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.
Fremont's First
Cottage in Bear Valley
Oso House in Bear
Valley
Bear Valley
Today
Bear
Valley (formerly,
Haydenville, Biddle's Camp, Biddleville,
Simpsonville, and Johnsonville) is located 10.5 miles
south-southeast of Coulterville, at an
elevation of 2054 feet. Bear Valley was designated
California
Historical Landmark #331. The population was only 125 at
the 2010 census.
The place
was originally called Haydenville in honor of David, Charles, and
William Hayden, early hard rock gold miners. The place later bore the names
Biddle's Camp and Biddleville in honor of William C.
Biddle. It later was
named Simpsonville in honor of Robert Simpson, a local
merchant. The name
Johnsonville honored John F. Johnson. The name became Bear Valley in
1858.
The
Haydenville post office opened before January 21, 1851 and closed
in 1852. The Bear
Valley post office operated from 1858 to 1912, from 1914 to 1919,
and from 1933 to 1955.
In 1847, John C. Frémont, a veteran of the Bear Flag Revolt,
decided to settle down in the San Francisco Bay Area. Desiring a ranch near San José,
California, he sent $3,000 to the American consul Thomas O. Larkin.
Instead of his
intended purchase, he was sold Rancho Las Mariposas, consisting of
44,387 acres in the southern Sierra Nevada foothills around Bear
Valley. The original
Mexican grant was a "floating grant", a grant of land for which the
area was precisely given but the actual boundaries were left
unspecified (usually due to inadequate surveys of the areas
involved). After the
beginning of the California Gold Rush in 1848, Fremont moved his
grant's borders into the hills. Those hills proved to be lucrative
and his mining operations centered in Bear Valley but also tied up
his ownership claims in court for many years.
At its peak, Bear Valley had a population of 3,000. During 1850-60 when Frémont's Pine
Tree and Josephine Mines were producing, Frémont built an elegant
hotel, Oso House; the structure, like many in the area, burned in
the late 19th century.
Frémont lived and worked in the city, and his large home was
nicknamed the "Little White House", coincidentally built two years
after he was the first Republican Party candidate for President;
the home burned in 1866.
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.