The Lure of the Mark Twain ~ Bret Harte Counties
An official travelogue of the Mark Twain ~ Bret Harte Trail.
The places to see, their history and their locations
Along the Mother Lode
Copyrighted 1931
Edited and Complied by the Mother Lode Magnet
Thomas L. Newport, Editor
Jamestown, Tuolumne County, Calif.

TUOLUMNE COUNTY

To fully enjoy and appreciate a section, interesting because of its past, we must as nearly as possible take ourselves mentally back to the period when the events that interest us occurred. We must strive to familiarize ourselves with the people who enacted the scenes we are visiting; the physical conditions that then prevailed; the roads, the towns, the occupations of the inhabitants; their social life, their political methods, their point of view; in a word, we must try to reproduce in imagination the country as they saw it and the problems that they had to solve, and so as we trek along the Mark Twain-Bret Harte Trail through the Mother Lode region of Tuolumne, Calaveras and Amador Counties, we must go back some one hundred to one hundred and fifty years to "the Daye of '49," when Mark Twain lived on Jackass Hill and Bret Harte was among the residents of Tuolumne County.

Never in the history of humanity had a more cosmopolitan aggregation of peoples gathered together from all quarters of the globe; of all social positions; of all degrees of learning from the University graduate to the peon, who did not know a letter of the alphabet; of all races and colors; speaking may languages; accustomed to live under every form of law, or no law at all; differing in religion, politics, in every experience of life, and yet all bent on one sole object, the acquiring of GOLD and thus getting rich, very rich, quick.

This conglomerated community (or communities) was practically subjected to no regular government and had to make its own laws when the occasions arose to apply them. There was no room for technicalities. The only question was what are the facts; once they were known the remedy or punishment was instantaneous. It was the most perfect Democracy that the world has ever known, or that probably it will ever know; a condition in which every man was as good as his neighbor, had the same rights, and the same voice whenever a crisis arose.

Unless those facts and conditions are thoroughly understood and appreciated the visitor to The Mother Lode counties along the Twain-Harte Trail will not be able to enjoy his trip, because he will not be able to appreciate it.

The very names of the localities are suggestive: "Big Oak Flat," "Humbug Hill," "Yankee Hill," "Los Muertos," "Scratch Gulch," "Fiddletown," "Hangman's Tree," "Whiskey Slide," "Poker Flat," "Drytown," and so on through a long list of appellations; each with a story connected with its naming.

While there was no laws passed by any regularly organized government, the mining communities were by no means lawless. In the larger towns the trial of an accused was by a jury, in the smaller ones his fate was in the hands of all who happened to be present at the trial. Every one voted, the majority always ruled.

There were three modes of punishment: hanging, flogging, and cutting off the culprit's ears when he was convicted of stealing a large amount. That punishment was imported from Australia, where, it was said, thieves had their ears clipped so all would know their weakness.

CHINESE BATTLE GROUND

As you drive along the highway, starting say from Stockton, almost every foot of the way is historical. There is the bridge at Knight's Ferry, the plans for which were drawn by General Grant when he was a young officer. Further along you come to Chinese Camp, though there are no Chinese there now. On that wide, open field sloping down from Table Mountain was fought the only Chinese battle ever waged in this hemisphere. Rival tongs had gotten into dispute over certain mining claims worked by the Chinese, and each group of disputants appealed to their Tong to come to the rescue.

The battle took place on September 26th, 1856, and lasted for several hours amidst a din of gongs and shouts that could be heard for miles. Although 2,100 men were engaged in the battle only four persons were killed and four wounded.

Table Mountain, which overlooks this Oriental battleground, is interesting alike to the historian and the geologist. It is a great mass of lava thrown up ages ago from great depths, when all this country was in process of formation. At that time the valley was on a level with the top of Table Mountain, the erosions of centuries have washed away the softer soil, creating the valley, and leaving the mountain as a giant sentinel to tell us what was the height of the whole county long before the advent of man. Table Mountain historically is interesting as the home of Bret Harte's "Truthful James," whose historical name, however, was given him by the writer, sarcastically, since he was really known among his intimates not as "Truthful," but "Lying Jim Townsend."

