Cheryl Anne StappJun 83 minThe Sacramento: River of GoldAt 447 miles in length the Sacramento River is the longest river that flows through California, with a watershed that encompasses more...
Cheryl Anne StappJun 13 minOcean Shore RailroadIn May 1905, the public was thrilled when newspapers announced that a new enterprise was to build a railroad on a scenic route between...
Cheryl Anne StappMay 112 minFoiled IntriguePerhaps it’s only myth or legend (for sure, certain story elements are questionable), but nonetheless it’s a romantic tale, published as...
Cheryl Anne StappApr 272 minLegendary Hank MonkGregarious, quick of mind and firm of hand on the reins, stage driver Hank Monk was a legend in his own lifetime—revered across the West...
Cheryl Anne StappApr 193 minServing California by SeaIn the Age of Sail, not everyone who entered California’s harbors came to settle. In the early 1820s, the ships of many nations began...
Cheryl Anne StappJan 122 minThe Pretty Girl Stage DriverThe stage arrived in Oroville right on time that morning in October 1893; yet at the first sight of it, the townsfolk were astounded....
Cheryl Anne StappDec 1, 20213 minAccident on the Cliff House RoadThe press treated the accident as a sensation—and why not? All the elements were there: women of ill-repute, stampeding horses, and a...
Cheryl Anne StappNov 17, 20213 minHe Robbed the Wrong WomanThe old mining town in Nevada County is gone now, but Red Dog had its heyday in the 1860s, when the place had nearly two thousand...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 22, 20213 minIcon of Days Gone ByThanks to abundant product and clever ad campaigns from the 1890s forward, Death Valley, California, is arguably the world’s most famous...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 15, 20212 minStagecoach AccidentsOftentimes, stagecoach accidents resulted in lawsuits for injuries received. This one, Sprague vs. Dillon, went to trial in San...
Cheryl Anne StappJul 28, 20212 minThe Splendid California Stage CompanyThe California Gold Rush revitalized the stagecoach industry, which was waning in New England by the end of the 1840s, due to the rise of...
Cheryl Anne StappJun 23, 20213 minSteamboats on the RiversDuring the California Gold Rush, a number of steam-powered ships chugged up and down between San Francisco Bay and the major northern...
Cheryl Anne StappJun 16, 20212 minHideaway in Plain SightIn the 1850s the Mountaineer House was a well-known tavern and busy stage stop where multiple stagecoach lines rolled in daily to change...
Cheryl Anne StappJun 2, 20212 minCharley's SecretSo many legends surround the nineteenth century stage driver Charley Parkhurst that it’s difficult now to separate fact from fiction. In...
Cheryl Anne StappDec 9, 20201 minThe Dragon Rocks LighthouseIn 1865, the overloaded passenger steamer Brother Jonathan suddenly encountered severe winds and rough seas after leaving San Francisco...
Cheryl Anne StappNov 18, 20202 minThe Man Who Engineered MiraclesTheodore Dehone Judah was the brilliant engineer and visionary who convinced a group of Sacramento merchants, and the United States...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 30, 20202 minHall & Crandall's Stage LinesMany New England stagemen, whose livelihoods there were being steadily squeezed by the railroads, followed thousands of bedazzled gold...
Cheryl Anne StappSep 23, 20202 minJ. Birch & The California Stage CompanyBefore the 1848 gold discovery brought thousands of fortune-hunters swarming into a recently-acquired, raw American territory, ordinary...
Cheryl Anne StappJul 1, 20201 minThe 1887 Land RushFor twenty years southern California had poured money, and millions of printed brochures, into a publicity campaign to attract settlers...
Cheryl Anne StappJun 24, 20201 minThe Silver Bullion Heist It is still called Bullion Bend. It is a stretch of curving old stage road that once continued on from Placerville, California to Carson...