Regrettably, we decided to end our trip a day sooner than planned. It seems that a whining noise cropped up in our motorhome last night. It was intermittent but it was there nonetheless. If you listened closely it sounded a little like, "ama-wah-nah-gah-ahm". It was strange and I would hear it now and again. Anyhow, I'll get back to that a little later. I'm at least happy that we got to take a quick walking tour of the town of Placerville before we headed home.
Placerville:
The town of Placerville played an important role in the California Gold Rush. Keep in mind that in the early 1840s the overall population of non-native people in California was relatively small. Although California had been explored by the Spaniards a century earlier, it was still largely populated by native Indian tribes. In 1845, the city of San Francisco only had a few hundred residents. Other towns such as Monterey and Sacramento were slightly more populated at this time. There are no detailed records and it is difficult for historians to know precisely, but it is believed that by early 1847 the population of San Francisco by non-natives was between 1000 and 3000 people. In 1849, after the discovery of gold, it is estimated that over 300,000 people immigrated to California in search of gold and the population of San Francisco would swell to over 30,000 persons. Virtually all of the gold seekers coming to California were streaming through San Francisco.
It is important to understand that the size of the area in which the "mother lode" existed is not a huge area. It measured about 40 miles wide by 60 miles long. In 1847 there was virtually no infrastructure within California. Sacramento was a growing town, because large ships could sail up the river to pick up materials from within California. With the majority of the people streaming into California coming through San Francisco, they would then make their way to Sacramento some 90 miles away. This was over a weeks travel on foot. From Sacramento they would head up into the areas where gold had been discovered. The gateway for them to get there was through the small gold town that we call Placerville today.
Gold was discovered in Coloma, some 10 miles from Placerville. The miners would begin to work claims in all directions emanating from Coloma. In 1847 what is Placerville today went by the name of Dry Diggin's. This is because at the mining town that sprung up on this site, the miners would sift through buckets of dry sand looking for gold. As the easy gold was all found, they would resort to panning and other hydraulic methods. Over the ensuing months, commerce began to flow from Sacramento to Placerville. Gold towns would spring up as soon as there was news of a strike. It would seem that right behind the miners were the entrepreneurs. These little towns would be hastily constructed of canvas sided buildings and typically would include saloons, general stores, shops for food stuffs and other goods. Often these little towns might disappear just as quickly once the gold was played out. The merchants would take apart their structures and follow the miners to the next stop. Occasionally, a town would gather enough people who might be pursuing things other than mining, such as agriculture, or the town might be at the confluence of trails or roads and they would survive. By and large, these are the towns that would outlive the gold strike and although their populations might ebb and flow these are the towns that remain today.
Placerville would continue to grow even after its gold would pan out. This was largely due to it having a major trade route back down to Sacramento and also because roads and trails were emanating from here to the other mining areas. There was no State at that time and no laws and no system of government. Placerville became a town where complaints could be heard and mining claims could be filed and managed. A form of gold rush government was finding its seat in Placerville. This led to Placerville's other name - Hangtown. Miners all along the mother lode would often make their way back to Placerville to resupply, cash in their diggings or to let off some steam. California in 1849 was a lawless and dangerous place. Here in Hangtown, they had their own way of administering justice and often it was at the end of a rope. When individuals were caught thieving, stealing or just simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time a trial could ensue, a jury convened and sentence rendered, all within the span of 20 minutes and it could take place in a saloon. If a guilty verdict was rendered a mob would often carry out the sentence. In the middle of the town lies a saloon that was the site of a tree where most hangings would take place. The stump of that very tree is still visible from within the cellar in that building today. We were told that not everyone was hanged, but there was no jail or prison, so sometimes justice was doled out in the form of beatings, the cutting off of ears or the branding of faces so that these individual would be marked for shunning from the town.
