Chapter XLV From Thompson & West's History of Placer County, 1882

ALTA - Antelope - Applegate - Auburn - Bogus Thunder - Brushy Cañon - Butcher Ranch - Cisco - Colfax - DARIUS V. NORTON - Clipper Gap - Damascus - Deadwood - Dutch Flat - HENRY A. FROST - HERMAN R. HUDEPOHL - Frytown - Duncan Cañon - Fort Trojan - James W. Chinn - Gray Horse Cañon - Humbug Cañon - Johnson’s Ranch - Manzanita Grove - Newtown - Grizzly Flat - Lincoln - Peter Ahart - Isaac Stonecipher - Sheridan - Rogers’ Shed - Shirt-Tail Cañon - Sunny South - Emigrant Gap - Forest Hill - J. G. Garrison - William Rea - Gold Hill - Gold Run - Iowa Hill - Dr. Oliver H. Peterson - Michigan Bluff - Newcastle - Ophir - Penryn - Griffith Griffith - Placer County Granite - Elisha Grant - W. Dana Perkins - Roseville - Todd’s Valley - ALFRED A. POND - Nicholas Quirolo - Wisconsin Hill - Yankee Jim’s

CHAPTER XLV. TOWNS, LOCALITIES & PEOPLE [Placer County].

IN the general history of the county, the early discovery, the movements of individuals, the inci­dents of settlement, the success of miners, and in other references, nearly every town, river bar, and mining camp, of old and of modern times, have been mentioned, and in some instances quite full histories given. There are many localities whose history is full of interest, and upon which memory loves to linger in commune with the recollection of scenes of those bright and hopeful days when time seemed so laggard and the future at command. Then con­ventionalities and classes were unknown. Equality reigned supreme, and toil had no terrors, so that hope spread the inaccessible bed-rock with gold or directed the impracticable tunnel to the auriferous channel. These recollections may be preserved in the legends of the pioneers; aborted and exaggerated in the stories of the magazine and novel writers; or found in occasional sketches in the newspapers. Their aggregate would burst the volume covers.

Here space and other questions forbid, and brief must be the mention of many. Placer County is divided into eleven townships, which are designated by numbers. Township No.1 includes Antelope and Roseville, in the extreme southwest; No.2 includes Ophir, Gold Hill, Virginiatown, Mount Pleasant; No. 3, Auburn and Clipper Gap, extending from the American to Bear River; No.4, Applegate, Colfax, Dutch Flat, Gold Run, Alta, Emigrant Gap, and others; No.5, Forest Hill, Yankee Jim's, Todd's Valley, Butcher Ranch; No. 6, Michigan Bluff, Bath; No.7, Iowa Hill, Sunny South, Damascus, Wisconsin Hill, Humbug Canon, Grizzly Flat, Bird's Flat, Monona Flat, Sucker Flat; No.8, Canada Hill, Tahoe City, Deadman, Last Chance, Long Canon, and the high region of the Sierra forming the southeast part of the county; No.9 is in the foot-hills, embracing Rocklin, Penryn, Newcastle and others; No. 10 is in the valley, embracing a large area of farming land and the villages of Lincoln and Sheridan, and No. 11, on the line of the railroad, embracing Cisco, Hot Springs, Summit, Truckee River, Lake Valley, etc.

ALTA
Is a creation of the Central Pacific Railroad, dating its existence as a town from the time the road was constructed. The place received its name in the spring of 1866, and on the 15th of July following the completion of the railroad to that point, and the establishing of a station, was celebrated by an excur­sion from Sacramento. The locality is two miles from Dutch Flat, and, via the railroad, thirty­three miles northeast of Auburn, at an altitude of 3,607 feet above the sea. With the completion of the road to this point, Alta became the depot for freight and passengers for Dutch Flat and all points beyond, making it a brisk business point during the year 1866. The region surrounding was covered with a dense forest of pines, and was the seat of several large saw-mills. Although much of this grand forest has been utilized in lumber, a large business is still carried on. Near Alta are the large lumber yard, store-houses, and box factory of Towle Brothers, who carryon the most extensive lumber business in the county. They have several mills, the largest having a capacity of 50,000 feet of lumber every twenty-four hours. From the lumber depot a narrow-gauge railroad leads to the mills, ten miles distant, passing by inclined planes over a ridge rising 1,300 feet on one side and falling 2,400 feet on the other, a stationary engine raising and lowering the cars.

At Alta is a fine hotel, kept by E. M. Banvard, and the usual stores, saloons, and residences of a flourishing village. Population, 120. Population of Towles' Mills, 225.

Antelope
Is a station on the Central Pacific Railroad, in Township No.1, near the line separating Placer and Sacramento Counties, twenty-one miles southwest of Auburn, having an elevation of 154 feet above sea level. In the rainy season a small stream flows past, called Antelope Creek, the name being sug­gested by the large bands of antelope once so plen­tiful throughout the valley.

Applegate.
The region including Applegate was first settled upon in 1849 by Lisbon Applegate, and a vil­lage grew which bore the name of Lisbon, in honor of the pioneer settler. The locality was on the road from Auburn to Illinoistown. The precinct was first designated as the Bear River House, but in 1855 received the name of Lisbon, a post­-office being then established under that name, with G. W. Applegate as postmaster. The voting popula­tion numbered from twenty-five to fifty, through a series of years, the majority being anti-Democratic-­Whig, Know Nothing, and Republican, in their order-until the abolishing of the precinct, in 1871.

Here is one of the finest fruit regions of the State, as has been demonstrated by the success of Mr. Geo. W. Applegate and others of the locality. At an early day Mr. Applegate planted a nursery, and also cultivated hay and grain, fencing in upwards of 1,100 acres of mountain land. From his nursery he has extended his vineyards and orchards until his trees are numbered in thousands and his grapevines in hundred thousands. Apple, pear, plum, peach, quince, fig, orange, and almond, are the principal trees; grapes of every variety, and berry bushes and vines in great number. In connection with this extensive vineyard are cider-mills, wine-presses and tanks, stills for brandy-making, wine cellar and store-houses, and all the appurtenances necessary to so extensive a business. Such is one of the mount­ain ranches and vineyards. The land lies in United States survey, townships 13 and 14 north, range 9 east, Mount Diablo base and meridian.

Applegate is the station on the Central Pacific Railroad contiguous to this region. It is ten miles northeast of Auburn, at an elevation of 2,014 feet above the sea, and is in Township No.4, of the political divisions of Placer County.

Auburn.
Auburn the county seat and principal town of Placer County, is on the line of the Central Pacific Railroad, thirty-six miles northeast of Sacramento, the depot having an elevation of 1,360 feet above tide water, the principal portion of the village being forty or fifty feet lower.

The history of Placer County is so much the his­tory of Auburn that a special reference may appear superfluous. The town antedates the county some years, the gold-digger having sought its hidden wealth as early as 1848. The first, however, that it bore a habitation and a name was early in 1849, when it was called the "North Fork Dry Diggings," the name of Auburn being given in the fall, as shown from an old diary quoted on page 79 of this book. Some have referred to Auburn as formerly bearing the name of "Wood's Dry Diggings," but of this we have no recollection nor contemporaneous record, and conclude that such appellation was not generally applied.

The locality is a concentration of small gulches, or ravines, constituting a larger one, flowing almost due west into the Sacramento Valley, where the water is lost in the plain. These ravines were rich in gold, and upon the site of Auburn many miners, in the summer of 1849, pitched their tents, and with pans, crevicing knives and spoons, and rockers, dug for the precious metal. Cabins were constructed as pleased the builders' fancy, and when pack-animals and wagons subsequently came they sought their passage way as most convenient, and thus marked out the streets of the future town, resulting in a picturesque irregularity.

The existence of gold in the ravines had been proven in 1848, and the centrality of Auburn, its accessibility, and its proximity to the North Fork, pointed it out as a good trading-point and a good place to pass the winter. Several stores were opened in the summer of 1849, and then stores comprised all business houses in the mines. being saloon, eating, gambling, and lodging-house. For cooking and lodg­ing, the miner or traveler usually depended on his own resources, seldom troubling any store or other house for accommodation. The first of these stores were established about the middle of July, 1849, by Wm. Gwynn and H. M. House. Shortly after, Julius Wetzler, in company with Capt. John A. Sutter, started II. trading-post under the firm name of Wetzler & Co. George Willment and W. B. Disbrow, Jo­seph Walkup and Samuel B. Wyman, Wm. H. Parkin­son and Wm. Leet, Bailey & Kerr, and Post & Ripley, were also store-keepers in 1849. Quite a large com­munity gathered there in the fall to pass the winter, among them a number from Otsego County, New York, who had come by sea around Cape Horn and brought quite a large amount of goods, which they sold from their cabins without calling them stores; one of these was Wm. M. Gates, afterwards a prom­inent lawyer in the State of Nevada. Many others spent their first California winter in that compara­tively pleasant locality, who in the spring rushed off to the rivers and to other mining regions. But Auburn was then fixed as a trading center, and has so continued. As a town of 1849 it was composed of tents, cloth-houses and log-cabins, with canvas roofs, and in a few instances were roofs made of shakes split from the pine trees which were abund­ant in the neighborhood. In the summer of 1850 more pretentious buildings were constructed, and frames, and clapboards, and paint, and plank floors made their appearance.

At present one cannot view the pleasant town, with its many fine public and business houses, its handsome dwellings embowered in fruit and shade trees, and its general air of thrift and comfort, with­out recurring to the beautiful lines of Goldsmith, descriptive of the happy days of another village, whose name is adopted in this:
“ Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain,
Where health and plenty cheer the laboring swain;
Where smiling spring its earliest visit pays,
And parting summer s lingering bloom delays­
Dear, lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
Seats of my youth, where every spot can please
­How oft do I loiter o'er thy green,
Where humble happiness endears each scene;
How often do I pause on every charm­
The sheltered cot, the cultivated farm,
The never-failing stream, the busy mill,
The decent church that crowns the neighboring hill,
The willows green, with walks beneath the shade, For talking age and whispering lovers made."

