THE DOOLITTLE TRAIL: SOUTH YUBA CANYON

Climbing the South Yuba Canyon east of Canyon Creek

TRAIL DESCRIPTION:

Are you looking for somewhere remote, far from crowds, scenic and immersed in local history?  The Doolittle Trail and its companion the Ridge Trail have all that and more.  Both of these trails were once maintained by the Forest Service but not for the past 40years or so, however citizen/hikers do enough work to keep the trails open.  This is not a groomed trail and pine needles cover much of the trail tread making it slippery in places.  The vegetation is primarily yellow pine, Douglas fir, manzanita and canyon live oak.

The Doolittle Trail climbs about 1,500' to its intersection with the Ridge Trail located on top of the ridge.  The length of this ascent is approximately 1.5 miles. Once on the Ridge Trail there is an option to climb higher by heading east or to make a loop of it by traveling west.  The trail to the east continues for about 1.5 miles to a haul road that was once part of a historic trail/road that connects to the Bowman Road, while the western trail descends the ridge and creates a 3.5 mile loop back to the Maybert Road at Canyon Creek.

Once on the unnamed ridge between Canyon Creek and the South Yuba you will encounter the cleverly named "Ridge Trail." This trail was part of the Ostrom and Doolittle toll road in the 1860s.  If you walk east on this narrow ridge for a short distance you will have tremendous views of the South Yuba canyon to the south and Canyon Creek to the northeast.  There is a very narrow notch along the trail that looks down on the former Yuba Mine on the South Yuba where you'll be inclined to stop for a break for lunch or to return to Maybert Road.  It is a 3 mile round trip from the Doolittle trailhead to the scenic notch and back. For many people this is an adequate day's hike, especially after the walk to the trailhead and the climb to the ridgetop.

From the notch a forested hill rises abruptly to the east as the trail contours around the hill's south side and begins climbing. Here the trail seems to have been rerouted several times but soon arrives at a distinct but abandoned road bed. Before long you'll come to a segment of road with retaining walls made of huge boulders below the road. Beautiful and enduring work! Unfortunately a spot fire burned here killing many trees and creating snags that are starting to fall and destroy parts of the rockwork.  Just to the east is a tremendous view of the South Yuba canyon and Monumental Ridge to the southeast near the North Fork of the American River.  You just know that that wagon drivers and passengers paused here to "take in the view."  Within a short distance the road loses integrity as it enters an area that's been previously logged and you'll be adjacent to a substantial log-hauling road that was once part of the Ostrom-Doolittle Road to the Pacific Turnpike.

How to pick up the trail from its eastern terminus, via Bowman Road:

Few people access the trail from here because it's a 2,200' descent to the South Yuba and Maybert Road.  Making the plunge and then walking back up, especially when it's hot, is not for everyone.  It's more practical and less strenuous to have a ride waiting for you at Golden Quartz or the Doolittle trailhead.

From Highway 20 take the Bowman Road from Bear Valley and drive north for 6.5 miles to Fall Creek.  Cross the creek and take the second road on the left – it should be signed as Road 18-14.  Follow this road for 2.3 miles to a flat where the road bends to the northwest and park here.  You'll see plenty of evidence of logging and as a result this part of the trail has been obliterated, so to find the trail walk south and you'll begin to see what looks like a road and if you persist the historic road becomes more obvious.

A View of Canyon Creek from the Ridge Trail 

A View of the South Yuba/Yuba Mine from the Ridge Trail

How to get to the Doolittle Trail from Nevada City, CA via Highway 20:

From Nevada City travel 13 miles east to the Washington Road.  The road is to the left, headed north and downslope.  After a six-mile descent you'll arrive in the historic mining town of Washington (1850) on the South Yuba River.  This is your last opportunity to buy food or supplies.  Drive slowly through downtown Washington and cross the bridge over the river where the road splits.  Take an immediate right on Maybert Road, which extends upstream for three miles to a small bridge over Canyon Creek at Holbrooke Flat.  This is a narrow and potentially dangerous road. Please respect the land owners along this stretch of road – drive slowly and cautiously and don't trespass.

After crossing the bridge you'll travel a short stretch of bumpy road to a Tahoe National Forest "day-use area" called Golden Quartz.  Here in 1886 Alf Tregido obtained 20 acres to create the town of Oromonde, or “World of Gold.”  The town consisted of eight to ten buildings, including a store, saloon and boarding house.  Oromonde’s male residents worked at the nearby Washington Mine, which processed 50 tons of ore daily using a 20-stamp mill, powered by water from an upstream dam and almost a mile of flume.  In 1890 the mine produced $17,000.

I generally park at the Golden Quartz day-use area and it's the destination of most people who use the Maybert Road.  It's a great place to swim and practice slack.  If you have truck enough, it's certainly possible to keep driving the road.  But beyond this point the road is much more primitive, there are few pull-outs and there are several mining claims. Personally, I like to walk this road for the next 1.5 miles to the Doolittle Trailhead because it's so scenic and I came to walk anyway.

