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"content": "\u003cp>This year marks the 170th anniversary of the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, north of Sacramento. The legacy of the Gold Rush is inescapable in Northern California, particularly in Mariposa County. It’s visible in mining museums, at roadside historical sites and in county buildings on Bullion Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What hasn’t persisted in this region is gold mining itself. But one Canadian company wants to change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam Long works on a few thousand acres in the Mariposa County foothills. He doesn’t have to go far to be reminded of the Gold Rush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve recovered old wheelbarrows, old shovels and picks, steel lunchboxes, old ore carts,” he says. “There was even a bit of railway track where they used to push through carts of rock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 170 years, Long is here to reignite this historic industry. He’s the exploration manager for Fremont Gold Mining, a small company prospecting for gold on a hillside overlooking Lake McClure. Inside a warehouse, geologists examine rock samples, and outside, another cuts rock with a saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately the goal is to have a mine and to create good jobs for people throughout the county, throughout the state,” Long says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont Gold’s property lies along the famed Mother Lode Gold Belt, which stretches 120 miles from Mariposa north into El Dorado County. Since the 1840s, it’s been home to hundreds of gold mines that have extracted millions of ounces of the mineral. By some estimates, however, literally tons of gold still lie buried here. Fremont Gold hopes to make those potential resources a reality — but history suggests it’s likely to face an uphill battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11659646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11659646\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"Despite the name, Fremont Gold Mining is an exploration company, completing many years of surveying, sampling and drilling before deciding whether a mine could be economically feasible.\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-1180x817.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-960x665.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-240x166.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-375x260.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-520x360.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Despite the name, Fremont Gold Mining is an exploration company, completing many years of surveying, sampling and drilling before deciding whether a mine could be economically feasible. \u003ccite>(Kerry Klein/Valley Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To be clear, Fremont Gold Mining is not actually mining. It’s exploring. Its job is to determine how much gold its property contains, which involves surveying, sampling and drilling. After exploring a quarter of its property, the company estimates it has already defined close to 900,000 ounces of gold — far more than what was already extracted during 100 years of mining on the property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If so much gold remains in the hills here, exploration companies must be stampeding back to the Mother Lode, right? Nope. Throughout the five counties containing the gold belt, only one gold mine is active, and only intermittently. Other exploration projects have folded, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Clinkenbeard with the California Geological Survey says that’s because the mineral itself is only one component of an economical operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gold production increases and decreases with the economy and with wars,” he says. “A whole lot of things influence what happened [since the Gold Rush].”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘[In the 19th century] you simply mined, and then when you were done you walked away, and you left the land with significant scars and in some cases … public hazards.’\u003ccite>Pat Perez, California Department of Conservation\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Although the price of gold has dropped from its peak in 2012, after inflation it’s still about 2.5 times higher than its value in the 1840s. But gold operations themselves have become much pricier since then, with more advanced technology and higher labor costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vishal Gupta is CEO of California Gold Mining, the Canadian company that owns Fremont Gold. He says another reason gold mining slowed is because this is California, ground zero for environmentalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I won’t say there was a moratorium on any gold mining since the Second World War,” he says, “but it had become increasingly difficult for gold and other commodity-based companies to do any sort of a business within the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pat Perez, with the California Department of Conservation, says that’s for good reason. In the 19th century, long before the California Environmental Quality Act and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, environmental accountability simply wasn’t a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You simply mined, and then when you were done you walked away, and you left the land with significant scars and in some cases environmental challenges and public hazards,” Perez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11659693\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11659693\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Mariposa County resident Les Overstreet is concerned about the socioeconomic and environmental impacts a mine would have, and doesn't want the environmental negligence of the gold rush era.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mariposa County resident Les Overstreet is concerned about the socioeconomic and environmental impacts a mine would have, and doesn’t want the environmental negligence of the Gold Rush era. \u003ccite>(Kerry Klein/Valley Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mariposa County officials, who handle local permitting, are well aware of those scars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Associate planner Steve Engfer points to many practices he hopes remain in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was “hydraulic mining, where they would mine whole mountainsides and all the silt and everything just washes downstream, river amalgamation processes where there were chemicals involved that weren’t as regulated as we would have today,” he says. And there were many others. Engfer believes with diligence, gold mining can be both environmentally responsible and a driver of economic growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County resident Les Overstreet isn’t convinced either is true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He lives a few miles away from the Fremont Gold site and says he plans to push back against any plans to develop a mine. He worries about how it could strain local infrastructure and water resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going to happen environmentally to the wild and scenic Merced River, and then also the lake?” he asks. “It’d be very difficult to keep things like surfactants out the lake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont Gold expects to spend another few years drilling and surveying. A mine would be many years further down the road, after more permitting and opportunity for public comment.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>This year marks the 170th anniversary of the discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill, north of Sacramento. The legacy of the Gold Rush is inescapable in Northern California, particularly in Mariposa County. It’s visible in mining museums, at roadside historical sites and in county buildings on Bullion Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What hasn’t persisted in this region is gold mining itself. But one Canadian company wants to change that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sam Long works on a few thousand acres in the Mariposa County foothills. He doesn’t have to go far to be reminded of the Gold Rush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve recovered old wheelbarrows, old shovels and picks, steel lunchboxes, old ore carts,” he says. “There was even a bit of railway track where they used to push through carts of rock.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After 170 years, Long is here to reignite this historic industry. He’s the exploration manager for Fremont Gold Mining, a small company prospecting for gold on a hillside overlooking Lake McClure. Inside a warehouse, geologists examine rock samples, and outside, another cuts rock with a saw.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ultimately the goal is to have a mine and to create good jobs for people throughout the county, throughout the state,” Long says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont Gold’s property lies along the famed Mother Lode Gold Belt, which stretches 120 miles from Mariposa north into El Dorado County. Since the 1840s, it’s been home to hundreds of gold mines that have extracted millions of ounces of the mineral. By some estimates, however, literally tons of gold still lie buried here. Fremont Gold hopes to make those potential resources a reality — but history suggests it’s likely to face an uphill battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11659646\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11659646\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-800x554.jpg\" alt=\"Despite the name, Fremont Gold Mining is an exploration company, completing many years of surveying, sampling and drilling before deciding whether a mine could be economically feasible.\" width=\"800\" height=\"554\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-800x554.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-160x111.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-1020x706.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-1180x817.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-960x665.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-240x166.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-375x260.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/GoldMiningKlein-520x360.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Despite the name, Fremont Gold Mining is an exploration company, completing many years of surveying, sampling and drilling before deciding whether a mine could be economically feasible. \u003ccite>(Kerry Klein/Valley Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>To be clear, Fremont Gold Mining is not actually mining. It’s exploring. Its job is to determine how much gold its property contains, which involves surveying, sampling and drilling. After exploring a quarter of its property, the company estimates it has already defined close to 900,000 ounces of gold — far more than what was already extracted during 100 years of mining on the property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If so much gold remains in the hills here, exploration companies must be stampeding back to the Mother Lode, right? Nope. Throughout the five counties containing the gold belt, only one gold mine is active, and only intermittently. Other exploration projects have folded, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>John Clinkenbeard with the California Geological Survey says that’s because the mineral itself is only one component of an economical operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gold production increases and decreases with the economy and with wars,” he says. “A whole lot of things influence what happened [since the Gold Rush].”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">‘[In the 19th century] you simply mined, and then when you were done you walked away, and you left the land with significant scars and in some cases … public hazards.’\u003ccite>Pat Perez, California Department of Conservation\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Although the price of gold has dropped from its peak in 2012, after inflation it’s still about 2.5 times higher than its value in the 1840s. But gold operations themselves have become much pricier since then, with more advanced technology and higher labor costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Vishal Gupta is CEO of California Gold Mining, the Canadian company that owns Fremont Gold. He says another reason gold mining slowed is because this is California, ground zero for environmentalism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I won’t say there was a moratorium on any gold mining since the Second World War,” he says, “but it had become increasingly difficult for gold and other commodity-based companies to do any sort of a business within the state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pat Perez, with the California Department of Conservation, says that’s for good reason. In the 19th century, long before the California Environmental Quality Act and the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, environmental accountability simply wasn’t a priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You simply mined, and then when you were done you walked away, and you left the land with significant scars and in some cases environmental challenges and public hazards,” Perez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11659693\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11659693\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Mariposa County resident Les Overstreet is concerned about the socioeconomic and environmental impacts a mine would have, and doesn't want the environmental negligence of the gold rush era.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/MariposaGoldOverstreet-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mariposa County resident Les Overstreet is concerned about the socioeconomic and environmental impacts a mine would have, and doesn’t want the environmental negligence of the Gold Rush era. \u003ccite>(Kerry Klein/Valley Public Radio)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Mariposa County officials, who handle local permitting, are well aware of those scars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Associate planner Steve Engfer points to many practices he hopes remain in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There was “hydraulic mining, where they would mine whole mountainsides and all the silt and everything just washes downstream, river amalgamation processes where there were chemicals involved that weren’t as regulated as we would have today,” he says. And there were many others. Engfer believes with diligence, gold mining can be both environmentally responsible and a driver of economic growth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County resident Les Overstreet isn’t convinced either is true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He lives a few miles away from the Fremont Gold site and says he plans to push back against any plans to develop a mine. He worries about how it could strain local infrastructure and water resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s going to happen environmentally to the wild and scenic Merced River, and then also the lake?” he asks. “It’d be very difficult to keep things like surfactants out the lake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fremont Gold expects to spend another few years drilling and surveying. A mine would be many years further down the road, after more permitting and opportunity for public comment.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "A Latter-Day Miner Still Chasing The Gold Rush Dream",
"title": "A Latter-Day Miner Still Chasing The Gold Rush Dream",
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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]R[/dropcap]ight after we meet, Shannon Poe asks me if I’m a) allergic to poison oak and b) freaked out by ghosts. Because where we’re going, he says, there’s a lot of both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything out here either stings you, sticks you or bites you, but we still love it,\" he says. \"Now let’s go find some gold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe is a professional small-scale gold miner, a rare breed of Californian still chasing the Gold Rush dream. I’m tagging along with him and his buddy Don, a retired potato chip salesman from Modesto, as they head out to explore their new claim at the bottom of a small canyon near the North Fork of the Merced River. And Poe’s feeling good about the prospects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“See that little cut in the hillside? That little gully,” he says, pointing towards a small canyon. “That is where all those nuggets are coming down right onto our claim. That’s where we’re going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We start out at Poe’s property in the tiny town of Greeley Hill, tucked into the foothills just west of Yosemite. Aside from a small garage workshop packed with mining gear, the spread is mostly undeveloped, a random assortment of machines and tools scattered about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe says he bought the land from an old miner about 10 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I found a guy that had 10 acres up here and I offered him basically a baby food jar of gold” Poe had \"pulled out of the ground\" nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He took it, and we own the property now,\" Poe says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe’s a stocky guy in his mid-50s, with the weathered skin and gruff manner of someone who spends a lot of time alone in the woods. He’s intense, gregarious and quirky, with a mischievous grin and flair for the grandiose. One minute he’s recounting some daring mining exploit in Papua New Guinea, the next boasting about his supremacy as a fudge-maker in a yearly Christmastime cookoff with a neighbor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We throw our gear into Poe’s dusty Kawasaki four-wheeler, he fires it up, and we head for the claim on nearby federal land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon we’re roaring down rutted fire roads onto federal land, through a dry landscape of oak and manzanita. The hills above are barren except for the charred skeletons of trees burned in last year's huge, destructive Detwiler Fire. Yosemite's high country rises up to the east.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s beautiful, but far from pristine -- an environment that’s been used hard since gold was discovered on the American River in 1848. The roadside is littered with a strange amalgam of old and new trash: the occasional soiled mattress and dumped garbage alongside huge multi-ton mining machinery and metal pipes that were hauled into the hills more than a century ago and left to rust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11656296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-800x563.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-160x113.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-1020x718.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-1180x831.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-960x676.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-240x169.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-375x264.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mining equipment abandoned in the Mother Lode country near the Merced River west of Yosemite National Park. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Poe kills the engine on the Kawasaki, and we scamper down a trail to the creek below. He drops his pack and starts sniffing around like a bloodhound, eyes fixed to the ground, tapping on rocks, weaving around thick tangles of poison oak and pointing out the sporadic pile of bear and cougar scat.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\">'\u003cstrong>In order to be a good gold miner,\u003c/strong> you really need to understand geology, hydrology, topography and be just dumb enough to come out and work your ass off to try to find it.'\u003c/span>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>He stops at a bend in the creek, zeroing in on what he calls the drop zone, where the current is slow enough for small particles of gold to fall out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Well, I think we’re going to find some places here,” he says. “See what we can come up with.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe digs up a shovelful of rock and sand from the creek bed then washes out the sediment in his ribbed gold pan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing in that,\" he says. \"I've got to get to the bottom of that crack before we're going too find anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]P[/dropcap]lacer mining is a kind of surface-level scavenging. It’s a low-tech, highly repetitive activity, requiring some serious persistence: scooping and filtering rocks and sand from creekbeds over and over again, holding out hope that gold will eventually materialize. Like California's early gold seekers, most modern small-scale miners use little more than a shovel, a pick and simple devices like a gold pan or sluice box.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656374\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-11656374\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1920x2560.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1180x1573.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-960x1280.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-240x320.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-375x500.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-520x693.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poe shows off some small gold fragments in his pan. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The most important skill, Poe says, is knowing what to look for and where to start digging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gold is commonly found hidden inside veins of quartz. And the presence of iron, another dense heavy metal like gold, is also a good indicator of its whereabouts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They say gold rides an iron horse,” he says. “In order to be a good gold miner, you really need to understand geology, hydrology, topography and be just dumb enough to come out and work your ass off to try to find it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then there’s the historical element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to know the history in order to find the really good gold,” he insists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re in the heart of the southern Mother Lode, an area criss-crossed with the gold-bearing quartz veins that helped make this ground zero of the Gold Rush. Hordes of prospectors flocked here to strike it rich. Some got lucky. Most didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People came from all over the world,\" Poe says. \"There were newspaper articles in France saying that you could walk around and pick up five-pound nuggets just laying on the ground.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of thousands traveled from the eastern United States and from around the world. The newcomers displaced the remnant Native American population as well as the Spanish-Mexican settlers who had arrived starting in the mid-18th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Treasure hunters used increasingly more destructive methods to extract gold from streams and hillsides, reaping millions of ounces of the precious metal by 1860.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656373\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-11656373\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old, rusted milling machine once used to pulverize rock. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Poe is confident there’s still plenty of gold here. The old-timers left a lot behind, he says, especially in the unexplored ground right below where they built their cabins. Those are the spots he looking for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that through all of our historical research that this was started to be mined in this particular area in 1851,” he says. “And if they came down and they built a cabin here, there’s a good chance that the ground underneath here has never been touched by human hands before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]P[/dropcap]oe grew up panning in the streams near his Oregon hometown. But gold fever didn’t fully kick in until he came to California about 15 years ago for a corporate security gig: a loss-prevention investigator charged with weeding out employee theft at a retail businesses in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wore a suit and tie and and I got really sick and tired of company cars and human resources and all that kind of crap,\" he says. \"So I decided to take a year off. ... I had some mining claims and we pulled over six figures in a couple of months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe quit his day job, and after doing some research and gleaning some tips from the veteran miners, started working these hills year-round.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He's since become a gold-mining evangelist, touting the pursuit as something of an American birthright, a quintessential exercise in independence and self-determination. He spreads the gospel through a group he formed -- the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanminingrights.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Mining Rights Association\u003c/a> -- which helps other small-scale miners access and defend their claims. His truck is covered in a huge American flag decal along with an image of an eagle, the Constitution and the tagline: “Fighting for your right to mine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It's about freedom man,\" Poe says. \"I get to do what I want. I'm out in God's country every single day. This is where I have lunch. This is my office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s hardly easy money, Poe says. He proudly rattles off the broken ribs and other common injuries he's incurred on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656120\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2906-e1521246813982.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11656120\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2906-e1521157524667-800x701.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"701\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Poe pans for gold in a creek near the Merced River. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In order to find the really good gold you've got to hike a long ways, and most of the time there are no trails or it's a goat trail,” he says. “What we do is dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you are willing to put in the effort, he says, you can actually make something. Gold is still one of the most valuable commodities in the world. An ounce today goes for about $1,300.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we get to do is not just fun. It's a hell of a good way to make a living if you really want to,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year was one of Poe’s best hauls in years. That’s thanks, in part, to California’s recent extreme weather swings: years of terrible drought followed by last winter’s historic rains created the ideal conditions for small-scale miners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe says trees that bark beetles killed during the drought toppled and formed dams in the creeks, holding back huge volumes of water when the rains came. And then they broke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You had walls of water that came down these canyons that were sometimes 30, 35, 40 feet tall and it just literally scoured everything,” he describes. “All of that material that we had to dig six and a half feet down to -- all the trees, all the brush, all the poison oak, the blackberries -- it was all gone. And it was bare bedrock. ... We pulled ounces and ounces of gold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]P[/dropcap]oe has a handful of registered mining claims in the hills here. They’re all on public land, so anyone else can hike and camp on them. But as the claim owner, he has exclusive access to the minerals underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a right Poe guards vigilantly, and one that sometimes puts him at odds with environmentalists who often have different visions for how public land should be used. He's particularly bitter about California’s moratorium on a mining technique called suction dredging that involves vacuuming the bottom of a stream and filtering out the sediment with a motorized pump. The state temporarily banned the method in 2009 out of concern that it could disrupt stream ecosystems, and harm native fish habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe dismisses these concerns. He argues there’s been little scientific evidence to support them, and the ban has caused real financial hardship for serious miners. His income dropped dramatically as a result of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all want to protect our natural resources and protect the environment,” Poe says. “But then again, there's fundamental rights that small miners have when you own a claim. You know I own the gold on this ground here. I should be able to get it. That doesn’t mean I should be able to bring a D11 (bulldozer) in here and rip a mountain away or dump mercury in the water. But that’s not what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656372\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-11656372\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mouth of a lode mine that Poe estimates was dynamited out more than 100 years ago. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After lunch, we hop back on his four-wheeler to check out some of the \"haunted\" old mines Poe's been mentioning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On an embankment about 100 feet above the creek, we come to rickety picnic table at the gaping mouth of a mine Poe estimates was dynamited out in the 1860s or 1870s. The tunnel’s about 12 feet wide, disappearing quickly into darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This actually has tunnels that go on for a couple of miles,” he says. “There are some rooms inside this lode mine that are the size of basketball courts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\">\u003cstrong>'There's fundamental rights\u003c/strong> that small miners have when you own a claim. You know I own the gold on this ground here. I should be able to get it.'\u003c/span>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>You can still see the remnants of the makeshift shelves the miners chiseled into the walls to hold oil lanterns. Cool air blows out from deep within the shaft. Poe says it's always 64 degrees at this spot, no matter what the temperature outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That's why we set up the picnic table,\" he says. \"It's a great place to camp, if you're not afraid of ghosts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Poe, there are tons of lode mines like these sprinkled throughout the hills. Most aren’t marked on any maps and remain hidden under thick layers of brush. He just recently discovered a whole string of them after last summer's fire swept through and cleaned out much of the vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe says there’s still a good amount of gold left in many of these mines - mostly in the waste pile tailings the old timers left behind. But venturing inside them is extremely risky - many are on the verge of collapse, their walls often held up by little more than 150-year-old rotting wood supports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This goes back to that whole thing when we talk about ghosts,” he says. “Imagine how many miners died up here in the 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, and I mean just got crushed and their buddies drug ‘em out and buried them right next to the mine shaft. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if we're 50 feet from dead people right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pauses to let me look around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you sit here and there was absolutely no sound or anything else like that, you would hear people using picks inside here,” he tells me earnestly. “I’ve heard it dozens of times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the creek, Poe wrestles with a large rock on the stream bed, and I help him roll it over. He grabs some debris and pans it. Grinning, he hands me a tiny speck of gold, not much bigger than an apple seed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s some nice gold there,” he says. “How’s that? Not bad. $20 pan. Way cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the big nugget I was envisioning, but there is a small thrill in finding even a tiny piece of the glimmering mineral just lying there on the creek bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That's really $20 worth of gold?\" I ask him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh yeah, easily,” he insists. “Thin stuff, but nice. Here you gotta take that home with you and tell everybody you found gold. You moved the rock.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">R\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>ight after we meet, Shannon Poe asks me if I’m a) allergic to poison oak and b) freaked out by ghosts. Because where we’re going, he says, there’s a lot of both.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything out here either stings you, sticks you or bites you, but we still love it,\" he says. \"Now let’s go find some gold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe is a professional small-scale gold miner, a rare breed of Californian still chasing the Gold Rush dream. I’m tagging along with him and his buddy Don, a retired potato chip salesman from Modesto, as they head out to explore their new claim at the bottom of a small canyon near the North Fork of the Merced River. And Poe’s feeling good about the prospects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“See that little cut in the hillside? That little gully,” he says, pointing towards a small canyon. “That is where all those nuggets are coming down right onto our claim. That’s where we’re going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We start out at Poe’s property in the tiny town of Greeley Hill, tucked into the foothills just west of Yosemite. Aside from a small garage workshop packed with mining gear, the spread is mostly undeveloped, a random assortment of machines and tools scattered about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe says he bought the land from an old miner about 10 years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I found a guy that had 10 acres up here and I offered him basically a baby food jar of gold” Poe had \"pulled out of the ground\" nearby.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He took it, and we own the property now,\" Poe says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe’s a stocky guy in his mid-50s, with the weathered skin and gruff manner of someone who spends a lot of time alone in the woods. He’s intense, gregarious and quirky, with a mischievous grin and flair for the grandiose. One minute he’s recounting some daring mining exploit in Papua New Guinea, the next boasting about his supremacy as a fudge-maker in a yearly Christmastime cookoff with a neighbor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We throw our gear into Poe’s dusty Kawasaki four-wheeler, he fires it up, and we head for the claim on nearby federal land.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Soon we’re roaring down rutted fire roads onto federal land, through a dry landscape of oak and manzanita. The hills above are barren except for the charred skeletons of trees burned in last year's huge, destructive Detwiler Fire. Yosemite's high country rises up to the east.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s beautiful, but far from pristine -- an environment that’s been used hard since gold was discovered on the American River in 1848. The roadside is littered with a strange amalgam of old and new trash: the occasional soiled mattress and dumped garbage alongside huge multi-ton mining machinery and metal pipes that were hauled into the hills more than a century ago and left to rust.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656296\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11656296\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-800x563.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"563\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-800x563.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-160x113.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-1020x718.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-1180x831.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-960x676.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-240x169.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-375x264.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/shannonpoe2-520x366.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mining equipment abandoned in the Mother Lode country near the Merced River west of Yosemite National Park. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Poe kills the engine on the Kawasaki, and we scamper down a trail to the creek below. He drops his pack and starts sniffing around like a bloodhound, eyes fixed to the ground, tapping on rocks, weaving around thick tangles of poison oak and pointing out the sporadic pile of bear and cougar scat.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\">'\u003cstrong>In order to be a good gold miner,\u003c/strong> you really need to understand geology, hydrology, topography and be just dumb enough to come out and work your ass off to try to find it.'\u003c/span>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>He stops at a bend in the creek, zeroing in on what he calls the drop zone, where the current is slow enough for small particles of gold to fall out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Well, I think we’re going to find some places here,” he says. “See what we can come up with.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe digs up a shovelful of rock and sand from the creek bed then washes out the sediment in his ribbed gold pan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nothing in that,\" he says. \"I've got to get to the bottom of that crack before we're going too find anything.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">P\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>lacer mining is a kind of surface-level scavenging. It’s a low-tech, highly repetitive activity, requiring some serious persistence: scooping and filtering rocks and sand from creekbeds over and over again, holding out hope that gold will eventually materialize. Like California's early gold seekers, most modern small-scale miners use little more than a shovel, a pick and simple devices like a gold pan or sluice box.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656374\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-11656374\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1020x1360.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"853\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1920x2560.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-1180x1573.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-960x1280.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-240x320.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-375x500.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2909-520x693.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poe shows off some small gold fragments in his pan. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The most important skill, Poe says, is knowing what to look for and where to start digging.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gold is commonly found hidden inside veins of quartz. And the presence of iron, another dense heavy metal like gold, is also a good indicator of its whereabouts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They say gold rides an iron horse,” he says. “In order to be a good gold miner, you really need to understand geology, hydrology, topography and be just dumb enough to come out and work your ass off to try to find it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then there’s the historical element.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have to know the history in order to find the really good gold,” he insists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re in the heart of the southern Mother Lode, an area criss-crossed with the gold-bearing quartz veins that helped make this ground zero of the Gold Rush. Hordes of prospectors flocked here to strike it rich. Some got lucky. Most didn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People came from all over the world,\" Poe says. \"There were newspaper articles in France saying that you could walk around and pick up five-pound nuggets just laying on the ground.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of thousands traveled from the eastern United States and from around the world. The newcomers displaced the remnant Native American population as well as the Spanish-Mexican settlers who had arrived starting in the mid-18th century.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Treasure hunters used increasingly more destructive methods to extract gold from streams and hillsides, reaping millions of ounces of the precious metal by 1860.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656373\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-11656373\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2925-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An old, rusted milling machine once used to pulverize rock. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But Poe is confident there’s still plenty of gold here. The old-timers left a lot behind, he says, especially in the unexplored ground right below where they built their cabins. Those are the spots he looking for.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that through all of our historical research that this was started to be mined in this particular area in 1851,” he says. “And if they came down and they built a cabin here, there’s a good chance that the ground underneath here has never been touched by human hands before.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">P\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>oe grew up panning in the streams near his Oregon hometown. But gold fever didn’t fully kick in until he came to California about 15 years ago for a corporate security gig: a loss-prevention investigator charged with weeding out employee theft at a retail businesses in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wore a suit and tie and and I got really sick and tired of company cars and human resources and all that kind of crap,\" he says. \"So I decided to take a year off. ... I had some mining claims and we pulled over six figures in a couple of months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe quit his day job, and after doing some research and gleaning some tips from the veteran miners, started working these hills year-round.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He's since become a gold-mining evangelist, touting the pursuit as something of an American birthright, a quintessential exercise in independence and self-determination. He spreads the gospel through a group he formed -- the \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanminingrights.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Mining Rights Association\u003c/a> -- which helps other small-scale miners access and defend their claims. His truck is covered in a huge American flag decal along with an image of an eagle, the Constitution and the tagline: “Fighting for your right to mine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It's about freedom man,\" Poe says. \"I get to do what I want. I'm out in God's country every single day. This is where I have lunch. This is my office.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But it’s hardly easy money, Poe says. He proudly rattles off the broken ribs and other common injuries he's incurred on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656120\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2906-e1521246813982.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11656120\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2906-e1521157524667-800x701.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"701\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shannon Poe pans for gold in a creek near the Merced River. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“In order to find the really good gold you've got to hike a long ways, and most of the time there are no trails or it's a goat trail,” he says. “What we do is dangerous.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if you are willing to put in the effort, he says, you can actually make something. Gold is still one of the most valuable commodities in the world. An ounce today goes for about $1,300.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we get to do is not just fun. It's a hell of a good way to make a living if you really want to,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year was one of Poe’s best hauls in years. That’s thanks, in part, to California’s recent extreme weather swings: years of terrible drought followed by last winter’s historic rains created the ideal conditions for small-scale miners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe says trees that bark beetles killed during the drought toppled and formed dams in the creeks, holding back huge volumes of water when the rains came. And then they broke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You had walls of water that came down these canyons that were sometimes 30, 35, 40 feet tall and it just literally scoured everything,” he describes. “All of that material that we had to dig six and a half feet down to -- all the trees, all the brush, all the poison oak, the blackberries -- it was all gone. And it was bare bedrock. ... We pulled ounces and ounces of gold.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">P\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>oe has a handful of registered mining claims in the hills here. They’re all on public land, so anyone else can hike and camp on them. But as the claim owner, he has exclusive access to the minerals underground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a right Poe guards vigilantly, and one that sometimes puts him at odds with environmentalists who often have different visions for how public land should be used. He's particularly bitter about California’s moratorium on a mining technique called suction dredging that involves vacuuming the bottom of a stream and filtering out the sediment with a motorized pump. The state temporarily banned the method in 2009 out of concern that it could disrupt stream ecosystems, and harm native fish habitat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe dismisses these concerns. He argues there’s been little scientific evidence to support them, and the ban has caused real financial hardship for serious miners. His income dropped dramatically as a result of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all want to protect our natural resources and protect the environment,” Poe says. “But then again, there's fundamental rights that small miners have when you own a claim. You know I own the gold on this ground here. I should be able to get it. That doesn’t mean I should be able to bring a D11 (bulldozer) in here and rip a mountain away or dump mercury in the water. But that’s not what we do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11656372\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-large wp-image-11656372\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1020x765.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/IMG_2920-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The mouth of a lode mine that Poe estimates was dynamited out more than 100 years ago. \u003ccite>(Matthew Green/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>After lunch, we hop back on his four-wheeler to check out some of the \"haunted\" old mines Poe's been mentioning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On an embankment about 100 feet above the creek, we come to rickety picnic table at the gaping mouth of a mine Poe estimates was dynamited out in the 1860s or 1870s. The tunnel’s about 12 feet wide, disappearing quickly into darkness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This actually has tunnels that go on for a couple of miles,” he says. “There are some rooms inside this lode mine that are the size of basketball courts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">\u003cspan style=\"font-size: x-large;\">\u003cstrong>'There's fundamental rights\u003c/strong> that small miners have when you own a claim. You know I own the gold on this ground here. I should be able to get it.'\u003c/span>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>You can still see the remnants of the makeshift shelves the miners chiseled into the walls to hold oil lanterns. Cool air blows out from deep within the shaft. Poe says it's always 64 degrees at this spot, no matter what the temperature outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That's why we set up the picnic table,\" he says. \"It's a great place to camp, if you're not afraid of ghosts.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Poe, there are tons of lode mines like these sprinkled throughout the hills. Most aren’t marked on any maps and remain hidden under thick layers of brush. He just recently discovered a whole string of them after last summer's fire swept through and cleaned out much of the vegetation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Poe says there’s still a good amount of gold left in many of these mines - mostly in the waste pile tailings the old timers left behind. But venturing inside them is extremely risky - many are on the verge of collapse, their walls often held up by little more than 150-year-old rotting wood supports.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This goes back to that whole thing when we talk about ghosts,” he says. “Imagine how many miners died up here in the 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, and I mean just got crushed and their buddies drug ‘em out and buried them right next to the mine shaft. I mean I wouldn't be surprised if we're 50 feet from dead people right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He pauses to let me look around.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you sit here and there was absolutely no sound or anything else like that, you would hear people using picks inside here,” he tells me earnestly. “I’ve heard it dozens of times.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Back at the creek, Poe wrestles with a large rock on the stream bed, and I help him roll it over. He grabs some debris and pans it. Grinning, he hands me a tiny speck of gold, not much bigger than an apple seed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s some nice gold there,” he says. “How’s that? Not bad. $20 pan. Way cool.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not the big nugget I was envisioning, but there is a small thrill in finding even a tiny piece of the glimmering mineral just lying there on the creek bed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"That's really $20 worth of gold?\" I ask him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Oh yeah, easily,” he insists. “Thin stuff, but nice. Here you gotta take that home with you and tell everybody you found gold. You moved the rock.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "how-californias-gold-rush-forged-the-path-for-todays-tech-innovators",
"title": "How California’s Gold Rush Forged the Path for Today's Tech Innovators",
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"headTitle": "How California’s Gold Rush Forged the Path for Today’s Tech Innovators | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>A sawmill worker discovers gold along the American River near Sacramento in 1848. Soon more than 300,000 people rush to California, eager to take big risks in the hopes of getting rich quick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This founding myth enshrines risk-taking as a key part of the California Dream. Most miners did not find great wealth. But the Gold Rush shaped California’s early economy, putting it on a path to becoming the world’s sixth largest today. And that acceptance of failure continues to attract the kind of entrepreneurs who keep the state’s economy growing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea that failure could be almost a prerequisite for success — you had to be willing to take those risks — sank roots very early in the California consciousness,” says \u003ca href=\"http://www.hwbrands.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">H.W. Brands\u003c/a>, a University of Texas at Austin historian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until then, Americans tended to see success and failure as a sign of character, according to Brands. “If one failed in the East, one had to look inside to ask, ‘What’s wrong with me?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those early California miners looked at success and failure differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One prospector reached into a stream and pulled up a precious gold nugget. Another reached into the same stream and pulled up a worthless rock. The one who failed to get rich saw the other’s success as little more than luck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I think that attitude toward risk is probably more distinctive in California than just about anywhere else in the United States,” says Brands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsAhVTShKbA&w=560&h=315]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He argues this Gold Rush mentality runs through California’s history. It helps establish an entertainment industry in Hollywood that today contributes $90 billion in annual economic output to Los Angeles County, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.otis.edu/otis-report-creative-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2017 Otis Report on the Creative Economy.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An appetite for risk also fueled the growth of Silicon Valley, turning California transplants like Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Elon Musk — CEO of SpaceX and Tesla — into billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to be willing to crash and burn,” the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs once said in an interview with the Silicon Valley Historical Association. “If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTf0LmDqKI&w=560&h=315]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, California has seen plenty of high-profile failures. Prominent companies like San Francisco’s Pets.com flamed out quickly when the dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s. Silicon Valley \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/opub/regional_reports/200908_silicon_valley_high_tech.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost more than 85,000 high tech jobs\u003c/a> in the years that followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for every California success story — think Uber, YouTube or Twitter — there’s a competitor that failed to keep up, like Sidecar, Vidme or App.net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That graveyard of failure has not deterred a new crop of startup founders from choosing to take their risks in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One recently settled into a former rave warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. The blacklight paint and dungeon doors don’t exactly scream “office environment,” but Joe Fernandez says it’s the perfect home for his startup, \u003ca href=\"https://www.joymode.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joymode\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was actually the only place we looked at,” Fernandez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joymode rents fun stuff to people who would rather not own it. The company’s warehouse shelves are stocked with everything from camping gear to movie projectors to giant Jenga blocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11655101\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11655101\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Fernandez stands next to a giant Connect Four set in his company’s downtown Los Angeles warehouse. The Joymode co-founder says, among his customers, “Pretty much anything you can get giant versions of is really popular.” Feb. 5, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joe Fernandez stands next to a giant Connect Four set in his company’s downtown Los Angeles warehouse. The Joymode co-founder says, among his customers, “Pretty much anything you can get giant versions of is really popular.” Feb. 5, 2018. \u003ccite>(DAVID WAGNER/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joymode, which has about 40 employees, recently raised $14.4 million in a funding round led by South Africa-based tech investor Naspers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernandez grew up in Las Vegas and went to college in Miami. But he says he always wanted to get to California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to build big things. And it was almost inconceivable to me that you could do that anywhere but California,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernandez originally tried to grow his previous company — the social media influence tracking app Klout — in New York. He says he felt more pressure there to turn a profit fast, to climb to the top and never fall down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He moved Klout to San Francisco in 2009, primarily to be closer to social media giants Twitter and Facebook. But he says California also just felt like a better place to take a risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In California it was like, anybody could show up, make something crazy, build something important and change the world,” Fernandez. “And if they fail 10 times doing that, that’s OK too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, Lithium Technologies bought Klout for $200 million. Fernandez decided San Francisco wasn’t the right fit for his next company, but he wanted to stay in California. So he launched Joymode in Los Angeles in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re doing with Joymode is, we’re trying to challenge the notion of ownership,” Fernandez said. “That’s a really audacious, crazy, likely-to-fail idea. And I think this is the only place you could do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The numbers show that Fernandez’s risk-taking is common here. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kauffman.org/kauffman-index/rankings?report=startup-activity&indicator=se-rate&type=larger\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kauffman Index\u003c/a>, one long-running measure of American entrepreneurship, puts California first among larger states — ahead of Texas and Florida — when it comes to the percentage of residents starting companies in a given month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California companies in various industries like software, biotech and entertainment raised nearly $35 billion in venture capital in 2017. That’s by far the largest dollar amount of any state. The Milken Institute’s Kevin Klowden also notes that California \u003ca href=\"http://assets1c.milkeninstitute.org/assets/Publication/ResearchReport/PDF/State-Technology-and-Science-Index-2016.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leads the country\u003c/a> when venture capital investment is broken down as a percent of a state’s overall GDP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are more chances being taken per capita in California in terms of the kinds of investments being done than any other state,” Klowden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11655098\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-800x506.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-800x506.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-160x101.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-1020x645.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-1180x747.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-960x608.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-240x152.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-375x237.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-520x329.png 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart.png 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No state has a higher rate of new companies starting up and older companies failing, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www2.itif.org/2017-state-new-economy-index.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a recent report\u003c/a> from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2014 and 2015 shows that about 22.3 percent of companies in California are either newly starting up or going out of business each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That many companies going out of business may not sound great for job creation. But ITIF president Rob Atkinson says this “business churn” is actually good for a state’s economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at all 50 states, the states that were losing businesses actually had a higher rate of job growth,” Atkinson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because newer, more innovative companies are stepping in to take their place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/business-dynamics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Census finds\u003c/a> that while companies less than 6 years old only account for 11 percent of overall national employment, they’re responsible for 27 percent of job creation. Meanwhile, companies more than 25 years old account for 62 percent of employment but just 48 percent of new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joymode CEO Joe Fernandez says California is not perfect. Taxes are high. So is the cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he says, “It’s hard to imagine leaving California. Yes, there’s more people. Yes, it’s more competitive. But there’s also more energy, and there’s also more opportunity. And to me that feels well worth the benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/californiadream/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The California Dream series\u003c/a> is a statewide media collaboration of CALmatters, KPBS, KPCC, KQED and Capital Public Radio with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the James Irvine Foundation and the College Futures Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11660142\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-800x219.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"219\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-800x219.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-160x44.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-1020x280.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-1180x324.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-960x263.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-240x66.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-375x103.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner-520x143.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/04/CADreamBanner.jpg 1867w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "California’s early history redefined how Americans saw failure and success. Today, the state’s economy continues to benefit from entrepreneurs eager to take big chances. ",
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"title": "How California’s Gold Rush Forged the Path for Today's Tech Innovators | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A sawmill worker discovers gold along the American River near Sacramento in 1848. Soon more than 300,000 people rush to California, eager to take big risks in the hopes of getting rich quick.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This founding myth enshrines risk-taking as a key part of the California Dream. Most miners did not find great wealth. But the Gold Rush shaped California’s early economy, putting it on a path to becoming the world’s sixth largest today. And that acceptance of failure continues to attract the kind of entrepreneurs who keep the state’s economy growing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The idea that failure could be almost a prerequisite for success — you had to be willing to take those risks — sank roots very early in the California consciousness,” says \u003ca href=\"http://www.hwbrands.com/cgi-sys/suspendedpage.cgi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">H.W. Brands\u003c/a>, a University of Texas at Austin historian.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Until then, Americans tended to see success and failure as a sign of character, according to Brands. “If one failed in the East, one had to look inside to ask, ‘What’s wrong with me?’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those early California miners looked at success and failure differently.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One prospector reached into a stream and pulled up a precious gold nugget. Another reached into the same stream and pulled up a worthless rock. The one who failed to get rich saw the other’s success as little more than luck.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And I think that attitude toward risk is probably more distinctive in California than just about anywhere else in the United States,” says Brands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/UsAhVTShKbA'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/UsAhVTShKbA'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He argues this Gold Rush mentality runs through California’s history. It helps establish an entertainment industry in Hollywood that today contributes $90 billion in annual economic output to Los Angeles County, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://www.otis.edu/otis-report-creative-economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2017 Otis Report on the Creative Economy.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An appetite for risk also fueled the growth of Silicon Valley, turning California transplants like Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and Elon Musk — CEO of SpaceX and Tesla — into billionaires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to be willing to crash and burn,” the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs once said in an interview with the Silicon Valley Historical Association. “If you’re afraid of failing, you won’t get very far.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/zkTf0LmDqKI'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/zkTf0LmDqKI'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Indeed, California has seen plenty of high-profile failures. Prominent companies like San Francisco’s Pets.com flamed out quickly when the dotcom bubble burst in the early 2000s. Silicon Valley \u003ca href=\"https://www.bls.gov/opub/regional_reports/200908_silicon_valley_high_tech.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lost more than 85,000 high tech jobs\u003c/a> in the years that followed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And for every California success story — think Uber, YouTube or Twitter — there’s a competitor that failed to keep up, like Sidecar, Vidme or App.net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That graveyard of failure has not deterred a new crop of startup founders from choosing to take their risks in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One recently settled into a former rave warehouse in downtown Los Angeles. The blacklight paint and dungeon doors don’t exactly scream “office environment,” but Joe Fernandez says it’s the perfect home for his startup, \u003ca href=\"https://www.joymode.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joymode\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was actually the only place we looked at,” Fernandez says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joymode rents fun stuff to people who would rather not own it. The company’s warehouse shelves are stocked with everything from camping gear to movie projectors to giant Jenga blocks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11655101\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11655101\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Joe Fernandez stands next to a giant Connect Four set in his company’s downtown Los Angeles warehouse. The Joymode co-founder says, among his customers, “Pretty much anything you can get giant versions of is really popular.” Feb. 5, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-1920x1440.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Joymode-photo-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joe Fernandez stands next to a giant Connect Four set in his company’s downtown Los Angeles warehouse. The Joymode co-founder says, among his customers, “Pretty much anything you can get giant versions of is really popular.” Feb. 5, 2018. \u003ccite>(DAVID WAGNER/KPCC)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Joymode, which has about 40 employees, recently raised $14.4 million in a funding round led by South Africa-based tech investor Naspers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernandez grew up in Las Vegas and went to college in Miami. But he says he always wanted to get to California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to build big things. And it was almost inconceivable to me that you could do that anywhere but California,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fernandez originally tried to grow his previous company — the social media influence tracking app Klout — in New York. He says he felt more pressure there to turn a profit fast, to climb to the top and never fall down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He moved Klout to San Francisco in 2009, primarily to be closer to social media giants Twitter and Facebook. But he says California also just felt like a better place to take a risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In California it was like, anybody could show up, make something crazy, build something important and change the world,” Fernandez. “And if they fail 10 times doing that, that’s OK too.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, Lithium Technologies bought Klout for $200 million. Fernandez decided San Francisco wasn’t the right fit for his next company, but he wanted to stay in California. So he launched Joymode in Los Angeles in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What we’re doing with Joymode is, we’re trying to challenge the notion of ownership,” Fernandez said. “That’s a really audacious, crazy, likely-to-fail idea. And I think this is the only place you could do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The numbers show that Fernandez’s risk-taking is common here. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kauffman.org/kauffman-index/rankings?report=startup-activity&indicator=se-rate&type=larger\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kauffman Index\u003c/a>, one long-running measure of American entrepreneurship, puts California first among larger states — ahead of Texas and Florida — when it comes to the percentage of residents starting companies in a given month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California companies in various industries like software, biotech and entertainment raised nearly $35 billion in venture capital in 2017. That’s by far the largest dollar amount of any state. The Milken Institute’s Kevin Klowden also notes that California \u003ca href=\"http://assets1c.milkeninstitute.org/assets/Publication/ResearchReport/PDF/State-Technology-and-Science-Index-2016.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">leads the country\u003c/a> when venture capital investment is broken down as a percent of a state’s overall GDP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There are more chances being taken per capita in California in terms of the kinds of investments being done than any other state,” Klowden said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11655098\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-800x506.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"506\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-800x506.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-160x101.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-1020x645.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-1180x747.png 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-960x608.png 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-240x152.png 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-375x237.png 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart-520x329.png 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/03/Top-economies-chart.png 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No state has a higher rate of new companies starting up and older companies failing, according to \u003ca href=\"http://www2.itif.org/2017-state-new-economy-index.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a recent report\u003c/a> from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2014 and 2015 shows that about 22.3 percent of companies in California are either newly starting up or going out of business each year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That many companies going out of business may not sound great for job creation. But ITIF president Rob Atkinson says this “business churn” is actually good for a state’s economy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at all 50 states, the states that were losing businesses actually had a higher rate of job growth,” Atkinson says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s because newer, more innovative companies are stepping in to take their place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2017/business-dynamics.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">U.S. Census finds\u003c/a> that while companies less than 6 years old only account for 11 percent of overall national employment, they’re responsible for 27 percent of job creation. Meanwhile, companies more than 25 years old account for 62 percent of employment but just 48 percent of new jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joymode CEO Joe Fernandez says California is not perfect. Taxes are high. So is the cost of living.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, he says, “It’s hard to imagine leaving California. Yes, there’s more people. Yes, it’s more competitive. But there’s also more energy, and there’s also more opportunity. And to me that feels well worth the benefits.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/series/californiadream/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The California Dream series\u003c/a> is a statewide media collaboration of CALmatters, KPBS, KPCC, KQED and Capital Public Radio with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the James Irvine Foundation and the College Futures Foundation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "America's Emperor, San Francisco's Treasure: Who Was Emperor Norton?",
"headTitle": "America’s Emperor, San Francisco’s Treasure: Who Was Emperor Norton? | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>If you’ve taken a walking tour of San Francisco, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name Emperor Norton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was how Bay Curious listener and Oakland resident Jennifer Jacobs first learned about the beloved San Francisco eccentric after she moved to the Bay Area from Michigan in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just like, ‘Wow, this is a whole other world. They have their own emperor here in San Francisco,’ ” Jennifer says.\u003cbr>\n[baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003cbr>\nEver since, Jennifer has wanted to know more. Who was Emperor Norton? How was he seen in his own time? And why is he still remembered and revered today, almost 140 years after his death?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not much is known about Emperor Norton’s early life, according to John Lumea, president of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.emperorsbridge.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Emperor’s Bridge Campaign\u003c/a>, which focuses on researching Norton’s life and sharing it with the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what we do know.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The rise and fall of a Gold Rush businessman\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Emperor Norton was born Joshua Abraham Norton in 1818 to Jewish parents in present-day London. At age 2, he moved with his parents to South Africa, where his dad set up a successful ship supplies business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 21, with help from his father, Norton opened his own ship supplies business, but it went bankrupt within 18 months. Things went from bad to worse over the next few years, and by 1848, both of Norton’s parents and two of his siblings had died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following year, Norton left South Africa, and after a short stop in South America, landed in San Francisco in late 1849.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton arrived in a lawless, Wild West version of San Francisco. The Gold Rush transformed a small town of a few hundred people to a bustling metropolis of 25,000 within a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was also a town of constant rebirth. People were making and losing their fortunes in the blink of an eye. The city was almost \u003ca href=\"https://thebolditalic.com/5-times-san-francisco-was-almost-destroyed-the-bold-italic-san-francisco-697dcf1177b8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">destroyed by fires\u003c/a> seven times between 1849 and 1851.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton, who had already built and lost a business in South Africa, fit right into this boom-and-bust town. He established himself as a successful businessman selling commodities like rice and flour. He invested in real estate, erecting buildings on three of the four corners of Sansome and Jackson streets — one of the most popular intersections in town — plus plots in North Beach and a lucrative waterfront property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10981646\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 900px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10981646\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"723\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay.jpg 900w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay-400x321.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay-800x643.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco waterfront in 1851. (San Francisco Maritime Museum National Historical Park)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He made a great amount of money and was very influential,” Lumea says of Norton’s early days in the city. “He was in with all the right people, attended all the right clubs and all the right restaurants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riding high, Norton planned his next business move. With a rice famine underway in China, Norton was presented with a chance to corner the rice market by buying up a shipload of Peruvian rice. Expecting rice prices to soar, Norton went in with a couple of business partners in 1852 and staked $25,000 on the venture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then it all went wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Within a [few] days, ship after ship after ship of rice comes in, and so the bottom falls out of the market,” Lumea says. “This idea, which at one point seemed so great, now isn’t so great.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal, and the subsequent years of legal wrangling, ruined Norton. By the time Norton was 38, in 1856, he was bankrupt for the second time.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>An imperial transformation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>After his financial ruin, Norton went quiet for a few years. He moved out of his prestigious home, and fell out of favor with some members of the social elite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He re-emerged on Sept. 17, 1859, on the pages on the San Francisco Evening Bulletin newspaper. Earlier in the day, he had walked into the paper’s offices and presented the editor with a short notice he asked to have published in that day’s edition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States,” the notice began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652849\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 411px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11652849 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut.jpg\" alt=\"The proclamation in the September 17, 1859, edition of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin that transformed Joshua Abraham Norton into Emperor Norton.\" width=\"411\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut.jpg 411w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut-160x187.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut-240x281.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut-375x439.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proclamation in the September 17, 1859, edition of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin that transformed Joshua Abraham Norton into Emperor Norton. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Public Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At age 41, three years after losing everything, Norton christened himself Emperor of the United States. When France’s Napoleon III invaded Mexico in 1861, Norton added “Protector of Mexico” to his imperial title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This astonishing transformation has always fascinated Bay Curious listener Jacobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I majored in psychology, so I couldn’t help thinking he must have had some kind of a nervous breakdown or something happened in those few years,” she says. “I was thinking schizophrenia or bipolar disorder maybe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no sure answers about Norton’s mental health before or after his imperial declaration, but some people think his money troubles led him into a deep depression and that becoming Emperor Norton was a coping mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652931\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11652931\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike.jpg\" alt=\"A snarky caption is scrawled below this image of Norton on a bicycle.\" width=\"400\" height=\"552\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike.jpg 522w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-160x221.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-240x331.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-375x517.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-520x717.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A snarky caption is scrawled below this image of Norton on a bicycle. \u003ccite>(California State Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s a sense in which the persona of the Emperor actually saved him in a way,” Lumea says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later in his declaration, Norton called on representatives of all the states to assemble the following February to establish his empire and “to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union to ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsurprisingly, nobody showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that didn’t stop Norton. He had declared himself emperor. And he was going to act like it for the next 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Norton continued issuing imperial proclamations on items big, like calling for the end of presidential elections, and small, like chastising the skating rink operator who wouldn’t let him use a pair of skates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he was Emperor of the United States, his proclamations were often very local in nature. He didn’t hesitate to call out San Francisco’s police and elected officials. Perhaps his most well-known proclamations were the ones calling for the construction of a bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco through Yerba Buena Island — what we recognize today as the Bay Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[gallery type=\"rectangular\" ids=\"11652859,11652858,11652857,11652856\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton also adopted an imperial wardrobe. He started with either a blue or gray military jacket, switching between the two early in his “reign” to maintain his neutrality in the ongoing Civil War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the war, he settled on a blue officer’s jacket furnished with large, fringed, golden shoulder epaulets. His balding head was almost always covered with a hat, most often a small military kepi or a garish beaver fur top hat with a cascade of colorful feathers pinned to the front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being emperor did not pay very well. Norton spent most of his reign subsisting off the generosity of the public and the support of a few wealthy friends from his high society days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1870, with the newly-completed transcontinental railroad bringing more tourists to San Francisco from across the country, Norton helped fill his coffers by selling “imperial bonds” for 50 cents each.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652847\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11652847\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-800x1212.jpg\" alt=\"Emperor Norton in his traditional imperial outfit around 1875.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-800x1212.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-160x242.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-240x364.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-375x568.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-520x788.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I.jpg 866w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emperor Norton in his traditional imperial outfit around 1875. \u003ccite>(Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He didn’t need much money. His lodgings on Commercial Street cost him only 50 cents a night, and he spent most of his day reading the newspapers, talking with other forty-niners in Portsmouth Square and writing proclamations at the Mechanics’ Institute Library on Post Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For lunch, Norton could go to almost any tavern in town and for the price of a drink, no more than 25 cents, get access to a full lunch spread of salmon, roast beef, tomatoes and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He really makes himself part of the life of the city,” Lumea says. “He goes to political meetings. He goes to the theater. He goes to the saloons. He makes himself a public presence. He’s in the streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s newspapers saw Norton as a bit of a buffoon and regularly published fake proclamations with his name attached. So, in 1870, he started publishing his genuine proclamations almost exclusively in an African-American-owned and operated abolitionist weekly, The Pacific Appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[gallery type=\"slideshow\" ids=\"11652840,11652839,11652838,11652837,11652836,11652835,11652834,11652833,11652832,11652831,11652830,11652829,11652828,11652827,11652826,11652825,11652824\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Norton’s proclamations, especially those in The Pacific Appeal, were surprisingly progressive for his time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s talking about how African-Americans should have the right to attend public schools, ride public streetcars. How the Chinese should be able to have their testimony heard in court,” Lumea says. Norton also argued for the rights of Native Americans and against political corruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So he’s really making himself into an early champion of the values of fairness and tolerance and the common good that really later become a great symbol of San Francisco,” Lumea says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Le roi est mort’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jan. 8, 1880, was a cold and rainy night in San Francisco. Norton left his room on Commercial Street to walk the few short blocks to a debate at the Academy of Natural Sciences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On his way there, he collapsed on the street and died of a suspected stroke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652860\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11652860\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"Emperor Norton's grave, which was moved from the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco to Colma.