By 1849 and 1850 Placerville is now home to some 3500 - 4000 persons. There is a regular stage service running between Sacramento and over the sierras to Nevada on the other side. There is even word of a railway making its way from Sacramento. Many of the buildings that you can see in Placerville today come from that time with 1852 - 1860 being a time of major growth for Placerville in, what by now has become, a State. Placerville would also become the government seat for Eldorado County. Several of the buildings that you can see in Placerville carry with them interesting story. There is a pair of buildings that carry the nickname "Mustard and Ketchup for obvious reasons. It is the yellow building on the right that I thought carried the most interesting story. This building also carries the name the "Emigrant Jane" building. This building was built by Jane Stuart in 1860, which in and of itself is notable, since the population the State at that time was over 90% male. However the most interesting part is how Jane Stuart found herself in Placerville in 1860. She and her husband had decided to head west to seek a new and better life. They decided to drive a herd of horses across the great plains with plans to sell the horses to horse traders in Nevada or California. Early on in the trip, Jane's husband would die along the trail. Jane undeterred, drove the herd of horses across the plains and she did deliver them and sell them to a horse trader in Carson City. She would use the money to establish herself in Placerville and she would build this building on the right. Ever industrious, Jane convinced the owner of the adjacent building to allow her to use the wall of that building when building hers. Consequently, the wall between the two buildings is shared, thereby reducing Janes cost of construction. Furthermore, the adjacent building was the home of the Placerville fire company. By the time Jane would build, Placerville had experienced three major fires. Jane would go on to operate a business from this building and build other structures in Placerville.
Here we see a photo of the Fountain & Tallman Soda works building. This structure was built in 1852. It was built out of stone with very thick walls for a couple of reasons. One being that the town of Placerville was all but destroyed by fire in 1850, a time when most of the buildings were made of wood and several still little more than canvas clad wood structures. After the fire, many would rebuild out of stone or brick. By the 1850s the mining methods would leave many of the streams and rivers polluted and the water undrinkable. Miners would often rely on the availability of bottled soda water for drinking. Fountain and Tallman had a readily accessible supply of clean drinking water and they would pass it through CO2 to make soda water. The soda water would stay fresher for longer periods of time. This was such a popular business that Placerville actually boasted two soda works. The other being the Pearson Soda company. That building is still visible today.
Here we see the Pearson Soda Works building. The original building on this site built by John Person was lost in the fire of 1850, when most of the building were built or wood or canvas. When Person rebuilt he did so out of stone and he did so with 30" thick walls. This is because he initially would sell ice from this building. This particular building backs up to a hillside that was the site of an abandoned mine that had been cut into the hillside and down below the building. The owner of this building would cut ice from frozen lakes high up in the mountains in the winter and haul it down by horse and wagon and store it in the caves and tunnels of the abandoned mine where they could keep it under saw dust and sell it throughout the spring and summer months. If you look closely, you will see that the second story differs in construction from the first. This is because it was built initially as a single story building for the ice-house. As the business grew, the second story was added. around 1860 they would add the making and bottling of soda water to their business following up on the success of Fountain and Tallman.
Here are some of the many other interesting buildings you can see in Placerville. The Shelly Inch building is one of the oldest in the town. This white building was originally the site of a cafe and saloon in 1851 -1855. Later it would become a news printer and in the 1898 time frame it would be acquired by Jacob Perkins and Shelley Inch. They used it to sell newspapers and books. They would add the second story that bears the name of Shelley Inch in 1898. Two of the largest buildings on Main street were former lodges. The large red brick building adjacent to the Shelley Inch building was built in the early 1890 and was the Masonic Lodge. The other a large stone building was the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) building, which was a common site in many of the gold towns we would visit.
So if you are on your way up to South Lake Tahoe and cursing the traffic that always seems to slow down right around Placerville, take a little time and get off of the road explore this historic gold town. Not to mention there are some great places to eat here in town.
Back to that mysterious whining noise. By the morning that whining noise had become more pronounced and it was harder to ignore. By now, it was sounding more like "Aye-wanna-go-ohm" and again "Aye-wanna-go-ohm". It was louder and more persistent. We have been having some problems with our motorhome and I thought it might be yet another one I have to take care of. Low and behold, by the time I got Elisa back "home", the whining had totally disappeared. Ooh well, I'll have to see if I hear the whining when we take our next trip. Even though we had to come home a little early, I had a great time learning about the California Gold Rush.
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