Topographic Map of the Doolittle Trail and the Ridge Trail 

People sometimes ask if I have a favorite trail.  There is no adequate answer to that question because of the of the infinite variables such as the season and elevation, the day's weather, the company you're keeping, and whether or not you saw a rattlesnake, a field of tiger lilies, etc. For some reason the Doolittle Trail always comes to my mind.  Some people may find it boring, too strenuous or too easy. It's not a recreation trail – this is not a trail chosen for its scenic values but nevertheless, there are places on it with tremendous views of both Canyon Creek and the South Yuba Canyon. It was originally built in the 1860s for pack trains, freighters and travelers, with a segment added in the 1880s to access a mine.  I'm sure it was used during the Depression era as well.  I enjoy a trail that allows me to reconcile historic research with the terrain where something historical happened.  It's the kind of trail on which I can look around and get a feel for the geographical challenges and benefits that were the concerns of the builders.

Detail of Doolittle's 1868 Map showing his trails and toll roads

Alonzo J. Doolittle was born in Vermont in 1821 and came to California during the gold rush. In the middle 1850s he built a suspension bridge across the South Yuba at Jefferson, a short-lived mining settlement located about a mile downstream from the town of Washington.  He is described as a mapmaker in the Nevada County Directory for 1871-72.  His 1868 Township and County Map of the Central Part of California is extremely detailed and full of towns, gold mines, sawmills, ranches, roads, etc., that no longer exist.

On August 4, 1862, Doolittle made an application to the County Board of Supervisors for a toll road from Washington to Omega, both located on the south side of the South Yuba.  From Omega he proposed a new suspension bridge over Rock Island Canyon (four miles above Washington and just east of Diamond Creek) on the South Yuba River “on a new trail leading to Omega and Fall Creek Diggings.”  By creating a trail to upper Fall Creek (on the north side of the river and high above it) the Omega-Fall Creek Road connected to the Pacific Turnpike (today's Bowman Lake Road) via the Ostrom-Doolittle trail/road.

The Ostrom-Doolittle trail/road was constructed on the east-west trending ridge that begins where Canyon Creek enters the South Yuba near the current Golden Quartz day-use area. Starting at 2,900' the ridge climbs eastward to 5,200' where it meets today's Lake Bowman Road, originally known as the Pacific Turnpike.  

The Pacific Turnpike toll-road's southern terminus was Dutch Flat, located between the North Fork of the American and Bear Rivers, then extended northeasterly to Bear Valley and Bowman's Ranch on Canyon Creek, now Bowman Reservoir.  The Pacific Turnpike (1863) eventually joined the Henness Pass Road (1852) at a location that is now underwater in Jackson Meadows Reservoir.  Within a few miles is Henness Pass where, by continuing eastward, you leave the Yuba River watershed and enter the Truckee River watershed.

A Segment of the Ostrom-Doolittle Road that is now part of the Ridge Trail. 

This is near the upper end where it connected to the Pacific Turnpike (Bowman Road) 

Privately owned toll roads were speculative business ventures that flourished before the transcontinental railroad's completion. Wagon roads were rugged but even a large one was only six feet wide. The typical early California freight wagons were 16 to 20' long and only 3' wide, but packed as high as 15' and they could carry as much as 2,000 pounds.  Wagons were much more useful than pack trains, which had to be unloaded at night, but they required a wider and more stable trail.

The indigenous Nisenan were obviously aware of the ridge between Canyon Creek and the South Yuba.  They had a well-established seasonal camp at the South Yuba-Canyon Creek confluence that may have functioned as a hub for trade and a base camp for food forays.  Artifacts were noted on and adjacent to the Maybert Road, along the ridgetop as well as on the Doolittle Trail itself.  By following this ridge upslope to the east the native people had access to two or three different ecosystems.

On May 7, 1870 the Nevada Daily Transcript reported, “The Board of Supervisors yesterday made an order appropriating $250 to be paid to A. J. Doolittle, upon the condition that he put the bridge on the Doolittle Trail between Fall Creek and Omega, in good condition.” It’s not surprising that the trail was deteriorating, because the Central Pacific Railroad was completed in 1869, greatly reducing the traffic on Henness Pass Road and feeder roads like this one. It's unlikely that any investment was made on the trail after this time.

The Maybert Road connected the town of Washington with the Yuba Mine and the small settlement of Maybert located 5.5 miles upstream on the South Yuba River.  John Lang and Doc Williamson, built the Maybert Road in 1876.  The expense of “fitting up” was borne by three hard-rock mining companies: the Yuba Mine at Maybert, the Eagle Bird Mine just over a half mile beyond Maybert, and the Washington Mine at Oromonde.  In 1890 the Consolidated South Yuba Express and Butcher Company operated a stage line here in conjunction with the butcher shop of Al Nichols in the town of Washington. The 1907 stagecoach fare between Nevada City and Maybert, a distance of 28 miles, was $3.  Most of the men of Maybert worked at the Yuba Mine.  George Hearst, who mined all over the West, was one of the owners of this mine in 1884-85. In 1885 the mine employed 27 Caucasians and 13 Chinese, who generally worked for 30-50 percent less than the standard of $3 for a 10-hour day.