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-1180x1573.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-960x1280.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-240x320.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-375x500.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-520x693.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emperor Norton’s grave, which was moved from the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco to Colma. \u003ccite>(Joshua Neff/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ten thousand people came to Norton’s funeral. The headline of his obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle read, “Le roi est mort.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton died with just a few dollars in his pockets and would have been sent to a pauper’s grave, if not for the intercession of his old friends in business, who paid for a fancy rosewood coffin adorned with silver and a burial plot in the Masonic Cemetery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though often in the official world of journalism or politics he was somewhat seen as a figure of ridicule,” Lumea says, “to the people in the streets who saw him on a day-to-day basis for 20 years, he was known as a very kind person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Norton at 200\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Almost 140 years after his death, Norton continues to captivate San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lumea started the Emperor’s Bridge Campaign in 2013 to try to get the Bay Bridge renamed for Emperor Norton, in recognition of him publishing the idea decades before it came to be. The Board of Supervisors designated February 2018 as \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/EmperorsBridge/status/960568176013541376\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“Emperor Norton Month,”\u003c/a> and City Hall and Coit Tower were lit up gold on Feb. 4, 2018, in honor of Norton’s 200th birthday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody really encompasses the spirit of San Francisco better than Emperor Norton,” says Joseph Amster, one of two men who walk the streets of San Francisco as official Emperor Norton impersonators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amster and his fellow Norton, Rick Saber, both showed up in full imperial regalia at Norton’s 200th birthday party in February at one of Norton’s favorite spots, the Mechanics’ Institute Library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652852\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11652852\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"Jennifer Jacobs stands with Rick Saber (L) and Joseph Amster (R), two official Emperor Norton impersonators at Emperor Norton's 200th birthday party at the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco on Feb. 7, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-1180x782.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-960x636.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-375x248.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jennifer Jacobs stands with Rick Saber (L) and Joseph Amster (R), two official Emperor Norton impersonators, at Emperor Norton’s 200th birthday party at the Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Feb. 7, 2018. \u003ccite>(Ryan Levi/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Guests came dressed in their 19th century finest, from Wild West leather chaps to Victorian dresses, to honor Norton. Kazuo Sayama came all the way from Japan to attend the party. He first learned about Norton decades ago while he was doing research for a book about San Francisco, and he was so enthralled by his story that he dedicated an entire book to just Norton and is working on a second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have so many presidents,” Sayama says of the United States, “but no emperor in history. But people admire him as emperor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many at the party and across the city, Norton represents the best of the Bay Area: an advocate of fairness and tolerance, a kind person and a bit of an oddball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s kind of a symbol of why this isn’t New York or why this isn’t Florida or why this isn’t Seattle,” says Tito Young, who came to the party dressed as a Wild West cowboy in brown leather chaps. “I think there’s something wonderfully eccentric about this gentleman, which I can very much identify with.”\u003cbr>\n[baycuriousbug]\u003cbr>\n“I’m glad there’s a strong personality in my family tree,” says Julie Driver, Norton’s great-great-great-great-niece. She lives in Ontario, Canada, and learned about her famous relative from her dad. “He found a way to make a name for himself after he lost his fortune, and I think that’s something that we should learn from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Jennifer Jacobs was blown away by the sustained love and attention the city continues to give Emperor Norton, and she can’t imagine it happening in any other city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco is a quirky town in a lot of ways,” she says, “and he kind of embodies that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Almost 140 years after his death, the beloved eccentric is still celebrated and revered in San Francisco. So who was he?",
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"headline": "America's Emperor, San Francisco's Treasure: Who Was Emperor Norton?",
"datePublished": "2018-03-01T03:00:34-08:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you’ve taken a walking tour of San Francisco, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the name Emperor Norton.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was how Bay Curious listener and Oakland resident Jennifer Jacobs first learned about the beloved San Francisco eccentric after she moved to the Bay Area from Michigan in 1999.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I was just like, ‘Wow, this is a whole other world. They have their own emperor here in San Francisco,’ ” Jennifer says.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cbr>\nEver since, Jennifer has wanted to know more. Who was Emperor Norton? How was he seen in his own time? And why is he still remembered and revered today, almost 140 years after his death?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Not much is known about Emperor Norton’s early life, according to John Lumea, president of the \u003ca href=\"http://www.emperorsbridge.org/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Emperor’s Bridge Campaign\u003c/a>, which focuses on researching Norton’s life and sharing it with the public.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s what we do know.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The rise and fall of a Gold Rush businessman\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Emperor Norton was born Joshua Abraham Norton in 1818 to Jewish parents in present-day London. At age 2, he moved with his parents to South Africa, where his dad set up a successful ship supplies business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 21, with help from his father, Norton opened his own ship supplies business, but it went bankrupt within 18 months. Things went from bad to worse over the next few years, and by 1848, both of Norton’s parents and two of his siblings had died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The following year, Norton left South Africa, and after a short stop in South America, landed in San Francisco in late 1849.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton arrived in a lawless, Wild West version of San Francisco. The Gold Rush transformed a small town of a few hundred people to a bustling metropolis of 25,000 within a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It was also a town of constant rebirth. People were making and losing their fortunes in the blink of an eye. The city was almost \u003ca href=\"https://thebolditalic.com/5-times-san-francisco-was-almost-destroyed-the-bold-italic-san-francisco-697dcf1177b8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">destroyed by fires\u003c/a> seven times between 1849 and 1851.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton, who had already built and lost a business in South Africa, fit right into this boom-and-bust town. He established himself as a successful businessman selling commodities like rice and flour. He invested in real estate, erecting buildings on three of the four corners of Sansome and Jackson streets — one of the most popular intersections in town — plus plots in North Beach and a lucrative waterfront property.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10981646\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 900px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10981646\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"723\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay.jpg 900w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay-400x321.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/06/Ship-in-the-Bay-800x643.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The San Francisco waterfront in 1851. (San Francisco Maritime Museum National Historical Park)\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“He made a great amount of money and was very influential,” Lumea says of Norton’s early days in the city. “He was in with all the right people, attended all the right clubs and all the right restaurants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Riding high, Norton planned his next business move. With a rice famine underway in China, Norton was presented with a chance to corner the rice market by buying up a shipload of Peruvian rice. Expecting rice prices to soar, Norton went in with a couple of business partners in 1852 and staked $25,000 on the venture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then it all went wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Within a [few] days, ship after ship after ship of rice comes in, and so the bottom falls out of the market,” Lumea says. “This idea, which at one point seemed so great, now isn’t so great.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal, and the subsequent years of legal wrangling, ruined Norton. By the time Norton was 38, in 1856, he was bankrupt for the second time.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>An imperial transformation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>After his financial ruin, Norton went quiet for a few years. He moved out of his prestigious home, and fell out of favor with some members of the social elite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He re-emerged on Sept. 17, 1859, on the pages on the San Francisco Evening Bulletin newspaper. Earlier in the day, he had walked into the paper’s offices and presented the editor with a short notice he asked to have published in that day’s edition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At the peremptory request of a large majority of the citizens of these United States, I, Joshua Norton, formerly of Algoa Bay, Cape of Good Hope, and now for the last nine years and ten months past of San Francisco, California, declare and proclaim myself Emperor of these United States,” the notice began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652849\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 411px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11652849 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut.jpg\" alt=\"The proclamation in the September 17, 1859, edition of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin that transformed Joshua Abraham Norton into Emperor Norton.\" width=\"411\" height=\"481\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut.jpg 411w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut-160x187.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut-240x281.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29665_First-Norton-Proclamation-qut-375x439.jpg 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 411px) 100vw, 411px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The proclamation in the September 17, 1859, edition of the San Francisco Evening Bulletin that transformed Joshua Abraham Norton into Emperor Norton. \u003ccite>(San Francisco Public Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>At age 41, three years after losing everything, Norton christened himself Emperor of the United States. When France’s Napoleon III invaded Mexico in 1861, Norton added “Protector of Mexico” to his imperial title.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This astonishing transformation has always fascinated Bay Curious listener Jacobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I majored in psychology, so I couldn’t help thinking he must have had some kind of a nervous breakdown or something happened in those few years,” she says. “I was thinking schizophrenia or bipolar disorder maybe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no sure answers about Norton’s mental health before or after his imperial declaration, but some people think his money troubles led him into a deep depression and that becoming Emperor Norton was a coping mechanism.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652931\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 400px\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-11652931\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike.jpg\" alt=\"A snarky caption is scrawled below this image of Norton on a bicycle.\" width=\"400\" height=\"552\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike.jpg 522w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-160x221.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-240x331.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-375x517.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/bike-520x717.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A snarky caption is scrawled below this image of Norton on a bicycle. \u003ccite>(California State Library)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“There’s a sense in which the persona of the Emperor actually saved him in a way,” Lumea says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Later in his declaration, Norton called on representatives of all the states to assemble the following February to establish his empire and “to make such alterations in the existing laws of the Union to ameliorate the evils under which the country is laboring.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unsurprisingly, nobody showed up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that didn’t stop Norton. He had declared himself emperor. And he was going to act like it for the next 20 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Emperor of the United States, Protector of Mexico\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Norton continued issuing imperial proclamations on items big, like calling for the end of presidential elections, and small, like chastising the skating rink operator who wouldn’t let him use a pair of skates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even though he was Emperor of the United States, his proclamations were often very local in nature. He didn’t hesitate to call out San Francisco’s police and elected officials. Perhaps his most well-known proclamations were the ones calling for the construction of a bridge connecting Oakland and San Francisco through Yerba Buena Island — what we recognize today as the Bay Bridge.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton also adopted an imperial wardrobe. He started with either a blue or gray military jacket, switching between the two early in his “reign” to maintain his neutrality in the ongoing Civil War.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the war, he settled on a blue officer’s jacket furnished with large, fringed, golden shoulder epaulets. His balding head was almost always covered with a hat, most often a small military kepi or a garish beaver fur top hat with a cascade of colorful feathers pinned to the front.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Being emperor did not pay very well. Norton spent most of his reign subsisting off the generosity of the public and the support of a few wealthy friends from his high society days.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1870, with the newly-completed transcontinental railroad bringing more tourists to San Francisco from across the country, Norton helped fill his coffers by selling “imperial bonds” for 50 cents each.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652847\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11652847\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-800x1212.jpg\" alt=\"Emperor Norton in his traditional imperial outfit around 1875.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1212\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-800x1212.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-160x242.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-240x364.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-375x568.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I-520x788.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/Emperor_Joshua_A._Norton_I.jpg 866w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emperor Norton in his traditional imperial outfit around 1875. \u003ccite>(Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>He didn’t need much money. His lodgings on Commercial Street cost him only 50 cents a night, and he spent most of his day reading the newspapers, talking with other forty-niners in Portsmouth Square and writing proclamations at the Mechanics’ Institute Library on Post Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For lunch, Norton could go to almost any tavern in town and for the price of a drink, no more than 25 cents, get access to a full lunch spread of salmon, roast beef, tomatoes and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He really makes himself part of the life of the city,” Lumea says. “He goes to political meetings. He goes to the theater. He goes to the saloons. He makes himself a public presence. He’s in the streets.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s newspapers saw Norton as a bit of a buffoon and regularly published fake proclamations with his name attached. So, in 1870, he started publishing his genuine proclamations almost exclusively in an African-American-owned and operated abolitionist weekly, The Pacific Appeal.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Norton’s proclamations, especially those in The Pacific Appeal, were surprisingly progressive for his time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s talking about how African-Americans should have the right to attend public schools, ride public streetcars. How the Chinese should be able to have their testimony heard in court,” Lumea says. Norton also argued for the rights of Native Americans and against political corruption.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So he’s really making himself into an early champion of the values of fairness and tolerance and the common good that really later become a great symbol of San Francisco,” Lumea says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Le roi est mort’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Jan. 8, 1880, was a cold and rainy night in San Francisco. Norton left his room on Commercial Street to walk the few short blocks to a debate at the Academy of Natural Sciences.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On his way there, he collapsed on the street and died of a suspected stroke.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652860\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11652860\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-800x1067.jpg\" alt=\"Emperor Norton's grave, which was moved from the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco to Colma.\" width=\"800\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-800x1067.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-160x213.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-1020x1360.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-1180x1573.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-960x1280.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-240x320.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-375x500.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1-520x693.jpg 520w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/4436597737_cae5796fb3_o-1.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emperor Norton’s grave, which was moved from the Masonic Cemetery in San Francisco to Colma. \u003ccite>(Joshua Neff/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ten thousand people came to Norton’s funeral. The headline of his obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle read, “Le roi est mort.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Norton died with just a few dollars in his pockets and would have been sent to a pauper’s grave, if not for the intercession of his old friends in business, who paid for a fancy rosewood coffin adorned with silver and a burial plot in the Masonic Cemetery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Even though often in the official world of journalism or politics he was somewhat seen as a figure of ridicule,” Lumea says, “to the people in the streets who saw him on a day-to-day basis for 20 years, he was known as a very kind person.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Norton at 200\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Almost 140 years after his death, Norton continues to captivate San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lumea started the Emperor’s Bridge Campaign in 2013 to try to get the Bay Bridge renamed for Emperor Norton, in recognition of him publishing the idea decades before it came to be. The Board of Supervisors designated February 2018 as \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/EmperorsBridge/status/960568176013541376\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">“Emperor Norton Month,”\u003c/a> and City Hall and Coit Tower were lit up gold on Feb. 4, 2018, in honor of Norton’s 200th birthday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Nobody really encompasses the spirit of San Francisco better than Emperor Norton,” says Joseph Amster, one of two men who walk the streets of San Francisco as official Emperor Norton impersonators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Amster and his fellow Norton, Rick Saber, both showed up in full imperial regalia at Norton’s 200th birthday party in February at one of Norton’s favorite spots, the Mechanics’ Institute Library.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11652852\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11652852\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-800x530.jpg\" alt=\"Jennifer Jacobs stands with Rick Saber (L) and Joseph Amster (R), two official Emperor Norton impersonators at Emperor Norton's 200th birthday party at the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco on Feb. 7, 2018.\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-1180x782.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-960x636.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-240x159.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-375x248.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/02/RS29664_DSC_1504-qut-520x345.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Jennifer Jacobs stands with Rick Saber (L) and Joseph Amster (R), two official Emperor Norton impersonators, at Emperor Norton’s 200th birthday party at the Mechanics’ Institute Library in San Francisco on Feb. 7, 2018. \u003ccite>(Ryan Levi/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Guests came dressed in their 19th century finest, from Wild West leather chaps to Victorian dresses, to honor Norton. Kazuo Sayama came all the way from Japan to attend the party. He first learned about Norton decades ago while he was doing research for a book about San Francisco, and he was so enthralled by his story that he dedicated an entire book to just Norton and is working on a second.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You have so many presidents,” Sayama says of the United States, “but no emperor in history. But people admire him as emperor.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For many at the party and across the city, Norton represents the best of the Bay Area: an advocate of fairness and tolerance, a kind person and a bit of an oddball.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He’s kind of a symbol of why this isn’t New York or why this isn’t Florida or why this isn’t Seattle,” says Tito Young, who came to the party dressed as a Wild West cowboy in brown leather chaps. “I think there’s something wonderfully eccentric about this gentleman, which I can very much identify with.”\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n What do you wonder about the Bay Area, its culture or people that you want KQED to investigate?\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Ask Bay Curious.\u003c/a>\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cbr>\n“I’m glad there’s a strong personality in my family tree,” says Julie Driver, Norton’s great-great-great-great-niece. She lives in Ontario, Canada, and learned about her famous relative from her dad. “He found a way to make a name for himself after he lost his fortune, and I think that’s something that we should learn from.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Jennifer Jacobs was blown away by the sustained love and attention the city continues to give Emperor Norton, and she can’t imagine it happening in any other city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco is a quirky town in a lot of ways,” she says, “and he kind of embodies that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>A lot of us Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway and venture off onto some back roads. Sometimes, we come across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names. For this installment in our series “\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/a-place-called-what/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Place Called What?!\u003c/a>” we head to You Bet in Nevada County. Know an unusual place name in California? Tell us about it in the comments below, or send a note to calreport@kqed.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Brady has deep roots in the Gold Rush town of You Bet, California. So he’s known for a long time how the town got its name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Well, the story goes that there were people, mostly miners; they established a town around a local bar, and they decided they needed a name for the town,” Brady explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The senior gentlemen of the town got together and met at the bar. After a period of time, the gentlemen couldn’t agree on what the name of the town would be. The bartender was getting a little tired of having to pour so many drinks and said, ‘Look, the next thing anybody says, that’s the name of this town.’ One of the fellows piped up and said, ‘You bet!’ They said, ‘That’s it! The name of the town: You Bet’.