USA > California > El Dorado County > Historical souvenir of El Dorado County, California : with illustrations and biographical setches of its prominent men & pioneers > Part 42
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
203
LOCAL HISTORY.
other one was put up; the bridge property being a very well paying business, this being the main road from Sacramento to all those mining camps in the northern part of this county to all the river bars on the Middle and North Forks of the American river, and to all the mines beyond there in Placer county. In 1856, Mr. Raun sold out his interest in all those bridges to Richards & Pearish, and later Mr.
Richards was the sole owner of this bridge. The railroad, however, which took away the travel from this road and the giving out of the river bars, did not give a profitable outlook, and since the high-water washed away the bridge for the second time it has not been rebuilt.
The town that in a short time did grow from a few Mormon huts to a community of some note, with a population of about 3,000, with many stores, and other pertainings of a mining town, that could make some show with three well built up streets, with good paying mines, on the flat as well as on the river bar, is gone. All that is left is a store, the school house and Mrs. Berry's residence and hotel ; the latter was partly erected in 1850, this had been shipped around Cape Horn from the East, and was bought by Mr. Berry to make some debt good. The trees in front of it were set out in the fall of 1854, and January, 1855.
There were some mining camps in this township around which some little towns had been built up ; their fate, however, was similar to that of Salmon Falls; only a few scattered roofs remind one of the location of the town site. One of them was Pinchem gut, or Pinchem tight, located at the junction of Pinchem ravine and Weber creek, near an old saw- mill. A man by the name of Ebbert kept a store and saloon there, and taking out his pay for drink or goods in gold dust, used to pinch the gold dust so tight in order to get as much as possible. He was a shoemaker by trade, and a German by nationality. The first school in the district was taught by a French- man in the house of Mr. Etzel, another storekeeper, and Miss Van Doran succeeded him. Near by was another town, Jayhawk, named after the Missourians, who first settled down on the place. On the Coloma road there was Green Springs, once the location of Green valley Post office, which now is located about four miles farther east close on to Rose Springs, so called from the abundance of wild roses growing there around the springs. There was a store kept on the place till 1868, also a saloon and a blacksmith shop. Wing's Store, the place where polls are kept now, in this precinct, used to be a store in former years. McDowell Hill on the South Fork, below Salmon Falls, once had a population of about 100 miners with four stores.
EL DORADO,
Up to the the time of its incorporation as a town, in the winter of 1855, the village went by the name of Mud Springs, and was a mining camp of some note ; this was one of the first mining camps in the county, the first locations having been made in 1849 and '50. The name of Mud Springs, which is not unfrequently used even now, was derived from some springs near town that had been used by emigrants to water their cattle and other stock, by which means the surround- ing ground had become quite muddy, and to distin- guish these springs from the Diamond Springs, about two miles further up, the passing emigrants called them Mud Springs. The first quotation of the name of El Dorado, instead of Mud Springs, was in a cor- respondence under date of August 7th, 1855; but officially the change did not take place until January Ist, 1856. The incorporation line of the present place concerns all what was then known as Empire Ravine, Dead Man's Hollow, Loafer's Hollow, Log- town creek, Matheney's creek, Slate and Dry creeks. James Thomas was one of the first settlers, he erected in the winter of 1849 to 1850 a trading post and hotel, called Old Mud Springs House. The year of 1851 developed the camp to its utmost capacity. To the rich placer mines worked all around the dis- covery of a lot of quartz veins was added, and re- sulted in the erection of five steam quartz-mills on Matheney's creek, and four others on Logtown creek. which, together with all the mines, gave employment to not less than 500 laborers. A great many stores, hotels, boarding houses and other business places were engaged to provide for the necessities of all of them. Among the residents of early EI Dorado or Mud Springs we find just as many names of men who became prominent in time as any of the other towns of equal size in the county. Messrs. Blanchard. Meredith, Tebbs were the first attorneys ; the Har- vey Brothers and Dr. H. M. Fiske were the first physicians.