During its history Auburn has experienced many vicissitudes; business, in its first decade, fluctuating with the success and movements of the miners, but with the development of the varied resources of the county greater stability marks its prosperity. In the division of t he State into counties it was included in Sutter, of which it afterwards become the county seat, as is related in chapters XVIII and XIX of this work.

Great Fires.
 Several times fire has swept its streets of build­ings and hard-earned fortunes from its citizens, but "Resurgam" has been its motto, and a handsomer village than before has followed each conflagration.

The first and most destructive occurred on June 4, 1855. The fire originated in one of the Chinese houses on the side of the hill below the Methodist Church, spreading with fearful rapidity, and seeming fairly to lick up the buildings as it went. Those residing on the south side of the town were unable to secure much from the devouring element. The time occupied in the burning was one hour and twenty-five minutes.

With characteristic energy the town was rebuilt larger and more substantial than before, only to meet a like fate on the 9th of October, 1859. The fire originated in a small frame building, two doors south of the American Hotel, occupied by some col­ored men as a restaurant. From the place where first seen, the fire spread rapidly on all sides, envel­oping building after building in rapid succession, and driving their inmates forth in haste. But few min­utes elapsed before both sides of the street were in flames, which then ran north and south with a fury that seemed to threaten the total annihilation of the town, but fortunately the walls of the brick houses proved bulwarks that broke the force of the storm, and enabled the citizens to make a successful fight against further destruction. From the Amer­ican Hotel to Russel's orchard, on the west side of the street, and from the residence of' Wm. McDaniel to the banking house of Hall & Allen, on the east side, all the houses were destroyed. Before the embers had cooled, busy preparations began for re-building, and, before dark, lumber was on the ground ready for re-building. The loss was about $119,000.

Another fire occurred October 28, 1863, in which nineteen buildings were destroyed, with a loss of about $60,000. These repeated losses had the effect of stimulating the erection of safer buildings, and those put up for business purposes in succeeding years have been mainly of brick and stone, and fire­proof in their construction. Other destructive fires are noticed under the proper heading in this book.

Incorporation of Auburn.
During 1855, and for some years, the subject of a town incorporation was persistently advocated by the Whig and Herald, the two papers then guarding the interests of the place. As presenting the condi­tion of the town, and reasons for the incorporation, an editorial upon the subject in the Herald of January 9, 1856, is here inserted:

During the month of April last, the subject of petitioning the County Court for a town incorpora­tion, was somewhat discussed by our citizens, and a petition to that effect was put in circulation. For some reasons, the project was not carried into execu­tion.

By reference to the files of the Auburn Whig, of the 18th of April and the 5th of May, 1855, we find the attention of our citizens called to the matter in two well-written articles, by the editor of that paper. The necessities of the move, the law upon the sub­ject, and the entire question is so ably treated therein, that we will extract from those articles such portions as our space will permit, but would recom­mend those interested, and who have the files of those dates, to read every word he has there written.

In the article of the 28th of April, he says: "One great peril necessarily incurred in a thickly-built town or village, is that of conflagration, a danger to which, by reason of our numerous Chinese population, we are particularly liable. The extremely loose and careless customs of that people are too generally known and understood to require any comment from us, and it is for them in a great measure that we have reason for apprehension."

The words in italic seem almost prophetic, where we recall the fact that on the 4th of June following, the fire which laid our village in ashes originated in one of the dens of that tribe.
The Chinese portion of the town is much more extensive now than it was then. Many more of that people are here now than then, and although we have, in re-building the town, erected some barriers calculated to stay an entire sweep of the town, in case of another fire, in the shape of some good fire-proof brick buildings, yet, we apprehend a fire in Chinatown would, in all likelihood, destroy as great an amount of property now as it did before, when the whole town was consumed. Perhaps if there had been a town corporation, the calamity might nevertheless have befallen us; certainly suffi­cient police arrangements can be instituted to lessen the danger fifty per cent.

Further: "The condition of our streets and alleys is not at all times such as we could desire, yet the obstruction existing, and the remedies required are not properly under the control of the Road Supervisor. "

We will just call attention to the streets in front of the Orleans, and Wells, Fargo & Co's Express office, in verification of this extract, at the present time. Here, we are the center of an extensive stage travel, strangers visiting us daily; the county seat of a large county, the entertainers of our fellow-citizens from all parts of the county attending upon the Courts, and drawn here from their necessities in other matters connected with a county seat, and yet we have none but miry streets without crossings or a system of sidewalks for them to walk upon.

The law provides that whenever the majority of the electors of any town or village shall petition the county court to that effect, the court shall proceed to incorporate the town, and order an election of a Board of Trustees, Assessor, Treasurer, and Marshal; said officers to hold for one year, and their pay to be fixed by the Board of Trustees. The powers of the Trustees, as fixed by law, are 'to prevent and remove nuisances; to provide for licensing public shows and lawful games; to prohibit disorderly conduct; to regulate and establish markets; to construct pumps, aqueducts, reservoirs, or other works for supplying the town with water; to keep in repair public wells; to layout, alter and keep open and repair the streets and alleys of the town; to provide such means as they may deem necessary to protect the town from injuries by fire, and to pass such other laws and ordinances for the regulation and police of the town as they may deem necessary.

Such, after an examination of the acts passed upon the subject, we find to be substantially the law in relation thereto, with this addition, that they may have a Recorder, with the powers of a Justice of the Peace in criminal and ordinance violations, within the limits of the corporations, if they desire it. It seems admirably adapted to our necessities; the expense of the administration can be gauged by the judgment of our citizens. Elect your Board of Trustees from among your property-holders, and they are not likely to produce a necessity for taxing themselves.

We are painfully sensible that the fire has crippled our citizens in their resources, and we incline to favor this move, from the fact that it will produce greater results, a more uniform improvement, and excellent police arrangements much cheaper than in any other way. The revenue from fines, the license from shows, etc., would of itself not be inconsiderable. Most of the officers, we have no doubt (as it would not require more than two hours a week), would serve gratis, and those it would be necessary to pay could draw it from the fees of office.

Aside from all other considerations, it is something of a favor that this is the county seat of a large and populous county, where our citizens come and spend their money, and we owe them something in the way of keeping up a comfortable, pleasant, orderly town.

We have been led to make these remarks at this time from the fact that a petition is again in circula­tion to effect this, as we think, desirable object. We hope it will not fall still-born again, but that our citizens will pursue the undertaking to the consum­mation so devoutly to be wished for.

The town of Auburn was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature approved March 29, 1861. The area of the town was fixed by the Act at one and one-fourth miles square, having the Court House as the centre. On the 30th of March, 1868, the Act of incorporation was repealed, and since that time the citizens of Auburn have got along as best they could without any  town government.

A Railroad Town.
From a very early date, Auburn aspired to be a railroad center, and large sums of money were expended in advocating and assisting such enter­prises. From 1852 to 1860, the subject was kept before the people. While incorporated, the town, June 4, 1860, voted a subsidy of $50,000 to the Sacramento, Placer and Nevada Railroad, and suc­ceeded in having a line constructed to within five miles of the town, the history of which is elsewhere given. Auburn depot was established at the terminus, and several lines of stages connected the depot with the town by frequent trips. A large amount of freight and travel was thus brought through Auburn, giving it a lively appearance and a profitable business. But this, Auburn's railroad and hope, was of short life. A greater railroad, with a more direct and practicable route, approached from Sacramento and absorbed its business. This was the Central Pacific, which was completed to Auburn and com­menced running to the present depot, on the south­ern border of the village, on the 22d of May, 1865. The hope had been entertained that the railroad would pass through the center of the town, but this being impracticable, all became satisfied with the location, and Auburn congratulated itself upon being most happily situated.

Among the institutions of Auburn was the California Stage Company, which, in September, 1855, published the following advertisement, which shows the rates of travel at that period:

Fare Reduced.
The coaches of the California Stage Company leave Auburn as follows: From Auburn to Sacramento, every day at 7,10, and 12 A. 111; from Auburn to Grass Valley, Nevada, and Forest City, 12 and 2 P. M.; from Auburn to Yankee Jim's, Todd's Valley, and Michigan Bluff, 2 P.M. from Auburn to IlIinoistown, Iowa Hill, and Cold Springs, 2 P. M.; from Auburn to MarysviIle, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at 1 o'clock P. M.

A Business View.
Auburn has a population of nearly 2,000 people. There is a good public school of four departments. There are several churches, and more projected.

The benevolent institutions comprise lodges of Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Good Templars, and Sons of Temperance.

The scenery in the vicinity of Auburn is grand, and the climate, though warmer in summer than that prevailing along the coast, is extremely healthful. Residences on the main streets are surrounded with the prettiest of gardens, filled with shade and fruit trees and flowers of every hue, which make the atmosphere fragrant with their odors. There is no healthier spot in the State. The main portion of the town is about 1,300 feet above the sea-level-an elevation sufficient to lift it above the fogs of the valley, and yet not high enough to bring it within the storm-area of the Sierra. Snow is seldom seen, and then only remains for a few hours. At the present time it is the center of a large and increasing trade. The numerous mines located in the imme­diate vicinity furnish employment to a large number of men. The towns and mining camps on the For­est Hill Divide also draw their supplies from this point. Considerable quantities of fruit and wine of excellent quality is produced by the farmers and fruit-growers of the slopes and fertile valleys; so that horticulture and wine-growing have become very important industries. Silkworms are raised to a limited extent, but sufficient to show that the industry, if properly managed, might be a remuner­ative one. Wood, coal, building-stone, and iron of fine quality are convenient, giving assurance of future importance as a manufacturing centre. The greatest period of depression appears to have been in 1873, as shown by statistics of business kept by the agency of Wells, Fargo & Co., since which time it has steadily increased. The total amount of gold­dust, coin, and currency shipped through Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express from Auburn during the year 1881 was 8434,634.65. Of the above amount $281,379 was gold-dust.