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11636810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11636810\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of some of the hydraulic diggings from the overlook in You Bet. \u003ccite>(Dan Brady)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Brady’s grandfather and father both worked for the hydraulic mines that dominated You Bet’s landscape and industry from the 1800’s to the 1930’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has fond memories of going to visit You Bet for the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad would take us around and we’d hike all over the place and have quite an adventure,” Brady recalls. “We’d go and cut our Christmas tree at Thanksgiving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the scars of hydraulic mining were always visible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11636807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11636807 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This drainage tunnel from the 1880s is one of the many reminders of You Bet’s hydraulic mining past. \u003ccite>(Dan Brady)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Well, it looked like the moon really,” Brady says. “It was gravelly, rocky, very little vegetation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He lives in San Mateo now, but goes to You Bet at least once a year. He recently started helping his sister and uncle lead tours of You Bet. Anywhere from 25 to 75 visitors come on these tours each year to learn about the history of You Bet’s mines, gold rush era, and natural ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They want to know how much gold was found. They want to know if there’s still gold out there. [That’s] a common question,” he laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11636806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11636806 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guests assist in history presentation at You Bet Town Site. Jerry Brady (Dan Brady’s uncle, in the straw hat) describes the town. \u003ccite>(Dan Brady)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One would think that after so many years of exploring, Brady would have seen all there is to see of this tiny town. But he says it’s quite the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I usually discover something new every time I go out. There’s another sink hole someplace, or a tunnel I didn’t know was there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things he’s most excited about is seeing the landscape recover from the mining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Animals are coming back,” Brady says. “There was a long time when there weren’t any animals out there. Now you can see deer and bear and mountain lions and foxes because the forest is reclaiming it. It’s coming back.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>A lot of us Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway and venture off onto some back roads. Sometimes, we come across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names. For this installment in our series “\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/a-place-called-what/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Place Called What?!\u003c/a>” we head to You Bet in Nevada County. Know an unusual place name in California? Tell us about it in the comments below, or send a note to calreport@kqed.org.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dan Brady has deep roots in the Gold Rush town of You Bet, California. So he’s known for a long time how the town got its name.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Well, the story goes that there were people, mostly miners; they established a town around a local bar, and they decided they needed a name for the town,” Brady explains.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The senior gentlemen of the town got together and met at the bar. After a period of time, the gentlemen couldn’t agree on what the name of the town would be. The bartender was getting a little tired of having to pour so many drinks and said, ‘Look, the next thing anybody says, that’s the name of this town.’ One of the fellows piped up and said, ‘You bet!’ They said, ‘That’s it! The name of the town: You Bet’.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11636810\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11636810\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28553_IMG_2328-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of some of the hydraulic diggings from the overlook in You Bet. \u003ccite>(Dan Brady)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Brady’s grandfather and father both worked for the hydraulic mines that dominated You Bet’s landscape and industry from the 1800’s to the 1930’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He has fond memories of going to visit You Bet for the holidays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My dad would take us around and we’d hike all over the place and have quite an adventure,” Brady recalls. “We’d go and cut our Christmas tree at Thanksgiving.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the scars of hydraulic mining were always visible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11636807\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11636807 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28556_Drainage-tunnel-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">This drainage tunnel from the 1880s is one of the many reminders of You Bet’s hydraulic mining past. \u003ccite>(Dan Brady)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Well, it looked like the moon really,” Brady says. “It was gravelly, rocky, very little vegetation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He lives in San Mateo now, but goes to You Bet at least once a year. He recently started helping his sister and uncle lead tours of You Bet. Anywhere from 25 to 75 visitors come on these tours each year to learn about the history of You Bet’s mines, gold rush era, and natural ecosystem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They want to know how much gold was found. They want to know if there’s still gold out there. [That’s] a common question,” he laughs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11636806\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11636806 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut.jpg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/12/RS28557_Guests-learn-from-Jerry-Brady-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Guests assist in history presentation at You Bet Town Site. Jerry Brady (Dan Brady’s uncle, in the straw hat) describes the town. \u003ccite>(Dan Brady)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>One would think that after so many years of exploring, Brady would have seen all there is to see of this tiny town. But he says it’s quite the opposite.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I usually discover something new every time I go out. There’s another sink hole someplace, or a tunnel I didn’t know was there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the things he’s most excited about is seeing the landscape recover from the mining.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Animals are coming back,” Brady says. “There was a long time when there weren’t any animals out there. Now you can see deer and bear and mountain lions and foxes because the forest is reclaiming it. It’s coming back.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "This Ghost Town’s 'Curse' Isn't What You Think",
"title": "This Ghost Town’s 'Curse' Isn't What You Think",
"headTitle": "The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"Dear Bodie... I'm sorry that I took this piece of metal from the town. I thought it was all a joke but it wasn't at all. Things are happening that are very hard to explain.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2003\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \"curse letters\" arrive at Bodie State Historic Park about once a week. They're usually handwritten, often anonymous, with an object rattling in the envelope. And the writers are all very, very sorry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legend has it that any visitor who dares to take anything -- even a rock -- from this Gold Rush ghost town, isolated beyond the eastern Sierra, \u003cem>will\u003c/em> be punished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, \"the curse of Bodie\" has been the subject of rumor, ghost-hunter lore and online chatter, and it promises bad luck, health problems and even mysterious accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[audio src=\"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/tcrmag/2018/01/Bodie.mp3\" Image=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28805_DSC_0861-qut.jpg\" Title=\"This Ghost Town’s 'Curse' Isn't What You Think\" program=\"The California Report\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, guilty souvenir-takers have been sending those letters to the park staff, detailing the misfortune they believe has plagued them ever since -- and desperately sending their “cursed” items back. Yet the most curious thing about this so-called curse isn’t even how deeply people believe in it: It's how it began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This myth did not originate with superstitious Gold Rush prospectors, or credulous ghost hunters. It was started by the California Department of Parks and Recreation itself -- and it's had an effect the state parks service didn't expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"Fair warning for anyone that thinks this is just folklore -- my life has never seen such turmoil. Please take my warning and do not remove even a speck of dust.\"\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2002\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bodie -- established in 1859, claimed by the state parks service in 1962 -- lies hidden in the hills east of Yosemite, south of Lake Tahoe and north of Mono Lake. It’s over 15 miles from the nearest town, connected by a narrow winding highway that turns into an unpaved dirt road. When the winter snows come, this place often becomes impassable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11641766\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11641766\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-800x573.jpg\" alt=\"A view of Bodie in 1880.\" width=\"800\" height=\"573\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-800x573.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-160x115.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-1020x730.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-1180x844.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-960x687.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-240x172.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-375x268.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-520x372.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Bodie in 1880. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California State Parks, Image 090-9021)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the late 19th century, Bodie was the archetypal Gold Rush boomtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gold and silver found in these hills by New York prospector W.S. Bodey -- who died in a blizzard before ever seeing the town that took (but misspelled) his name -- drew people from across the nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11641768\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11641768\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-800x502.jpg\" alt=\"Downtown Bodie including the Occidental Hotel, circa 1905.\" width=\"800\" height=\"502\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-800x502.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-160x100.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-1020x640.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-1180x740.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-960x602.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-240x151.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-375x235.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-520x326.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downtown Bodie, including the Occidental Hotel, circa 1905. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California State Parks, Image 090-14535)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Standing in the middle of the eerily silent Main Street here, it’s impossible not to imagine what Bodie must have been like in its heyday: a noisy, thriving, hardscrabble town of almost 10,000 souls that boasted over 60 saloons. Here, “gunfights were common,” according to Catherine Jones, the park interpreter who works with the Bodie rangers to show people around this strange spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like most of the towns in the Wild West in the late 1800s,\" she adds with some understatement, Bodie “probably didn't have the kind of law that we’re used to nowadays.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640728\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11640728 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Dechambeau Hotel and Odd Fellows Hall in Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California State Parks maintains Bodie in what they call “arrested decay” -- the rot repaired, but not replaced. While some buildings are little more than ruins and tumbledown shacks, a glance through the windows of the better preserved structures reveals interiors that could have been left just yesterday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one family home, the kitchen’s surfaces are stacked with dishes. In the town morgue, peeled wallpaper sways in ribbons from the ceilings, above the empty caskets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640722\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interior of the bar in Bodie's Swasey Hotel \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In this particular ghost town, it’s hard \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to think about ghosts, or feel unusually disposed toward legends of vengeful Gold Rush spirits. Which is how this whole curse tale got started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"You can have these godforsaken rocks back. I've never had so much rotten luck in my life. Please forgive me for ever testing the curse of Bodie.\"\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2004\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Years back,” says Jones, a single park ranger at Bodie apparently invented the notion that misfortune would befall anyone who took something from the park. “That maybe if we started this idea that you'd have bad luck if you took artifacts from Bodie, it would try to keep people from stealing artifacts.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640721\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640721\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Park interpreter Catherine Jones approaches Bodie's Methodist Church, built in 1882, and the only church left standing in the town. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Theft has always been a problem in Bodie, even before it was claimed by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ghosting of this town was gradual: Mining actually continued up until 1942, but by then what had once been a crowded, bustling town had faded into an increasing collection of vacated homes. Many of them were -- and are -- still filled with the possessions of those who’d up and left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For locals and visitors alike, Bodie was that strange, sort-of-empty town out in the hills back then, where you could wander around and perhaps pick up a freebie or two. Someone once even took a piano from a house in Bodie, says Jones -- just loaded it onto the back of a truck, and drove it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640724\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640724\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interior of the Miller House on Green Street in Bodie. In 1900 Tom Miller, a Teamster for the Bodie Railway, lived here with his wife, Jessie, and two children. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even as a state historic park, with signs and constant staffing, light-fingered visitors apparently continued to be tempted to take souvenirs. So, Bodie conjured its own boogeyman: the story of a curse, shared with tourists over the years to discourage them from filling their pockets with ghost town trinkets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, staff here no longer really talk about their curse with visitors, and we'll get to the reason for that. But still the curse letters keep coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"Please find enclosed one weatherbeaten old shoe. The shoe was removed from Bodie during the month of August 1978... My trail of misfortune is so long and depressing it can't be listed here.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>Letter to Bodie, undated\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letters, Jones says, arrive with such regularity that the staff here recognize them on sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pretty much every time the ranger goes to the post office to pick up our mail,” says Jones, “there's a cursed artifact in there.” They’ve received so many of these letters over the years that they’re now collected, on display, in the Bodie museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Park interpreter Catherine Jones looks at several \"curse letters\" in the Bodie rangers' office \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From rambling multi-page narratives to one-sentence apologies and Post-its, they confess to taking nails, glass shards, ceramic fragments, coins, flowers and more. Some writers claim to have had no clue taking anything from a state park was forbidden, despite the multiple signs. Others admit they knew, and just couldn’t resist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the curse is explicitly supernatural: ghostly apparitions, poltergeist-like disturbances. For the majority, it has taken the form of plain bad luck: accidents, auto trouble, job losses. Some report experiencing the curse’s effects instantly on the drive home. Others perceive them only in hindsight. One letter is from a young person so terrified at the thought of removing anything from Bodie that they returned items their family purchased in the park’s gift store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640731\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One anonymous \"curse letter,\" returning a nail to Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some are almost comical. One young correspondent blames getting grounded by his parents on the curse. Another child simply writes: “Sorry I took the glass pieces. I thought they are pretty. My fish died the day after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet others are far more serious in tone. In one heartfelt letter from 2017, a young woman blames the rock she took from Bodie for the breakdown of not only her relationship, but her parents’ marriage, too. Another writer says she’s losing all her loved ones to cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640732\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11640732 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A row of beer bottles gathers dust in the Bodie Odd Fellows Hall. Despite prohibitions on removing anything from the park, items are still taken regularly. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, it’s not just the letters. These people are sending their cursed items \u003ci>back\u003c/i>, because they think it’ll help, and this is the reason that staff no longer talks about the legend much to visitors. Because by inventing a curse -- one that haunts you until you make things right -- the folks at Bodie State Park unwittingly created a whole new problem for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"This nail was taken from the town of Bodie… Nothing should leave Bodie. Also, who wants bad luck. Please put it back for me.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2017\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time an item is returned, the staff at Bodie have to treat it for what it is -- a stolen object. That means filing a law enforcement report for every single one, no matter how big or small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640733\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An isolated home in Bodie, California. The trails throughout the town house many artifacts -- some of which are removed by visitors. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Red tape notwithstanding, it may seem like no big deal to pick up a rock from Bodie and then remorsefully return it. Yet to the parks service, these aren’t just trinkets. They’re artifacts that carry a very real historic and cultural value -- “even the broken glass and the nails that are strewn about the ground,” as Jones puts it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When these are picked up and taken from the park, they’re instantly divorced from their place and context. The minute they’re put in someone’s pocket, so much of the story they can tell is lost for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Returning an artifact doesn’t actually solve this problem either. When these envelopes arrive back at Bodie’s door, it’s not as if the rangers can just empty out their contents on Main Street. Take the “beautiful piece of obsidian rock” one letter writer confesses to taking “to remember my amazing trip” -- the rock she blames for her subsequent romantic pain and career trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640735\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640735\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A car abandoned in Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jones and her colleagues now have no way of knowing exactly where in the park it originated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It potentially could have come from a prehistoric site, a Native American site. But now we don't know, because now it's out of context,\" she says. \"\u003ci>That's\u003c/i> what's unfortunate about this stuff being removed from its true place.” The worst-case scenario here, she says, is that artifacts like this “will probably live in a box forever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider that piano, too. Jones says it was eventually returned to Bodie, after its owners heard about the curse (“health problems, car troubles” this time). Where once it might have sat in a family's living room, or been played in one of the saloons, it now sits silent in the town hall. It's in Bodie’s own version of Collections Purgatory -- unknown, unaccessioned -- and the staff here will never know its true story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640723\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640723\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The piano stolen from Bodie before it became a state historic park in 1962. It was later returned and sits in Bodie's Odd Fellows Hall. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"So sorry for picking these up. I love antiques and being a Christian I felt so guilty for taking these on Monday. Not to mention Tuesday we got a flat tire and my husband hit his head on a rock.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 1998\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inventing a thief's curse has undoubtedly been a mixed blessing for Bodie State Historic Park. It has drawn attention to what continues to be a very real problem with theft here, and almost certainly deterred many would-be souvenir hunters. Yet it has also ensured a steady supply of returned, orphaned artifacts with no way home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than harp on the curse to visitors, Jones says she and her colleagues hope “that that we can get a better message out to people that visit Bodie that they should leave everything in its place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kids nearly always ask her about the curse on tours, but she prefers instead to explain to them why taking something from a state park is wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bodie,\" as she puts it, \"is a giant outdoor museum, and everything should be treated like it is when you go inside an indoor museum. You wouldn't steal from an artifact exhibit in a museum, so it's hard to know why anybody would steal from Bodie.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640736\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640736\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Standard Consolidated Mining Company's Stamp Mill, the most successful of 30 mining companies operating in the Bodie Mining District. This mill was built in 1899 after a fire the previous year destroyed in original building. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet much in the way that their invented curse proved almost too effective, perhaps what's at work is the park’s very success in maintaining Bodie in \"arrested decay\" -- the thing that makes visiting this remote place so compelling. Away from those glimpsed interiors, wandering through Bodie feels more like exploring some kind of deserted world than visiting a museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe that's why people feel so inclined to just ... pick stuff up. Just like the letters say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640726\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640726\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two very different modes of transportation sink into the ground off Fuller Street in Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That “stuff,\" of course, is actually California heritage. But then, so much about Bodie is not what it seems. It’s a golden boomtown that now lies silent, with a curse that isn’t, but people believe in anyway. And the fact that it endures says a lot about our desire to believe in the otherworldly in places like this. Or perhaps just the power of a guilty conscience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\"\u003cem>I send the purloined goods, along with my deepest apologies to whatever spirit I have offended... I feel better already. Confession really is good for the soul.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003cem>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 1996\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "Legend says taking even a rock from the Gold Rush town of Bodie brings terrible misfortune. The curse is so powerful that rangers have been inundated with returned artifacts.",
