rivers. But as the Consommes is itself a tributary of the Mokelumne and both rivers empty into the delta region where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers meet, the true boundary was often a personal judgment of the individual miner. But that still left the extent of the Southern mines, in the early days of mining and in terms of territory, population and gold production, to be roughly equal to those of the Northern Mines, but the available gold in the south, except for the quartz veins, was exhausted much more rapidly than in the north.
While there were many rich sites along the Consumnes there were few well-known points of interest except for Indian Diggings, although Michigan Bar, Newtown and Grizzly Flat are worth mentioning. Michigan Bar sat along the river in the lower foothills, similar to Mississippi Bar on the lower American River, but it was quickly mined out. Newtown was eight or ten miles southeast of Placerville on the North Fork of the Comsumnes and, along with Grizzly Flat, eight or ten more miles to the southeast, had a certain amount of both hydraulic and quartz mining. The town of Grizzly Flat was small and the quality of gold found there was poor since it was mixed with too much silver and other base metals.
But Indian Diggings, 25 miles southeast of Placerville was a brisk and lively place with several hundred miners working there almost all the time and up to five or six hundred at its peak and was the northern most point of what was called the great limestone belt that ran south some 40 miles to the neighborhood of Columbia and Sonora. In some places the limestone had turned to marble while in others it rose in ridges through the slate. It was filled with numerous fissures and caves, and though the caves were not extensive several had stalactites and stalagmites of great beauty.
At Slug Gulch near Indian Diggings, a shaft was sunk through the limestone into what was supposed to be a layer of boulders and pay dirt. But, seemingly by accident, a mining ditch was turned into the shaft and the water allowed to run for several days without any accumulation of water in the shaft. Whether some ancient buried gravel riverbed soaked up that water or, like the River Alph, it sank through 'caverns measureless to man, down to a sunless sea' was never made known.
John Putnam is the author of Hangtown Creek, a thrilling saga of the early California gold rush. For more about John and his writing visit www.goldrushtales.com.
El Dorado-Statewide County CA Archives History - Books
El Dorado County 1891 Copyright. All rights reserved.
File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com November 30, 2005, 10:04 pm
Book Title: Memorial And Biographical History Of Northern California EL DORADO COUNTY.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm
In this county is the spot now called Coloma, where Marshall made the discovery that immediately excited the whole world. For a full account of this, the great gold discovery, see a previous chapter. The word "El Dorado" is Spanish for golden, or the gilt. In 1541, so tradition goes, Gonzalo Pizarro, brother of the conqueror of Peru, marched from Quito to seek the fabled kingdom of gold, which, according to the traditions of the aborigines, existed some place east of the Andes. The monarch of this fabulous kingdom was said, in order to wear a more magnificent attire than any other king in the world, to be adorned with a daily coating of gold. His body was anointed every morning with rare and fragrant gums, and gold dust blown over him through a tube. Thus attired, the Spaniards called him El Dorado. He was said to reside generally in the superb city of Manos, in one street of which there were said to be not less than 8,000 silversmiths or silver-workers. The columns of his palace were affirmed to be porphyry and alabaster, his throne ivory, and its steps gold; the body of the palace was of white stone, ornamented with gold suns and silver moons; and living lions fastened with chains of gold guarded its entrance. The county was so named from the fact that gold was first discovered within its limits. About the middle of the summer of 1850 some Indians were killed in the neighborhood of Johnson's ranch, about six miles above Placerville, on the immigrant road. It was rumored at the time that no provocation for this had been given by the Indians, and that it was done to stir up a war of extermination. If this was the scheme it worked well, for the Indians killed some of the miners and then the citizens aroused and organized companies, placed Sheriff William Rogers at the head and marched to the county line without finding any Indians. After they disbanded Indians came from their hiding places and again began committing outrages. A subsequent attempt was made by the whites to exterminate the savages, with doubtful results, and this was the last. Into this county entered the old immigrant road by way of Carsonville. This side of the State line was an old Mormon station or trading post; next, the road crossed the summits of the mountains, then turned around the southern end of Silver Lake, passed down the head waters of the American and Cosumnes rivers, followed