There's Gold in Them Thar Hills!

Just imagine yourself being here, at Sutter's Mill, near Sacramento, in late 1847.  You would be among the handful of people who were here to work in the lumber mill.  Then, in January, 1848, James Marshall, the business partner of John Sutter, discovered gold flecks in the water. And you know the rest of the story....

A replica of the original Sutter's Mill is located in the Marshall Gold Discovery State Park, in the town of Coloma.  The first one was abandoned and torn down for its lumber in the 1850's.  Gold fever had taken over and lumber had taken a back seat to prospecting.

This state park was bustling with people, most of them children from schools in the surrounding area. I'm glad we got here before the weekend rush, when there will be an even bigger crowd.  Coloma will be hosting their annual Gold Rush Live Event, with dozens of people in period costumes.

We heard some unusual music, and it turned out that this man was playing a Hurdy Gurdy!  The fiddle like music sound is produced when the handle is turned, and the tangents (like keys) are pressed down.  None of us had ever seen one of these before.  Later on, he was playing "Yankee Doodle" to a group of school children.

Next stop was a tent that displayed wax candles.  But the really interesting part of this is that the man in the photo next to Jerry plays the part of James Marshall for these festivities.  He was a wealth of information about the gold rush; has been on the Discovery Channel and will be on the History Channel in a few months.

He dug into his small, leather bag and pulled out two nuggets, one of which was found on Mother's Day, 2009, right in this state park.  He contends that only 10-15% of the gold in California has been found so far.  Maybe we should have done some panning for gold while we were here.

There were a lot of tents all set up, with fur traders, blacksmiths, a seamstress, pharmacy, bakers and even a saloon!  All around were campfires with Dutch ovens filled with beans, bread, pies, chicken stew and other delectables.  Take a look at the monster coffee pot these two guys have brewing over the fire.  They either are expecting company or are HEAVY coffee drinkers!

 Jerry tried his luck at a children's game.  There were 5 wooden rings on a string, and you had to get them over the stick.  Guess it would have kept the younger children busy back in those days, and out of your hair.  Those were the "BB" days: before batteries!

He did manage to get one of the rings on the stick!

We passed by this women who had just filled up a large plate of chicken and biscuits for a man in costume period.  Then she topped it off with some good chicken gravy.  The huge spoon is useful when it comes to bending down over the pot.

What do women excel at? Shopping!  Our last stop was the mercantile, and Sandy picked out a new, old time dress.  She decided to pass on it....green is definitely not her color.  Come to think of it, the style doesn't seem to go with her flip flops either.  Wise decision, Sandy!