Maybert Road

Maybert Road, east of Canyon Creek to the Yuba Mine, still has good integrity and it's fascinating to imagine what the ride on the stage might have been like.  Bill Meek, a stagecoach driver based in Camptonville, knew that conditions could be unpleasant, "but crabbing didn't change things for the better. Ninety percent of all travelers were pleasant and satisfied, feeling that if a driver could stand the trip daily, one for them should not seem so bad."

There are no signs or markers at the traihead for the Doolittle Trail on Maybert Road.  Whenever signs are posted they quickly disappear – you'll have to pay attention to find the trail. The trailhead is in a stand of black oaks located approximately 1.5 miles past Golden Quartz headed eastward.  You'll come to an large isolated boulder adjacent to the road on the uphill side followed by some sparse oaks.  It's evident that trucks have pulled onto small open flats on the uphill side of the road but you will have to start walking toward the slope before you can clearly see the trail on the right side of the slope headed northeasterly.  If you come to a flat with an enormous live oak, you've missed the trailhead.

The lower segment of the Doolittle Trail is a continuous ascent to the northeast.  I'm guessing that this trail was developed to access the nearby Blue Jay Mine located in 1884.  By 1895 the Blue Jay had its own 5-stamp mill but in 1896 they were idle.  Above this long and straight segment of trail there are a series of switchbacks that end at the ridgetop, on the Ridge Trail.

Last week I was on these very switchbacks near the ridgetop when I remembered that I left a fat bran muffin wrapped in a bandana under the seat of my truck, parked at the Golden Quartz area.  This was a primo muffin, hefty and heavy on the molasses and raisins.  I realized that one of the many black bears that patrol the recreation area might get to the muffin before me.  I've met bears on this trail three times so far and it appeared that on this hike there was more bear scat on the trail than usual.  Now I can handle surrendering the treat but I didn't want the door of my truck shredded by an eager bear that I had unwittingly tempted.  I have seen this happen many times before – I should have known better – instead, I even rolled down the window, just a bit - assuring the olfactory-oriented bears an easier target.  So what to do?  I had been hiking for more than two hours and it would take about that long to get back? I tried to push it out of my mind but the potential cost of a new window or door was interfering with my good day.

The western part of the Ridge Trail was in a mixed conifer forest until it burned in 1997

I decided to pick up the pace, and then travel west on the Ridge Trail to the Arctic Mine Road near Golden Quartz – the last time that I walked this trail was about 1985.  There was a major fire here in 1997 that devastated the south side of the ridge.  In the summer after the fire I tried to follow the trail but kept losing it so I put the idea aside.  This time I was motivated to beat the bear to the bran muffin and maybe see something new along the way.  The trail follows the narrow ridge line, with glimpses of Canyon Creek, to a rounded peak in a stand of conifers.  When the forest meets the former burn it was surprising to see an expanse of sky and big views of the South Yuba canyon downstream.  After the fire few trees returned but a large meadow of kitkitdizzie did – it's a unique setting. 

Near the southwestern end of the Ridge Trail

As the trail descends to the south a series of long switchbacks appears – some of it is brushy – and other segments are perfect ledges of historic road, about seven feet wide.  I don't recommend ascending this western part of the trail to the ridgetop, on the descent there is more to see and it's an easier hike.  The Ridge Trail ends on the Arctic mine road on the eastside of Canyon Creek. From here it's a short walk downslope to the day-use area.  I was elated to see that my truck had not been bear-handled and immediately sat down on a boulder by the river to enjoy my delicious muffin while my body was still humming from the hike.

• • •

WILD THINGS

Wildcat / Pacific Crest Trail above Slate Creek / North Yuba

"The connections and interactions among all the creatures in a thriving ecosystem are complex beyond the human ability to think." – Wendell Berry

"One fancies a heart like our own must be beating in every crystal and cell, and we feel like stopping to speak to the plants and animals as friendly fellow mountaineers." – John Muir

"Wild, go wild, go wild in the country

Where snakes in the grass are absolutely free"– Malcolm McLaren/Bow Wow Wow

Katydid / Deer Creek

At the end of the 18^thcentury the Sacramento Valley and the northern Sierra Nevada of California were lush with native plants and animals.  But even then feral horses and cattle, along with non-native plants and microbes were spreading northward into this region.  These invaders were runaway descendants of Mediterranean species introduced, both deliberately and unconsciously, by Spanish colonists.

Jedidiah Smith, Michael Framboise and the Hudson’s Bay Company were trapping fur-bearing mammals in the Sacramento Valley as early as 1827.  In 1833 John Work led an expedition for the Hudson’s Bay Company that consisted of 63 people and 400 horses.  Because of high water they camped in what is now known as the Sutter Buttes, near today’s Yuba City.  His diary entry for February 22 shows an inclination to recklessly slaughter wildlife: "There is excellent feeding for the horses, and an abundance of animals for the people to subsist on.  395 elk, 148 deer, 17 bears, and 8 antelopes have been killed in a month, which is certainly a great many more than was required."  When the valley flooding receded they returned to their work of trapping otter and beaver by the millions. I'm sure that they made quite an impression on the nearby Nisenan, Koncow and Wintun peoples.