Not far away near Cottonwood is "Poker Flat," the scene of Harte's story, "The Outcast of Poker Flat," one of the most pathetic of Harte's beautiful tales.

FIRST GOLD DISCOVERED

As has been said, the lure of gold attracted all classes of men; all professions, trades, and the common laborer. Curiously enough, among the Gold-seekers was a clergyman, who not only was one of a party from Philadelphia, who were searching for the precious metal, but was the leader of the party, and who as a result was honored by having the creek that flows through Jamestown named after him, Woods Creek, his name being Reverend James Woods, and the exact location where they camped, Wood's Crossing. There the Philadelphians discovered the first gold in what is now known as the Mother Lode. Not far away was chosen the site of Jamestown, in the vernacular "Jimtown," one of the most interesting and picturesque communities in Tuolumne County. The town was named after its locater, Colonel James, a lawyer of San Francisco, on August 8th, 1848.

Jamestown combines delightfully the past with the present. It has modern homes and buildings check by jowl with those erected in pioneer days with their porches stretching across the sidewalks, and on the store buildings the heavy iron shutters that are characteristic of all these pioneer towns where every man's house was not only his castle, but his fort as well.

From Jamestown the visitor can turn off and make a trip to Jackass Hill where Mark Twain had his cabin, which is still shown to visitors with the bedstead upon which he slept. Under a gigantic oak tree he sat and wrote many famous stories, especially "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras." The euphonious name of the Hill is due to the fact that it was on the road to some of the mining camps that the packers were in the habit of shopping there over night, with their only means of transportation - Jackasses - which frequently, we are told, numbered up into the hundreds at one time.

Near Twain's cabin is the home of James A. Gillis, the son of Twain's cabin mate, and a charming and delightful raconteur. A few miles further is Tuttletown, one of "the ghost cities" of this region, but most interesting and worthy of a visit as it contains the original hotel that was there in the days of Twain and Harte. It was here that the latter wrote many of his charming stories, and his readers will recall with pleasure the names of Rawhide, Sandy Bar, Carson Hill, The Luck of Roaring Camp, Simpson's Bar, etc. The hotel register contains the signatures of the famous writers, and in the stone store, still standing, Twain was a customer and purchased there his supplies for his camp on Jackass Hill.

If instead of branching off at Jamestown the visitor continues through that historic town to Sonora, four miles distant and the County Seat of Tuolumne County, he will reach one of the most interesting localities on the Trail.

SONORA THE HISTORICAL

Sonora, as the name indicates, was founded originally by Mexicans, but later passed into the hands and control of the "Yankees," as all-Native, White Americans were styled in those days. The main street of the County seat is as modern as that of any city in the state, but step a block to the right or left and you are back in the Days of '49, the says of Mark Twain and Bret Harte. The houses and stores are solid buildings of stone, with the inevitable iron shutters and tin roofs, which mark all the pioneer settlements; the streets run up hill and down dale, with little or no attempt at grading, and frequently with no paving, and the residences are big houses with yards in front of them, board porches and a thoroughly home-like aspect.

When the first American pioneers reached Sonora they found quite a large Mexican colony engaged in mining, but in a quiet leisurely fashion that simply provided enough for the say, and very little care for the morrow. The original name of Sonora was "Sonorian Camp," the word camp in those early days taking very appropriately the place of "City" or "town' later on. At Columbia, some miles further along the Trail, the settlers were Americans and the town was consequently called "American Camp."

In the Twain-Harte Days Sonora was the seat of an Alcalde. As had been explained there was no organized government in control, and the miners were forced to make their own laws. They consequently adopted some from this country and some from that, and as the Mexicans had a magistrate knows as an Alcalde the early judges bore that title.

