Written by Roger Mitchell Gold and silver were found on the southeastern flank of Mammoth Mountain in 1878. News of the discovery immediately sparked a “Gold Rush.” A young man by the name of John French, knowing that Mammoth Mountain is in a very remote part of the state and difficult to reach, scouted a route for a horse trail ...

COLUMBIA — Columbia State Historic Park will present the annual living history event, “Diggins Tent Town 1852,” starting on May 29 and continuing through June 1. The event is sponsored by Friends of Columbia and Columbia State Historic Park, and the era is brought to life by over 150 costumed volunteers. Visitors to the quaint town will experience the events ...

Submitted by the Lynn Northrup of the Raymond Museum In December of 1912 the town of Raymond decided to publish a newspaper with one H.S. Martin as its editor. There was a printing office somewhere in the town and at least 25 weeks of the paper were published. This is No. 25 dated May 8th, 1913, and the only copy ...

The three-story building in this color photograph appears to be for a business, but note the plants on the railing of the second story. Is it both residence and business? Is the building abandoned? Where is this structure located? Is the lower story made of brick and the upper one (ones?) made of lumber?

Written by Roger Mitchell, Historian & Librarian at the Fresno Flats Historic Park, Museum, & Research Library This month’s History Mystery is about an arrastra, a primitive type of quartz mill, about a mile east of Highway 41, just off Thornberry Road (Road 420). Here on the top of a ridge which separates the watersheds of Coarsegold Creek on the ...

OAKHURST – The Little Church on the Hill stands in quiet, simple elegance in the Oakhill Cemetery along Highway 41 in the town of Oakhurst. It has borne witness to the joys of weddings and baptisms, the fun of Sunday picnics and Easter egg hunts, and served as the spiritual and social center of a fledgling community for many years.

This History Mystery was provided by the Mono Museum in North Fork, CA. They know little about the photograph except that it has a couple of names written on it. They appear to be “C.R. Coleman, Clayton Teaford, and Jim Lewis.” If you know anything about the people or place in the photo please make a comment at the bottom ...

AHWAHNEE – Back in the Gold Rush Days, a good prank or a practical joke brought much needed relief to the realities of what was a very hard life. The “Clampers” still love a good bit of fun, but they are also dedicated to the promotion and preservation of western history. E Clampus Vitus, Grub Gulch Chapter 41- 49, gathered ...

The photograph below of local Sierra National Forest rangers circa 1910, includes Gene Tully (far left), a well liked and respected government employee. Other rangers in this picture are John Huges (black hat, third from left) and John Geddes (center top). But where in North Fork was this photo taken? And, who are the other rangers in this picture taken ...

Written by Lynn Northrup The Raymond Granite Quarry in Knowles has been a large part of Raymond’s history since the 1890s. This tool was donated by an old quarry family, the Iversons, and even though we found an advertisement for it in The Granite Cutter’s Journal from the 1920s, no one has been able to explain what it was used ...