Old Settlers.
We give below a list of very early settlers in Auburn, as furnished by Mr. Moses Andrews, one of the first who located there:
Andrews, Moses
Anderson,
Beaty, Abe
Bailey, Major
Bailey, James
Cromwell, E. C.
Crawford, J. B.
Craig, J. L.
Craig, Abram
Culver, E.
Dana, L.
De Bois, James
Dunn, Robt.
Dobloman, John
Disbrow, W. D.
Ellard, Chas.
East, Thos.
Echols, H.
Fitteplace, ­
Fuller, Richard
Fisher, Robt.
Goodell, Richard
Gwynn, Wm.
Gould, John
Hall, E. M.
House, H. M.
Holladay, S. W.
Howell, Robt.
Holmes, H. T.
Hopkins, R. D.
Hawkins, H. R.
Kerr, ­
Knight, Sam.
Livingston, H. B.

Bogus Thunder
THE above name is applied to a bench or high bar located upon the North Fork of the Middle Fork, in the cañon some two or three miles from Deadwood. A fall in the river, a mile or more above the place, over which the waters of the stream plunge, and the sound of which reverberates throughout the gorge, fixes an impression upon the mind of a stranger who first visits the bar, that the noise he bears so distinctly is thunder. So thought the first explorers, until they finally located the cause and proclaimed the thunder bogus.

Brushy Cañon
This locality is between Yankee Jim's and Wis­consin Hill, and at one time was the scene of exten­sive mining operations. The diggings were located in 1855, and gave promise of great wealth. Numer­ous tunnels were constructed, and for three or four years the place was one of bustle and activity.

Butcher Ranch.
This is a farming settlement situated on the Stony Hill Turnpike, on the divide between the North and Middle Forks of the American River, eight miles from Auburn and fifteen miles from Forest Hill. It has a post-office and is a voting precinct, and has a population of about 250. The places of business consist of one drug store, two hotels, one blacksmith shop, and one carpenter shop.

Cisco
Is in the snowy region of the Sierra, fifty-six miles northeast of Auburn, and 5,934 feet above the level of the ocean, in longitude 1200 33' west from Green­wich and 39° 21' north latitude, being within two miles of the extreme northern line of the county.

With the opening of the Donner Lake Wagon Road, in 1864, for travel to the silver mines of Ne­vada, numerous stations, or hotels, were established along~ its line. Among these were Heaton's and Poley's, a few miles apart. In 1866 a great excite­ment prevailed regarding the mines and city of Meadow Lake, near the summit of the Sierra, in Nevada County. With the rush of people thither the two stations mentioned were points of depart­ure from the Donner Lake Road, and both aspired to be towns. In June the place at Heaton's was surveyed into lots, and the town named Cisco, in honor of John J. Cisco, United 8tates Treasurer. On the 29th of November, 1866, the Central Pacific Railroad was completed and the cars commenced running to this point, and Cisco became a very busy place, crowded with great freight wagons and teams, stages and travelers. This remained the ter­minus! of the road until 1868, when the summit tun­nel was completed and the road extended out into Nevada. Cisco is in Township No. 11, and has a population of about 100.

Colfax.
This place is situated on the Central Pacific Rail­road, fifty-four miles from Sacramento and eighteen miles northeast of Auburn, and is another of the many towns that sprang into existence upon the completion of the great overland railroad. The rails reached Colfax September 1, 1865, and regular trains were running on the 4th of that month. The town of Colfax was laid out in 1865 by the Central Pacific Railroad Company. The site was subse­quently sold to Messrs. Kohn & Kind, and a sale of lots took place July 29, 1865, which amounted to between $6,000 and $7,000.

Within half a mile of' where Colfax now stands is the old settlement of Illinoistown, and when Colfax was laid out in 1865 it gathered to itself all that was left of' this ancient place. Colfax has, since that time, steadily increased in population and import­ance, until now it is one of the leading towns in the county.

In 1874 a company was formed to build a narrow­gauge railroad from Colfax to Nevada City. The work of construction began in 1875, and the road was completed and the last spike driven at Nevada on the 20th of May, 1876.

Rich veins of quartz were discovered near Colfax in 1866. A test of the rock was made at Grass Valley, and found to be worth between $27 and $28 per ton. A company was organized and a mill con­structed in 1869. The mine was christened the "Rising Sun." The gold is of a pure quality, being worth $18.50 per ounce. The mill had five stamps of 800 pounds each, and was capable of reducing ten tons per day. The mill was subsequently increased to twenty stamps, and still continues a paying mine. The Montana Mine has been worked to some extent, and numerous buildings have been erected. The Meda Mine is situated on the dividing ridge, three miles from town. The ore is rich and bas yielded an average of $30 to the ton.

A destructive fire occurred in April, 1874, which swept away the main portion of the town. With undaunted energy the citizens have re-built, and now it is difficult to discover any traces of the fire, and the place is now handsomer and more substantially built than ever.

The climate of Colfax is similar to that of the other towns on the western slope of the Sierra. Its altitude is 2,421 feet above the sea level, and with its salubrious and healthful location, its mountain breezes, laden with the spicy odors of pine forests, disease cannot linger. Fruits of all kinds that grow in temperate latitudes are raised on the ranches, and apples and peaches are much better flavored than similar productions in the valleys.

The population of Colfax is about 600. The business establishments consist of dry goods and grocery stores, two hotels, drug store, wagon and blacksmith shop, bakery and restaurant, saloons, lumber yard, meat market, shoemakers, etc.

DARIUS V. NORTON,
Eldest son of Reuben and Mary Norton, was born at Allison's Prairie, Crawford County, Illinois, March 22, 1820. He grew to manhood in his native State, and received a thorough education. After reach­ing his. majority, be was for several years engaged in teaching school. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California, arriving at" Hangtown" on the 15th of August. His journey over the barren country lying between the "Garden State" and the land of gold was similar in detail to that of thousands of others who braved the dangers of the trip in early days.

His first three years in this State were spent in the mines in EI Dorado County. In 1855 Mr. Norton failed in health, and removed to Nevada County, where he remained about two years as a teacher in the public schools was also elected Justice of the Peace. His next move was to Napa County, where he owned a fruit ranch near St. Helena Mountain. This was his home for a number of years. In 1875 he sold his fruit ranch and came to Placer County, settling in Auburn, where he remained one year, at which time he removed to his present home, about two miles from Colfax. A view of his place will be found in this volume.

Mr. Norton was married June 23,1863, at Napa City, California, to Mrs. Mary Sitton, nee Montague, who is a native of Bourbon County, Kentucky. Mrs. Norton came to California, across the plains, in 1854, and settled in Sonoma County, where she resided seven years. She then removed to Napa County, and lived there until her present union. They have two sons, aged, respectively, seventeen and twelve years.

Clipper Gap
Is a railroad station seven miles northeast of Auburn, in Township No.3, having an elevation of 1,759 feet above sea level. It is in the midst of a fine fruit region, and is the depot of the Hotaling Iron Mines, and of the lime works of Holmes & Co.

Damascus.
Damascus is an old mining town, whose history begins in the year 1852, at which time Dr. D. W. Strong, who was prospecting in the vicinity, discov­ered gold in an outbreaking stratum of quartz gravel upon a point between the two branches of Humbug Cañon, near the southern, or as it is now called, Damascus Branch. For several years, or until a post-office was established in 18-, it was known as Strong's Diggings. Strong and his asso­ciates dug a small ditch from a spring at the head of the cañon, which conveyed a small head of water, and began to ground sluice-the gravel at the rim being not more than two feet deep, paying from the surface to the bed-rock. Later, hydraulic apparatus was placed in position, and the ground washed off during the portion of the year when water was obtainable for the purpose by that method, until too much barren overlying material was encountered, when, in 1854, a tunnel was begun for the purpose of drifting out the paying stratum, under the name of the Golden Gate. West of the claims of Strong & Co., was the Mountain Tunnel Company, also having commenced a tunnel. The two tunnel companies, becoming involved in disputes relating to boundaries, drainage, and priority of right, finally, in 1863, com­promised their difficulties and consolidated under the name of "Mountain Gate Mining Company," with twenty-one shares, representing an ownership of that number of persons, which are still main­tained. Like the majority of unincorporated mining ventures, where no particular pains are taken In preliminary surveys, the first tunnel driven was found to be sixty-five feet too high to profitably work the gravel through, which it encountered in a length of 300 feet; consequently, another and lower one was driven, which reached the gravel in a distance of 800 feet. Much of the quartz-gravel of the "white channel" was worked through this second tunnel; but eventually that also hard to be abandoned, and the one through which the workings are now conducted was begun. This was driven into the hill 7,000 feet, at which point a chocolate-colored cement was encountered, with no paying gravel. Here a shaft was sunk thirty-eight feet deep, which encountered rich gravel, but not of the "white channel." It was of an entirely different character, the rocks, pebbles, and abraded matter being of a dark color, with but little white quartz-some distinct deposit from a channel not contemporaneous with the other. This stratum has since that time been designated as the" black channel." It is here about eighty feet lower than the" white" or quartz channel. To work this it became necessary to grade an incline from the floor of the tunnel to the bed­ rock of the channel, which was done, down which a pump-column was conducted and a car-track laid, and the water flowing into this lower level is pumped and the gravel hoisted by one large overshot wheel and a turbine, supplied with water from the old breasts and levels of the "white channel" above, which has been extended some 200 feet further into the mountain than the point where the incline begins, and been stoped out an average width of 500 feet. Upon reaching the top of the incline, the cars loaded with gravel are drawn out of the tunnel-a distance of near one and a quarter miles-by horses, and emptied into the large dumping receptacle at the head of the sluices, and washed from water flowing from the tunnel. Over 7,000 feet of pay-channels have thus been explored-the black channel for a width of 275 feet-and is found to yield an average of about one-quarter of an ounce of gold to the car­load of gravel.

The Mountain Gate Mine, for which a patent has been applied, is located in sections 14, 15, 22, 23, and other subdivisions of Township 15 N., Range 11 .E., Mount Diablo Meridian; with a lineal extent along the east line of 9,600 feet; southern end line extend­ing to the line of the Hidden Treasure of Sunny South, 5,500 feet; western line 10,000 feet, and northern (or front) line of 5,500 feet, of which some 4,000 feet along the "white" and 6,000 of the " black channel" are unworked. Since 1860 it has produced over $1,000,000, and has been worked prin­cipally by the owners, who are as follows: John H. Thomas, Tunis C. Broom, John B. Parker, A. B. Campbell, Christopher Elliott, Owen Jones, Robert J. Thomas, J. P. Rains, William Rowlands, William Brown, Jr., G. W. Snyder, J. F. Moody, J. T. Ashley Albert Burgess, Mrs. J. N. Lombard, D. R. Abrams, Nicholas Weaver, William Broom, Sr., and Mrs. Jane Weaver.

