Heritage Association of El Dorado County

Its discovery at Sutter's Mill in 1848 gripped the souls and the imagination of men the world 'round and brought them to California by the thousands to seek their fortunes by the rushing waters of the South Fork of the American River in Coloma.

The pictures and stories of that time and place are now gathered together in "Historic Places of Interest, Myths, & Legends," the first in a series of books published by The Heritage Association of El Dorado County, which today keeps alive the flame of those exciting days in the birthplace of the legendary California gold rush that forever changed America and ensured a coast-to-coast nation.

In this book you will find the people and places at the heart of Coloma in its heyday, as well as the ghosts and ruins they left behind. You'll read of the determined Monroes, up from slavery to build a new life in the rough and tumble era of California's early days, the brave endeavor of the Wakamatsu Tea and Silk Colony, the haunted Vineyard House whose first owner has never quite departed, the "miner's justice" that eventually gave way to something more formal than a tall tree and a short rope, and the stores, hotels, churches, and politics that, combined, were the lifeblood of this center of the Gold Rush.

Here, too, is James Marshall, destined by fate to change a nation and to be destroyed by his own discovery. You'll learn what happenened to him in the days and years that followed that cold January morning in 1848, and read of the man who lived his life beneath the burden of a legend.

This softcover, 40-page, black-and-white publication contains many rarely-seen photos from private collections and information painstakingly gathered from the journals, diaries, records, memoirs, and memories of the era. Highlights include:

South Fork of the American River at Coloma

The answer to the question "Who REALLY discovered gold?"
Evidence concerning the controversial date of discovery.
A biographical sketch of James Marshall
A guide to the historic sites, buildings, ruins and points of interest.
Rare photographs from private collections
The Mormons' role in the gold discovery
An eyewitness account of the ghosts of Vineyard House
Methods of mining in the Gold Rush
The complete and unabridged text of the famed "Miners' Ten Commandments"