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California's Olden Golden Days
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Raging Infernos
Every town or village was vulnerable to fire during the early Gold Rush years, and few escaped its ravages. Thousands of prospectors in...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 29, 20201 min read


Bruff's Gold Rush Hysteria
Joseph Goldsborough Bruff is a well-remembered participant in the California Gold Rush. A committed diarist and talented amateur artist,...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 22, 20202 min read


The Mechanical Water System
Sacramento’s Water Works Building was the city’s answer to its need for a reliable water supply system that could prevent a small fire...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 8, 20202 min read


Pegleg's Lost Mine
Few things inflame men’s imaginations as the idea of a hidden fortune in gold— so the tale of Pegleg Smith and his lost gold mine has...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 1, 20202 min read


Mexican Pioneer Don Ignacio Martinez
Martinez, California, and the adjacent town of Pinole, date their names, indeed their very existence, back to the days of Mexican rule....

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Feb 12, 20201 min read


Gold Mining Tools - the Cradle
The first major gold rush in the United States occurred in northern Georgia, predating the California Gold Rush by nearly twenty years. A...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Feb 5, 20201 min read


The Gold That Changed the World
Friday January 24, 2020, will be the 172nd anniversary of the gold discovery in California. On a crisp winter day in 1848, a carpenter...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Jan 22, 20201 min read


Thanksgiving Holiday
President Abraham Lincoln decreed Thanksgiving as a national holiday in September 1863. Prior to that, the observance was sporadically...

Cheryl Anne Stapp
Nov 27, 20191 min read
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