Placerville and Coloma, California's Cities of Gold
by Eleanor S. Morris

"There's gold in them that hills!" was the cry back in 1849, and although you can't set up a claim and dig today, you can follow a romantic trail through history to two small California towns where it all happened. While there, don't only tour a gold mine, actually pan for some of the fascinating shining flakes yourselves.

Begin in Placerville by staying at the historic Cary House Hotel on Main Street, lined with unique specialty shops and great restaurants. The first amazing spectacle to catch your eye will be the figure of a hanging man dangling in front of "The Hangmans's Tree" Tavern across the street from the hotel.

Thanks to quick frontier justice, in the beginning Placerville was known as Hangtown. In January of 1849, quick "justice" was administered to several men accused of a robbery at a gold camp nearby.

A short 30-minute trial took place, the crowd demanding that the men be hanged. Hence the Hanging Tree in Hangtown Placerville. Be sure to go into the tavern for a glass of refreshment--and to see the stump of the original hanging tree still under the floor of the tavern.

Guest rooms at the hotel are charming, with authentic antique and vintage furnishings. Alongside the hotel, a delightful open courtyard provides a pleasant place to enjoy the deluxe continental breakfast provided by the hotel.

A mile north of Placerville you'll find Gold Bug Park, with the Gold Bug Mine, Stamp Mill, and yes, Gold Panning. Gold Bug Mine, formerly known as the Hattie, opened in 1888 within the hard-rock mine of the Mother Lode. Both self-guided tours and pre-arranged guided tours are available, the latter led by guides who show how the old hard-rock miners drilled and blasted their way through the native rock to find the gold. Visitors can see how the miner would drill the hole, set the charge of powder, light the fuse with a candle "and then lit out-a-there!"

And everyone loves the chance to pan for gold. Panning at the trough is available for a $2 fee, which includes pans and instructions and even some encouragement: "Some Get Lucky!"

A few miles north on Hwy 49 you'll come to the exact place where gold was discovered, sandwiched between the highway and the South Fork of the American River. Now part of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, here is where James Marshall saw some shining flecks of gold in the tailrace of the sawmill he was building for himself and John Sutter. This discovery on January 24, 1849, changed the course of California history. The park encompasses most of the historic town of Coloma.

It was in 1847 that John Sutter and millwright John Marshall traveled from Sacramento along the South Fork of the American River searching for a mill site. The spot they chose on the river the Native Americans who lived there called Cullomah. Few settlers, if any, were recorded there until Marshall made his startling gold discovery on January 24, 1848.

When the news, reaching all over the globe, promoted visions of gold lying around on the ground, free for the taking, adventurers rushed from all over--not only the United States but Europe, Russia, Mexico, Chile, Peru, China and Australia. Thus began the great California Gold Rush. Historians estimate that more than 200,000 hopefuls came to flood every canyon, looking for riches that would change their lives.

Instead, as exhibits in the Gold Bug Stamp Mill show, many got mercury poisoning from the mercury used to separate the gold from the bedrock, or miner's lung disease such as coal miners suffer from.

In the park, the Gold Discovery Museum tells the romantic story of Sutter and Marshall--how the simple act of noticing a small fleck of gold would so drastically affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Gold Rush-era exhibits include mining equipment, horse drawn vehicles, household implements and other memorabilia, as well as films about the gold discovery and early mining techniques.

So it's not too late--go panning for gold at the Gold Bug Park. Like they say, "Some Get Lucky." In any event, you'll have a golden good time.

For More Information:

Placerville: www.placerville-downtown.org

Cary House Hotel: www.caryhouse.com

Gold Bug Park: www.goldbugpark.org

Marshall Gold Discovery Park: www.parks.ca.gov