Phoenix Lake and Old Man Mountain / South Yuba
"Hell we named everything, otherwise we'd be lost" - Gus Poggi, packer to North Yuba Mines
Toponyms, or place names, are that particular
layer in landscape which reflects the link between physical space and human
perception, understanding and interpretation of this space. In other words named places have a past and a
present, although some are changed beyond recognition. Fosters Bar and Garden Valley may be at the
bottom of the New Bullards Bar Reservoir but stories about these places live
on.
Part of our gold mining legacy is the richness,
imagination and humor found in place names.
They can tell us a lot about a place and/or its namers. Compare these robust, descriptive and often
sensitive names to what real estate developers offer. “Alta Sierra” is not in the high mountains
and “Lake Wildwood” is neither wild or especially wooded and the “lake” is a
dammed reservoir. “Cascade Shores”
sounds like a beach town. Unlike the
early namers who arrived at the place then named it, the investor-namers view
the landscape abstractly from a conference table while seeking safe and
soulless names.
Young America Mine / North Yuba
(photographer unknown)
I’ve walked thousands of miles in the Yuba River
watershed and know it pretty well so I sat down for an hour and came up with a quick
list of 130 place names and that’s only a small portion of what’s out
there. This is not science, they’ll be
no statistical analysis, we all have prejudices and preferences – let’s call it
a sampling. At first glance I see
playfulness, and an ease with language that exudes optimism and sometimes
despair as in Humbug Creek, Poverty Hill or Starvation Bar. Let’s face it, how often do you have the
opportunity to name and create a new settlement, a place that may be here today
and gone tomorrow, or it may prosper like Nevada City or Grass Valley. Many of the early placer claims lasted for only
a season then they were abandoned, or to thicken the plot, renamed.
Some places are named for land or water features
that reflect the typical topography of the region. Notice the number of places with the
descriptor “Bar”, which is a streamside gravel bar, of particular interest to
placer gold miners, while a “Flat” is noteworthy because it is just that in
this otherwise hilly terrain. The
English introduced “Run”, or “Race.” It’s
a drainage or channel, either natural or a man-made, that uses water as a tool
or for its energy. There’s a Bloody Run
on the Middle Yuba and another one feeding Fordyce Creek. Gold Run enters Deer Creek in Nevada City. In Coloma Marshall discovered gold in his
sawmill’s race. Cañon is a Spanish word
for a dominant and awe-inspiring Yuba River feature that was a new landform to
many flatlanders. Canyon Creek is a major
tributary of the South Yuba that’s dammed at Bowman Reservoir and there’s
another, undammed Canyon Creek, flowing to the North Yuba. There’s not a County in the northern mines
that doesn’t have a Deer Creek, a Squirrel Creek or a Dry Creek. In fact, there are over 700 places named Dry
Creek in California. Rather than discuss
the variety of place names piecemeal I’ve created a few arbitrary categories
for ease of discussion.
Rice's Crossing, formerly known as Liars Flat and Lousy Level / North Yuba
Of all the historical place names it’s telling
that I found only one of indigenous origin.
Purportedly Wahoo, near Canyon Creek a tributary of the North Yuba, is a
native word for a certain shrub or class of shrubs used for arrow shafts. On the other hand there are places named for
the native people who once lived there – names like Indian Hill, Indian Valley
and Indian Springs and still others named for prominent local Indians like
Weimar Hill and the small settlement of Walloupa. There are some doubts about who Digger Bar on
the South Yuba was named for? Even though
the Nisenan were typically and derisively called “Diggers” who can deny that
digging is what gold miners do? Hoodoo
Bar on the North Yuba was named for the natives pronunciation of “How do you
do?” or “Howdy-do?”, a common greeting amongst miners. It’s unlikely that Native American Ravine, on
Deer Creek, was named for people who weren’t even recognized as Americans.
Bowman Dam 1889 / Canyon Creek / South Yuba
Formerly Bowman's Ranch on the Pacific Turnpike to the Henness Pass. Road
(photographer unknown)
Another way of place naming was based on the
miners place of origin, Some, like the
Buckeye Rovers formed in Ohio and traveled to the mines, while others sought
men from similar backgrounds after arriving in California. There are three Missouri Bars in the Yuba
watershed as well as Texas Creek, Cincinnati Bar, Kentucky Flat, Illinois Bar,
Oregon Creek, the prosperous town of St. Louis.