They were not simply minor magistrates. They were the whole judicial system combined in one personage. The alcalde not only heard the preliminary trial as a policy magistrate might do, but he sat when the trial was on as a superior judge, whose decisions were final and indisputable, since there was no court of appeal; and when once condemned and sentenced, there was no court to interfere with the carrying out of the sentence.

When fines were imposed they went into the pocket of the Judge as a rule, not because His Honor was a grafter or dishonest, but because that was the method by which he was paid. As there was very little money the fines were paid in gold dust. As much of the precious dust as you could pinch with your thumb and finger passed as a dollar, though thumbs and fingers differ in size and some can pinch more than others. Scales also being scarce, an ounce of gold dust was a teaspoon full and a wine glass of the precious medal was estimated at $100, while a tumbler full was reckoned as $1000. Silver was of very little value, and seems to have been principally used to throw on the stage whenever a traveling show invaded the country. Everybody went regardless of the play or the actors, applauded vigorously, and showered the actors with silver coins if they particularly approved of the act.

ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

As has been said the Judges were interested in seeing that the fines they imposed were paid; and that they might not be the losers by the poverty of the defendant, they frequently made the plaintiff pay the fines and costs if the defendant could not. Thus there is a story of one of the alcaldes, who, after giving a decision in favor of one man and fining his opponent the costs of the suit and damages, discovered that the latter had no gold dust to meet the order of the court, he accordingly directed the winner of the suit to pay both costs and fine, announcing that the Court could not be expected to sit for nothing.

As the alcaldes knew nothing of law, as a rule, and had been selected for any reason except their legal knowledge, it followed that their decisions were based on what might be styled natural justice, and therefore were frequently remarkable.

Sonora in those early days was of course the principal scene of the trials, and its history is filled with stories of the various experiences it witnessed in its efforts to carry out an amateur judicial system. That is succeeded as well as it did shows how strong is the innate love of the Anglo-Saxon for even the semblance of law and order. There are numerous stories of course connected with the trials, thus in the case of one Atkinson he was found guilty of a murder that ordinarily would be considered first degree, but was fined $500 and ordered to leave the country forthwith instead of being sentenced to be hung. Later he bloomed forth in Siskiyou County as its sheriff. In another case the alleged murderer was arrested, tried and hung within an hour. The hangings were often social events, and we have the account of one hanging which was preceded by a band concert, and apparently was for the general enjoyment of the spectators.

It may be mentioned, however, that many of the alcaldes were men of ability, and one of them in the neighboring county of Yuba eventually became a member of the Supreme Court of the United States - Justice Fields.

Unfortunately race prejudices cropped out early in those days, and the inevitable conflict between Mexican and Gringo resulted. At first the Mexicans were in a big majority, but as the discovery of gold was noised abroad, the influx of the Americans became a steady stream and then a flood, and the original Natives and settlers were swamped by the new arrivals.

One of the most curious results of the increase of the American population was the passage of a law by the Legislature heavily taxing all "foreign" miners, the Mexicans, though living for generations in the country, and most of them with more or less Indian blood in their veins, being included in the designation of "foreigners." The result of that law was rapid exit of all non-American miners and the rapid decrease in the population.

COLUMBIA THE AMBITIOUS

It is hard, as you motor along the Mark Twain and Bret Harte Trail, to imagine that many of the localities that you pass were once thriving towns counting their inhabitants by the thousands. Four miles above Sonora on the trip going North is Columbia. It is one of the most interesting remains of past glory in the State. Its buildings were built of solid stone and brick, and the iron shutters were strong enough to stand a siege. They have stood more than a siege, they have stood to this day, substantially, as a rule, as they were in the days when Columbia counted from ten to fifteen thousand inhabitants, and was the second city in population in California, and ambitious to be the State's capital.