Damascus, being situated upon the northern slope of the ridge, is subjected to deep snows in the win­ter, but its summer temperature is admirable. During the inclement season, in cases of sickness, no little difficulty is experienced in procuring the attend­ance of a physician, the nearest one residing some ten mile& distant, at Iowa Hill. At one time, during the prevalence of a fierce snow-storm, and when the earth was enveloped to the depth of many feet, it was found after nightfall that a lady resident, the wife of a miner, was suffering with an attack of pneumonia, and, without relief, could not long survive. Females were never at any time numerous in the camp, but those who were there were respecta­ble ones, and were all favorites with the male popu­lation. A physician must be had at every hazard; work in the tunnels for that night, at least, was abandoned; twenty brave men assembled, who, under the leadership of Gould Coker, set out in the gloom of night, in the blinding storm, to break a trail to Iowa Hill for the physician. By turns, each man would take the lead in the deep snow until exhausted, and another took his place, as, waist deep, they wal­lowed slowly onward through the cold, fleecy mass. Some time upon the following day the heroic little party reached Iowa Hill, and, after prevailing upon Dr. O. H. Petterson to accompany them, and refreshing themselves as best they could within a limited time, started upon the homeward journey. This trip, though not as fatiguing as the one out, was in itself no child's play; for, meanwhile, the storm continued to rage, and the fast-falling snow had well-nigh obliterated the trail previously made. But perseverance, at length, overcame every obsta­cle, and within thirty-six hours from the time of starting for the doctor, he was at the bedside of the suffering woman, and not too late to save her life. When the patient was past danger, the humane min­ers were again obliged to escort the doctor home, breaking the road much after the manner they had been compelled to do at first.

The site of the village is on a steep hill-side, over. looking the junction of Blue Cañon with the North Fork of the American, the gorge of Humbug Cañon, and a stretch of the Central Pacific Railroad bed near Shady Run. Many comfortable cottages, around which are little garden plats and orchards, dot the landscape; a school house, at which, during school months, there is an attendance of about twenty-five scholars, and a large hotel and store, owned by Owen Jones, are among the architectural features of the place. In March, 1880, a former store-house and hotel were destroyed by fire while the owner, Mr. Jones, was prostrated by sickness at Iowa Hill, entailing a loss of $8,000. A post. office was established and maintained for several years at Damascus, but was finally abolished. The regular population will probably not exceed 150, most of whom are engaged in mining operations.

Deadwood.
Deadwood is situated about seven miles above Michigan Bluff, across El Dorado Cañon, on the divide between that stream and the North Fork of the Middle Fork. The altitude of Deadwood is nearly 4,000 feet. The wagon road leading to the place is circuitous, and follows up the main divide via Forks House (that was), Secret Springs, around the head of' El Dorado Cañon, and then down the narrow ridge near the point of which the place is located. Some hydraulic mining has been done here, but the principal mines are no\v worked through tunnels by drifting and washing the bottom stratum of gravel. In 1881 there were five claims thus working-all old locations.

Gold in paying quantity was first found here in 1852 by a party of prospectors, who, being so elated at their good luck, remarked to all subsequent com­ers, that, though heretofore they had had indifferent success in prospecting, now assuredly had the "dead­wood" upon securing a fortune. So positive were the first discoverers of gold in this locality of its richness and magnitude, that the most flattering accounts were circulated and a great influx of people resulted. There must have been at one time 500 or 600 people congregated in the vicinity. Many substantial buildings were erected, considering its isolated situation, and high hopes were indulged of sudden wealth to be acquired. The trail from Michigan .Bluff leads into the gorge of El Dorado Cañon, and thence for three miles almost uninterruptedly up an abrupt incline. Aside from the grandeur of the towering hill, the awe-inspiring chasms through which meander the tributaries of the Middle Fork, and the impressive jumble of rock and foliage spread out at the feet of the beholder, there is but one singular feature of interest in the course of the toilsome ascent. About a half-mile before reaching the village there are two long, parallel walls of stone, some three feet apart and about three feet high, evidently the handiwork of some branch of the human race. For what purpose 80 laid, or their use, is only a matter of conjecture; but many of those who first visited the spot supposed it to have been a crematory for the Indian dead. In 1855 Deadwood's transient glory had, in a great measure, departed, and since that time its remaining population have been content to delve in the mines there for a certain, though mod­erate, remuneration for their toil.

Periodically during winter come fearful storms of rain and snow in these high altitudes. When warm, and the rain thoroughly saturates the loamy soil that overlies the cement, it becomes dangerous to those who dwell below the brow of the ridge upon the precipitous side-hills, for an occasional ava­lanche is loosened from near the summit's crest, which sweeps everything before it. In December, 1860, on one side of the hill, about one-fourth of a mile below the village stood the house of A. J. Felch, occupied by himself, wife, and boy, aged eight, lamed William. On Christmas eve, while father and Ion were sitting in the house before a comfortable ire (Mrs. Felsh fortunately being absent), all at once the roar which precedes the approaching land­slide smote upon their ears. Before it was possible to get out of doors, the avalanche struck the build­ing, and crash ! it went, apparently carrying away inmates and all! Not so, however, for soon Mr. Felch became conscious that he was still alive ! though cut, bruised, and bleeding from contact with falling timbers. But where was the boy? A plain­tive call from the father elicited no response. Dead, mangled and swept away into the fierce-raging chasm below ! thought the poor, wounded, agonized rather; but he would search for the lost one. Prov­identially, some oak trees to which portions of the building had been attached had withstood the onslaught of the moving mass, and, under the pro­tecting lee of these, there yet remained debris of the household wreck. Digging among this the father found his boy, unharmed. That either escaped, is little less than a miracle.

At that time, December, 1860, the ditch conveying water to Deadwood was owned by David Davis and John Williams, Welchmen. On the 24th of that month, during the prevalence of a tremendous snow­storm, they both started up the ditch, declaring they would bring the water down therein before they returned. They were never seen again alive. Parties went out to search after the storm subsided, and, on the 5th of January, 1861, the body of Williams was discovered in the ditch, where, having sank in exhaustion, he had folded his arms upon his breast and died. Tracks of animals leading to the body caused its discovery, and exposed portions of the corpse had been mutilated by the ravenous beasts. The Masonic fraternity consigned the remains to their final resting place at Michigan Bluff. About two months after that time the body of Davis was found, and was buried by the Masons at Todd's Valley.

Dutch Flat.
This place is situated in the northeastern part of the county, upon the ridge which divides the waters of Bear River from those of the North Fork of the American, thirty-one miles from Auburn, and dates back in the annals of time to the year 1851.

Joseph Doranbach has the honor of being called the first settler, having located there in the spring of that year. The name" Dutch" is derived, perhaps, from the nationality of Mr. Doranbach and those who were his companions at the time, but it is dim. cult to conceive of why" Flat" should be added in giving the name to the then embryo town, except it is to fully carry out and demonstrate the Californian custom of perverting names. In 1854, the place was considered, by persons then thought to be visionary individuals, of sufficient importance as a mining locality to warrant the construction of a water-ditch to convey the waters of Bear River upon the tops of the ridges for mining purposes. This gave quite an impetus to the settlement of the place, and it continued to increase in population and import­ance. In November, 1855, a post-office was estab­lished, with Charles Seffens as Postmaster. In May, 1859, it was one of the first towns of the county in population. After the completion of the Bradley, or Placer County Canal, from the North Fork of the American, and the Bartlett & Thomas Ditch, from Little Bear River, in 1859 and '60, the town steadily increased, until, in 1860, its voting popula­tion was larger than that of any other town in the county, having polled at the Presidential election of that year over 500 votes. Since then the number of votes has decreased, but the permanent popula­tion has gained, and now it is next to Auburn in importance. The Dutch Flat Enquirer, a weekly newspaper, made its first importance May 29, 1860, and for a number of years was published regularly. The Enquirer was followed by the Forum, which in turn hat! been succeeded by the Placer Times.

This is one of the principal and best-known mining localities of California, the system of hydraulic min­ing being carried on very extensively. The hill of gravel denominated Dutch .Flat is somewhat isolated, presenting three sides to the attack of the hydraulic, and overlooks Bear River, which runs along its northern base, about 1,200 feet below the crest of the hill. The gravel deposit is about one and a half miles in length by half a mile in width, and from 100 to 350 feet in depth. Gold is found throughout the gravel, but there is a thick stratum of pipe-clay barren of the precious metal. Beds of ashes, char­coal, and partly charred wood are found in places beneath a hundred or more feet of gravel. The formation exposes a very interesting field for the geologist. A large number of mining companies are engaged here, and the product has been many mil­lions of dollars. In addition to the ditches stated, the South Yuba Canal supplies about 3,000 inches from the South Yuba River. The mining district embraces Elmore Hill, Indian Hill, and others of local name, besides Dutch Flat. In this district are a large number of mining companies, and the opera­tions are very extensive and interesting. The Cedar Creek Company, purchasing several properties in 1872, was one of the most extensive. It was an English corporation, with a capital stock of £200,­000. During its most prosperous condition, there were 150 men employed. The capacity of its main ditch was 5,000 inches, the greater portion of which was used in operating its claims, the principal of which were the Pacific, the Central, Jehosophat, Home Ticket, half of the Gold Run, and the Gem. The property altogether consisted of thirty-two claims, comprising about 200 acres of mining ground.

The drill and machinery in use by this company cost $12,000. The property, after having lain idle for about three years, owing to certain complications, fell into the hands of Mr. J. P. Hickey, of San Fran­cisco, in April, 1881, whose intention is to work it extensively and systematically.
Like other towns of California, Dutch Flat has suffered much from fires. The most recent occurred on the 22d of October, 1881, when its Chinese quarter was burned, involving a loss of about $30,000. Some sixty buildings were burned, generally of a poor quality. These, although occupied by Chinese, were generally owned by white people.