Chinook Salmon / near Long Bar / Yuba River

During the gold rush even more livestock was imported to feed the miners.  By 1849 there were 5,000 head of cattle, 600 horses and 500 hogs at Nye’s Ranch on the Yuba River.  At the same time John Rose, who had a Mexican Land Grant, operated another large cattle ranch near Deer Creek. 

The colonizing population required that native animals like the grizzly bear, mountain lion, gray wolf, wildcat and coyote, who preyed on the introduced species, be shot on sight, poisoned and discouraged in every way.  There were also full-time hunters who provided deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, quail, rabbit, squirrel and birds for the meat market.  Early in the 20^thcentury there was an increase in the hunting of fur-bearing animals like marten, fishers, wolverine and mink.  Mountain sheep were easy targets for hunters with guns and they disappeared rapidly.

Clodius Parnassian (?) butterflies enjoying Pennyroyal / Buttermilk Bend / South Yuba 

In addition to these depredations, the major problem for most native animals was the loss of habitat, which was increasingly used for the unlimited grazing of sheep and cattle.  These impacts along with gold mining and timber harvesting were destroying this bountiful ecosystem.  It wasn’t until the creation of the Forest Reserves and the Tahoe National forest in 1906 that there was any regulation of grazing, hunting and lumbering in the Yuba River watershed. 

Today, at least, we have discussions about proposed impacts and some protections for flora and fauna.  By the way, there are still plenty of wild things out there.  The photos accompanying this post were made as I was out hiking in the neighborhood and represent only a tiny fraction of the biota that thrives in the Yuba River basin.  For me, all wildlife sightings, regardless of how humble, are vivid and have the aura of a gift.

Rattlesnake / Middle Waters / Ridge dividing the North Yuba and the Middle Yuba

Many animals have the ability to blend into their surroundings:

Coyote in a meadow / Middle Yuba

Nighthawk hiding in granite / Fordyce Creek / South Yuba

Racoon on the run / Ramshorn Creek / North Yuba

  

Seldom Seen Snakes:

Mountain King Snake

Rubber Boa

Phantom Orchid / Snow Point / Middle Yuba

This beautiful plant is saprophytic, meaning that it lives off decaying material in the soil, without chlorophyll. 

Canadian Geese and a Snowy Egret / Mooney Flat / Black Swan Diggings / Deer Creek

Virtual Deer / Marysville / Mouth of the Yuba River

CAIRNS, DUCKS and DORKS

South Yuba

Cairns are stacked rock piles created by humans – their quality ranges from casual heaps to megalithic masterpieces.  They've been around since the Neolithic era and are still constructed all over the world.  As a Boy Scout I was introduced to cairns as trail markers – we called them “ducks.”  Cairns have also been used as landmarks, as memorials, to locate burials, for astrological markers, as artistic expression and for ceremonial functions. 

In the Yuba watershed there are cairns built by surveyors, cairns designating mining claim corners, cairns marking range allotment boundaries left by Basque sheepherders in the early 20^thcentury and cairns on mountaintops that celebrate a peak experience.  They are also a contemporary means of expression.  Recently, the pleasure of stacking stones and boulders has become an extremely popular pastime for Yuba River devotees. 

However, these stacked rock offerings contrast with the bedrock landscape of the streamside environment, which is rounded and worn by water, sand and gravel from former upstream gold mining activities.  Most of the contemporary rock constructions are vertical and linear, like little cathedrals adding spikes to the sensually smooth bedrock backdrop.  They have an air of domination or triumph and introduce reason into prevailing earth rhythms.  Many of them are cleverly constructed and I can appreciate the delight in building them.  While this activity seems harmless, the cumulative impact of continuous mini-monuments can be tacky and gives the impression of a colonized landscape.

If the experience of stacking rocks can be compared to a jazz solo, an inspired meal, a theatrical performance or a satisfying dance move it shouldn't require an artifact.  The reward is in the execution.  Seeing a hundred stacked rock recuerdos along a quarter of a mile of the Yuba is a banal experience – the thrill is gone.  By all means enjoy the process and photograph it to share, but please don’t leave a redundant testament to your assumed ingenuity.  Leave no trace – we’re sharing this place.

Pacific Crest Trail/  North Yuba

INDIAN VALLEY: CANYON CREEK TRAIL, FIDDLE CREEK RIDGE TRAIL, NORTH YUBA TRAIL & HALLS RANCH TRAIL

This campy photo was taken in Indian Valley but it but it has no relationship to the Indians who lived here.