Columbia, originally called "American Camp," was not a very conspicuous until one day one of its residents turned up a big gold nugget in his backyard, and then the greatest rush ever in the fold diggings started, and from a few hundred the population in a few weeks reached well up in the thousands. It was evident to the population that Columbia - for its name had been changed from "American Camp" so as to mark its more important and permanent charter, while at the same time emphasizing its nationally - was to be a permanent metropolis, and they not only built their stores and homes with that idea in view, but they erected public buildings, a church and schools on the same substantial basis.

As it became a metropolis, Columbia purchased a fire engine, the first, it is claimed, of its kind in the State, and certainly the one that has been active for the longest time, since until quite recently in case of a fire the same machinery was used to fight it as was employed in 1859. The town owns two engines with leather hose, and one is so ponderous that it is never used, as it has been a record of having killed two men, one in San Francisco where it was first located and then in Columbia. In both cases the deaths being the result of the engine - which weighs three tons - getting from under control of its driver and rushing down hill, crushing out the life of a man on each occasion. Visitors passing through Columbia should not fail to visit the old engines, which incidentally, it may be mentioned, reached California via Cape Horn.

Another very interesting place to visit in the old town is the former Wells Fargo Express Office, in which are to be found a veritable museum of relics of the days of Twain and Harte. There are account books showing the enormous prices paid for produce of all kinds in the pioneer days, when food that we can now purchase for a few cents was estimated to be worth dollars a pound; when sugar was a great luxury, butter a rarity and even vegetables of the most common sort brought fabulous prices. In fact if it were possible to trace the results of the mining, while many millions were taken out of the ground it would probably be found that the permanent fortunes acquired by the pioneers went into the pockets of the storekeepers and truck farmers rather than into the bank accounts of the miners; and the man who had a saloon in those days was certain to get rich with a suddenness that few miners could duplicate.

Wells, Fargo & Co. were engaged in buying gold dust and the pair of scales now on exhibition in their old office, is said to have weighed in its time, $55,000,000 in gold.

The ill feeling between the Mexicans and the Americans led to much outlawry and crime. The most noted bandit was Joaquin Murietta, who took up the occupation of an Anti-American Bandit and highwayman because, it is said, he returned to his store on one occasion and found that his wife had been outraged by two Americans. He vowed vengeance against all the race of Americans and managed to keep his word quite effectively, never, however, touching anyone of the nationalities.

HOW STAGES WERE HELD UP

As you stand on the high range above the deep valleys of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers and look across those streams to the winding roads that lead up the mountain side, you can understand how easy it was for desperate men like Murietta to hold up the stage coming down the steep decline, with a perpendicular mountain side on the right and a deep slide of several thousand feet on the left, and only a narrow road in front which it was impossible to turn in either direction.

If instead of going north from Jamestown you turn to the South and travel toward Mariposa County you will pass Quartz and Stent both thriving mining towns in the past, but only a faint remembrance of their former glory remains today. At the crossing of the Tuolumne River was Jacksonville, named after a certain Colonel Alden Jackson who discovered gold in that vicinity in 1849, but only of interest today as the scene of Harte's story "M'liss." In driving over from Jamestown another famous Harge locality is passed; "Poverty Flat" and Quartz Mountain. Some distance further is Priest's Grade and station, which notwithstanding its name has nothing clerical about it, its title having been derived from one Priest by name, who located there in early days. The view from the summit is wonderful, and in fact there are very few points alone that Mark Twain-Bret Harte Trail which do not afford wonderful views with miles of mountains, beautiful valleys, deep canyons with a silvery stream meandering at their depths. Still further on Big Oak Flat is reached, so named from a very large oak which stood there and the remains of which are still to be seen, though in their desperate search for gold the tree itself was uprooted by the miners and lay prone on the ground.

Passing through a little valley we reach Groveland, which is a very pretty little settlement, still full of life and interest, and then on to Second Garrotte, with its Hangman's tree and Bret Harte house, where J.P. Chamberlain and J.A. Chaffee lived; "Tennessee and his Partner." The origin of the name "Second Garrotte" seems to be somewhat clouded in mystery. First Garrotte was the present Groveland, and why Second Garrotte was so designated is variously attributed to the tree which overhangs the road at that point, from which we are told a number of hangings took place, in fact the marks of the rope are pointed out; another legend attributes the name to a Frenchman who gave it that title.