the divide between these rivers through Sly Park, Pleasant Valley, Diamond Spring, Mud Springs, Shingle Springs and White Rock Springs into Sacramento County. A branch struck off at Grizzly Flat to Brownsville, Indian Diggings and Fiddletown; and from Diamond Spring by way of Placerville to Coloma, Kelsey's, Spanish Flat, Georgetown, Grenada, Centerville, Salmon Falls,—all points in the northern part of El Dorado County; from Mud Springs was a branch to Logtown, Saratoga and Drytown; and from Clarksville to Folsom. This route was first "hunted" out by a Mormon named Hunt, in the spring of 1849, as advance agent for the Mormons. He made the journey with wagons and a party of fifteen or sixteen men. He afterward settled in San Bernardino County, where he was elected to the Legislature in 1853, but later returned to Salt Lake, when Brigham Young called all the Mormons home. But, older than this road, was one of nearly equal importance, namely, the road from Sacramento to Coloma, by way of Folsom, Mormon Island, Green Valley, Rose Springs and Uniontown. Several local organizations were effected, and some, with aid from the Legislature, made surveys for various wagon roads across the Sierra Nevada mountains. Notably in 1855 a wagon road convention was held at Placerville and at Sacramento, to devise plans for the construction of the road during the next two years; and, after a great deal of trouble, contracts were let and work commenced, and nearly half the worst portion of the route was done, when the contractors failed. The American South Fork, as nearest the point of distribution, at Sacramento, and carrying with it the prestige of the gold discovery, long attracted the widest current of immigration. A just tribute to fame was awarded to the sawmill site at Coloma, the first spot occupied in the county, in 1847, by making it a main station for travel and the county-seat for El Dorado, and so remaining until 1857, after which, the mines failing, it declined into a small yet neat horticultural town. The sawmill, transferred to other hands by Marshall and Sutter, supplied in 1849 the demand for lumber. The first ferry on the fork was conducted here by J. T. Little, a flourishing trader; and E. P. Rann constructed there the first bridge in the county early in 1850, for $20,000, yielding a return of $250 a day. In October, 1850, the population was estimated at 2,000. The early miners drifted mainly along Weber Creek toward Placerville, which became the most promising of El Dorado's towns, its final county-seat and center of attraction. Southward rose Diamond Spring, which strove for the county-seat in 1854. It was almost destroyed by fire in August, 1856. Mud Springs, later named El Dorado, was incorporated in 1855, with great flourish, but disincorporated in 1857. Several small towns arose on the divide. Above the South Fork sprang up notably Pilot Hill, or Centerville, which claimed the first grange in the State. Greenwood and Georgetown also aspired at one time to become the county-seat. To Colonel J. B. Crandall is due the honor of having first made a stage line across the mountains, in the summer of 1857, with six-horse Concord stages. In May, 1858, a semi-weekly line was established upon this route. Passenger fare from Placerville to Salt Lake City was $125. The first overland through mail coach from the East successfully arrived at Placerville July 19, 1858, and was continued regularly for ten years, when the Central Pacific Railroad was completed to Cisco and the stages were then run from that point. The oldest express line in the county was established by Alexander Hunter, the agent of the California State line. It was run in connection with Stevens, Placerville and Sacramento stages, and connected with Wells and Fargo's express at Sacramento; and this was kept up for years. El Dorado is one of the original counties of February 18, 1850; and Coloma, the only town in the county, was designated as the seat of government; but the population was changeable and evanescent, and no substantial public buildings could be erected there. In 1854 a fight for the county-seat began, which lasted three years and ended in a victory for Placerville. This place, the most historic town in the gold region, was first known as Old Dry Diggings. In 1849 a Frenchman and a Spainard were hung there to a tree by a mob for highway robbery on the Georgetown road, and this gave the name of "Hangtown" to the place, by which it was known throughout the early mining days, when it was the most thronged point in California, the headquarters of the gold excitement. In 1854 the place was incorporated under the name of Placerville, the municipal election being held June 5 that year. Alexander Hunter, previously mentioned, was elected the first mayor. The altitude of Placerville is 1,895 feet; and the summit at Johnson's Pass, 7,266 feet; and the height of Genoa above sea level is 4,794 feet. In 1857 an effort was made in vain to form Eureka County from the northern half of El Dorado. Nearly every surviving town in the county owes its beginning to mining, although so large a proportion now depends solely on agriculture and trade; but with the decline of mining the