Then there’s Sucker Flat named for Indiana, the “Sucker State.”
There is also an international flavor to many
place names. Here are a few: China Flat,
Portuguese Point, Mexican Bar, French Corral, Scotchman Creek, Cornish House,
Malay Bar, American Hill and Chili Camp.
Others names are slightly disguised.
Celestial Valley, on Oregon Creek, was named for the Chinese, of the “Celestial
Kingdom”, while the settlements of Sebastopol and Malakoff were named for
French victories over the Russians during the Crimean War. Hawaiians and other Polynesian sailors, known
collectively as Kanakas, became gold miners and many intermarried with
indigenous women. Kanaka Flat was located
six miles upstream from Downieville while nearby Jim Crow Canyon was named
after a Kanaka miner. Kanaka Creek is a major
tributary of the Middle Yuba and there was once a place known as Kanaka City at
its headwaters.
Not only Kanakas but sailors of all backgrounds
jumped ship to try gold mining. As a
result we’ve inherited many places named for sailors. Here are a few from the Yuba watershed: Sailor
Bar on the North Yuba, two Sailor Flats located east and upslope of Nevada
City, Sailors Ravine north of Downieville, and Sailor Boy Diggings near Brandy
City.
Lake City, sometimes called Painesville 1954 / South Yuba
(photographer unknown)
Of course, places were named for people as
well. Some were “famous”, as in Downieville,
named for Major William Downie and Rough & Ready named after Zachary
Taylor. Mount Lola, Jenny Lind Diggings
and Kate Hayes Flat were named after popular entertainers and Marysville was named
for Mary Murphy, a survivor of the Donner Party tragedy. Others were named for people who were popular
locally, like blacksmith Robert Campton of Camptonville. Miles and Andrew
Goodyear named Goodyears Bar and Lake Faucherie was named for Benoit Faucherie,
a pioneer in water management systems. Some places appear to be named for someone who
arrived early or simply had a distinctive personality. John Poorman mined on what would become
Poorman Creek, below the town of Washington, and the town of Sweetland, on San
Juan Ridge, was named for three bachelor brothers whose only notoriety was that
they began mining there in 1850. Then
there’s Jimmy Brown Bar on the North Yuba, just above Indian Valley, about whom
nothing is known.
Sucker Flat / Lower Yuba
Gold miners introduced the Osage Orange in this photo
Places were often named for their physical
characteristics, for instance Grass Valley, Willow Bar, Shady Creek, Forest
City, Slate Range and Windyville. Some
had more ephemeral qualities such as Pleasant Valley or the peak near Poker
Flat named Cloud Splitter.
Animals were well represented, for example,
there is Rabbit Creek, Coyote Diggings, Bear Valley, Red Dog, Snake Lake,
Lizard Flat, Wolf Creek, Grouse Ridge, Woodpecker Ravine, Jackass Flat, Dog Bar
and Chicken Point. The earliest miners
were predominantly male and that’s evident in names like Whiskey Flat, Gouge
Eye, Poker Flat, Port Wine Ridge, Cut-Throat Bar, Delirium Tremins, Cut-Eye
Fosters Bar and Shenanigan Flat.
Political affiliations were on display in the naming of Washington on
July 4,1850 and in the names of places like Jefferson, Union Flat and Rebel
Ridge. The. neighboring settlements
of San Juan and Montezuma Hill and were
named to commemorate victories in the war against Mexico.
Place
naming is a big topic and I could go on, but won’t. However, I can’t end without mentioning the wonderfully
enigmatic and poetic quality of place names like Rantedottler Bar, Gates of the
Antipodes, Timbuctoo, Buttermilk Bend, Virgin Flat, Spiritville, Big Lick Spring,
Banjo Bar and mines like Queen Ragimunde, Sweet Vengeance, Mugwump, Black Swan,
Sacred Mount and Swamp Angel.
Devil's Post Pile / Canyon Creek / North Yuba