In 1860, a company was organized to construct a wagon road from Dutch Flat to the eastern slope, to accommodate the travel then beginning to flow over the mountains to the silver mines of Nevada. Two roads were subsequently constructed, and for several years the town profited by the large travel through it. In July, 1866, the Central Pacific Railroad reached the vicinity of the town, and soon passing on, making Cisco the depot of passengers and freight, and business relapsed to its former dependence on the resources of its neighborhood.

Dutch Flat is situated high up in the mountains, has an unlimited supply of water from pure mountain springs, and timber abundant and convenient. In consequence of its elevated position, the town is regarded as a pleasant place for summer residence, Its altitude being about 3,400 feet above the sea-level. Its climate is subject to great changes. Snow falls at times to considerable depth in the winter and spring month!!, but the summers are warm and exceedingly pleasant. At this elevation, tender fruits, such as the lemon and orange, are not raised; but the pear, peach, cherry, and apple, the black­berry, raspberry, grape, currant, and gooseberry grow in great perfection; so that the citizens are not dependent on the valleys for their supplies.

The principal street, whereon are located nearly all the business houses, is Main Street. The general appearance of the private residences and places of business is neat and tasty, which speaks well for the culture and thrift of its inhabitants. The town at present supports one newspaper-the Placer Times­ owned and published by W. A. Wheeler, Esq., and is issued every Thursday. There are three churches, one school house, a number of dry goods and gro­cery stores, one drug store, hotel, livery stable, one fire company, and one brewery, besides the usual quota of lawyers, doctors, etc. Its secret societies number five-Masons, Odd Fellows, Red Men, Good Templars, and Ancient Order of United Workmen. The Masons and Odd Fellows each have a fine hall. The Ancient Order of United Workmen use the Odd Fellows Hall for their meetings.

The society is good, owing to the settled and reliable character of the mining interests, and business men find a substantial and legitimate trade; consequently, they gather their families around them.

Numerous pleasant homes cover the hill-sides, and evidences of taste and refinement are abundant.

HENRY A. FROST.
The subject of this biographical notice is a native of Massachusetts, having been born at New Bedford, Bristol County, May 15, 1830. Mr. Frost, through the visitation of the hand of death, lost his father in infancy, and, at the age of twelve years, was left an orphan by the death of his mother. This changed the course of his life, and he removed to the State of Vermont, where he remained until his eighteenth year, at which time he returned to his native State. During the succeeding twelve years, he was engaged in mechanical and agricultural pursuits at Worcester, in Worcester County. In the fall of1861, he came to California by way of the Isthmus of Panama, landing in San Francisco in the month of December. He made no stay in the city, but came immediately to Placer County, and during that win­ter remained at Gold Run. In the Spring of 1862, he located at his present place, near Dutch Flat, where he has since resided. During the first ten years of his residence in this State, he followed mining, but of late has been engaged in agriculture in connection therewith.

In Mr. Frost we do not find a '49er, though his twenty years residence in this State gives him the right to the title of an "old settler." He has been twice married, his first wife departing this life in June, 1878. In June, 1881, he was married to Mrs. S. A. Waggoner, a native of Illinois, but more recently from Nevada County, in this State.

HERMAN R. HUDEPOHL.
This gentleman is a native of Hanover, Germany, and was born March 30, 1823. He remained with his parents until he reached his sixteenth year, when he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, and, in due time, mastered that trade. During eight years succeeding, he worked at his trade in different cities in the old world. In 1848 he came to America, and located at Cincinnati, Ohio, where he followed his trade until 1854. In the last-named year, he came to Califor­nia by way of the Isthmus of Panama, arriving in San Francisco late in the month of March. After a few days sojourn in the city, ho came to Placer County, and located at Dutch Flat, and for six months was a miner. From that time unti11865 ho worked at his trade, and during that year he embarked in the dry goods business, which he has since successfully followed. His stock is one of the most complete in the town, embracing a run line of dry and fancy goods, clothing, etc.

He was married April 5, 1865, in Sacramento, to Miss Catherine E. Power, a native of New York City. By this union there were three children, two girls, aged, in 1881, fourteen and ten years, and one son, aged twelve years. Mrs. Hudepohl died March 8, 1876.

Frytown
Was located on the Auburn Ravine, about two miles below Ophir. It was first settled in 18:19. Only a few houses were built, but the miners were in the habit of using the place as supply head-quarters. There was a general merchandise store, kept by Messrs. Fry & Bruce, which supplied the miners in the immediate vicinity with the necessaries of life. The town received its name from the senior partner in the firm. It was one of those mushroom towns which sprang into existence and soon died. But " 'twas lively while it lasted."

Duncan Cañon.
This stream is an important confluent of the Middle Fork of the Middle Fork of the American, and rises pretty well up toward the western summit of the Sierra, between the main North Fork and Picayune Valley. It was never noted for its gold product, and to-day, by reason of its undisturbed condition, its clear, pellucid water, the tangled mat of undergrowth upon its flats, and noble forest trees growing adjacent to its unscarified banks, it reminds the "old-timer" more of the primitive days than almost any other stream of like magnitude in the mountains. James W. Marshall says that it derived its name from Thomas Duncan, who came to the country overland, in 1848, from Missouri, in the train of Captain Winter, and who entered California via the road, or mountain trail rather, diverging from American Valley, and following down the ridge south of the North Fork.

In the fall of 1850, Antoine and other cañons in that locality having been slightly worked, and con­siderable gold of a coarse character exhibited, which had been taken therefrom, naturally the attention of gold-seekers was directed thither, and person& who had been there were eagerly sought, and the oracular knowledge they dispensed was readily "taken in" by credulous inquirers. No tale was too extravagant; however palpable the canard, there. were always more to believe than to doubt. The chronicler hereof remembers well how, in the spring of 1849, when one of the pioneer mail steam­ers of the Pacific Coast entered the harbor of Panama upon her first return trip, the city was thronged with Americans, who had only purchased tickets to the isthmus and were unable to get further. There were still doubts as to the reputed richness of the gold mines, and a thousand anxious and excited interviewers stood upon the shore, ready to make prisoners of those who landed. Two brave sailors becoming thus corraled, and finding escape impossible, edified the crowd with yarns that did credit to their imaginative powers, satisfied their listeners, and disillumined the brilliancy of Alladin's Lamp. Exhibiting a buckskin bag which evidently contained nuggets, one of them said: "Why, look here, it's no trouble to get gold anywhere in Califor­nia; it's all over-everywhere! Just after we left the port of San Francisco, the mate set me to clean­ing the anchor which we had jl1st hove up, and see! here's over $200 that I panned out from the mud 1 scraped off the flukes!" and the crowd believed him-for why should they doubt?

In like manner did Tom Duncan regale the senses of a crowd of miners who happened to be at work near him on Shirt-tail Cañon, late in the fall of 1850. He had, in coming into the country, traversed the region where Antoine Cañon flowed; more than that, he had found diggings in a creek, but never stopped to work them, nor had he ever been back to them since. Could he find them for a consideration? Most assuredly. Thereupon a company of select spirits entered into a compact with Tom, that he would pilot them to the spot. Furnishing him with a horse, the party started out in quest of the favorite spot, which Duncan declared he had been to two years before. Reaching the vicinity, the cañons all looked so much alike that Tom couldn't strike the right spot; members of the company canvassed the matter; the guide had either lied to them or was "throwing off" for a better thing-each offense deserving capital punishment. Tom was distrusted. At night he 'vas placed under guard, and he roust soon show the place he had contracted to do, or be shot. While camped in the bed of a certain cañon, near its head, the guide led the party to the northern side of the ridge, overlooking the North Fork of the American River above Sailor Bar. Hero were some small flats and ponds, where gold enough was found to induce a relaxation of vigilance, to the extent that no guard was placed over Duncan the following night. The next morning's sun rose in the cañon upon a decimated camp. Tom Duncan and a mule had gone! The party afterward found the mule at Todd's Valley, but Tom Duncan they never saw again. He had sought new diggings out of reach of his late companions-while as a remembrance, they christened the stream upon which they had camped, Duncan's Cañon-and thus it goes down to history.

Fort Trojan.
This peculiarly-named town was located on the Auburn Ravine, about three miles from the present town of Lincoln. It does not date back in its history to the days of '49, but reaches only to the year 1858. It was lively until the starting of the town of Lin­coln, when the business was transferred to that place. There was a hotel kept by Jerry Henderson, who was also postmaster for the town; Mills & Evans had a general merchandise store; Gray & Philipps had a meat market, and Peter Fritchard had a blacksmith shop. There were two saloons, one owned by Honeycut & Hoffman, and the other by E. A. Gibson. James Beck was Justice of the Peace, and James Berg was Constable. There is nothing left to denote the existence of this town, except the memories of the men who were familiar with the facts. The common appellation given the place by the miners was" Fort Trojan."

James W. Chinn.
This gentleman was the third son of Robert and Sidney Chinn, who were natives of Loudon County, Virginia. James W. was born at Richmond, Virginia, December 28, 1822. He remained in his native city until he was sixteen years of age, at which time he removed to Baltimore, Maryland, and was engaged in a wholesale dry goods establishment. About one and one-half years were spent in this place, when he went to Zanes­ville, Ohio, and was first a clerk, and then pro­prietor, in his adopted business until 1849. The excitement incident to the discovery of gold in California attracted his attention, and he joined the throng who were rushing to the scene of battle for wealth on the Pacific Coast. On the 28th of' August, 1850, he arrived at "Hangtown," now Placerville, in El Dorado County, after a long and tedious trip across the plains. From Hangtown Mr. Chinn went to Sacramento, and then came to Placer County, and for a few weeks was in Auburn Ravine. His next move was to Nevada County, where he arrived in October, 1850. He was in that county until September, 1851, when he came again to Placer and located at Ophir. In 1852 Mr. Chinn opened a store and sold miners' supplies, until Sep­tember, 1854. In the fall of the last-named year he opened a store at Dotan's Bar, on the American River, and was agent for Wells, Fargo & Co.'s Express. In 1856 he was elected a Supervisor of Placer County. During the latter year he removed to Nevada County and opened a store at Woolsy Flat, and another at Moore's Flat. In 1859 Mr. Chinn was elected Treasurer of Nevada County on the Democratic ticket, and held the office one term. In 1861 he entered the dry goods business in Nevada City, which he continued about two years, when he went to San Francisco and remained until 1866. During the summer of the latter year he came again to Placer County and located at Iowa Hill, which has since been his home. Mr. Chinn has always been an active business man, and is to-day reckoned as one of the lively men of the county. He is the postmaster of' his town, and in connection therewith carries on a banking business, his purchased of gold-dust averaging about $200,000 per year. He is also agent for Wells, Fargo & Co.