Of secret societies, the Masons are represented at El Dorado with the Hiram Lodge, No. 43, F. and A. M. ; the Odd Fellows, with Aurum Lodge, No. 23 .: the Grangers with El Dorado Grange, No. 178. In 1856 the Grand Consistory of Placerville granted a charter to organize a Lodge of E. Clampsus Vitus, at El Dorado, and the following Knights were elected officers : C. P. Jackson, N. G. H. ; T, Foster, G. R. P .; W. D. Hinman, C. P .; J. E. Simmons, C. V. : T. J. Steward, G. R. F .; B. F. Davis, G. R. M. ; H. W. Merritt, G. R. S. ; P. Schramm, D. F. D .; E. Willow, G. R S. ; Mr. Wetherwax, G. R. F.
El Dorado is located about half way between
204
HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Shingle Springs and Placerville, on the Sacramento and Placerville stage road ; surrounded by a section of country that is well adapted for agricultural pur- poses. The town is connected by a daily stage, run- ning between Placerville and Shingle Springs.
On the night of the election day, in the fall of 1859, a difficulty arose between Messrs. A. W. Myatt and C. C. Bowker, in which the latter cut the former with a knife, killing him instantly. He was tried, found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to five vears confinement in the State prison.
COLD SPRINGS.
The first diggings at this place were discovered sometime in 1849, and soon a road was laid down to connect the camp both ways with Placerville and Coloma, which became the main traveled road be- tween both these places; Cold Springs was the half- way station on this road. The condition of life and existence, the natural spring water, had caused the start of several other camps in the direct neighbor- hood, which became named after their springs; just the same with Cold Springs, which derived its name from a spring of cold and good water, located near the edge of Cold Spring creek, in the upper end of the town. This camp soon became a great attraction, and the flat below town, in the Summer of 1850, was settled with from 600 to 700 miners who camped in tents or slept under the trees, and only those who in- tended to stay for the winter season made arrange- ments to build cabins. They all were working in the bed of the creek, where a mining claim then was called 15 feet square. So soon as it had been ascer- tained that the gravel of the creek bed was rich in gold and there would be great probability for a per- manent mining camp, some enterprising men started in business. The first store was opened by Norton & Montgomery in connection with a boarding house ; Duncan also kept a store, John Dewitt was the pro- prietor of the first bakery and sometime later the part- ner in a store kept by Dewitt & Taylor; still another store was kept by Sudson & Goodenough. David Miller opened the first hotel. Nelson Van Tassell, Public Administrator of the county in 1854, kept the first boarding house, and another hotel was kept by Reed; James Debow, a man of education and very gentleman-like manners, kept the Blue Tent Saloon.
termore, A. Colgrove, G. W. Paddock, F. Russell, W. W. Penton, J. M. Goetschius, who was the first Post- master in town, Wm. H. Lipsey, who was hung at Coloma, November 3, 1854, for the murder of one Powelson; A. O. Bowen, John Lamb, G. Griffin, M. Conaha, Jesse C. Fruchy, J. M. Lockwood, S. H. Perrin, I. L. Miller, S. Heath, J. M. Powers, Dan. W. Gelwicks, now of Oakland, was here before he be- came editor of the Coloma Argus, and then he became an almost regular visitor to play a game of whist on Saturday nights; P. T. Williams, McTarnahan. Robinson and Garfield, two lawyers from Coloma, were also frequent visitors of Cold Springs. This was a very quiet and peaceful camp, more inclined to society life than to make up excitements; Sylv. B llou, called Wed Ballou, in early days a miner, afterward member of the Assembly and later State Senator from Plumas County, was the founder of a society, the Cold Springs Franklin Lyceum. Cold Springs had a singing school connected with a singing society ; the school district was established in 1851, and school regularly taught since; church services were held in the school house.
