Our area has been colder than many Sacramentans are acclimated to, these past few days. It was far too chilly to do my usual meandering at our local Farmer’s Market. The temperature when I hopped out of bed was a mere 27 degrees. The weatherman had predicted we might get snow, reaching lower elevations, close to home - A rarity for most of the Greater Sacramento region.
I decided to turn on the heater and the seat warmers in my car, put in a little Mannheim Steamroller Christmas music, and set out to ride, where the car wanted to go. It wasn’t until I reached Cameron Park, about 17 miles east along highway 50, that I began to see snow. There was a good amount of it at Shingle Springs, were I made the turn off the highway toward Coloma.
Coloma, about 40 miles from Sacramento, is home to the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. There was very little evidence of snow in the community, probably because it enjoys a lower elevation than other places nearby.
It was neat to see the area decorated with red bows, and ready for the holiday!
The picture below is of a settler’s cabin. And, the structure behind is the sawmill, where James Marshall, on January 24th 1848, stood near the tailrace water, and noticed several flakes of metal, that he knew to be GOLD!
What Marshall likely didn’t know at the time, was his discovery would act as catalyst to the greatest mass movement of people in the Western Hemisphere, and begin the growth of the West. The event became logged in history as "The California Gold Discovery and Gold Rush."
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