He was married January 26, 1863, at San Fran­cisco, to Miss Lizzie Jessup, a native of New York State. Four children live to bless their union, three girls and one boy.

Gray Horse Cañon.
High up on the Rubicon there occurs quite a 1I.at stretch of grass land, in great contrast with the general characteristics of that usually rapid, rocky, and narrow gorge. For a mile and a half the river winds sluggishly along through a tussocky bottom, a quarter of a mile wide, where there is splendid pasturage, and at the sides of which are many deer licks, occasioned by the exudations of salts, of which the animals are fond, from the bor­dering ledges. This place is much frequented in the summer and fall by Indians, from the trans­mountain tribes, who come over from the eastern slope of the Sierra, and in season and out of season remorselessly slay deer of all ages,  and conditions, without regard to game laws or common decency. Near the head of this flat, from the north. comes in Gray Horse Cañon, once known as Big Valley. During the prospecting excitement which resulted in the discovery of the Squaw Val­ley mines, the original party looking for the place, during their peregrinations, happened into Big Valley. and camped. Upon packing up to depart, an old gray horse used for sumptering "threw up," and in his antics "bucked" the camp equippage with which he was loaded off, and scattered the traps around promiscuously over a great extent of terri­tory, to the great annoyance and inconvenience of the prospectors. Hence its present name, in com­memoration of the frisky disposition of the old gray horse.

Gray Horse Valley is a fine grazing locality, and is claimed by George Taverner, of Cosumnes Town­ship, Sacramento County, who uses it as a summer pasture for sheep. For about three miles the valley is from 300 to 400 yards wide. It was first claimed by John and George Hunsucker. Five-lake Creek, American Valley Creek, Gray Horse, Bear, and Squaw Creeks all head in one range of mountains, and quite near each other-the two latter running into the Truckee, while the waters of the others run toward the Pacific. Fire Lake Creek comes into the Rubicon above Gray Horse, and between the two is a large and exceedingly rocky point. During the wagon road excitements, when the Georgetown party were out in search of a practi­cable route to Washoe, two members of the expe­dition-W. S. Montague and John W. McKinney ­took a stroll upon this rocky ridge, Rattlesnakes were numerous then in that region, almost any­where, for the sheep had not, at that time, driven them to cover, as now-a-days, and the two men named did not mind an occasional rattler in their pathway; but upon this particular promontory they began to be too frequent for either safety or com­fort of feeling, and when about passing a crevice in a rock, which was about two feet wide, they were stopped by the most wonderful spectacle. It was literally filled with twisting, writhing, scaly, mottled serpents-a veritable den of monsters such as they had never before conceived the existence of. They had revolvers, and McKinney proposed firing a few shots into the mass. This they did; but then there arose such a horrid stench, to which the thousand odors of Cologne were as otto of roses, that the attacking party were forced to beat a retreat, vomiting as they went. McKinney swears to this day that there were not less than four solid cords of rattlesnakes in that single crevice.

Humbug Cañon.
The above-named stream is one of the earliest placers worked, and empties into the South Branch of the North Fork of the American, from the south, a short distance above its junction with Blue Cañon at Euchre Bar. It heads at the base of the grand gravel ridge, upon which are located the Mountain Gate and adjoining mines, having several branches, and was first explored early in 1850. In February of that year L. P. Burnham, now a resident of Damascus; Robert E. Draper, who subsequently lived a long time in EI Dorado County, and at Aurora, Nevada, at which latter place he figured in a duel with Dr. Eichelroth, and a man by the name of Kirkpatrick, were among the crowd who first rushed, during the pleasant weather which at that time prevailed and gave promise of an early open­ing of spring, to the locality of Bird's Valley and Michigan Bluff. Snow covered the ridges, and the water in the main streams was so high that but little mining was done there then, which circumstances caused a feeling of restlessness to pervade the minds of the nomadic prospectors, and these three men concluded to "strike out" in search of other diggings. Therefore, the same month, they mounted snow-shoes, left camp at the future-to-be Michigan City, and boldly turned their footsteps toward the unknown region to the northeastward. Arriving at the head of a cañon  which ran toward the North Fork, after a weary journey of some eighteen or twenty miles, they proceeded down it to where another branch came in, the two forming quite a large stream within a' deep gorge.  Here they camped, and, upon prospecting, found gold sufficient in quantity to induce them to locate claims. As it was of importance enough to do this, a proposal was made that a name be given it, and the throe pioneers having all emigrated to California from Mississippi­ though none were natives of that State but Kirkpat­rick-they bestowed upon the stream the name of Mississippi Cañon. A few days work, however, seems to have disgusted them, for thereafter they shouldered their blankets and climbed the hill, with the intention of returning to the place from whence they started. After leaving their camp in the cañon, and while toiling up the steep mountain side, Kirkpatrick, in an interval while resting in the assent, gave expression to his disgust by saying: "Pshaw, hasn't any gold of any account, it's a regular humbug, and instead of Mississippi we'd better call it Humbug Cañon."

Just as the three men had scaled the precipitous sides of the cañon, and were fairly setting out on their return journey down the ridge, human voices were heard, and soon after human forms descried approaching them. The new-comers proved to be a party of men following up their trail, supposing they had discovered rich diggings. No declarations upon the part of the three could deter the new party from going ahead; the more the three endeavored to per­suade them that the cañon was a "humbug," the more determined were the interlopers that they were upon the portals leading to great wealth, and into the cañon they would descend. This determin­ation on the part of the last party re-enthused the hopes of the first, and they, too, would return and define the boundaries of their claims. Consequently all went into the cañon, when the following day a mining district was organized, and rules and regula­tions were adopted. At the meeting held, Robert E. Draper was chosen to act as Secretary, and in his written minutes of the proceedings occurred the fol­lowing words: " At a meeting of the miners of Humbug Cañon, held this - day of February, 1850," etc., which have ineffacably attached themselves to the place, to the entire obliteration of the primal cogno­men of Mississippi. Subsequent workings have proven the banks and bed of the cañon to be rich -- ­no humbug-it having been washed over several times, and at each time producing large amounts of gold.

Johnson’s Ranch.
Among the many camps that sprang into existence in this county during the few years subsequent to the discovery of gold in California, was the one known as Johnson's Crossing, or Johnson's Ranch. The spot where the little town once stood is still there, but the inhabitants have all sought other fields for their labors. There was a bridge across Bear River at this place, and it was a stopping-place for the many teams engaged in hauling freights from Sacramento to the mines in the upper country. In 1852 there was a small hotel kept by a man named John Shuster, and soon after that the town com­menced to flourish. It was located about twenty­-five miles northwest from Auburn, which was the principal town in the county at that time. Mr. Young Dougherty, now a resident of Sheridan, and from whom the information regarding the place was received, pitched his tent there in 1852. and the next year built his house. In 1856 there were about thirty dwelling-houses and the usual number of business places. Wm. O'Rear was the first postmaster, and was appointed in 1854. He also kept a hotel.

The place at one time had a population of over 100, and supported two blacksmith shop, two stores, and also a couple of saloons. It was a voting pre­cinct and often polled as high as 150 votes, though the voters came in from the surrounding country.

Among the earliest settlers were Claude Chana, who came there as early as 1846. After him came John Shuster, Wm. B. Campbell, John Swearer, A.H. Estell, Joseph Rears, Philip Tracy, Dr. Gray, Dr. Esmond, John Boone, Dennis Neugent, Harrison Kimball, Young Dougherty, and others.

In the year 1862 the floods nearly destroyed the place, and then came the debris from the hydraulic mines higher up on the river, and now there is not a vestige of this lively little town left visible. The deer and bear run wild over the site of the town. The real cause of the desertion of the place was the debris from up the river.

Manzanita Grove.
This remarkable spot claims a place in the history of the county in which it lies. It is situated about half-way between the towns of Lincoln and Sheri­dan, and contains about fifteen acres. The place gained notoriety in early days from the fact of its being a stronghold for thieves, who bad a corral near the center of the grove, where they kept their stolen stock until an opportunity presented itself to drive it to the country lying south. The name is derived from the manzanita bushes growing there, which were much more numerous in the early days than now. Quite a number remain, though the grove is composed mostly of oak. In 1855, some one con­ceived the idea of turning this place into a burial-ground, and there are at the present time several hundred people buried within the enclosure. The first one was buried in the last-named year, in the spring. His name was Wynan. There are some monuments that would grace some of the fine cem­eteries in large cities. The towns of Lincoln, Sheri­dan, and even Wheatland, furnish subjects to pop­ulate this city of the dead. It is a very picturesque spot, and will always remain as a monument to per­petuate the memory of the dead. It is cared for by an annual subscription.

Newtown.
This, like others of its class, has ceased to exist as a place of habitation. It was located on a side ravine that terminated in what was known as Doty's Ravine, and was started about the year 1855. The population increased to about one hundred. The claims paid big, but it was what they called a "spotted" location, and" once you find it and twice you don't." The town was about five miles northeast of the present town of Lincoln. Not a house is left to mark the spot where so many miners found employment in days gone by. There was a largo hotel called the "Cardillion House," owned and run by a man named Cardillion; another was run by - Webdell. Neidihut & O'Teele kept a large grocery store, and another was kept by John Barnes. There was a saloon and dance-hall, owned by Ezra Newell, and a livery stable, by Wm. Johnson.

Grizzly Flat.
The mining Camp of Grizzly Flat is situated directly east of Wisconsin Hill, at the head of Grizzly Cañon.