vitality of the larger places also declined, so that by 1880 less than 11,000 remained of the population which during the '50s exceeded 20,000. Farming, however, and notably horticulture, stepped in to turn the current into a channel of slow though steady revival. The census of 1880 assigned to the county 542 farms, with an improved acreage of only 69,000. Farming had its beginning in this region in 1849-'50, when potatoes were first planted by the Hodges Bros., on Greenwood Creek, near Coloma. By the year 1855 forty saw-mills and one flour-mill had been erected; also five tanneries and three breweries, fifteen toll-bridges, etc. There are a number of splendid caves in this county, the principal being near the Cosumnes copper mine, and the alabaster cave, or Coral cave, on the road from Pilot Hill to Rattlesnake Bridge. This has unusually fine stalactites. A large quantity of copper exists in El Dorado County, some silver, cinnabar, iron, asbestos, and large quantities of lime-stone, marble, roofing slate, etc. No similar area of country in the world can boast of a finer water supply than El Dorado County. Thomas A. Springier introduced the first newspaper into this county, namely, the El Dorado Republican, at Placerville, in the summer of 1851, and it was the first paper in the interior of California outside of Sacramento. It was continued regularly until February 18, 1854, when he sold out to D. W. Gelwicks & Co., who replaced the Republican with the Mountain Democrat, which paper was well managed. The Miners' Advocate was first issued also in the summer of 1851, at Coloma. James R. Pile & Co. were the proprietors, D. W. Gelwicks editor, and D. G. Waldron business agent. This was the second paper in the whole mining district of the State. It was Whig in politics. In 1853 the material was sold to a party who changed its name to the Empire County Argus. The Miners' Advocate was transferred to Diamond Spring, and afterward had a varied history. Up to 1855 the people were taxed heavily for the care of the indigent sick, who had to be removed to the Marine hospital at San Francisco. This institution was abolished by the Legislature in 1855, and county infirmaries provided for. The county then awarded the contract to Drs. Asa Clark and Obed Harvey for taking care of those who were dependent upon the public. They erected a building, to which the county made an appropriation of $3,500, and entered upon their duties. Both these gentlemen are still living and are holding responsible situations. The members of the State Assembly from El Dorado County have been: S. A. Ballou, 1854, 1858; Wm. Barklage, 1871-'72; A. J. Bayley, 1871-'72, 1883; John C. Bell, 1860; A. B. Bird, 1867-'68; Edgar Bogardus, 1855; John L. Boles, 1855; John Borland, 1856; James E. Bowe, 1856; Alfred Briggs, 1854, 1859; D. E. Buel, 1858; James Burr, 1863; J. S. Campbell, 1863-'66; G. J. Carpenter, 1875 -'76; J. Carpenter, 1857; Samuel H. Center, 1871-'72; Robert Chalmers, 1871-'72; J, R. Clark, 1863; William Coleman, 1859, 1861; C. W. Coltrin, 1861; George M. Condee, 1859; John Conness,1853-'54, 1860-'61; W. F. Cunningham, 1855; John Cutler, 1852; Seneca Dean, 1862; John H. Dennis, 1862; G. A. Douglass, 1859; G. N. Duuglass, 1859; F. A. Dow, 1863-'64; Elon Dunlap, 1860; David Fairchild, 1860; Thomas Fitch, 1863; Theron Foster, 1855, 1861; Thomas Eraser, 1863-'64, 1880-81; John Frasier, 1862; Stephen T. Gage, 1856; J. D. Galbraith, 1859; S. Garfield, 1853; Charles Gildea, 1867-'70; N. Gilmore, 1873-'74; A. J. Graham, 1858; James J. Green, 1861; Gaven D. Hall, 1851, 1857; S. F. Ham, 1857; Asa H. Hawley, 1860; T. D. Heiskell, 1856; Robert Henderson, 1861; Samuel Hill, 1861; H. Hollister, 1854; William R. Hopkins, 1852; John Hume, 1857; Alexander Hunter, 1861; G. H. Ingham, 1873-'74; CharlesF. Irwin, 1883; J. C. Johnson, 1855; J. J. Kendrick, 1851; J. F. Kidder, 1865-'66; Harvey Lee, 1858; D. T. Loofborrow, 1858; Henry Mahler, 1887; H. McConnell, 1855; George McDonald, 1854, 1857; S. A. McMeans, 1852-'53; J. D. McMurray, 1869-'70; James H. Miller, 1869-'70, 1877-'78; M. N. Mitchell, 1857; H. A. Moses, 1858; H. B. Newell, 1867-'70; J. W. Oliver, 1856; Charles Orvis, 1857; H. G. Parker, 1862; D. C. Patton, 1860; C. W. Pearis, 1858; Thomas B. Rowland, 1883; S. W. Sanderson, 1863; G. W. Simpers, 1873-'74; H. C. Sloss, 1859; E. L. Smith, 1865-'66; N. T. Smith, 1855; E. C. Springer, 1854; Ogden Squires, 1859; E. A. Stephenson, 1854-'55; W. H. Stone, 1860; D. P. Tallmadge, 1854; Edward F. Taylor, 1865-'66; W. H. Taylor, 1856; P. Teare, 1863-64; J. S. Tipton, 1858-'59; J. Turner, 1857; E. H. Watson, 1885; J. H. Watson, 1860; L. S. Welsh, 1856; James D. White, 1856; Stephen Willets, 1867-'68; George E. Williams, 1873-'74; Austin Wing, 1852-'53. MODERN TIMES. This county has kept up pretty fully its importance as a producer of the precious metal, while at the same time making a genuine advance towards the position of a great fruit region. As is the case elsewhere along the foothills, it has been discovered that the county possesses a citrus belt, and numbers of orange and lemon trees have been set out. Fruits of other kinds, deciduous, nut-bearing trees, etc., and also grapes, both