Cheryl Anne Stapp
The Silver Bullion Heist
It is still called Bullion Bend. It is a stretch of curving old stage road that once continued on from Placerville, California to Carson...
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California's Olden Golden Days
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Jun 17, 20202 min read
They Saw the Elephant
The wanna-be rich-quick gold prospectors who swarmed into California hoping— but failing— to find an easy fortune, boosted the folklore...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Jun 10, 20202 min read
Chasing Horse Thieves
Horse thieves harassed Californians for well over 100 years. Horse stealing began in the late 18th century, when Spanish missionaries and...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Jun 3, 20202 min read
Bad Guy Mulligan
New Yorker Billy Mulligan and his gang of young toughs came west with the California Gold Rush, arriving in San Francisco by ship in late...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
May 27, 20202 min read
Kansas to California, 35 Days!
In June 1907, when faster, cheaper railroad networks had long since replaced cross-continental stagecoach transportation, a gentleman...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
May 20, 20202 min read
"Lucky" Phineas Banning
A self-made man from his early teens, Phineas Banning was one of the most colorful, charismatic characters in the history of Southern...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
May 13, 20202 min read
Best Reinsman in the West
Driving a stagecoach required superlative skills: a quick eye, a steady nerve, a skillful hand on the reins, and a thorough knowledge of...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
May 6, 20202 min read
RIP, James Marshall
James Wilson Marshall, the celebrated discoverer of California gold, never personally profited from his find though it made other men...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 29, 20201 min read
Raging Infernos
Every town or village was vulnerable to fire during the early Gold Rush years, and few escaped its ravages. Thousands of prospectors in...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 22, 20202 min read
Bruff's Gold Rush Hysteria
Joseph Goldsborough Bruff is a well-remembered participant in the California Gold Rush. A committed diarist and talented amateur artist,...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 15, 20201 min read
Dressing for the Trail
For most of the way west in covered wagons, the weather was hot. Because wool breathed and afforded better protection against the sun...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 8, 20202 min read
The Mechanical Water System
Sacramento’s Water Works Building was the city’s answer to its need for a reliable water supply system that could prevent a small fire...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Apr 1, 20202 min read
Pegleg's Lost Mine
Few things inflame men’s imaginations as the idea of a hidden fortune in gold— so the tale of Pegleg Smith and his lost gold mine has...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Mar 25, 20201 min read
First Female Architect in California
Best known for her work on the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, Julia Morgan designed more than 700 buildings after becoming, in 1904, the...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Mar 18, 20201 min read
Pioneer Activist Annie Bidwell
She was tiny—less than five feet tall—but determined and confident. In April 1868, she married tall John Bidwell, a prominent California...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Mar 11, 20201 min read
California's Child Star
Little Lotta Crabtree— a red-haired, merry-eyed child blessed with an irrepressible laugh— became a box office attraction in gold rush...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Mar 4, 20202 min read
Spirited Jessie Fremont
Privileged, headstrong, and in love with an “unsuitable” man, Jessie Benton—the daughter of powerful U.S. Senator Thomas Hart...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Feb 26, 20202 min read
Finding Hope in a Winter Nightmare
In the severe Sierra Nevada winter of 1846–1847, while adult members of the desperate, snow-trapped Donner Party clung to their sanity...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Feb 19, 20202 min read
Rescuing the Donner Party
It was February 18, 1847. The winter sun had already dropped behind the mountain peaks, and dusk was falling. A band of seven exhausted,...
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Cheryl Anne Stapp
Feb 12, 20201 min read
Mexican Pioneer Don Ignacio Martinez
Martinez, California, and the adjacent town of Pinole, date their names, indeed their very existence, back to the days of Mexican rule....
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