In the realm of swindles, scams and backsliding chicanery, it is generally agreed that the following episodes were the Old West’s biggest gold mine frauds of the 19th Century. While one of these stories took place in Calaveras County and the other hundreds of miles east in the state of Nevada, the principle culprits in
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Those who have dug gold in the Mother Lode – day after day for hours on end – know just how hard it is for a placer miner to earn an honest living, which is probably why so many 49ers chose to make their “pile” by shady and perfidious dealings. Take Mr. Fletcher and his
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California has always been part reality and part fantasy. Since the days of the Gold Rush, it has been known as the land of infinite opportunity – and home to some of the world’s greatest hoaxes. A classic instance of the latter happened in 1936, when – according to the most popular version of this
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Was he a talented treasure hunter or the crazy son of an English lord? Only Thomas Stoddart knew for sure.
1849 – First hospital in Sonora opens in a tent near today’s Courthouse Square. Attending physician paid $8 a day. 1851 – New hospital established near old Roman Catholic church (SE corner of Norlin and Jackson streets); special tax levied; public health care becomes sole responsibility of county. 1854 – County hospital moved to lot
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Tuolumne General Medical Facility was originally called Tuolumne County Hospital. The county-run, taxpayer-funded hospital played an important role in Sonora’s early history.
When vigilance committees first appeared in Tuolumne County, they were surprisingly organized, professional,fair-minded groups made up of respectable citizens.
Many hardworking gold miners lost their entire savings, except for what they had secretly buried in jars, tin cans and Dutch ovens around their claims.
The Mother Lode was once a risk-takers’ paradise – a wild and carefree place where a man’s pile of gold was more the doing of chance than of skillful mining practices. This led to lively times in our foothills when gold washers told stories like these around their campfires: One rainy night in 1851, luck
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The Mother Lode was once a risk-takers’ paradise – a wild and carefree place where a man’s pile of gold was more the doing of chance than of skillful mining practices. This led to lively times in our foothills when gold washers told stories like these around their campfires: One rainy night in 1851, luck
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