for table use and for wine-making, have been grown extensively in different parts, El Dorado indeed being one of the first counties to undertake on a large scale the growth of grapes and fruits. Some of the vineyards and orchards about Coloma, for instance, date far back near to the beginning of things in California; in other words, to the early '50s, and even '49. No county distances El Dorado in the extent and richness of her natural resources, which include mining for more than gold alone, quarries of slate and stone, lime-burning, lumbering, stock and sheep raising, and especially her fruit and grapes. El Dorado has had a varied, not to say unfortunate history, of late years. The elusive hope of becoming a link on the transcontinental system of railways was long a source of great trouble to the people, liberal bonuses being voted more than once, which somehow always reached the hands of the companies and yet the promised roads were never built. A mill-stone of debt was thus hung about the neck of the county, which only of late years has been removed, and the county permitted to step forward into the prominence nature intended for her. Until lately there was no railroad in this county, and the agricultural and dairying element of the population had to depend upon the miners here for their market. The railroad reached Shingle Springs, twelve miles from Placerville, as long ago as 1865, but it only reached the latter point in 1888, bickerings, lawsuits and misunderstandings being the cause of the hitch, and the county seeming to lose every time. Indeed, in 1881 the road suspended operations altogether, and it was not resumed till the following year. With the completion of the railroad, however, to Placerville, things have taken on a new aspect, and lost ground will probably be recovered. The county roads are unusually good, the gradients as a general thing being light and the road-bed smooth. This is probably due to the fact that until the completion of the Central Pacific, the main turnpike thoroughfare over the Sierra Nevada passed through the county. Even yet the idea is occasionally put forth that the main line of the Central Pacific is to run up the Placerville canon and by a long tunnel under the crest of the Sierras. PLACERVILLE, the old-time "Hangtown," the name being changed by the Legislature in 1850,—is one of the most picturesque towns in the State, the main street following for over a mile the meanderings of a ravine, once exceedingly rich in gold. On the hillside and tops are the finer residences and some large buildings that present a fine appearance. The town, too, has the reputation of being the wealthiest of its size in California. It has at any rate an old and "settled" appearance, with its rows of large brick stores and public buildings that impresses strongly the visitor. The county court-house, hall of records and jail is a massive pile of red brick standing flush with the main street, erected in the early days. Near Placerville are the hospital and county farm, second to none in the interior of the State and well kept. There are two large public school buildings, and the Placerville Academy, long one of the most prosperous private schools of the interior. There are four churches, well supported, a good fire department and an ample water supply, the town being lighted by gas. A few miles east of the town are the three large lumber mills of Messrs. J. & J. Blair, one of the most enterprising firms of the place. They have also a mill in the mountains over thirty miles above town. Placerville has also flouring mills, a planing mill and box factory, and a foundry and machine shop. One of the characteristic sights is that of the Pacific quartz mine on the top of one of the hills in town, the sound of the stamps being plainly heard on the main street. Placerville has a fine opera-house. District fairs are also held here annually, there being here a fine race track. OTHER TOWNS. Georgetown, always one of the prettiest towns in the mountains, is 2,700 feet above sea-level, and is still pre-eminently a mining town, but surrounded on every side by gardens, vines and fruit trees. It is a prosperous business point, with churches, schools and lively merchants. Three saw-mills are running within a few miles of the place. Georgetown is connected by stage with Placerville and Auburn. Coloma holds the honor of having been the scene of the first discovery of gold. A handsome bronze monument to Marshall, the discoverer, was erected by the State Legislature in 1888 on the fortieth anniversary of the event, on the summit of an elevation overlooking the spot. Some notoriety attaches to one of its first citizens and his wife, namely Mr. and Mrs. Peter L. Wimmer, as they were so intimately connected with Marshall in the gold discovery. Mr. Wimmer, a native of Ohio, came overland with his wife in 1846; worked for Sutter as a millwright in 1847-'48, and was one of the men employed at the Coloma mill when gold was discovered, being perhaps with Marshall on the eventful morning when "they" picked up the first nugget. It was Mrs. Wimmer who at the request of Marshall tested the nugget by boiling it in a kettle of lye, with which she was