However, the chief interest in the locality is not the hangman's tree but in the two-story home of Chamberlain and Chaffee. The story of "Tennessee's Partner" is one of the most pathetic and widely knows of all Harte's tales, and a deep interest is connected with the scene of the romantic friendship.

"TENNESSEE'S PARTNER"

As has been noted before in the early days partnerships were formed between men who came to the mines often from far distance and different localities. They joined together not only in working the mine of claim which they had secured, but in every phase of their lives. They cooked, ate, slept and lived together. For days they perhaps saw no one except each other. What their past story might have been, neither partner inquired. Their affection for each other, often exceeded that of brothers. They kept their gold finding together. There were no separate accounts. No discussion of shares ever took place. Everything was in common. What was one's belonged to both. No more complete Damon and Pythias friendship was ever evolved in real life, and with it all there was pathos, and a sentimentality that was remarkable.

For many years Chamberlain and Chaffee lived, worked and practically thought together. They sat after their day's labor in front of their house and smoked and chatted, never apparently tiring of each other's company. They did not make any wonderful finds. They were not perhaps even anxious to make any great strikes. They easily secured enough gold to pay for what they had to buy, and raised in the yard before their house many of the vegetables that they needed for their primitive menu.

And so for many years they lived on and on, contented and happy until Chaffee took sick and had to be taken to a hospital. As the wagon came to take him away Chamberlain stood with tears coursing down his furrowed cheeks. With longing eyes he watched the wagon carrying his Pard as it was lost to sight by a turn in the road. Then sorrowful and heartbroken Chamberlain returned into the house. But it was no longer home for him. He tried to stand the loneliness, hoping against hope that Chaffee would return, but finally the struggle proved too great for him, and one morning a neighboring boy going to the cottage for some purpose found him sitting dead in front of the house with the rifle with which he had committed suicide laying by his side. His neighbors kindly took up the body, and in the Jamestown graveyard you can see the grave where they laid him, a victim to one of the greatest friendships on record.

GREAT POWER PLANTS

Aside from the historic interest that is connected with all parts of Tuolumne County, there are a number of other attractions which will no doubt interest the visitor, and probably the one that will most seriously attract his attention will be the very extensive plant of the San Francisco Water system and the Power Companies. The City has at an expense of many millions impounded the waters of the Hetch Hetchy Valley and has carried the water so collected by an enormous piping system over the mountain and valley, to several enormous powerhouses that furnish both electric power and water distribution. One of the powerhouses and dams, the Moccasin, is well worth visiting. It is one of the largest plants of the kind to be seen anywhere, and is in the center of a pretty little village where the employees of the power house work and live.

PRESENT DAY

As you drive along, deer will very likely jump across your road, and bear and wildcats are still to be found in the forests; in fact the very name Tuolumne is of Indian origin and means "The Land of Mountain Lions," which were once quite plentiful in its less frequented regions.

You will notice too, as you drive along, the orchards, devoted to all kinds of fruit, which grows in practically all varieties and with great success even in the higher altitudes. Tuolumne apples in particular vie with those raised anywhere, and have frequently taken first prize at County and State fairs.

Then there are the many mines all along the road from Mariposa county to Plymouth and Jackson in Amador. Many of them have produced marvelous values in gold. Not only have the regular mines yielded millions, but there are many localities where the passerby literally stumbled on wealth. At Stent, sarcastically names "Poverty Flat," one of the miraculous finds was uncovered when a gambler going home stumbled and fell, only to discover that his foot had struck a fifty-pound nugget of gold. Continually in those early days wonderful "accidents" of that kind were occurring, and even in the streets of the towns gold was picked up.

