The Hwy '49er Series:
This is a series of
caches meant to highlight some interesting and, maybe even, some
more obscure historical facts about California's gold mining
history. Most of these caches will be placed in the Sierra
Nevada foothills in the general vicinity of Hwy 49, the Gold
Country Highway. Highway 49 starts in the south at
Oakhurst, Madera County, and continues generally
northwest, weaving through many of the gold mining communities of
Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Yuba,
Sierra, and Plumas counties until it reaches
its northern terminus at State Route 70, in
Vinton.
An Invitation:
All local cachers are invited to add
to this series of caches, placing and calling out new locations of
gold mining history along highway 49. New caches
can be of any type according to cache publishing guidelines.
It would be great to see this series eventually run the
entire stretch of Hwy 49. Also, please share any information
you may have about the postings in your logs. There's
bound to be some intersting facts out there that can be shared with
everyone.
A Warning - Please be careful when caching in any
areas of the foothills. These hills are home to many
creatures, including slithering ones. Please be aware
of your surroundings and keep a watchful eye, especially if you
have children with you while caching.
Quartzburg, California - In the
vicinity of this cache location was the mining town of
Quartzburg. The camp was founded in the early 1850's, and
remains of the town existed up until the early 1950's when they
were bulldozed for the current
road. Apparently the town of Hornitos got it's
start when the more "decent" folk of Quartzburg evicted the
"riff-raff," who then moved down the road and settled at the
cross-roads that became Hornitos. Hornitos had a tough
reputation with multiple pool halls, and gambling centers while in
it's prime. It ws also suspected to be a hiding place for the
notorious bandit Joaquin Murietta.
Sources: USGS Topographical Maps 1:24,000, 1973;
Wikipedia.org; Ghost Towns & Mining Camps of California, Remi
Nadeau, 1999; history.webroots. ancestory.com; Images of America -
Mariposa County, Leroy Radanovich, 2005.
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