Moody, Davis and Wittenburg were the first men who formed a company for the purpose to supply the miners of Cold Spring with sufficient water, they took the water from Hangtown creek above the falls where it empties into Weber creek, below Middletown, and built a ditch to carry it down; this was done in the early part of 1851, and when the new diggings on the bank of Webber creek were discovered, in the winter of 1851 to '52, called Red Bank, this company took up the first claims. Wittenburg, however, sold out to go East, and his interest was acquired by L. C. Rey- nold's in 1852. George Mull, a representative of the sunny South, who came here with his negro slaves in- tending to introduce into California the institutions of the slavery States, had camped on the same ground while his negroes had to work for him in the creek bed, without discovering the rich placer mines on which his camps stood. A second ditch for the water supply of the Cold Springs miners was built a short time afterward by a company of twelve or more, Wm, H. Lipsey being one of them; they took the water out of Hangtown creek, a little below the Moody, Davis and Wittenburg ditch, and carried it down to Cold Springs by tunneling through the divide between Hangtown and Cold Spring creeks, under the Placer- ville road. The claims on these last named diggings, the red bank, were worked by sinking small holes
Out of the number of other early settlers and promi- nent men of Cold Springs, we recall the names of Judge Kenfield, E. P. Jones, a lawyer, then mining, who was generally known as "Cold Water Jones;" he pailed and pumped out and the gold cleared out of became president of the Cold Springs Division No. 22, Sons of Temperance, instituted on February, 22, 1853, Forcie, a lawyer, Dr. D. L. Stevenson, Dr. But-
the dirt by means of rocker and pan; only very few long toms were in use here. The claims were worked in average 150 feet back from the creek, and paid
stea
DURIDENCI
NEPTUNE
ROSI OF PLACERVILLE
205
LOCAL HISTORY.
good wages from $5 to $50 a day; but never paid ex- ceedingly rich. In 1854 a large company took hold of this mining property and worked it with bed rock flumes, up to 1858 or '59, as we were assured, they took out a good amount of gold but it never yielded too rich. Diggings in the different gulches paid hardly as good as those on the flat. Here on the flat, about three quarters of a mile below town in a west- erly direction, a German by the name of Stakemeyer, who was killed afterward near Grizzly Flat, was working a claim out of which he produced quite an amount of loose quartz mixed in between the gravel, which he threw out of his long tom having no better use for. Judge Kenfield, passing by, inspected this quartz pile found it full of gold and took up a quartz claim. A company was formed to work it, shafts were sunk and a mill was erected, but it never paid for the amount invested in the construction of mill, etc.
As stated already, this was a very peaceful camp, only a few excitements happened and they were of minor character. A gambler generally known by the name of Crowbar, in 1852, had swindled a number of miners out of considerable money, and quite a little excitement arose the next day, when he tried to get out of town with his booty; the difficulty, however, was quietly settled under assistance of some brethren of the gambling fraternity, from Hangtown; a few of the miners got their loss restituted. Another excitement turned up some time later, when a man who had been a mason of the higher grades, disappeared in a house of ill-fame, and some spots of blood suspiciously were connected with his disappearance. By thoroughly investigating the case, however, nothing could be found and the bloodstains were said to have been poured out from a neighboring butcher shop.
This also is the place where in 1851 or '52 some crooked industry was commenced, one Moffatt, an early store keeper, went in with Darling, an old steam- ship engineer, to fabricate gold dust out of lead, coat- ing it with gold by the way of galvanizing. The scheme worked remarkably well, Moffatt bought goods at Sacramento for which he paid with the dust, and smaller quantities were disposed of at the home trade; but finally it was discovered by running the dust into bars, or by coining money out of it, either. The re- sult was that Moffatt lost everything he had, his part- ner Darling, the instigator, skipped the country in time to escape punishment; he took the steamer for Central America. Samples of this industry came to light still years after, they had been dug away under- ground.
