Yosemite will have to wait! Along the Trail leading from Lassen to Yosemite, we encountered this unsavory character in Columbia, CA. This part of the country is known as California's Mother Lode. Bart pulled our wagon over, six shooter drawn and asked us for all our gold and silver. Fortunately, we were out of precious metals so he let us be on our way!
The Mother Lode is the name given to the long stretch of gold and silver deposits that run northwest to southeast in California's Sierra Nevada mountains. I've long been interested in learning more about this area so rather than head for Yosemite, we took up residence in my good friend Jim Borneman's mountain home just outside Twain Harte. Jim was kind enough to allow Terry, C-Dawg and I to stay at his place for three nights which served as base camp for our Mother Lode and Yosemite explorations.
California Hwy 49 runs thru and area that was seriously infected with gold fever! Many a fortune was gained and lost along this stretch of road. From Placerville in the north down to Chinese Camp in the south, the region is rich with history and includes a series of cities and towns that played a big part during the Gold Rush days in the mid 1800's.
The best collection of preserved boom town architecture is found in Columbia where authentic buildings and artifacts are readily accessible to visitors.
I'm a huge fan of the musical Paint Your Wagon. The theme song goes something like this:
"Got a dream boy. Got a song. Paint your wagon and come along. Where'm I goin'...I don't know. Where'm I headed...I ain't certain. All I know is I am on my way. When will I be there I don't know. When will I get there I ain't certain...all I know is I am on my way!"
Sorta sums up the way I feel about this Trek thru the Parks. Although we do have some idea as to where we're goin'....when we get there is arbitrarily decided once the wheels start to roll!
Take this Trek as an example. We packed up our Silver Wagon and headed west on July 7th. Our original plan was to make our way up to Redwood National Park. Then on up to Crater Lake in Oregon. Back down to Lassen. Then Yosemite. A brief stop in Bakersfield for the Lopes Family Reunion on July 17th. Then back north to Sequoia and Kings Canyon before heading home.
Heading west, we though we needed to take another look at NP#4 - Joshua Tree. Our original visit was brief and we really didn't give it a chance. So we entered the park from the southeast ad drove thru it one more time looking for visually pleasing sites. We discovered that it looked very similar to our first visit. It hadn't changed and still remains at the bottom of the Park ranking report. After our second "drive-by" thru Joshua and with C-Dawg in tow, we changed our plans and headed for Sequoia instead of Redwood.
...Mules were made to pack...I've never seen a sight that didn't look better looking back! I was born under a wanderin' star. A wanderin'...wanderin' star."
More lyrics from Paint your Wagon. We found this wagon in Columbia. Authentic Stage from the old days when Wells Fargo hauled passengers and payloads up and down Hwy 49. A bit touristy...however, the detail of the carriage was remarkable.
A painted wagon from the Densmore Mining Company carried supplies from town to mine. The 49'ers were mostly a rag tag bunch of get-rich-quick treasure seekers who possessed no mining skills and little knowledge of geology. They were, however, possessed with a heavy dose of gumption and gold fever and forever wandering from creek to creek in search of that big strike!
During the Gold Rush Days 125 million troy ounces of gold were extracted from the Mother Lode. In today's dollars, that would equate to $50 billion. In 1954, the largest gold nugget was found in Carson Hill above the Stanislaus River and weighed in at 195 lbs.
The most intriguing fact that came out of our Trek thru the Mother Lode is that 80% of all the gold located in this region is still in the ground! Can you say Gold Fever?
No, this isn't Borneman's Twain Harte dwelling... however, it does closely resemble his more rustic cabin just east of Chico.
The town of Murhpy's is a short side trip off of Hwy 49 on Rte 4 and takes you deep into the Mother Lode's wine country. Here it seemed that there are more wine tasting opportunities per square mile than anywhere else in the world! Tasting rooms everywhere we looked!
The Sierra Nevada mountains form a wall running the length of California along the states eastern edge. What this means to winos like Terry and I is that the area possesses geophysical characteristics conducive of producing grapes worthy of consumption!
At elevations between 600' and 15oo' above sea level, where Murphy's and many of the other vineyards are located, the weather is blessed with warm days and cool nights. There is plenty of rainfall and the decomposed granite soils serve as a rich bed for grape growing.
From these soils, we are treated to wines that tend to be more dense and full flavored. My kinda vino! If ever in this region...do take in Murphy's and taste the fruits of the vine!
And should you indulge a bit too ambitiously with the grape juice, check into this historic Inn!
Another colorful character we encountered when in Murphy's.
How to pan for gold: Needed Item: 12" or 15" gold pan. Steel is preferred. Darken pan over campfire to make gold flecks more noticeable.
Go to stream, creek or river. Look for gravel bars in middle of body of water. Place pan under water and keep it there at all times. Fill pan with gravel while trying to keep from freezing your butt off when wading in the icy waters of the Sierra Nevada. Throw away large stones and break up clumps of mud and clay.
Hold pan level with both of your shivering hands and rotate pan with swirling motions. As you rotate the pan, the heavier gold settles to the bottom. Tilt the pan downward to let the dirty water, sand and gravel wash over the edge of the pan.
Continue to raise and lower lip of pan so water flows over it. Continue shivering and raising and lowering the pan until all that is left is your gold. Loudly shout out Eureka! and proceed to the Assay Office! (See "Gold Miners Destination" picture above)
Or, dress up like a colorful frog, hold out pan and hope tourists throw a few nuggets your way!
Mark Twain's Cabin on Jackass Hill
One of our country's most colorful writers, Mark Twain, was born in Florida, Missouri in 1835 as Samuel L. Clements. Self educated, Mark learned from books at local libraries and from his many experiences. When he was four, his family moved to Hannibal, MO along he Mississippi River which later served as the foundation to many of his famous works.
At age 22, on a voyage down the Mississippi, Steamboat Captain Horace Bixby persuaded Twain into pursuing a career as a Steamboat pilot. Twain in turn, convinced his brother Henry to work with him on the Boats. Unfortunately, Henry was killed when the Steamboat Pennsylvania exploded. Twain was guilt ridden from this accident and forever held himself responsible for Henry's death.
In 1861, Twain headed west and along the way, ended up in Angel's Camp (located on Hwy 49) which helped to inspire his famous writing - The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County. He did a short stint as a silver miner in Virginia City, NV and failed miserably. He then signed on with the Virginia City newspaper, the Territorial Enterprise where he first used his pen name - Mark Twain.
His cabin pictured above is located just outside Tuttletown, CA atop Jackass Hill. Here Twain spent a couple of years looking after miner's mules while writing some of his famous works including the Jumping Frog.
The one thing I've found to be fascinating about this blogging business is that it has got me looking deeper and deeper into the rich history of the people and places that we've visited. Yes, most everyone has heard of Mark Twain...however, little did I really know of this man until I googled him and did some real in depth research.
Probably the most fascinating aspect of his history that I certainly related to was the fact that although Twain obtained a sizable fortune via his writings and lectures...he squandered much of it on bad investments...mostly on new inventions. And although he had earlier filed for bankruptcy, in 1894 Twain embarked upon a worldwide lecture tour to earn enough money to pay off all of his creditors even though he was not legally bound to do so. As I read Twain's biography, I couldn't help but think back to my days at Rainforest Construction and the financial highs and lows Tim and I experienced.
Nonetheless...our Trek thru the MotherLode was filled with rich visuals of days gone by. Not a National Park...yet well worth noting as a most charming "Side Trip".
Happy Trails friends...and yes...the next stop is Yosemite!
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