Cheryl Anne Stapp

Every town or village was vulnerable to fire during the early Gold Rush years, and few escaped its ravages. Thousands of prospectors in the camps and communities scattered among the foothills, as well as residents of valley towns, lived in veritable tinderboxes. In many places their dwellings were merely tents, hastily-constructed wooden shacks, or canvas nailed over wooden frames. Merchants’ counters were wood planks atop wooden barrels, with sacks of grains or dry goods clu