making soap. In 1885 she still had the nugget in her possession. After the gold discovery the family kept a boarding-house, having also a choice assortment of pigs, and finally they removed to Southern California. The first business places in Coloma were those of Captain Shannon and Cady's, the New York Store, S. S. Brooks' store and John Little's Emporium on the north side of the river. Warner, Sherman and Bestor, of the United States army, kept a store here during the winter of 1848-'49, Bestor being the business man of the company. The first hotel was the Winters Hotel, Messrs. Winters & Cromwell proprietors. Slitter's saw-mill was finished and did good work, under the management of Winters, Marshall and Bayley. Captain Shannon was also alcalde of the township and John T. Little the first postmaster. In 1852 a large two-story building was erected for a theater. One of Sutter's iron howitzers is still—or was recently—decorating the Meyers Hotel. Nearly all the first experiments in agriculture were naturally made at Coloma, at first the most populous center. The place is now noted for her excellent peaches, as well as other fruits, Bartlett pears and grapes being also favorites. Fruit is shipped out both by way of Placerville and Auburn. At Coloma is an extensive winery and a popular summer hotel. The place is surrounded by orchards. Shingle Springs was an important point while the terminus of the railroad, but now is quiet. There is considerable quartz minining near by. Diamond Spring, on the railroad, has a saw-mill. Near by is El Dorado, a growing town. There is much quartz-mining in this vicinity. Latrobe, a point lower down on the railroad, has attained considerable reputation as a resort for consumptives. Grizzly Flat is an important mining town, with two saw-mills and many flourishing orchards. Greenwood is another mining camp, with large fruit orchards in the vicinity. It makes some boast as a health resort, and, in case of a division of the county, hopes to become a county-seat. El Dorado County possesses a most abundant water supply, and many large ditches have been taken out for mining and irrigating supplies. Originally these ditches were probably taken out with no thought other than a supply of water for mining purposes, but they have proved of immense value to the county in fertilizing its lands. Among the larger is the El Dorado Water and Deep Gravel Mining Company's ditch, drawn from stores of water collected in Silver and Echo Lakes. To utilize this water a tunnel is run through the Sierras, as they lie east of its summit. The California Water Company's ditch is also of inexhaustible supply. A wealthy company, called the American Lumber Company, has recently been formed and is now constructing two very large sawmills in the great body of pine timber situated in the mountains. The product will be flumed to the railways. In Lake Tahoe, which fronts a portion of the eastern border of the county, El Dorado, in common with Placer County, possesses an attraction of great value. Here are situated Tallac, with its beautiful summer hotels, the property of E. J. ("Lucky") Baldwin, the millionaire. Near by are also the great Rowland saw-mills, with large annual cut. The slate quarries at Chili Bar are the most extensive in the West, the slate of good quality, and an increasing amount being taken out. A good quality of lime is burned at a point on the Auburn and Placerville Stage Road, there existing a strong ledge of limestone. In Placerville is published the Mountain Democrat, a leading paper of the mountains, established in 1852. The Observer, formerly published there, has lately been absorbed by it. The Gazette, a lively weekly, begun in 1880, is issued in Georgetown, while at Shingle Springs appears the Independent, dating from 1885. The El Dorado County Republican was founded at Placerville in 1869 by B. F. Davis. As its name indicates, this paper has been Republican in politics since its inception. It led a prosperous career from the beginning and in July, 1883, the paper was sold to C. E. Richardson and Or. A. Richardson, who conducted it in partnership for three years, when G. A. Richardson purchased his brother's interests and has since conducted the paper, as editor and sole proprietor. Mr. Richardson is thirty-four years of age, is a native son, born in El Dorano [sic] County, and was a teacher in the public schools of the State before taking up the editorial pen. His parents were intelligent people, but quite poor in this world's goods, and whatever success their son has achieved has been due to his own energy. Additional Comments: Extracted from Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California. Illustrated, Containing a History of this Important Section of the Pacific Coast from the Earliest Period of its Occupancy to the Present Time, together with Glimpses of its Prospective Future; Full-Page Steel Portraits of its most Eminent Men, and Biographical Mention of many of its Pioneers and also of Prominent Citizens of To-day. "A people that takes no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote descendents." – Macauley. CHICAGO THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1891.