There's an Indian Creek, Indian Hill, Indian Bar, Indian Flat, Indian Springs or Indian Valley in every major watershed in California – that should remind you that it was all, until recently, Indian country. By the way, they're still here. The Indian Valley that I want to talk about is on the North Yuba River, in California's Sierra Nevada, about six miles west of Goodyears Bar. It's situated in a steep and densely forested canyon between Indian Hill and Snowden Hill on the south and Fiddle Creek Ridge on the north. Indian Valley is about two and a half miles long with an elevation of 2,500’ on its eastern (upstream) edge and 2,300' on the western end. Because the river has such a low grade it has an abundance of gravel and relatively flat areas on both sides of the North Yuba, especially in the upper valley. This would have been good spawning ground for salmon prior to gold mining.

In the early 1850s a trail from Oak Valley descended Depot Hill to a toll bridge that crossed the North Yuba River at Cut-Eye Fosters Bar near the mouth of Cherokee Creek. Depot hill was as far as freight wagons could go so goods were transferred to pack mules here for the descent into the canyon. Cherokee Creek? It may surprise you to know that Cherokee is the most popular toponym for an Indian tribe used in California. Most of the places named for them are gold towns or mines. Cherokees were no strangers to placer gold mining because there was a gold rush in their ancestral homelands in Georgia and the Carolinas in 1829. When they attempted to mine their own land they were driven away but not before they mastered the fundamentals of placer mining. They arrived in California early in the gold rush and were among the few who knew anything at all about gold mining.

At Cherokee Creek the historic Brandy City Trail ascends the ridge to the north. It's not maintained but the lower portion of that trail still exists only to fuzz out amidst the messy logging and maze of roads on the ridgetop. Another historic trail from Cherokee Creek followed the river upstream for three miles to Indian Valley. In 1854 a 22-mile road between Downieville and Cut-Eye Foster's Bar (also at the mouth of Cherokee Creek) was proposed in the Sierra Citizen. This road was never constructed, but the existing trail was improved and parts of it have since been covered by State Highway 49. The Mountain Messenger of July 22,1865 reports that "...the trail between Goodyear's Bar and Indian Valley is the best maintained trail we have ridden over in a long time...". Part of the trail from Cherokee Creek survives as part of the Canyon Creek Trail, maintained, (more or less) by the Tahoe National Forest. There is parking at the trailhead, which can be found off of Highway 49 where it crosses the North Yuba on the west end of Indian Valley. It's a three and a half mile hike in a healthy forest of ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, incense cedar, black oak, canyon live oak and many other plants with their associated fauna. The trail follows the contour of the river a few hundred feet upslope and continues to the mouth of Canyon Creek, a major tributary of the North Yuba originating near Poker Flat, over 20-miles upstream. Note: there are two Canyon Creeks in the Yuba River watershed, one is a tributary of the South Yuba and the other replenishes the North Yuba. Both are large and important streams.

These are bedrock mortars at Cut-Eye Fosters Bar. The indigenous Nisenan people used them to prepare a variety of foods and medicines.

You may ask yourself, who was Cut-Eye Foster? He's described as a horse thief and a dishonest merchant who traded with miners and the local Indians. This would have been a good place to mine because the upper reaches of Cherokee Creek eroded the tertiary gravels in the Brandy City area and carried gold down to the river. Several miles downstream from Cherokee Creek was Fosters Bar, now under Bullards Bar reservoir and named for William Foster, a survivor of the Donner Party who mined there (no relation to Cut-Eye Foster). While we're on the subject of place names there was also a Cut-Throat Bar on the North Yuba between Goodyears Bar and Indian Valley, so-named for a sick German miner who cut his own throat there.

Despite the easy to find gold in Indian Valley uncovered by the early miners the indigenous people were rich before the gold rush. The native population, due to their location, were probably a mixture of Nisenan, Koncow and Mountain Maidu linguistically, culturally and biologically. I suspect that some of the Washo, who lived east of the summit, wintered here as well. (Most ethnographers have identified this place as Nisenan country so I'll use that determination for ease of discussion). The Nisenan enjoyed this beautiful and bountiful valley for thousands of years before the intruders arrived. It supplied a variety of edible plants, abundant acorns, plentiful game, reliable runs of salmon and steelhead, and diverse materials for basketry and netting. The natives used subtle and consistent land management practices, including burning, to assure that the land continued to provide what they needed. Even though most of the topsoil, gravel bars and vegetation was removed from the valley floor by subsequent gold mining episodes there is still plenty of archaeological evidence attesting to the thousands of years of occupation by indigenous people..

Looking around today you can see piles of tailings and other mining features that are the legacy of mining practices that sluiced all of the low ground in the valley. Even the gravel of the river bed was exposed and sluiced with the siltation and escaped quicksilver sent downstream. Add to that logging and small-scale agriculture and you can appreciate how drastically Indian Valley has been transformed.

Placer mining was physically demanding work. Miners who came to the Yuba River in 1848 found the local Nisenan willing to work hard for items that they found useful or exotic. Among those goods were knifes, axes, beads, red cloth, serapes, sugar and flour. In 1848 over half of the gold miners in California were Native Americans. By late 1849 many of the Nisenan recognized the value of gold as a commodity and began mining themselves. Trading posts appeared on the Yuba River at places like Sicard Flat, Parks Bar, Jones Bar and Fosters Bar specifically to trade with the Indians. Then the Camp Union Treaty of 1851 made it illegal for Indians to hold a mining claim. In the hard times that followed they continued to crevice for gold as a supplement to traditional hunting and gathering practices which were impeded by the legal notion of private property. This kind of treatment is unfair and galling.