OTHER MINERALS

Besides gold other minerals are found in abundance, and the only reason that they have not attracted the attention they deserve is that fold is so much more attractive a subject to talk about that they have been forced to take a back seat. Marble for instance, is found and cut and shipped from Tuolumne to all parts of the country. Years ago, when the Palace Hotel was built in San Francisco, at that time the wonderful hotel of the country, Tuolumne marble was brought down from the mountains to decorate its halls and floors.

Limestone is another Tuolumne product. It is ground up and sold where lime is needed in building operations and though gold is no longer found on the streets or dug up in the back yards, there is yet an abundance of the precious metal in the ground that will be taken out at no great future day.

As has been said there are all along the Mark Twain-Bret Harte Trail hotels, many of them historical, as well as modern and first class in their accommodations. In Sonora, for instance, the Sonora Inn is thoroughly modern in all its appointments, and all through the forests and at attractive points along the route of the Trail and at attractive historical spots there are modern hostelries combining all the comforts of the present with the charmed romance of the past.

Passing North from Sonora toward Calaveras county there are a number of places of interest. As you motor along the road just as you turn out of Sonora, you will notice an old fashioned stone chimney standing alone like a monument with a few broken stones that evidently once made the foundation of a house lying near it. There is a pathetic story connected with that chimney and those stones! Years ago a Negro slave from the Southern States was told by his mistress that he could go to the California mines and make the money to buy his freedom. He accepted her offer, and came to Sonora. He worked and saved, and when after much labor he had secured nearly the sum needed some one broke into his little shanty and stole every cent. He was not discouraged, however, but bravely set to work to earn the money again, which he accomplished and bought his liberty. He lived in the house of which the chimney and a few stones are all that is left since he is long dead, and his home has fallen prey to flames. The remarkable part of the story is that we might say "unnecessary" honesty of the slave, since it would have been impossible for his mistress to have either recaptured him, or gotten the money had he not earned and sent it to her.

Further along the same road you will come to Shaw's Flat, a "flat' it may be noted, means a little clearing spot, a meadow, or small valley. These "flats" are usually devoted to raising hay, grain or set out in orchards. Shaw, whose first name was Mandeville, planted an orchard on his Flat in 1849. However, there was gold there also and among the miners was Jim Fair, after whom the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco is named and who with Mackey and Flood formed a trio whom all the world knows because of their wonderful success with the Big Bonanza and their great Nevada mining property. Mississippi House is still standing to bring the past back to the visitors of today.

A WONDERFUL VIEW

The marble quarry above referred to is near this point. Another side trip that can be made from Columbia is to Sawmill Flat which supplied timber to the mines in the early fifties, but more famous as the scene of Joaquin Murrieta's exploits and the place from which he dealt Monte in 1852 before he began his career as a bandit. There was also one of the local battles fought out on the flat - known as "The Battle of Sawmill Flat" in 1854.

"Yankee Hill" is another location that the visitor will want to see, since it has been immortalized like so many of the other localities in Tuolumne County. Continuing the journey along an excellent county road to Panorama Point, one of the grandest views in California is to be seen. It is a view that is literally awe-inspiring. You feel the littleness of man, and the supreme, overpowering grandeur of nature.On all sides are the mountain rising above the point upon which you are standing. Yet you can look for great distances in all directions. At your feet three thousand feet below you flows the Tuolumne river.

Across the canyon you can see the road that once was traveled from Sacramento to Sonora winding and turning like some great snake as it descends one side of the canyon and rising on the opposite hills. The great silence even is awe-inspiring and you can gaze for a long time at the scene around you, as you might watch the never tired billows of the ocean; and try to figure what wonderful convulsions of nature must have produced the hills, the mountains and the valleys that surround you; that filled them with gold and other minerals and drew from all parts of the world thousands seeking wealth and happiness in the days that have completely passed, leaving only ruins of brick and stone, and iron shutters to recall them. The trip to Panorama Point is one that no visitor to Tuolumne County should miss.