An accident happened to the senior partner of the firm of Sudson & Goodenough, early in 1852, that came
near enough to result fatal. Returning from Sacra- mento with a big load of goods drawn by a four horse team, Mr. Sudson wished to be home before night, and when coming up to Weber Creek, in the dusk, he found it running with a big flood, which seemed to check his desire. He hesitated a moment, but trusting his strong team and the heavy load he was driving, and underestimating the flood, he thought he would be able to cross the creek, and once on the other side he would be almost at home. So he drove on, but he had hardly reached the middle of the roaring stream when his wagon was upset and carried down by the flood; his horses were drowned and though he held on to the wagon, on account of being unable to swim, the force of the water made him give up his hold and he was swept down with the swift current for more than a quarter of a mile, until he got a hold on some willows, from where he was rescued by a party that had been alarmed.
Cold Springs in early times of the golden era, was one of the liveliest mining camps of the country, which had a population of about two thousand souls, with a direct stage connection to Sacramento, running a four horse coach daily, besides stage connections to Coloma and Placerville, but as it is now it stands as a proof for the unsteadiness of a mining camp more than any of them. The mines began to slack off, new diggings had not been discovered, and the miners left one after another to hunt for richer mining ground; the population soon shrunk together, stores and other business places, on account of a want of custom had to shut down, the stage took another route and left the lonesome little village isolated on an unfrequented road.
DIAMOND SPRINGS
Took its name from a group of springs with beautiful clear water, which were located on that now mined out ground on the north side of Main street, in the center of town, opposite the livery stable, or Mr. Car- penter's residence. The old emigrant road, coming down across the summit, passing Silver Lake, Sly Park and Pleasant valley, went through here to Sac- ramento and the plains ; or joining off to the north towards Coloma, Placerville, Georgetown and all the mining camps in the northern part of El Dorado county, as well as across the American river in Placer county ; and the emigrants passing over this (Carson) road from the earliest times made this a favorite stopping or camping place, to take a short rest after the hardship and trial of the mountain passage. No attempt, however, had been made towards permanent settlement on this point, though it is said that one log cabin had been built up here in 1849, near some of the many springs ; but the owner of it did not
206
HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
succeed in drawing followers to the place ; they were all bound for Coloma, and none t ok time enough to test the ground. This went on till the latter part of the summer of 1850, when a party of emigrants from the State of Missouri, numbering about two hundred, under the leadership of one McPike, now of Santa Clara county, came down this way and took a fancy to stop here for a few days; but being satisfied with the location, as they found beautiful and plenty of water and pasture, and after they had learned to mine, discovered that the mining here was paying well, they concluded to make this a permanent camp and went on to build clap board houses. Thus becoming the founders of Diamond Springs. The springs, how- ever, belong to those things that only can be talked about.
The Masonic fraternity is represented at Diamond Springs with the Diamond Lodge, No. 29, F. and A. M., which was installed in 1855, holding their meet- ings on Saturday preceding the full moon. Mr. L. E. Brooke is the Secretary; and El Dorado Chapter No. 4, Royal Arch Masonry, holding their meetings at Union Hall on the evenings of Ist and 3d Friday of each month; A. D. Parks, M. E. H. P. ; L. E. Brooke, Secretary. Mount Zion Lodge, No. 114, F. and A. M. , was constituted and the following officers installed by A. D. Parks, of Diamond Springs, R. W. S. G. W. on Friday, May 22d, 1857; Wm. Mckean, W. M .; | Church.
N. C. Boswell, S. W .; J. H. Watson, J. W .; J. R. Cobb, Treasurer ; G. W. Mckean, Secretary ; Chas. C. McLean, S. D. ; D. W. Strohn, J. D. ; Wm. Knox, Marshal ; E. King and J. S. Jacks, Stewards; R. S. Johnson, Tyler ; meetings were held on Friday of, or preceding the full moon.