Naturally some of the Nisenan resisted and attempted to retaliate but they were overcome by well-armed and determined bands of miners. William Chamberlain in his History of Yuba County (1879) describes such an incident and it's repercussions: "In the winter of 1850, a boy named Woods, while carrying the express from the South Yuba to Downieville, was chased near Campbell’s Gulch (Camptonville) by Indians. A man was killed there the same day. A party was made at Downieville, which proceeded to the Indian Camp, surprised and murdered nearly all its occupants."

Bill Meek was raised in Indian Valley in the early 1860s. As a boy he accompanied the Nisenan on their grasshopper drives learning how they smoked and roasted them for storage and ate them with manzanita berries in acorn mush. In his reminiscences he observes their seasonal movements upcountry to the mountain lakes, returning with dried fish and venison for the winter. He also talks about their burning practices. It's kind of surprising that the Nisenan were able to maintain traditional practices (including burning) into the 1860s.

Indian women and men panned for gold to supplement traditional foods by entering the cash economy. Miners tolerated meager mining but would not allow the Indians to have legal mining claims.

Fishing, especially for salmon and steelhead trout, was an essential aspect of Nisenan culture. Gold mining activities degraded water quality and riparian habitat and even restricted Indian access to streams.

(Illustration by Charles Nahl)

On February 2, 1858 the Indian Valley Water Company filed Articles of Incorporation, the purpose of which was to construct "...a ditch, flume or aqueduct to convey the waters of the North Yuba River to the lower end of Indian Valley in Sierra County, the water to be used for mining, mechanical and agricultural purposes."  Their main ditch was four miles long, with a head dam on the river and the ability to distribute water to both sides of the river. In 1865 there were at least two water-powered sawmills in operation in Indian Valley. One was run by William Crawford and the other by Samuel Bonstein.

By 1859 mining claims on the river were covered by tailings from upstream hydraulic mines like Monte Cristo, Red Ant, Rattlesnake Diggings and Sailor Flat Diggings, among others. Nevertheless many miners were disillusioned with the low prevailing wage. Seeking another "Bonanza", many of them left for the Fraser River in British Columbia (1858) or the Comstock Lode in Utah Territory (1864). During this period many claims were sold or leased to the Chinese. According to Sierra County historian James Sinnott there was one large Indian camp and three small Chinese settlements in Indian Valley.

Meek said that the population of Indian Valley consisted of 19 families, including three men who had married Nisenan women. There were also 150 single miners, 110 Chinese, and 300 Nisenan. People from “most every state in the union”, as well as from France, Germany, Scotland and Ireland were in Indian Valley, including Mexican pack trains that were passing through.

Morning in lower Indian Valley

The Sierra County Tax Assessor's records show that in 1867 and 1878 most of the mining in Indian Valley was accomplished by Chinese miners. Sixteen Chinese claims and one Chinese merchant are noted in the Tax Assessor's records for these years. Estimates vary on the size of Chinese mining "companies" but the consensus is that three to ten men using derricks, dams, pumps and ditches constituted a company for most Chinese river miners in Yuba River country. Sometimes Chinese miners commissioned a local white person to file claims for them with the intent of having a more secure deed. They also leased mining ground on existing claims. Therefore it's likely that there were more Chinese miners on the North Yuba than indicated by public records.

By the mid-1920s Highway 49 was completed and the Forest Service built campgrounds for tourists in Indian Valley. The Depression of the 1930s quickly eliminated tourism and brought a return to hand placering on the North Yuba. A conservative estimate is that 100,000 people returned to the rivers of Northern California in 1932-33. Some academics call this era "The Automobile Gold Rush." Between 1933 and 1935 the price of gold rose from $20.67 to $35 per fine ounce, which revived interest in gold mining. According to the State Division of Mines, hand placering paid an average of $6 per week, with about a third of the miners averaging $3.50 per week. During the Depression many of the streamside campgrounds on public land were occupied by unemployed single men and young couples engaged in placer mining using primitive techniques. One of the temporary settlements in Indian Valley was known as "Tar-Paper Shack Flat."

Between June 1, 1941 and April 30, 1942, William Richter and Sons, using a dragline dredge removed 1,646 ounces of gold and 208 ounces of silver from 338,000 cubic yards of gravel in Indian Valley. But on October 8, 1942, the War Production Board Limitation Order L-208 was issued shutting down most of the gold mines in the country. After WW II very few of the mines reopened because the cost of mining had become too prohibitive.

When the war was over public lands were vigorously logged to provide homes for veterans and their families. Cal Ida Lumbering Company set up a sawmill on the heavily forested ridge between the North Yuba and Canyon Creek, more specifically between Indian Valley and Brandy City, where they operated from 1944 to 1967 employing 150 men for four or five months of the year. When the mill closed Indian Valley became a purely recreational destination.