In 1855-56 this camp had a population of fifty people, the mining ground consisted of nearly forty acres. The gold was course, and was taken out by the handful, and the whole fiat was honey-combed with drifts and tunnels. Every miner made something, and many made fortunes. After the fiat had been worked out, a company of a dozen miners, who had been successful, was formed to prospect the northerly branch. The name of the company was the Rough and Ready. A long tunnel was constructed of several hundred feet in length, from a point down the cañon, which cut through the rimrock of the basin, and drained the claim to a certain depth. A steam-engine was purchased, and a large pump put in operation.

The company worked with constant internal dissentions, until the year 1865, when the members mutually separated, and the claim was abandoned.

Upon the dissolution of the old Rough and Ready Company, in 1865, Messrs. Little & Hazelroth, of Grizzly Flat, obtained a possessory title to the tunnel claim but, not having the capital to successfully carry on the work, a new company was incorporated in 1878, under the name of the Eclipse Company. This company paid Mr. Hazelroth and the heirs of Mr. Little $2,000 for their possessory title. They also obtained title from the Government for 171 acres of mining ground.

Lincoln
Is situated in the valley of the Sacramento, bordering the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada, near where Auburn Ravine debouches upon the plain, being nearly directly west of Auburn, and fourteen miles distant in a direct line, or twenty-nine miles by rail. It is on the line of the California and Oregon Rail­road, ten miles from its junction with the Central Pacific. The place was named in honor of Charles Lincoln Wilson, the builder of the California Central Railroad, which was completed to this point October 31, 1861. The first settlement was made in 1859 by John Chapman, G. Gray, John Ziegenbein, E. A. Gibson, and Camron & Ballinger following soon after. In the years 1862-63, the town was very pros­perous, having at that time between 400 and 500 inhabitants, and from four to eight stages making daily trips from Lincoln.

The section of country surrounding Lincoln is decidedly agricultural, and is especially noted for its certainty of crops. Excellent fruit is raised here, and apples of superior quality. Mr. J. R. Nickerson, the pioneer fruit-raiser, exhibited at San Francisco in 1865, at the Mechanics' Institute Fair, 223 varieties of apples, for which he received a high testimonial from the committee.

The Lincoln Winery, conducted by Stephen D. Burdge, is an industrial feature which will probably grow into considerable importance as a more extended knowledge obtains of California's vintage. It was established in 1880, by the proprietor, who learned the business of wine-making in Italy, in 1828 and the time intervening to 1835, going there from the United States for that purpose. Mr. Burdge came to Placer County in 1850, and has never considered any other place than the locality about Lincoln his home since, as be soon after settled about four miles from the present site of the town, upon the place originally located by Kinsly and Copeland, but now owned by George D. Aldrich, on Doty's Ravine. Mr. Burdge mada wine as early as 1851 from grapes grown on the Hock Farm. In 1852 he obtained at the farm, from General Sutter, a lot of cuttings-the General being loth to part with them then, as they were scarce-which he set out upon the Kinsly and Copeland place, he having purchased it from them for $6,000, In 1854, his cuttings had done so well, that be was enabled that season to make a small quantity of wine from grapes grown upon the young vines.

The wine manufactured at the Lincoln Winery is entirely the product of the mission grape, denominated Hock by the proprietor, with a beautiful amber color, fine flavor and bouquet, and finds ready market. But 2,000 gallons were made in 1881. The vintage of 1882 is expected to produce 30,000 gallons.

The discovery of excellent beds of coal in 1873, has contributed to bringing Lincoln into prominence. The Lincoln coal mine, situated a short distance from the depot, was discovered in 1873, a description of which can be found on page 213 of this volume.

The Clipper Coal Mine was discovered in June, 1874, by J. D. B. Cook. The property bas changed hands several times, and is now owned by John Landers, of Wheatland. In March. 1875, Mr. Glad­ding, the senior member of the firm of Gladding, McBean & Co., the present owners of the pottery, being on this coast, took some of the clay found in the Lincoln coal mine to Chicago, where he had formerly been in business. The sample proved suitable for sewer pipe and that class of goods; a company was soon formed, and in the same year, 1875, he returned and erected a building 110x45 feet, with an engine at one side. The main building is now 216x45 feet; another built recently is 135x30 feet. There are five kilns where the pipe is burned; the engine is sixty-horse power, with two boilers. All the machinery was made in Ohio, and is of the most modern kind. About thirty-five men and boys are employed constantly; the principal manufacture is sewer pipe, but in connection with this they make well-pipes, chimney-tops, flower-pots, lawn-vases, and ornaments of all descriptions.

The present population of Lincoln is about 300, and at the elections about 170 votes are polled. There is one drug store, one express office, two hotels, two grocery stores, one dry goods store, three blacksmith shops, one butcher shop, one tele­graph office, one bakery, five saloons, two doctors, one lawyer, one notary public, and two school teach­ers. There are two churches, one built in 1864 and afterwards sold for taxes, and bought by the citizens of the town, who opened it as a free church, allowing anybody to preach. A Catholic Church was built in 1880, in which services are held regularly. There is one school house, built of wood, with a seat­ing capacity of' about eighty. Two teachers are employed. The buildings in Lincoln are mainly of wood, there being several of brick. The people are supplied with water by a reservoir that is connected with the Bear River Ditch Company, and the water is distributed through the town in pipes. Several disastrous fires have occurred here. In October, 1867, the large flouring-mill of Messrs. Ziegenbein, Heffner & Co. was destroyed, with a loss of about $30,000. October 12, 1875, a fire occurred which destroyed a livery stable, blacksmith shop, and meat market. Another fire occurred March 30, 1876, which destroyed the Logan Livery Stable, together with all its contents, consisting of eleven horses, all the buggies, harness, and saddles, the stock of feed, etc.

Peter Ahart
Was born in Germany June 27, 1833, and when but twelve years of age left his native home for the great Republic of the West, arriving in the United States in May, 1845, with his father, his mother dying on the voyage. His father, George Ahart, settled in Missouri, and died in 1866. Mr. Peter Ahart came to California in 1852, and engaged in mining, which he followed successfully until 1857, when he bought the farm he now occupies at Lin­coln, Placer County. For some years he pursued the business of raising and dealing in cattle, which he continued for Ii period of fifteen years, when he turned his attention more particularly to the culti­vation of his farm and the raising of sheep, in which profitable business he is now engaged.

Mr. Ahart is a member of Valley Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is highly respected in the community in which he lives. On the 9th of May, 1861, he was married by the Rev. Mr. Winters, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to Miss Ursula Prudence Ragsdale, daughter of William B. and Sarah W. Ragsdale, and the happy family occupy the pleasant home shown in the accompanying illustration. The farm of Mr. Ahart comprises the extensive area of 2,200 acres, being almost enough for a Dukedom in the land of his nativity. Here in the fertile valley of the Sacra­mento his broad acres spread out miles in extent, of some of the finest land in the world, showing a wealth that could be acquired by the unaided efforts of man in but few other countries than California.

Isaac Stonecipher.
Isaac Stonecipher, now a resident of Lincoln, was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on the 5th of November, 1819. Leaving Pittsburg on the 14th of January, 1850, for California, via the Isthmus of Panama, at New York he purchased a ticket for passage through, the connecting steamer on the Pacific to be the Monumental City. Arriving at Panama, that mythical vessel never came, and after remaining three weeks in suspense concluded to wait no longer. The whale ship Rowena in the meantime came in and fitted up for passengers, and in her he embarked upon the Pacific side. Not long after the vessel went to sea an epidemic broke out, which prostrated many of the passengers, and before the ship reached Acapulco, in Mexico, thir­teen had died and been cast overboard. Here the Captain of the Rowena determined to leave his sick passengers, and Mr. Stonecipher, being one of these, was taken ashore. Partially recovering, when the steamer Winfield Scott came in, eight days after, he was enabled to procure passage on her, and arrived in San Francisco April 30, 1851. On the 1st of May he arrived at Auburn, and has continuously resided in Placer County ever since.

Sheridan
The village of Sheridan, named in honor of Gen. Phil. Sheridan, is situated near the southwestern portion of Placer County, in township 13 north, range 5 east, Mount Diablo meridian, twenty miles northwest of Auburn, or thirty-six miles by rail; is a station on the Oregon Division of the Cen­tral Pacific Railroad; is the trading point for a con­siderable population of farmers and stock-raisers, who occupy lands and grazing ranges surrounding it, and is the only place in the county which has at this time in operation a flouring-mill. With a public school, several trading establishments, post and express office, and one hotel, it is quite a thriving little town. The locality was first settled upon in 1855, by Mr. E. C. Rogers, and soon after came Mr. Young Dougherty.

The flouring-mill was built in 1870, under the pat­ronage of the late Mark Hopkins, for Daniel Click, who has ever since its construction been the man­ager, and is now its owner. The motive power is steam; the fuel, wood, being hauled from the foot­hills, some six -or eight miles distant in an easterly direction. The water used is obtained from wells sunk upon the premises, and pumped into tanks by steam. The capacity of the mill is about 175 bar­rels of flour per day, and consumes nearly all the grain raised within a  radius of ten miles.

The town site is located near a historic place ­that wayside hostelry, so well and favorably known to all old-time travelers as...

Rogers’ Shed
The "Shed," or "Union Shed," as afterwards called, was built by E. C. Rogers, in December, 1857, and comprised a one-story house, 24x80 feet, and the uninclosed shed in front, 40x40 feet, and twenty feet high, under the shelter of which the monstrous freight teams, then thronging the roads, could repose, and be sheltered from summer's heat or from the winter's rain. A. large barn and corral were als9 an attachment of the premises upon the opposite side of the road. Situated as the "Shed" was upon the old Sacramento and Nevada road, and there being also four other roads diverging there-­from, it became, in those early days, quite a noted place. One road ran westerly toward Nicholaus; one northwesterly to Marysville, via Kempton's Crossing of Bear River; one northeasterly toward Grass Valley, via McCourtney's Crossing of Bear River, and another running easterly to Auburn via Danetown. The distance from the" Shed" to Sac­ramento was thirty miles; to Grass Valley, twenty­-eight; to Nevada, thirty-two; to Auburn, twenty; to Marysvi1le, fifteen; to Nicholaus, thirteen; to Johnson's Crossing, four and to Coon Creek, three. For four or five years after its establish­ment, two stages passed the "Shed" daily; and the number of big freight teams during that period was from forty to sixty each day, the most of the latter either stopping over night or for dinner. The road was then traveled by all teams going to Grass Valley, Nevada, North San Juan, Forest City, Downieville, and other places in the mountains in that direction, and, as they here laid in a supply of feed to last during the round trip, the "Shed" became the market place at which the farmers of the surrounding county congregated for the purpose of disposing of their hay and barley.