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"description": "Legend says taking even a rock from the Gold Rush town of Bodie brings terrible misfortune. The curse is so powerful that rangers have been inundated with returned artifacts.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"Dear Bodie... I'm sorry that I took this piece of metal from the town. I thought it was all a joke but it wasn't at all. Things are happening that are very hard to explain.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2003\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \"curse letters\" arrive at Bodie State Historic Park about once a week. They're usually handwritten, often anonymous, with an object rattling in the envelope. And the writers are all very, very sorry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Legend has it that any visitor who dares to take anything -- even a rock -- from this Gold Rush ghost town, isolated beyond the eastern Sierra, \u003cem>will\u003c/em> be punished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over the decades, \"the curse of Bodie\" has been the subject of rumor, ghost-hunter lore and online chatter, and it promises bad luck, health problems and even mysterious accidents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, guilty souvenir-takers have been sending those letters to the park staff, detailing the misfortune they believe has plagued them ever since -- and desperately sending their “cursed” items back. Yet the most curious thing about this so-called curse isn’t even how deeply people believe in it: It's how it began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This myth did not originate with superstitious Gold Rush prospectors, or credulous ghost hunters. It was started by the California Department of Parks and Recreation itself -- and it's had an effect the state parks service didn't expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"Fair warning for anyone that thinks this is just folklore -- my life has never seen such turmoil. Please take my warning and do not remove even a speck of dust.\"\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2002\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bodie -- established in 1859, claimed by the state parks service in 1962 -- lies hidden in the hills east of Yosemite, south of Lake Tahoe and north of Mono Lake. It’s over 15 miles from the nearest town, connected by a narrow winding highway that turns into an unpaved dirt road. When the winter snows come, this place often becomes impassable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11641766\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11641766\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-800x573.jpg\" alt=\"A view of Bodie in 1880.\" width=\"800\" height=\"573\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-800x573.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-160x115.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-1020x730.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-1180x844.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-960x687.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-240x172.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-375x268.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/BodieFromHill-520x372.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Bodie in 1880. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California State Parks, Image 090-9021)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the late 19th century, Bodie was the archetypal Gold Rush boomtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The gold and silver found in these hills by New York prospector W.S. Bodey -- who died in a blizzard before ever seeing the town that took (but misspelled) his name -- drew people from across the nation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11641768\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11641768\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-800x502.jpg\" alt=\"Downtown Bodie including the Occidental Hotel, circa 1905.\" width=\"800\" height=\"502\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-800x502.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-160x100.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-1020x640.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-1180x740.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-960x602.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-240x151.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-375x235.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/090-14535_CalStateParks-520x326.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Downtown Bodie, including the Occidental Hotel, circa 1905. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of California State Parks, Image 090-14535)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Standing in the middle of the eerily silent Main Street here, it’s impossible not to imagine what Bodie must have been like in its heyday: a noisy, thriving, hardscrabble town of almost 10,000 souls that boasted over 60 saloons. Here, “gunfights were common,” according to Catherine Jones, the park interpreter who works with the Bodie rangers to show people around this strange spot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Like most of the towns in the Wild West in the late 1800s,\" she adds with some understatement, Bodie “probably didn't have the kind of law that we’re used to nowadays.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640728\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11640728 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28801_DSC_0832-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Dechambeau Hotel and Odd Fellows Hall in Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California State Parks maintains Bodie in what they call “arrested decay” -- the rot repaired, but not replaced. While some buildings are little more than ruins and tumbledown shacks, a glance through the windows of the better preserved structures reveals interiors that could have been left just yesterday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In one family home, the kitchen’s surfaces are stacked with dishes. In the town morgue, peeled wallpaper sways in ribbons from the ceilings, above the empty caskets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640722\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640722\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28787_DSC_0820-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interior of the bar in Bodie's Swasey Hotel \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In this particular ghost town, it’s hard \u003cem>not\u003c/em> to think about ghosts, or feel unusually disposed toward legends of vengeful Gold Rush spirits. Which is how this whole curse tale got started.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"You can have these godforsaken rocks back. I've never had so much rotten luck in my life. Please forgive me for ever testing the curse of Bodie.\"\u003c/b>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2004\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Years back,” says Jones, a single park ranger at Bodie apparently invented the notion that misfortune would befall anyone who took something from the park. “That maybe if we started this idea that you'd have bad luck if you took artifacts from Bodie, it would try to keep people from stealing artifacts.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640721\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640721\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28781_DSC_0719-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Park interpreter Catherine Jones approaches Bodie's Methodist Church, built in 1882, and the only church left standing in the town. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Theft has always been a problem in Bodie, even before it was claimed by the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ghosting of this town was gradual: Mining actually continued up until 1942, but by then what had once been a crowded, bustling town had faded into an increasing collection of vacated homes. Many of them were -- and are -- still filled with the possessions of those who’d up and left.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For locals and visitors alike, Bodie was that strange, sort-of-empty town out in the hills back then, where you could wander around and perhaps pick up a freebie or two. Someone once even took a piano from a house in Bodie, says Jones -- just loaded it onto the back of a truck, and drove it away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640724\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640724\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28779_DSC_0701-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interior of the Miller House on Green Street in Bodie. In 1900 Tom Miller, a Teamster for the Bodie Railway, lived here with his wife, Jessie, and two children. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Even as a state historic park, with signs and constant staffing, light-fingered visitors apparently continued to be tempted to take souvenirs. So, Bodie conjured its own boogeyman: the story of a curse, shared with tourists over the years to discourage them from filling their pockets with ghost town trinkets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These days, staff here no longer really talk about their curse with visitors, and we'll get to the reason for that. But still the curse letters keep coming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"Please find enclosed one weatherbeaten old shoe. The shoe was removed from Bodie during the month of August 1978... My trail of misfortune is so long and depressing it can't be listed here.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>Letter to Bodie, undated\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letters, Jones says, arrive with such regularity that the staff here recognize them on sight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Pretty much every time the ranger goes to the post office to pick up our mail,” says Jones, “there's a cursed artifact in there.” They’ve received so many of these letters over the years that they’re now collected, on display, in the Bodie museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640730\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640730\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28773_DSC_0620-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Park interpreter Catherine Jones looks at several \"curse letters\" in the Bodie rangers' office \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>From rambling multi-page narratives to one-sentence apologies and Post-its, they confess to taking nails, glass shards, ceramic fragments, coins, flowers and more. Some writers claim to have had no clue taking anything from a state park was forbidden, despite the multiple signs. Others admit they knew, and just couldn’t resist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For some, the curse is explicitly supernatural: ghostly apparitions, poltergeist-like disturbances. For the majority, it has taken the form of plain bad luck: accidents, auto trouble, job losses. Some report experiencing the curse’s effects instantly on the drive home. Others perceive them only in hindsight. One letter is from a young person so terrified at the thought of removing anything from Bodie that they returned items their family purchased in the park’s gift store.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640731\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640731\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28803_DSC_0844-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">One anonymous \"curse letter,\" returning a nail to Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Some are almost comical. One young correspondent blames getting grounded by his parents on the curse. Another child simply writes: “Sorry I took the glass pieces. I thought they are pretty. My fish died the day after.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yet others are far more serious in tone. In one heartfelt letter from 2017, a young woman blames the rock she took from Bodie for the breakdown of not only her relationship, but her parents’ marriage, too. Another writer says she’s losing all her loved ones to cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640732\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11640732 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28785_DSC_0746-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A row of beer bottles gathers dust in the Bodie Odd Fellows Hall. Despite prohibitions on removing anything from the park, items are still taken regularly. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Of course, it’s not just the letters. These people are sending their cursed items \u003ci>back\u003c/i>, because they think it’ll help, and this is the reason that staff no longer talks about the legend much to visitors. Because by inventing a curse -- one that haunts you until you make things right -- the folks at Bodie State Park unwittingly created a whole new problem for themselves.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"This nail was taken from the town of Bodie… Nothing should leave Bodie. Also, who wants bad luck. Please put it back for me.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 2017\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Every time an item is returned, the staff at Bodie have to treat it for what it is -- a stolen object. That means filing a law enforcement report for every single one, no matter how big or small.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640733\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640733\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28797_DSC_0818-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An isolated home in Bodie, California. The trails throughout the town house many artifacts -- some of which are removed by visitors. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Red tape notwithstanding, it may seem like no big deal to pick up a rock from Bodie and then remorsefully return it. Yet to the parks service, these aren’t just trinkets. They’re artifacts that carry a very real historic and cultural value -- “even the broken glass and the nails that are strewn about the ground,” as Jones puts it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When these are picked up and taken from the park, they’re instantly divorced from their place and context. The minute they’re put in someone’s pocket, so much of the story they can tell is lost for good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Returning an artifact doesn’t actually solve this problem either. When these envelopes arrive back at Bodie’s door, it’s not as if the rangers can just empty out their contents on Main Street. Take the “beautiful piece of obsidian rock” one letter writer confesses to taking “to remember my amazing trip” -- the rock she blames for her subsequent romantic pain and career trouble.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640735\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640735\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28791_DSC_0789-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A car abandoned in Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Jones and her colleagues now have no way of knowing exactly where in the park it originated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It potentially could have come from a prehistoric site, a Native American site. But now we don't know, because now it's out of context,\" she says. \"\u003ci>That's\u003c/i> what's unfortunate about this stuff being removed from its true place.” The worst-case scenario here, she says, is that artifacts like this “will probably live in a box forever.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider that piano, too. Jones says it was eventually returned to Bodie, after its owners heard about the curse (“health problems, car troubles” this time). Where once it might have sat in a family's living room, or been played in one of the saloons, it now sits silent in the town hall. It's in Bodie’s own version of Collections Purgatory -- unknown, unaccessioned -- and the staff here will never know its true story.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640723\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640723\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28784_DSC_0742-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The piano stolen from Bodie before it became a state historic park in 1962. It was later returned and sits in Bodie's Odd Fellows Hall. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003cb>\"So sorry for picking these up. I love antiques and being a Christian I felt so guilty for taking these on Monday. Not to mention Tuesday we got a flat tire and my husband hit his head on a rock.\"\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 1998\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inventing a thief's curse has undoubtedly been a mixed blessing for Bodie State Historic Park. It has drawn attention to what continues to be a very real problem with theft here, and almost certainly deterred many would-be souvenir hunters. Yet it has also ensured a steady supply of returned, orphaned artifacts with no way home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rather than harp on the curse to visitors, Jones says she and her colleagues hope “that that we can get a better message out to people that visit Bodie that they should leave everything in its place.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kids nearly always ask her about the curse on tours, but she prefers instead to explain to them why taking something from a state park is wrong.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Bodie,\" as she puts it, \"is a giant outdoor museum, and everything should be treated like it is when you go inside an indoor museum. You wouldn't steal from an artifact exhibit in a museum, so it's hard to know why anybody would steal from Bodie.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640736\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640736\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28775_DSC_0655-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Standard Consolidated Mining Company's Stamp Mill, the most successful of 30 mining companies operating in the Bodie Mining District. This mill was built in 1899 after a fire the previous year destroyed in original building. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Yet much in the way that their invented curse proved almost too effective, perhaps what's at work is the park’s very success in maintaining Bodie in \"arrested decay\" -- the thing that makes visiting this remote place so compelling. Away from those glimpsed interiors, wandering through Bodie feels more like exploring some kind of deserted world than visiting a museum.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Maybe that's why people feel so inclined to just ... pick stuff up. Just like the letters say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11640726\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11640726\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2018/01/RS28799_DSC_0827-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two very different modes of transportation sink into the ground off Fuller Street in Bodie \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>That “stuff,\" of course, is actually California heritage. But then, so much about Bodie is not what it seems. It’s a golden boomtown that now lies silent, with a curse that isn’t, but people believe in anyway. And the fact that it endures says a lot about our desire to believe in the otherworldly in places like this. Or perhaps just the power of a guilty conscience.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\"\u003cem>I send the purloined goods, along with my deepest apologies to whatever spirit I have offended... I feel better already. Confession really is good for the soul.\"\u003c/em>\u003c/b>\u003cem>\u003cb>\u003cbr>\n\u003c/b>From a letter to Bodie, 1996\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Ghosts of the Gold Rush Linger in Tiny (Lava-Free) Volcano",
"title": "Ghosts of the Gold Rush Linger in Tiny (Lava-Free) Volcano",
"headTitle": "A Place Called What?! | The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>A lot of us Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway and venture off onto some back roads. Sometimes, we come across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names. For this installment in our series\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/a-place-called-what/\"> “A Place Called What?!”\u003c/a> we head to Volcano, California.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know an unusual place name in California? Tell us about it in the comments below, or send a note to \u003ca href=\"mailto:calreport@kqed.org\">calreport@kqed.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let's be clear: There is no volcano in Volcano, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although as resident John Hemstreet notes, “if you're far enough away from here it does \u003cem>look\u003c/em> like a volcano.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631746\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631746\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet sits outside the Whiskey Flat Saloon in Volcano, California. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With a population of barely 100, this Gold Country town in the Sierra Foothills east of Sacramento is so tiny that its Main Street is home to just two residential homes -- and Hemstreet lives in one of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He moved here five years ago after 60 years in Sacramento, and says, “I came to Volcano and I knew right away -- I could feel it. That this was the place to be for me.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631757\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631757\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Volcano's Main Street \u003ccite>(Sharon Hahn Darlin/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Standing in this bowl-shaped valley, surrounded by thickly wooded hills, it’s easy to forget Volcano lies at an elevation of over 2,000 feet. This spot was settled in 1848 by a regiment led by Col. Jonathan Stevenson, who began mining the area in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially calling it Soldiers Gulch, miners then named their settlement for the formation they thought it resembled: a volcanic crater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631752\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631752\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet stands by the sign at the entrance to Volcano, in front of the George Hotel. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once this spot’s mining opportunities became known, Volcano began to attract gold-seekers from across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were probably five or six thousand people here at the time,” says Hemstreet. “Now there's less than 100 -- and there are still people living in this town that were related to those miners that came in the 1840s.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There's more to Volcano's history than the Gold Rush. In 1860, California's first recorded astronomical observatory was established in this town by George Madeira. It was here that the Great Comet of 1861 was first discovered in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11631751 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign commemorates California's first recorded astronomical observatory -- installed here in Volcano \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Civil War also left its mark on Volcano, in the form of \"Old Abe\": a 737-pound brass cannon that still sits, undercover, in the town's Union Square.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This artillery was smuggled into Volcano during the war by the Volcano Blues, a pro-Union faction seeking to intimidate a group of local Confederate sympathizers. They were so successful that Old Abe was never even fired -- although as the sign that sits above the cannon today dryly notes, \"enthusiastic\" overcharging by the Volcano Blues means it probably would have exploded anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631754\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631754\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1168\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-160x97.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-800x487.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-1020x621.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-1180x718.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-960x584.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-240x146.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-375x228.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-520x316.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet looks at a photo showing Volcano as it looked circa 1874, in the George Hotel \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There were said to be 17 hotels here in Volcano during the height of the Gold Rush. Now there are just two, the George Hotel and the Union Inn -- both of which naturally claim to be haunted by the various ghosts of the Gold Rush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During daylight at least, you're more likely to see Hemstreet's two cats, Big Jake and Squeaky, skulking around the George Hotel. Since his longtime trade (\"now more of a hobby\") is restoring jukeboxes, it follows that Hemstreet installed the one that sits in the corner of the hotel’s Whiskey Flat Saloon; a mere “12 Steps over, 12 steps back”, as he puts it, from his home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631749\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet with the jukebox he installed in the Whiskey Flat Saloon in Volcano, California. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The outside of Hemstreet’s house is also home to one of Volcano’s more memorable modern-day attractions: a phone booth containing a large photograph of George Reeves in his 1950s Superman incarnation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below it, you’ll find this plea: \u003cem>“Please do not vandalize this phone booth. I have no place else to change clothes.”\u003c/em> Hemstreet isn’t sure who’s responsible for the Superman decor, but \u003ci>does\u003c/i> claim the framed taxi service details in there as his addition. The saloon is, after all, just a few feet away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631750\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631750\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The memorable \"Superman phone booth\" in Volcano, Califoria. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Volcano’s small size might not be for everyone, but Hemstreet says he can’t envision making his home anywhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People ask me a lot of time, ‘John, how come you never go anywhere?’ I say, why would I want to go anywhere? I'm already here.”\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Ghosts of the Gold Rush Linger in Tiny (Lava-Free) Volcano | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>A lot of us Californians like to hit the open road, explore miles of highway and venture off onto some back roads. Sometimes, we come across towns with some pretty bizarre and surprising names. For this installment in our series\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/a-place-called-what/\"> “A Place Called What?!”\u003c/a> we head to Volcano, California.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Know an unusual place name in California? Tell us about it in the comments below, or send a note to \u003ca href=\"mailto:calreport@kqed.org\">calreport@kqed.org\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let's be clear: There is no volcano in Volcano, California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although as resident John Hemstreet notes, “if you're far enough away from here it does \u003cem>look\u003c/em> like a volcano.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631746\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631746\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27999_John-Saloon-Exterior-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet sits outside the Whiskey Flat Saloon in Volcano, California. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>With a population of barely 100, this Gold Country town in the Sierra Foothills east of Sacramento is so tiny that its Main Street is home to just two residential homes -- and Hemstreet lives in one of them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He moved here five years ago after 60 years in Sacramento, and says, “I came to Volcano and I knew right away -- I could feel it. That this was the place to be for me.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631757\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631757\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28003_13265957584_dd467d4178_k-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A view of Volcano's Main Street \u003ccite>(Sharon Hahn Darlin/Flickr)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Standing in this bowl-shaped valley, surrounded by thickly wooded hills, it’s easy to forget Volcano lies at an elevation of over 2,000 feet. This spot was settled in 1848 by a regiment led by Col. Jonathan Stevenson, who began mining the area in earnest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Initially calling it Soldiers Gulch, miners then named their settlement for the formation they thought it resembled: a volcanic crater.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631752\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631752\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28001_John-Volcano-sign-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet stands by the sign at the entrance to Volcano, in front of the George Hotel. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Once this spot’s mining opportunities became known, Volcano began to attract gold-seekers from across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There were probably five or six thousand people here at the time,” says Hemstreet. “Now there's less than 100 -- and there are still people living in this town that were related to those miners that came in the 1840s.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There's more to Volcano's history than the Gold Rush. In 1860, California's first recorded astronomical observatory was established in this town by George Madeira. It was here that the Great Comet of 1861 was first discovered in the United States.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631751\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11631751 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27991_Volcano-astronomy-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sign commemorates California's first recorded astronomical observatory -- installed here in Volcano \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Civil War also left its mark on Volcano, in the form of \"Old Abe\": a 737-pound brass cannon that still sits, undercover, in the town's Union Square.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This artillery was smuggled into Volcano during the war by the Volcano Blues, a pro-Union faction seeking to intimidate a group of local Confederate sympathizers. They were so successful that Old Abe was never even fired -- although as the sign that sits above the cannon today dryly notes, \"enthusiastic\" overcharging by the Volcano Blues means it probably would have exploded anyway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631754\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631754\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1168\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-160x97.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-800x487.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-1020x621.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-1180x718.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-960x584.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-240x146.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-375x228.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS28002_RS27996_alt_649-qut-520x316.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet looks at a photo showing Volcano as it looked circa 1874, in the George Hotel \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>There were said to be 17 hotels here in Volcano during the height of the Gold Rush. Now there are just two, the George Hotel and the Union Inn -- both of which naturally claim to be haunted by the various ghosts of the Gold Rush.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During daylight at least, you're more likely to see Hemstreet's two cats, Big Jake and Squeaky, skulking around the George Hotel. Since his longtime trade (\"now more of a hobby\") is restoring jukeboxes, it follows that Hemstreet installed the one that sits in the corner of the hotel’s Whiskey Flat Saloon; a mere “12 Steps over, 12 steps back”, as he puts it, from his home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631749\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631749\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27995_John-Hemstreet-saloon-jukebox-qut-1-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Hemstreet with the jukebox he installed in the Whiskey Flat Saloon in Volcano, California. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The outside of Hemstreet’s house is also home to one of Volcano’s more memorable modern-day attractions: a phone booth containing a large photograph of George Reeves in his 1950s Superman incarnation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below it, you’ll find this plea: \u003cem>“Please do not vandalize this phone booth. I have no place else to change clothes.”\u003c/em> Hemstreet isn’t sure who’s responsible for the Superman decor, but \u003ci>does\u003c/i> claim the framed taxi service details in there as his addition. The saloon is, after all, just a few feet away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11631750\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1620px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11631750\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1620\" height=\"1080\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut.jpg 1620w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-960x640.jpg 960w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-240x160.jpg 240w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-375x250.jpg 375w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2017/11/RS27992_Volcano-phonebooth-qut-520x347.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1620px) 100vw, 1620px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The memorable \"Superman phone booth\" in Volcano, Califoria. \u003ccite>(Carly Severn/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Volcano’s small size might not be for everyone, but Hemstreet says he can’t envision making his home anywhere else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“People ask me a lot of time, ‘John, how come you never go anywhere?’ I say, why would I want to go anywhere? I'm already here.”\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "For China’s Gold Rush Prospectors, ‘Bone Scraping’ Was the Last Way Home",