The Odd Fellows instituted their first lodge in this county and one of the first in the State, at Diamond Springs, it was called Diamond Springs Lodge, No. 9, of Diamond Springs, their day of meeting is Wed- nesday. Sometime in 1854, Zeta Encampment of I.O. O. F. was instituted here also, but was transferred from here to Placerville, in January, 1857. The Odd Fellows of Diamond Springs are in possession of a fine commodious hall in the two-story frame building on the hill, visible far away.
Diamond Springs is situated about forty-seven miles In 1854, when Placerville had started the agitation for the removal of the county court seat from Coloma, of the five aspirants that finally became voted for, Diamond Springs came out third best, which could be considered pretty good, as the district of votes given for this place was very limited, being injured east of Sacramento, three miles from Placerville, on the junction of the roads to the latter city and to Pleasant valley. A place so much favored by loca- tion and other conditions could not help to accumu- late fast after the first start was made ; particularly after the discovery of the richest placer mines all on both sides by the concurrence of Placerville on around town, it commenced growing as a worthy rival of one and Mud Springs on the other side. the neighboring "Hangtown," concerning numerical On August 5, 1856, about 9 o'clock A. M. flames were discovered to issue out of the Howard House, a large building in the heart of the town of Diamond Springs, built of the most combustible material, a strong breeze helped the flames to spread with fearful rapidity, sweeping everything before them. Scott's brick house, and the office of Wells, Fargo & Co., on Main street, escapcd uninjured. Mr. Shearer, the Postmaster, saved the greatest portion of the books. furniture, etc., of the office, but lost the letters and his law library. Citizens of Placerville and other places came to the assistance and worked with commendable strength, business and society life. In 1854, when the star of Coloma began to go downward, Diamond Springs was the rising star, that promised to take the place of the former as the county center. The pro- prietor of the Miner's Advocate sold out at Coloma only to publish his paper at Diamond Springs; and of the size of the trade the town commanded, the many stores and other business places, that all were doing a flush business, gave sufficient proof. A good many of the denizens of Diamond Springs have made themselves prominent so that their names deserve to be recalled in history: There were, M. K. Shearer," zeal to check the flames. The fire was supposed to the most obliging Postmaster ; C. B. Patterson, G. M. Waugh, Samuel Haskett, J. H. Haynes, Dr. Samuel F. Hamm, Mathew Arnold, S. Smith, S Sims, Dr. S. F. Marquis, H. H. West, F. S. Davenport and Henry Larkin.
be the work of an incendiary, and it was presumed that there was some connection between the three big fires destroying the largest towns of the Empire county. Placerville, Georgetown and Diamond Springs-inside of about a month. The total loss on property des- troyed by fire in those three places was estimated at $1,500,000.
The losses at Diamond Springs, after a rough esti- mate, were as follows.
G. P. Morrill, druggist. $ 2,500
W. P. Scott, buildings. 2,000
Mrs. Walk, house and furniture. 1,000
F. Caufman, carpenter. 600
P. Strelitz, jeweler 3,000
Golden Exchange Building. 1,500
Peter Gile, livery stable. 2,000
4.000
207
LOCAL HISTORY.
George Fryer, saloon. 3,000
George Thoonan, house. 600
F. McCoy, saloon and furniture. 1,500
T. Boyle, store and goods. 1,000
J. P. Steele, livery stable. 1,000
Thos. Davidson, dwelling. 1,000
C. Irving, dwelling. 1,000
N. A. Chipman, dwelling .. 400
E. N. Strout, dwelling.
1,500
James Wylie, dwelling. 1,500
Mrs. Holland, house. 2,500
N. Lepper, bookstore. 800
W. S. Day, store and goods. 3,000
N. Rhine, goods and building. 10,000
R. Fouke, crystal saloon, 2,500
T. H. and W. L. Cunningham. 25,000
J. R. Fuller, market.
25,000
J. Ullman, store. 35,000
Kaufmann, store.
3,000
Wm. Harris, store.