Indian Valley is a popular place for swimming in the summertime. The campgrounds close for the winter.

Regarding recreation, in addition to the already mentioned Canyon Creek Trail, there are two other trailheads in Indian Valley. The North Yuba Trail is a six-mile trail between Indian Valley and Goodyears Bar with a trailhead in upper Indian Valley that is clearly marked. It's a heavily forested trail with the sounds of the North Yuba as a constant background. A few years ago a fierce winter wind demolished a stand of trees near Goodyears Bar causing major damage to the trail that I don't think has been repaired yet. The trail is on the south side of the North Yuba and Highway 49 is on the north side – the only thing I don't like about this trail is how often you're distracted by the sight and sound of vehicles on the highway. I like to hike it in the winter when there is less traffic and, because the trail is on the shady side of the canyon, there are a multitude of waterfalls from seasonal drainages and a vivid range of mosses and ferns to enjoy. If you are interested in this hike I highly recommend this blog: https://northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com

The other trailhead is for the Fiddle Creek Ridge Trail with trailhead parking on the Cal Ida Road in lower Indian Valley. It's not far from Highway 49 and easy to find, but if you cross the creek you missed it. This is a long slog upslope in a mixed conifer forest assuring that the sloping trail is covered with pine and fir needles that make the tread slippery in spots. Because the ridge between Fiddle Creek and the North Yuba is so narrow I expected some pretty good views but this ridge is very dense with trees. It's a good place to see mature Douglas fir, yellow pine and the occasional sugar pine, but there are few views until it intersects with the Halls Ranch Trail, where the ridgetop is largely treeless and the views of the North Yuba Canyon and the Sierra Buttes are terrific. It's about four miles between this trail intersection and Indian Valley.

Trail intersection on Fiddle Creek Ridge

Hall's Ranch is shown on Doolittle's 1868 map and I remember that a Forest Service fire crew was stationed here in the 1970s, but it's overgrown and difficult to find now so it's not much of a destination. At the other end of the Hall's Ranch Trail is a signed trailhead at a place known as Ramshorn, located on the North Yuba/Highway 49, between upper Indian Valley and Goodyears Bar. From Ramshorn it's a two-mile climb of about 1,400 feet from the river to the ridgetop and the trail intersection. There is a good stretch of ridgetop with exhilarating views made possible by a fire in the 1970s. This ridge was part of a fuel break created by dropping the trees. You can still see some fire scarred trees on the ridge. From the intersection with the Fiddle Creek Ridge Trail you can drop down to Fiddle Creek where it's pristine and lovely, especially in the fall when the leaves change color. Continuing beyond the creek to the north the trail is dusty and tangled and merely the remnants of a once important pack trail. If you were to hike the Halls Ranch Trail to its connection with the Fiddle Creek Ridge Trail then descend it to Indian Valley (or vice versa) the distance would be approximately six miles.

Umbrella plants in Fiddle Creek

FOOTHILL DANCERS

Me and my partner Carol dancing for rain on the South Yuba

Dancing is fundamentally human.  We've all had the experience of hearing good news or witnessed a moving event where we've spontaneously responded with a little shuffle or even a hop or two.  Children, because they are so unencumbered, do it all the time.  In Yuba River country the indigenous Nisenan people, for reasons both social and ceremonial, have been dancing for thousands of years.  Among the events enhanced by dancing were the arrival of spring flowers featuring miles of blooming meadows that are now covered by housing developments.  Obviously the Weda was danced outside with the participants wearing flowers.  If I could enter a time machine to revisit a historical event this would be it.  Another important occasion for dancing was the acorn harvest when the Lumai was danced.  Feasting, gambling, trade and socializing went on for days with many people traveling long distances to attend.  In Nevada City there were five round houses to host participants. These are only two of many dances that happened in the cycle of ripening plants, migrating animals and events based on trade and diplomacy.

Miners frequently visited Nisenan ceremonial events, without invitations.  The mining population referred to them as Indian fandangos and often ridiculed them in newspaper accounts.  Some of these events were sacred ceremonies and not at all entertainment although they were seen that way by outsiders.  Eventually some of the Indians charged a nominal admission to view ceremonies that were probably de-sanctified.

Nisenan and Miwok dancers

California was still part of Mexico until September of 1850.  The lingua franca was Spanish and most of the ubiquitous packers and the women who accompanied them were Mexicans.  Californios were accustomed to pleasure and pursued it by gambling, cock fighting, horse racing, displays of vaquero expertise, bear and bull baiting and of course dancing.  They also dressed ornately, with flair and foppery.  For the miner it was impossible not to be affected by the existing spirit of gayety and celebration.

"Fandango" by Charles Nahl 1872

Between 1848-1850 most dancing happened in saloons.  The fandango " a rude native dance", became the descriptor indiscriminately applied to any kind of merriment that involved dancing, hollering and refreshment.  Places where fandangos were held were called dance halls or fandango houses.

