STAMPEDE to BODIE It was 1876 when fabulous gold strikes were reported at Bodie. And as you can imagine, word of the bonanza spread fast in nearby mining circles. Alpine County’s Silver Mountain City had enjoyed its own mining boom a decade earlier, hard on the heels of […]
Monitor Canyon’s Early Mines: The Advance, the Tarshish, & the Zaca
Today, few people know about the Tarshish and the Advance, adjoining mining claims in Monitor Canyon. But once they were famous — two of the earliest and most productive mining claims in Alpine County. The Advance is the westermost of the pair, perched slightly lower in the canyon. Just to its east and uphill sits the Tarshish, likely […]
A World War I Diary – Part 2
A Diary from World War I This is the Part 2 of the diary of Nate Arnot, a 26-year-old American stationed in France with the Meteorological Section of the Signal Corps for the American Expeditionary Forces. To read Part 1 of the diary, click here. Sept 25, 1918 Wed. Considerable artillery action all last night. […]
Diary of a Markleeville Native in World War I France
Nate Arnot was one of eight children of Alpine County Superior Court judge N.D. Arnot. Born in Markleeville in 1892, Nate moved to Placerville at the age of twelve with his parents, after his father became an El Dorado County judge. World War I broke out in Europe in 1914, but it was 1917 before […]
The Hawkins’ Tale
The Hawkins family hasn’t lived there for over half a century. But here in Alpine County, people still know their early Woodfords homestead as the Hawkins Ranch. If you’re headed south on Hwy 89 from Woodfords, what’s left is a ramshackle collection of buildings to your left. The small residence has recently been upgraded and […]
A 160-Year-Old Hope Valley Mystery
You gotta love the excitement of unraveling a 160-year-old mystery! Here’s how it all began: In late 1860, journalist J. Ross Browne shared his silver-boom travels in a series called “A Peep at Washoe.” But it wasn’t just the Comstock he visited; Browne also journeyed through Alpine’s famous Hope Valley. […]
Silver Mountain’s First Marriage
If you ever wondered if miracles still happen, well, here’s proof: Three wonderful artifacts from the very earliest days of Alpine County recently made their way home again, some 150 years later! William A. Johnson and Bridget Clark made history in 1864 by becoming the very first couple to […]
History Clues in Monitor Canyon
Locals know the secret of wild hops growing in Monitor Canyon – modern-day left-overs from an old brewery that quenched the thirst of silver miners in the 1870s. But how did those hops plants find their way here in the first place? Ah, meet brewer Nicholas Piequet! Piequet arrived […]
Silver Mountain City: Finding Your Way There
Today, Silver Mountain City is a ghost of a ghost town. An army of pines has invaded the town’s cross streets, and only the traces of hand-dug cellars and rock foundations remain where noisy saloons and thriving businesses once stood. The old stone jail, once a proud centerpiece of town, is a jumble of broken blocks. But […]
Markleeville’s (Unofficial) Sister City: Newman, California
Did you know tiny Markleeville, California has a sister city? Well, not an official one. In fact, the two towns probably have no idea they’re even related. But Newman, California and Markleeville share a common heritage. The link that binds them? The man who gave the town of Newman its name. Here’s the tale! Simon Newman (Neumann) was born in 1846 in Willmars, in the Bavarian […]
Jonas Winchester’s Wild, Crazy, Adventurous Life – Part 2
So, how did Jonas Winchester get to California? Ah, that’s a story in itself! (And if you missed Part 1 of Winchester’s wild and crazy story, here’s where to read it!) The eighth of 13 children, Jonas Winchester entered the world on November 19, 1810 in Marcellus, New York. At roughly age 16 he was apprenticed […]
The Wild, Crazy, Adventurous Life of Jonas Winchester (Part 1)
Jonas Winchester was one of a kind . . . . The year was 1871. Hope was in the air, in the tiny mining town of Monitor, California. “General” Jonas Winchester and his wife had recently arrived from back East. And word was that the Globe Gold & Silver Mine was finally going to be […]