3,000
Thos. Fa heringham, store.
2,500
John Moss. 300
M. K. Shearer, dwelling. 2,000
Young & Allen, hotel ..
1,000
Bradberry, dwelling. 1,000
Carpenter, temperance house. 1,500
Isaiah Hull, building. 1,000
C. B. Patterson, law library. 400
L. Bradley, dwelling.
1,000
George Lander. furniture
800
J. Oliver, dwelling. 750
John S. Welton, Nebraska saloon. 5,000
Mary A. Thomas, building. 2,000
Another destructive fire visited Diamond Springs on the 23d of September, 1859, which had swept away a great many buildings in the central portion of town before its ravages could be checked. The loss on property after a rough estimate amounted to between $50,000 and $60,000.
Probably but few know that the Digger Indians burned their dead and will do so up to this day if no law officer interferes with their habits. Immediately in the rear of Ham Hawley's and Bob Shirley's stables, at Diamond Springs, was the consecrated ground on which they paid the last funeral rites to their deceased warriors, wives, brothers, sisters, sweethearts and chil- dren by cremation. For hundreds of miles around were the dead transported on litters to this sacred spot, where it was supposed that the spirits of the de- parted, in the flames of the pine fagots, took their de- parture to the happy hunting ground beyond the sky. We witnessed one burning in 1852, of a chief, who had been brought from Georgetown. The ceremonies
occupied some ten hours, and ran into the late hours of the night. It was a wild, wierd, sickening, stinking operation. Hundreds of Diggers had collected from everywhere (they were more plentiful then than now), the bucks dressed in all manner of attire, with painted faces, the women and female .children with tarred heads. The dead body of their chief was placed naked on the ground, then covered with pine splints and fired, when bucks and squaws set up as unearthly, maniacal a howl as ever came from mortal throats. Round and round they danced until there was nothing left of the corpse of poor "Digger Jim." At a late hour of the night the spectacle was a scene for an.ar- tist. Hundreds of rough dressed, uncouth, unshaven miners, storekeepers, visitors, etc., had collected and almost surrounded the Indians. The stench from the burning body was almost intolerable, the burning fagots kept up a bright light, but no one interfered with the ceremonies, for there were n > hoodlums in those days. Some one notified Coroner Tommy Daugherty that he was wanted, and away he went without asking any questions, on a bucking mustang, to hold an inquest on a dead "Injun," followed by many notables of the county. There were present, as near as can be recollected: Ben. Post, Ballard, Billy Carr, Jim Plummer, Bob Graham, Bob Carson, (Kit's brother), Tom Davidson, Church A. C. Waldron, Uncle Billy Rodgers, Dave Buell, the Brace brothers, E. B. Carson, Old Weth- erwax, Fred Chamberlain, Carey of the Carey House, John Fountain, Miss Puss Williams with her pleasant face and laughing curls: now the wife of J. Q. Brown, and the prattling children of the Titus Hotel, Tom Springer, Ned McCabe, Al Merrill, Pete Schram, Bill Donahue, Theron Foster, Net Wilton, John O'Don- nell, Jack McDougal, Pat Lynch, Mike Borow- sky, Cockeyed Johnson of Johnson's Pass, Geo. Coddington, Geo. Fryer, Bob Bell, and the handsome face of Mrs. George Thomas, the blonde, and Mike and "Mommy" Shearer were there; Bart Richardson, Bill Connell, (doublefoot), Chauncey Noteware, Alfred Briggs, and sturdy John Conness, Chase and Elias Willow, Joe Simmons and the Davis brothers, Jim Hume, Jack Moses, Capt. Billy Smith, Sam and Jim Grantham, Ross Sargent. John Bell, A. C. St. Denver, Major Bee, Dick Savage, "Boomerang Bill," Bill January and Roush, Dan Gel- wicks, and Sam Seabough, and Col. Ned Baker, the editor and orator.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.