There were many remote camps where there were few women and certainly no women willing to dance with miners.  In the general absence of women, Dame Shirley of Rich Bar, on the Middle Fork of the Feather wrote, in 1851, about a style of dancing called "The Lancers, which appeared to be very generally known."  For this kind of dancing, "it was understood that every gentleman who had a patch on a certain part of his inexpressibles should be considered a lady for the time being."  She went on to describe the dancing as a type of "severe gymnastic exercise" that allowed men to dance "with all their might."

Among the spectrum of dancers were "hurdy gurdy girls" who would dance with a miner for a fee and encourage men to buy drinks.  The hurdy gurdy, itself, was a lute-like musical instrument played with a crank or bow by a male "boss."  The young women were recruited from rural Germany with their parent's permission, usually gained by advancing some money up-front.  The contract was typically for two years.  Their ages ranged from 16 to 25 and they traveled, with the boss, in parties of five or six, through the small mining towns of the Sierra Nevada and other regions where they worked hard for their money.  Owners of the venue were charged $4 a dancer if they worked until midnight and $7 if they worked all night.  The women also received some commission on drinks sold.

It's not California but it captures the exhilaration of dancing.
Denver Public Library, Western History Collection, F-6264

The hurdy gurdy girls were expected to avoid familiarity and according to a reporter for the Daily Alta they did.  He reported that "as a class they are virtuous", of course there is no way to determine how this actually played out, besides it's none of our business.  Of the many descriptions I've read about them they appeared to be all business and characteristically charm-free.  One man compared the experience to dancing with a doll.  Apparently it was enough to be near a woman, to hold one while madly whirling about was even better.  No matter what, "good" women did not find the hurdy gurdies "respectable."

Any way you look at it, it was hard work.  Imagine dancing, robustly, with rough characters who are being encouraged to drink more alcohol.  Flying elbows, high kicking and trampled toes were commonplace.  There are comments in the historic record suggesting that the hurdy gurdies often wore boots, sensible shoes in this case.  By the mid 1850s the dancing girls were ubiquitous: "They have rendered dancing epidemic" (Daily Alta California, October 19th, 1857).

Dancing at Poker Flat at the head of Canyon Creek, North Yuba
n.d. photographer unknown

Oddfellows and Masons were well established in the mining camps and by 1855 their memberships were large enough to fund lodges which hosted rituals and balls.  As towns prospered they also became more socially stratified offering, for instance, dancing schools and dancing masters who taught proper steps and techniques.  In the town of Alpha, near the South Yuba, this announcement appeared in a local newspaper: "Mr. J. A. Williams of the Alpha Hotel has made arrangements for giving a ball on Friday evening the 31st. He has a fine commodius hall for dancing and will make suitable preparations for accommodating guests coming from a distance" (The Nevada Democrat June 9,1858).  Balls could be open to the public, like the Alpha Hotel's, or quite exclusive, requiring an invitation.  By the 1870s most mining towns had some version of a brass band and sometimes a small dance band – danceable, but staid.

Lively and untutored dancing didn't revive in the Sierra Nevada foothills until the post WW II era when the U.S. Forest Service and private land owners ravaged the remaining timber stands to build homes for returning veterans and their families.  Small owner-operated sawmills appeared all over the foothills where former mining towns like Moores Flat, Camptonville and Brandy City were repopulated by lumbermen and their families.  The loggers and ranchers had a taste for country music with its relatively simple, but soulful, songs that were easy to cover by small regional bands like the Rythym Rascals and the Night Owls who played in the Grass Valley, Nevada City and San Juan Ridge area.  Kay Vance, piano player for the Night Owls and owner of the Last Chance store, told me that on Saturday nights on The Ridge they would move the store's juke box out onto the dusty lot at the intersection of Tyler-Foote Crossing Road and Grizzly Hill Road where the locals would enjoy drinking and dancing.

Dancing in a contemporary foothill community

The next round of exuberant dancing came with "back to the landers" who moved into the foothills in the late 1960s and 1970s.  Music was an important part of the "sub-culture" and their dancing was distinctly on the ecstatic side.  I remember dancing until the floor caved in at a party in Amos's Barn.  In those days it seemed like everyone danced. Few bands today cultivate a dancing crowd but there are notable exceptions.

In the 1980s when venues were affordable in Nevada City there was a lot of experimentation.  There was music, dancing, theater, visual and conceptual art – you name it – we had it.  One of my favorite recollections of that era has to do with dancing.  On Commercial Street there were two bars on the same block facing each other – one was the Crazy Horse and the other I think was called Framylstamyls.  Dancers were overflowing out into the street when the police arrived, not to dampen fervor, but to place portable barricades to stop automobile traffic.  Imagine that, the police ("protect and serve") were making the street safe for dancing!  You can still participate in passionate dancing once a month at the Crazy Horse at their three-hour late afternoon event known as "Geezer Hour." Obviously there is still plenty of dancing going on and it's up to you to practice this puja – don't allow yourself to get creaky.

Poland 1967
Dancing is universal