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"content": "\u003cp>During the Gold Rush, thousands of Chinese prospectors came to California looking to “hit pay dirt,” and then head home rich. But like so many miners with the same ambition, most Chinese immigrants ended up in less shiny pursuits — like railroads, restaurants and retail. They sent money back to the home country when they could, and planned to return eventually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happened when they died in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Yue owns the Chinese cemetery in Auburn, where his great-grandfather’s bones still lie buried in a terra-cotta pot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, somebody popped open the lid of it and stole the skull out of it, but the bones are in there,” Yue says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His ancestors didn’t expect their remains to stay in California. But given the long, expensive boat trip between San Francisco and China in the 19th century, it made more sense to bury the bodies in shallow graves for approximately seven years, and let the perishable flesh decompose first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11626909 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"You'd have to go looking for Auburn's Chinese cemetery, located as it far off the main drag. Many Chinese communities during the Gold Rush did not have their own cemeteries. Others had several, each dedication to different families coming from different regions of China.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-520x293.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many Chinese communities during the Gold Rush did not have their own cemeteries. Others had several, each dedication to different families coming from different regions of China. \u003ccite>(Photo: Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the case of those buried in Auburn, most of the bones were headed back to a particular region of southwestern Guangdong known as Toishan, or Taishan today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yue explains that when enough time had passed, the deceased’s relatives would contact one of a handful of companies in San Francisco that did bone scraping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[They] would come here and exhume the bones and clean them and arrange them very carefully into tin boxes or into crocks. Then they would take them to San Francisco and have them shipped back to their home village to be buried with their ancestors,” Yue says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11626922\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"What remains of the remains of Richard Yue's great-grandfather, Chong You. Under this cap lies a terra cotta jar with Chong You's bones, minus the skull (stolen by vandals).\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">What remains of the remains of Richard Yue’s great-grandfather, Chong You. Under this cap lies a terra cotta jar with Chong You’s bones, minus the skull (stolen by vandals). \u003ccite>(Photo: Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Funerary rites are a wonderful lens to understand and view a culture,” says Linda Sun Crowder. A cultural anthropologist who teaches at Cal State Fullerton, she’s also one of the state’s foremost experts on the practice of Chinese “bone scraping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowder says the bones are believed to harness powerful energy. “Every Chinese wants to be buried together with their ancestors, so that all the combined energy from these bones will help to fortify the family and bring good fortune.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the lowliest laborer would contract — or his family association would contract for him — bone scraping in the event of his death. While it was common for many fortune hunters to presume their stay in California would be temporary, the Chinese had strong reasons to doubt they could set down roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anti-Chinese sentiment was rife in 19th century America, peaking in 1882 with the federal establishment of the Chinese Exclusion Act, suspending all immigration of Chinese laborers. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States. It would not be repealed until 1943.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626923\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11626923\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-800x727.jpg\" alt=\"Richard Yue's ancestors came to California seeking a better life. At first, they may have intended to make their fortune and return to China. But over time, they set down roots and helped establish a Chinese community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.\" width=\"800\" height=\"727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-800x727.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-160x145.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-1020x926.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-1180x1072.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-960x872.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-240x218.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-375x341.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-520x472.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut.jpg 1843w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Yue’s ancestors came to California seeking a better life. At first, they may have intended to make their fortune and return to China. But over time, they set down roots and helped establish a Chinese community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. \u003ccite>(Photo: Courtesy of Richard Yue)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bone scraping in the U.S. lasted until the 1950s, in large part because Communist China then was closed off from the rest of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowadays, Crowder says, there’s a reverse trend in effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since many Chinese are now living overseas, they want to, again, keep their family together, and they are bringing remains out of China over to America … wherever they are making their new home,” Crowder says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wherever” means all over the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Terry Abraham of the University of Idaho has compiled an impressively long list of \u003ca href=\"http://webpages.uidaho.edu/special-collections/papers/ch_cem.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chinese cemeteries outside China\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, you can still find Gold Rush-era Chinese cemeteries, or Chinese sections of cemeteries, all over California. Among the altars and stone grave markers you’ll find a number of shallow depressions in the grass-covered earth: the last evidence here of the Chinese whose bones made it back to China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11626927\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Many of California's historic Chinese cemeteries are in need of restoration. History buff groups like E Clampus Vitus are working to support that effort, providing clean up crews and plaques explaining the importance of these sites for all. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many of California’s historic Chinese cemeteries are in need of restoration. History buff groups like E Clampus Vitus are working to support that effort, providing cleanup crews and plaques explaining the importance of these sites for all. \u003ccite>(Photo: Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>During the Gold Rush, thousands of Chinese prospectors came to California looking to “hit pay dirt,” and then head home rich. But like so many miners with the same ambition, most Chinese immigrants ended up in less shiny pursuits — like railroads, restaurants and retail. They sent money back to the home country when they could, and planned to return eventually.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what happened when they died in California?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Richard Yue owns the Chinese cemetery in Auburn, where his great-grandfather’s bones still lie buried in a terra-cotta pot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unfortunately, somebody popped open the lid of it and stole the skull out of it, but the bones are in there,” Yue says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His ancestors didn’t expect their remains to stay in California. But given the long, expensive boat trip between San Francisco and China in the 19th century, it made more sense to bury the bodies in shallow graves for approximately seven years, and let the perishable flesh decompose first.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626909\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11626909 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-800x450.jpg\" alt=\"You'd have to go looking for Auburn's Chinese cemetery, located as it far off the main drag. Many Chinese communities during the Gold Rush did not have their own cemeteries. Others had several, each dedication to different families coming from different regions of China.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-800x450.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-1020x574.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-960x540.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-240x135.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-375x211.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut-520x293.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27806_IMG_9671-1-qut.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many Chinese communities during the Gold Rush did not have their own cemeteries. Others had several, each dedication to different families coming from different regions of China. \u003ccite>(Photo: Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In the case of those buried in Auburn, most of the bones were headed back to a particular region of southwestern Guangdong known as Toishan, or Taishan today.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yue explains that when enough time had passed, the deceased’s relatives would contact one of a handful of companies in San Francisco that did bone scraping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“[They] would come here and exhume the bones and clean them and arrange them very carefully into tin boxes or into crocks. Then they would take them to San Francisco and have them shipped back to their home village to be buried with their ancestors,” Yue says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626922\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11626922\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"What remains of the remains of Richard Yue's great-grandfather, Chong You. Under this cap lies a terra cotta jar with Chong You's bones, minus the skull (stolen by vandals).\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27808_IMG_9684-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">What remains of the remains of Richard Yue’s great-grandfather, Chong You. Under this cap lies a terra cotta jar with Chong You’s bones, minus the skull (stolen by vandals). \u003ccite>(Photo: Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Funerary rites are a wonderful lens to understand and view a culture,” says Linda Sun Crowder. A cultural anthropologist who teaches at Cal State Fullerton, she’s also one of the state’s foremost experts on the practice of Chinese “bone scraping.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Crowder says the bones are believed to harness powerful energy. “Every Chinese wants to be buried together with their ancestors, so that all the combined energy from these bones will help to fortify the family and bring good fortune.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even the lowliest laborer would contract — or his family association would contract for him — bone scraping in the event of his death. While it was common for many fortune hunters to presume their stay in California would be temporary, the Chinese had strong reasons to doubt they could set down roots.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anti-Chinese sentiment was rife in 19th century America, peaking in 1882 with the federal establishment of the Chinese Exclusion Act, suspending all immigration of Chinese laborers. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first law implemented to prevent a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the United States. It would not be repealed until 1943.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626923\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11626923\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-800x727.jpg\" alt=\"Richard Yue's ancestors came to California seeking a better life. At first, they may have intended to make their fortune and return to China. But over time, they set down roots and helped establish a Chinese community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.\" width=\"800\" height=\"727\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-800x727.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-160x145.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-1020x926.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-1180x1072.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-960x872.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-240x218.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-375x341.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut-520x472.jpg 520w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27804_Chong-You-1894-qut.jpg 1843w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Richard Yue’s ancestors came to California seeking a better life. At first, they may have intended to make their fortune and return to China. But over time, they set down roots and helped establish a Chinese community in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. \u003ccite>(Photo: Courtesy of Richard Yue)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bone scraping in the U.S. lasted until the 1950s, in large part because Communist China then was closed off from the rest of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nowadays, Crowder says, there’s a reverse trend in effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Since many Chinese are now living overseas, they want to, again, keep their family together, and they are bringing remains out of China over to America … wherever they are making their new home,” Crowder says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wherever” means all over the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Terry Abraham of the University of Idaho has compiled an impressively long list of \u003ca href=\"http://webpages.uidaho.edu/special-collections/papers/ch_cem.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chinese cemeteries outside China\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, you can still find Gold Rush-era Chinese cemeteries, or Chinese sections of cemeteries, all over California. Among the altars and stone grave markers you’ll find a number of shallow depressions in the grass-covered earth: the last evidence here of the Chinese whose bones made it back to China.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11626927\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11626927\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"Many of California's historic Chinese cemeteries are in need of restoration. History buff groups like E Clampus Vitus are working to support that effort, providing clean up crews and plaques explaining the importance of these sites for all. \" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-1180x885.jpg 1180w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-960x720.jpg 960w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-240x180.jpg 240w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-375x281.jpg 375w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2017/10/RS27807_IMG_9675-1-qut-520x390.jpg 520w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Many of California’s historic Chinese cemeteries are in need of restoration. History buff groups like E Clampus Vitus are working to support that effort, providing cleanup crews and plaques explaining the importance of these sites for all. \u003ccite>(Photo: Rachael Myrow/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Preserving Gold Rush-era Heritage Trees With Amigo Bob Cantisano",
"title": "Preserving Gold Rush-era Heritage Trees With Amigo Bob Cantisano",
"headTitle": "California Foodways | The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>Who doesn’t like a treasure hunt? The search for something mysterious and valuable, with just a few clues for guidance, is pretty irresistible. In California’s Nevada County, an unusual explorer with an unusual name -- Amigo Bob Cantisano -- hunts for remnants of the Gold Rush, just not the kind you might expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The treasures Cantisano seeks are trees, the fruits and nuts and ornamentals planted at homesteads and stagecoach stops and small orchards in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite decades of neglect, many are still highly productive and could prove valuable at a time when California faces drought and the effects of climate change. Cantisano is looking to bring the best-tasting, heartiest ones back to life, back to gardens and farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">Resilient heirloom trees have lessons for growers in California today, where highly tended crops face drought, pests and disease.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>He and two partners run a nonprofit organization: the \u003ca href=\"http://felixgillet.org/\">Felix Gillet Institute\u003c/a>. They’re committed to finding, identifying and propagating heirloom fruits and nuts from which they sell to gardeners and small farmers in Northern California and Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At his home about 20 minutes outside the picturesque Gold Country town of Nevada City, in the northeastern part of the state, Cantisano (the “Amigo” was a high school nickname that stuck) shows me around his garden and nursery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost as an aside, he points to one plant, saying, “We have a lilac named after a friend of ours, Kate Wolf.” When I push, an illuminating story tumbles out: the late singer/songwriter spent summers nearby at an old mining camp and, decades ago, told Cantisano the backstory of her song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q83NqwtdBZk\">The Lilac and The Apple\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q83NqwtdBZk\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kate wrote the song about walking into an old homestead with the house no longer there, and finding this apple and lilac growing on a hill,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the song, Wolf imagines the plants reminiscing about the miners and mill workers who planted them, the lilac and the apple the only evidence that people once lived there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After she passed away, I started wondering about where that was,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of searching for the homestead, Cantisano finally got a lead. He walked for hours in forest along the Yuba River when, bingo: the lilac and the apple were still growing, side by side. He took cuttings and he’s been nurturing them in his nursery ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834091\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834091\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-800x508.jpg\" alt=\"Amigo Bob harvests persimmons at what was once a stagecoach stop.\" width=\"800\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-800x508.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-400x254.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-768x487.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-1440x914.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-1180x749.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-960x609.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amigo Bob harvests persimmons at what was once a stagecoach stop. \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cantisano straps a ladder on his car, tosses bags in his trunk and takes me on a tour. Instead of pointing out old buildings, he shows me his favorite walnut, the rose and apple that grow in the cemetery, and a 120-year-old pear tree standing tall between a community hall and a gas station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is absolutely just the most hearty tree,” he says, looking at the tree like it’s a friend. “It’s thrown huge crops every year in the drought. It doesn’t get diseases, it doesn’t get insects. Nobody prunes it, nobody waters it, nobody fertilizes it, and it is just prolific as heck. I’ve picked over 500 pounds of pears off of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cantisano says these resilient heirloom trees have lessons for growers in California today, where highly tended crops face drought, pests and disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can figure out how to take those characteristics and meld them into modern agriculture, we’re going to have a more sustainable agriculture,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a name like Amigo, dreadlocks down to his waist, and a year-round outfit of shorts and tie-dye, Cantisano has had plenty of people write him off over the years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834089\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-800x744.jpg\" alt=\"The property of Cantisano's friend Sidonie Christian is full of mature trees, and Cantisano sees the impact of Felix Gillet, the Frenchman who ran a nursery in Nevada City in the late 1800s. “This homestead clearly has Gillet vibe all through it," he says. "All these trees are Gillet-era plants."\" width=\"800\" height=\"744\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-800x744.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-400x372.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-768x714.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-1440x1339.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-1180x1097.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-960x893.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The property of Cantisano's friend Sidonie Christian is full of mature trees, and Cantisano sees the impact of Felix Gillet, the Frenchman who ran a nursery in Nevada City in the late 1800s. “This homestead clearly has Gillet vibe all through it,\" he says. \"All these trees are Gillet-era plants.\" \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m a hippie, OK!” he says with a laugh. More to the point, he’s an influential founding figure in California’s organic agriculture movement. Cantisano co-founded California Certified Organic Farmers -- a leading organic certification organization -- and advises a bunch of the big agriculture corporations on how to adopt organic methods for their operations, to highlight just a couple points on his extensive resume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cantisano was practically born into this work. His grandmother, Dorothy Moraga, gardened in her Bay Area home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"DGCEY4EzC6GzmxM7Gj8v8wwK5IQ2tSyb\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She grew fava beans, made compost from the manure from our chickens, squashed the bugs and hoed the weeds,” he says, basically gardening organically before anyone used the term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember crawling around in the dirt, picking cucumbers with her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His interest piqued, Cantisano provided food for the San Francisco communes he lived in as a teenager by gardening. At the first Earth Day in 1970, he heard about pesticide hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lightbulb went on, as they say,” and he’s worked in organic agriculture ever since. Eventually he moved to Nevada County, where he ran an organic garden supply store. That’s when he found his first abandoned trees, and started to learn about Felix Gillet, the Frenchman who ran a barbershop and then opened a nursery in Nevada City in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gillet had plants from almost 35 countries. He was a plant maniac,” says Cantisano. “If you drink wine, you are indebted to Felix Gillet. He had a catalog of 241 types of grapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'If we lose a tree like this chestnut, we lose the genetics of a particularly hearty, productive, high-quality plant. You can’t find those everywhere.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>That’s just grapes. From historic documents he’s found, Cantisano believes many of the trees still growing in the Sierra originated in Gillet’s nursery. When Cantisano and his partners formed their nonprofit, they named it in his honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom Gradziel, of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, says a lot of California agriculture was built on the expertise of nurserymen like Gillet and his contemporaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now we can just go to the grocery store, and there are only one or two varieties of any given fruit or nut,” he says. “The horticulturist in all of us is lost. Nurserymen like Gillet would be appalled.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834081\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834081\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-800x1373.jpg\" alt=\"Amigo harvests chestnuts from a century-old, heritage tree. "We've tested nearly 100 of them and that's the very best one."\" width=\"800\" height=\"1373\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-800x1373.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-400x686.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-768x1318.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1440x2471.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1180x2024.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-960x1647.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amigo harvests chestnuts from a century-old, heritage tree. \"We've tested nearly 100 of them and that's the very best one.\" \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lack of diversity in varieties isn’t only dull for our taste buds, he says, it makes crops vulnerable to being wiped out. “The more diverse material we have in both commercial fields and in the backyard, the more resilience there’ll be to better contain disease and pests,” he says. While one variety might perish, another might survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a breeder, Gradziel says it’s important to find a diversity of varieties that can work in a range of California environments. “The more we find with proven adaptability -- and the stuff Bob’s finding has proven itself in adaptability -- the better,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Cantisano drives up to a property owned by his longtime friend, Sidonie Christian, that’s filled with mature trees, he sees Gillet’s living legacy. “This homestead clearly has Gillet vibe all through it,\" he says. \"All these trees are Gillet-era plants: the walnuts, the chestnut, the pear, the apples, the plums, the cherries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and Christian rake the porcupine-like pods of chestnuts that have fallen to the ground, then peel and toss them in a basket. Of the 100 chestnuts he and his partners have tested, Cantisano says, “That’s the very best one. They are the tastiest, they’re the biggest.” Plus, Christian adds, they peel easily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on tips from friends and their own explorations, the people at the Felix Gillet Institute have a database of more than 600 locations -- and 3,000 plants -- they want to investigate. They’ve gotten to about a fifth of those, evaluating each tree’s health and productivity, harvesting the crops, then inviting friends over to for a taste test of fresh fruit and nuts, pies and juices. They research their favorites, like this chestnut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834085\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834085\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Amigo Bob and his partners believe these chestnuts come from a Marron de Lyon tree, originally from France. They're working with the University of Pennsylvania to test its DNA.