And then the" Shed" became a place w here the people of both valley and mountain resorted for amusement. During these lively days, now, alas, all deadened by the remorseless puff and snort of the locomotive, there were two evenings in each week devoted to dancing-school; while, as regularly as the months rolled round, was there a public ball held­ -- one every month-at which the people flocked from all sides, from the very suburbs of Sacramento, Marysville, Auburn, Grass Valley, and from other places. A fine race-truck and frequent trials of speed soon attracted many stock-breeders to the place, some of whom brought and matched blooded horses, and either lost or won considerable sums of money.

Mr. Rogers was an enterprising man, and he desired people with families to settle about him. An objec­tion to this was raised, because there was no school in the vicinity. To obviate this, Mr. Rogers applied for, and was successful in, the establishment of a school district-calling it Norwich District-from a portion of Manzanita District, in 1864. Of Nor­wich District he was elected one of the Trustees. There was no school house in which to hold a school nor school money with which to pay a teacher; but all this did not daunt Mr. Rogers, who hired Mrs. M. E. Reynolds as teacher, gave the use of his ball­room at the "Shed" as a school house, boarded her, and paid her $60.00 a month for two months out of his own pocket. Subsequently the teacher's wages was paid out of the school fund. Thus was the school district at Sheridan established, and for four­teen years did Mr. Rogers retain the position of Trustee.

In 1860, there was a voting precinct established ere called Union Shed Precinct-now changed to Sheridan, as is the name of Norwich to Sheridan School District. The locality being upon quite high ground, in the undulating lands just where the lower foot-hills blend with the stretches of the valley, and overlooking a long distance thereof, it was a central position at which stock-raisers met in searching for estray animals, and a number of them selected this point upon which to erect an observatory, or "lookout," as the vaqueros termed it. This structure was forty feet high, and had a large telescope some four or five feet long, mounted at its apex, which took in a view for many miles, and with which stock could be descried for a long distance. It was situated a little west from the" Shed."

In 1865, a church was organized and also a Sunday­school, the latter probably the first in the valley, both of which were held in the ball-room of the “Shed," and were well attended. Mr. Charles Luce was the first Superintendent of the Sunday-school.

Business was good at the old "Shed" on the road I1til 1866, when the railroad was constructed through as far as Wheatland, and a great change as the consequence. Finally, in 1868, the entire establishment, together with a large quantity of hay, grain, etc., was destroyed by fire, by which Mr. Rogers lost $3,000, there being no insurance.

The first depot building constructed at Sheridan as in 1866, near the "Shed," by the farmers in the neighborhood; but in 1868, it was moved some sixty rods to where it now stands in the village, by Messrs. Dougherty and Rogers. The post-office was first established in 1868, with Mr. Young Dougherty as postmaster, to which position Mr. E. C. Rogers soon succeeded, and has ever since and now holds it. The first store was built in 1869. The population of the village, as given by the census of 1880, was 125, but the precinct, including considerable of the surround­ing country, has a voting population of about 130. The village has, in 1881, three stores, one drug store, two blacksmith shops, one shoe store, two hotels, three saloons, two clergymen, one doctor, and one school teacher. The school house is of wood, with seating capacity of sixty, and was erected at a cost of $3,000. It contains a school-room, library, and ante-room. There are two church denominations-Baptist and Methodist. Rev. John S. Jesse is pastor of the Baptist Church, and Rev. L. S. Feathrston is pastor of the Methodist Church. Several social orders are, or have been, represented in Sheri­dan. Sheridan Lodge, No. 304, I. O. G. T., was organized in November, 1870, and a Division of the Sons of Temperance was formed in 1878. Sheridan land of Hope was organized November 7, 1880. The first officers were: Y. Dougherty, Superintend­ent; Mrs. R. V. McDonald, President; J. Boyce Chaplain; Daniel Click, Treasurer; Joseph Jesse, Secretary; Mrs. Lucy McAllister, Sentinel and Usher. The present officers are: Mrs. E. C. Rogers, Presi­dent; Miss Lelah Carpenter, Vice-President; Miss Ella Rickey, Assistant Superintendent; Joseph Jesse, Chaplain; Daniel Click, Treasurer; Mrs. R. V. Mc­Donald, Secretary; Miss Alice Murphy, Sentinel; Miss Mary Raymond, Usher. There are thirty-six members. Mr. J. T. Briggs is the Justice of the Peace, and E. C. Rogers is Constable.

Shirt-Tail Cañon.
A short distance above the historic spot once known as Barnes' Bar, on the North Fork of the American River, a stream flows into the river from the southward, known as Devil's Cañon. Going up this, perhaps three miles, a branch joins it upon the left hand side, and Shirt-tail Cañon presents itself, to the beholder. Like all streams of its magnitude, its bed is a deep gorge, narrow and rocky, from 1,000 to 1,500 feet below the crests of the surround­ing " divides." It became an important auxiliary to the gold-producing fields at an early period in the history of t be State, and has poured forth from its rough bosom a large quota of treasure to swell the volume of that precious commodity by which com­merce regulates the standard of values.

The unique name it bears was bestowed in the following manner: Early in the summer of 1849 two men, one named Tuttle, formerly from the State of Connecticut, and the other Van Zandt, from Oregon, were prospecting upon Brushy Cañon and in that locality, and at the time supposed there was no one nearer to them than the people who were at work along the river bars. From Brushy they emerged into the valley of the larger stream into which it emptied. It was sultry and hot, and no sound but their own suppressed voices broke the silence of the gorge. A bend in the creek a short distance below them obstructed the view, and they walked down the stream to overcome it. Abruptly turning the point, they were astonished to see before them, but a little way off, a solitary individual -- whether white or red they could not at first determine-engaged in primitive mining operations, with crevicing spoon, and sheath-knife and pan. The apparition was per­fectly nude, with the exception of a shirt, and that was not overly lengthy. The lone miner was in the edge of the water, and, happening to look up, saw the two men who had intruded upon his domain at about the same time that they discovered him. Had this not been so, Tuttle and Van Zandt, as they declared afterward, would have stepped back, made some noise, and given the man a chance to don his overalls. As it was, the eyes of both parties met, and an involuntary "hello!" came from all three mouths. " What in the devil's name do you call this place?" queried one of the intruders of the sans cullottes, who proved to be an American. He glanced at his bare legs, and from them to his questioners, took in at a moment the ludicrous appearance he made, and laughingly answered: "Don't know any name for it yet, but we might as well call it Shirttail as anything else," and under that euphoneous nomenclature has it since been known, and must thus go down to posterity. It is to be regretted that no record can be found of the name of the man in the shirt.

Sunny South.
The little town of Sunny South, represented in the picture upon another page, owes its existence entirely to the extensive and rich gravel mine known as the Hidden Treasure. Lying upon the southern slope of the ridge which separates the waters of the North and Middle Forks of the American, the exposure to sunshine causes such a contrast with respect to climate to that of the temperature enjoyed by the kindred villages upon the northern side of the ridge, that its first residents bestowed upon it the above appellative, in contra-distinction between their own and the snow-buried domiciles of their neighbors. Being about 3,500 feet above sea-level, on the north crest of the ridge, which here assumes the char­acter of a broad plateau, rises some 700 or 800 feet higher, and is, for four or five months of the year, ordinarily covered with snow-sometimes to a great depth-during which time the ground at the immediate locality of the village will be nearly or quite bare. It is five miles from Michigan Bluff, which lies in a southerly direction, and seven from Damascus, situated toward the north; and from the site of the town appears one of the most magnifi­cent views of the rugged side of nature that can be well imagined in a bird's-eye survey of the tremen­dous gorges of the branches of the Middle Fork of the American, with the towering bluffs and peaks that skirt them, which are here spread out at the feet of the beholder. A school house, two hotels, and two stores, and numerous cosy and well-furnished family cottages, are among the structures of Sunny South. The school has an attendance of about twenty scholars. The stores are kept, respectively, by Peter Just and John Abram & Son, and the hotels by Mrs. B. Lyons and James A. Abram.

Emigrant Gap.
Is a station on the Central Pacific Railroad, forty­-seven miles northeast of Auburn, at an elevation of 5,221 feet above the sea, in Township No.4, and has a population of 137. It is in the midst of the great pine forests of the Sierra, and lumbering i8 the chief resource of the place. The scenery around Emi­grant Gap is grand and inspiring, and, coupled with its fine summer climate and good hunting, makes it a pleasant place of resort for those seeking health and pleasure.

Forest Hill.
This mining town is pleasantly situated on the ridge between Shirt-tail Cañon and the Middle Fork of the American River, twenty-two miles northeast of Auburn, at an elevation of 3,230 feet above the sea. The region is a gravel formation, and was originally covered with a noble growth of pine trees. Before March, 1850, the surface of the ground was un­broken, and its forest unhacked by the hand of the white man. In that month the story was spread of the discovery of rich diggings at Bird's store, and a rush of people passed up the country via Coloma and Greenwood Valley from the south, and via Auburn from the west. On the top of the ridge, a few miles from Dr. Todd's store, now the village of Todd's Valley, the two routes came together. Some of the prospectors stopped near the junction and washed in the surface for gold, making from five to ten dollars a day each, with a rocker. The first of such mining was in the middle of April, 1850. Wher­ever running water was found, there gold could be ob­tained; but with the simple appliances of pan, shovel, and rocker, in use at that time, the returns were not such as satisfied the expectations, and the inexperienced and hopeful miners moved on. The point being well situated for trade, it was occupied in the fall of that year by M. and James Fannan and R. S. Johnson, who established a trading-post. This way­side brush shanty grew into a house and hotel, known as the Forest House, as here was a dense forest of pine, fir, spruce, an