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-400x266.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-768x511.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-1440x958.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-1180x785.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-960x639.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amigo Bob and his partners believe these chestnuts come from a Marron de Lyon tree, originally from France. They're working with the University of Pennsylvania to test its DNA. \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We believe it’s called the Marron de Lyon, which means it’s from Lyon, France,” Cantisano says. “Judging from the leaf shape, the size of the nut and the structure of the plant, it looks like it’s a European chestnut.” The University of Pennsylvania is testing this chestnut’s DNA to find out for certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they harvest, Christian tells Cantisano about county workers who were doing maintenance nearby and almost ran a beloved apple tree through a chipper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I ran out yelling, ‘No, no no! The whole neighborhood eats those apples,’ ” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I ask Cantisano: What happens when you lose a century-old heritage tree?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we lose a tree like this chestnut, we lose the genetics of a particularly hearty, productive, high-quality plant. You can’t find those everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These trees are important for people and neighborhoods, too, says Christian, pointing around her small town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Generations of kids have eaten apples off that tree. Lots of people put chestnuts off this tree into their Thanksgiving stuffing and have done for years,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Cantisano, this work connects human and botanical history. He says he’ll often stand in front of an old tree, “and just stop and try and feel the vibe of the person who planted it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He realizes it sounds a little odd but, “I’ve had trees talk to me, like ‘Thank you. You’re taking care of me again. I’ve been alone,' ” not picked for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a spirit in those plants,” he says. A spirit he’s trying to keep alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/california-foodways\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">California Foodways\u003c/a> piece was produced in collaboration with the \u003ca href=\"https://thefern.org/\">Food & Environment Reporting Network\u003c/a>, a nonprofit investigative news organization.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Who doesn’t like a treasure hunt? The search for something mysterious and valuable, with just a few clues for guidance, is pretty irresistible. In California’s Nevada County, an unusual explorer with an unusual name -- Amigo Bob Cantisano -- hunts for remnants of the Gold Rush, just not the kind you might expect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The treasures Cantisano seeks are trees, the fruits and nuts and ornamentals planted at homesteads and stagecoach stops and small orchards in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite decades of neglect, many are still highly productive and could prove valuable at a time when California faces drought and the effects of climate change. Cantisano is looking to bring the best-tasting, heartiest ones back to life, back to gardens and farms.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">Resilient heirloom trees have lessons for growers in California today, where highly tended crops face drought, pests and disease.\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>He and two partners run a nonprofit organization: the \u003ca href=\"http://felixgillet.org/\">Felix Gillet Institute\u003c/a>. They’re committed to finding, identifying and propagating heirloom fruits and nuts from which they sell to gardeners and small farmers in Northern California and Oregon.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At his home about 20 minutes outside the picturesque Gold Country town of Nevada City, in the northeastern part of the state, Cantisano (the “Amigo” was a high school nickname that stuck) shows me around his garden and nursery.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Almost as an aside, he points to one plant, saying, “We have a lilac named after a friend of ours, Kate Wolf.” When I push, an illuminating story tumbles out: the late singer/songwriter spent summers nearby at an old mining camp and, decades ago, told Cantisano the backstory of her song “\u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q83NqwtdBZk\">The Lilac and The Apple\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/q83NqwtdBZk'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/q83NqwtdBZk'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>“Kate wrote the song about walking into an old homestead with the house no longer there, and finding this apple and lilac growing on a hill,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the song, Wolf imagines the plants reminiscing about the miners and mill workers who planted them, the lilac and the apple the only evidence that people once lived there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“After she passed away, I started wondering about where that was,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of searching for the homestead, Cantisano finally got a lead. He walked for hours in forest along the Yuba River when, bingo: the lilac and the apple were still growing, side by side. He took cuttings and he’s been nurturing them in his nursery ever since.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834091\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834091\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-800x508.jpg\" alt=\"Amigo Bob harvests persimmons at what was once a stagecoach stop.\" width=\"800\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-800x508.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-400x254.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-768x487.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-1440x914.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-1180x749.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1-960x609.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amigo Bob harvests persimmons at what was once a stagecoach stop. \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cantisano straps a ladder on his car, tosses bags in his trunk and takes me on a tour. Instead of pointing out old buildings, he shows me his favorite walnut, the rose and apple that grow in the cemetery, and a 120-year-old pear tree standing tall between a community hall and a gas station.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is absolutely just the most hearty tree,” he says, looking at the tree like it’s a friend. “It’s thrown huge crops every year in the drought. It doesn’t get diseases, it doesn’t get insects. Nobody prunes it, nobody waters it, nobody fertilizes it, and it is just prolific as heck. I’ve picked over 500 pounds of pears off of it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cantisano says these resilient heirloom trees have lessons for growers in California today, where highly tended crops face drought, pests and disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we can figure out how to take those characteristics and meld them into modern agriculture, we’re going to have a more sustainable agriculture,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With a name like Amigo, dreadlocks down to his waist, and a year-round outfit of shorts and tie-dye, Cantisano has had plenty of people write him off over the years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834089\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834089\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-800x744.jpg\" alt=\"The property of Cantisano's friend Sidonie Christian is full of mature trees, and Cantisano sees the impact of Felix Gillet, the Frenchman who ran a nursery in Nevada City in the late 1800s. “This homestead clearly has Gillet vibe all through it," he says. "All these trees are Gillet-era plants."\" width=\"800\" height=\"744\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-800x744.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-400x372.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-768x714.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-1440x1339.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-1180x1097.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Sidone-960x893.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The property of Cantisano's friend Sidonie Christian is full of mature trees, and Cantisano sees the impact of Felix Gillet, the Frenchman who ran a nursery in Nevada City in the late 1800s. “This homestead clearly has Gillet vibe all through it,\" he says. \"All these trees are Gillet-era plants.\" \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I’m a hippie, OK!” he says with a laugh. More to the point, he’s an influential founding figure in California’s organic agriculture movement. Cantisano co-founded California Certified Organic Farmers -- a leading organic certification organization -- and advises a bunch of the big agriculture corporations on how to adopt organic methods for their operations, to highlight just a couple points on his extensive resume.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cantisano was practically born into this work. His grandmother, Dorothy Moraga, gardened in her Bay Area home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“She grew fava beans, made compost from the manure from our chickens, squashed the bugs and hoed the weeds,” he says, basically gardening organically before anyone used the term.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I remember crawling around in the dirt, picking cucumbers with her.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His interest piqued, Cantisano provided food for the San Francisco communes he lived in as a teenager by gardening. At the first Earth Day in 1970, he heard about pesticide hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lightbulb went on, as they say,” and he’s worked in organic agriculture ever since. Eventually he moved to Nevada County, where he ran an organic garden supply store. That’s when he found his first abandoned trees, and started to learn about Felix Gillet, the Frenchman who ran a barbershop and then opened a nursery in Nevada City in the late 1800s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Gillet had plants from almost 35 countries. He was a plant maniac,” says Cantisano. “If you drink wine, you are indebted to Felix Gillet. He had a catalog of 241 types of grapes.”\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'If we lose a tree like this chestnut, we lose the genetics of a particularly hearty, productive, high-quality plant. You can’t find those everywhere.'\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>That’s just grapes. From historic documents he’s found, Cantisano believes many of the trees still growing in the Sierra originated in Gillet’s nursery. When Cantisano and his partners formed their nonprofit, they named it in his honor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tom Gradziel, of the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences, says a lot of California agriculture was built on the expertise of nurserymen like Gillet and his contemporaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now we can just go to the grocery store, and there are only one or two varieties of any given fruit or nut,” he says. “The horticulturist in all of us is lost. Nurserymen like Gillet would be appalled.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834081\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834081\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-800x1373.jpg\" alt=\"Amigo harvests chestnuts from a century-old, heritage tree. "We've tested nearly 100 of them and that's the very best one."\" width=\"800\" height=\"1373\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-800x1373.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-400x686.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-768x1318.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1440x2471.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-1180x2024.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/AmigoHarvests-960x1647.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amigo harvests chestnuts from a century-old, heritage tree. \"We've tested nearly 100 of them and that's the very best one.\" \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lack of diversity in varieties isn’t only dull for our taste buds, he says, it makes crops vulnerable to being wiped out. “The more diverse material we have in both commercial fields and in the backyard, the more resilience there’ll be to better contain disease and pests,” he says. While one variety might perish, another might survive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a breeder, Gradziel says it’s important to find a diversity of varieties that can work in a range of California environments. “The more we find with proven adaptability -- and the stuff Bob’s finding has proven itself in adaptability -- the better,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When Cantisano drives up to a property owned by his longtime friend, Sidonie Christian, that’s filled with mature trees, he sees Gillet’s living legacy. “This homestead clearly has Gillet vibe all through it,\" he says. \"All these trees are Gillet-era plants: the walnuts, the chestnut, the pear, the apples, the plums, the cherries.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and Christian rake the porcupine-like pods of chestnuts that have fallen to the ground, then peel and toss them in a basket. Of the 100 chestnuts he and his partners have tested, Cantisano says, “That’s the very best one. They are the tastiest, they’re the biggest.” Plus, Christian adds, they peel easily.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Based on tips from friends and their own explorations, the people at the Felix Gillet Institute have a database of more than 600 locations -- and 3,000 plants -- they want to investigate. They’ve gotten to about a fifth of those, evaluating each tree’s health and productivity, harvesting the crops, then inviting friends over to for a taste test of fresh fruit and nuts, pies and juices. They research their favorites, like this chestnut.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10834085\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-10834085\" src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-800x532.jpg\" alt=\"Amigo Bob and his partners believe these chestnuts come from a Marron de Lyon tree, originally from France. They're working with the University of Pennsylvania to test its DNA.\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-800x532.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-400x266.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-768x511.jpg 768w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-1440x958.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-1180x785.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/01/Chestnuts-960x639.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Amigo Bob and his partners believe these chestnuts come from a Marron de Lyon tree, originally from France. They're working with the University of Pennsylvania to test its DNA. \u003ccite>(Lisa Morehouse/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We believe it’s called the Marron de Lyon, which means it’s from Lyon, France,” Cantisano says. “Judging from the leaf shape, the size of the nut and the structure of the plant, it looks like it’s a European chestnut.” The University of Pennsylvania is testing this chestnut’s DNA to find out for certain.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they harvest, Christian tells Cantisano about county workers who were doing maintenance nearby and almost ran a beloved apple tree through a chipper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I ran out yelling, ‘No, no no! The whole neighborhood eats those apples,’ ” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I ask Cantisano: What happens when you lose a century-old heritage tree?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we lose a tree like this chestnut, we lose the genetics of a particularly hearty, productive, high-quality plant. You can’t find those everywhere.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These trees are important for people and neighborhoods, too, says Christian, pointing around her small town.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Generations of kids have eaten apples off that tree. Lots of people put chestnuts off this tree into their Thanksgiving stuffing and have done for years,” she says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Cantisano, this work connects human and botanical history. He says he’ll often stand in front of an old tree, “and just stop and try and feel the vibe of the person who planted it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He realizes it sounds a little odd but, “I’ve had trees talk to me, like ‘Thank you. You’re taking care of me again. I’ve been alone,' ” not picked for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is a spirit in those plants,” he says. A spirit he’s trying to keep alive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"disqusTitle": "In Search of the Gold Rush Status Meal: The Hangtown Fry",
"title": "In Search of the Gold Rush Status Meal: The Hangtown Fry",
"headTitle": "California Foodways | The California Report | KQED News",
"content": "\u003cp>If you want to recreate the Gold Rush experience -- without all the terrible conditions -- you can pan for gold, even descend into mines. In a few places, you can even eat the most prized meal of the Gold Rush, with a kind of bizarre combination of ingredients. That’s what I went off to El Dorado County in search of: the Hangtown Fry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I called almost all the restaurants in the town of Placerville before I struck gold at the Buttercup Pantry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[soundcloud url=\"https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/224524886\" params=\"color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" iframe=\"true\" /]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are the only place left that I know of that still serves the Hangtown Fry,” says Erica Houston, whose family owns the place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t forget: there is a disclaimer,\" she says with a laugh. \"It is eat at your own risk. If you don’t like it, you have been warned. Seriously.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688560\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-800x698.jpg\" alt=\"The Hangtown Fry at the Buttercup Pantry in Placerville.\" width=\"800\" height=\"698\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688560\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-800x698.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-400x349.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-1440x1256.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-1180x1029.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-960x837.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hangtown Fry at the Buttercup Pantry in Placerville. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s made of eggs, bacon -- and oysters. Houston has never tried it, but I do. And after a few bites, my biggest takeaway is that the bacon really helps the dish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the restaurant staff I talked to had tried the Hangtown Fry. So why serve it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because it’s cool,” says Houston. “It’s a unique piece of history we were able to recreate, because we are old Hangtown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To find out the history behind that name, Hangtown, I visit local historian Marilyn Ferguson at the \u003ca href=\"http://eldoradocountyhistoricalsociety.org/fountaintallman2.htm\">Fountain and Tallman Museum\u003c/a> on Main Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[contextly_sidebar id=\"7vKoOQn9IZdNlSlq7aKliHeHtJmTG4U0\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says, for the people staking claims here in 1849, before statehood, “They had to have some kind of rule of law, some control over the bad guys: the gamblers, the robbers, those kinds of people. They didn’t fool around with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when a few men who were on the run from a murder rap robbed a guy in Placerville, they were tried and hanged. And a nickname was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-800x565.jpg\" alt=\"Marilyn Ferguson, local historian at the Fountain and Tallman Museum on Main Street in Placerville.\" width=\"800\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688565\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-800x565.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-400x282.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-1440x1016.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-1180x833.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-960x678.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marilyn Ferguson, local historian at the Fountain and Tallman Museum on Main Street in Placerville. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Hangtown is certainly an attention-getter!” says Ferguson. And not a bad name for a mining camp, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s right,\" she says. \"It was a deterrent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what about the Hangtown Fry? Alhough Ferguson hasn’t found any firsthand accounts, it’s widely believed to have been created in 1849 or ’50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A miner hit it rich,” says Ferguson. “He came into the El Dorado Hotel and ordered the most expensive things they had on the menu, which turned out to be oysters, bacon and eggs.” That's because these ingredients were hard to come by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688567\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-800x694.jpg\" alt=\"San Francisco's Tadich Grill started in 1849 as a coffee tent on the wharf. They've been serving the Hangtown Fry for over 160 years.\" width=\"800\" height=\"694\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688567\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-800x694.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-400x347.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-1440x1250.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-1180x1024.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-960x833.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco's Tadich Grill started in 1849 as a coffee tent on the wharf. They've been serving the Hangtown Fry for over 160 years. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oysters from San Francisco Bay -- transported by horseback, on ice -- could cost $1 each. Some are even believed to have been shipped in barrels from the East Coast, around the Horn. And in those early years of the Gold Rush, there were very few farms with livestock like chickens and pigs. The Hangtown Fry denoted status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was letting people know he was rich,” Ferguson says, “and he could have anything he wanted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The normal options were paltry. In a glass case at the museum, Ferguson points out an old bill of fare from the El Dorado Hotel in 1850 that indicated that the scale was at the end of the bar. All items had to be paid for in gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a menu here: They had beef, they had jackrabbit, they had grizzly bear,” says Ferguson. Grizzly bear was prepared three different ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688571\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-800x592.jpg\" alt=\"Tadich Grill general manager David Hanna.\" width=\"800\" height=\"592\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688571\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-800x592.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-400x296.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-1440x1065.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-1180x873.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-960x710.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tadich Grill general manager David Hanna. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When I tell that to David Hanna, general manager of San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.tadichgrill.com/\">Tadich Grill\u003c/a>, he laughs, “You won’t find that here! It might sell, but you won’t find that here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a classic seafood restaurant -- think wooden booths, waiters in white jackets and three-martini lunches even today -- that began in 1849.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Three Croatian immigrants started it off as a tent on the long wharf, serving coffee to merchant sailors as they came into the bay,” says Hanna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since the restaurant went brick and mortar over 160 years ago, it has served a Hangtown Fry. Its origin story is a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688628\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-800x496.jpg\" alt=\"The Tadich Grill's version of the Hangtown Fry.\" width=\"800\" height=\"496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688628\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-800x496.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-400x248.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-1440x893.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-1180x731.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-960x595.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Tadich Grill's version of the Hangtown Fry. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The one we tell is, it was one of the last meals that people condemned to die would order,” says Hanna. Those guys on Gold Rush death row knew they could extend their lives by requesting such hard-to-get ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He takes me into the kitchen, where cook Luis DeLeon crisps breaded oysters and bacon strips in a deep fryer, then whisks three eggs. He tosses scallions and tomatoes in a buttered pan on the stovetop, then pours the eggs over the fried bits, frittata-style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And since I’m a believer in second chances, this dish is for me. It’s really different having those oysters deep-fried. I’d order it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, for the first time ever, the Tadich Grill is expanding, opening a sister restaurant in Washington, D.C. On the menu? The Hangtown Fry.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>If you want to recreate the Gold Rush experience -- without all the terrible conditions -- you can pan for gold, even descend into mines. In a few places, you can even eat the most prized meal of the Gold Rush, with a kind of bizarre combination of ingredients. That’s what I went off to El Dorado County in search of: the Hangtown Fry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I called almost all the restaurants in the town of Placerville before I struck gold at the Buttercup Pantry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='100%' height='166'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/224524886&visual=true&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false'\n title='https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/224524886'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are the only place left that I know of that still serves the Hangtown Fry,” says Erica Houston, whose family owns the place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don’t forget: there is a disclaimer,\" she says with a laugh. \"It is eat at your own risk. If you don’t like it, you have been warned. Seriously.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688560\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-800x698.jpg\" alt=\"The Hangtown Fry at the Buttercup Pantry in Placerville.\" width=\"800\" height=\"698\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688560\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-800x698.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-400x349.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-1440x1256.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-1180x1029.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/HangtownFryButtercup-960x837.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Hangtown Fry at the Buttercup Pantry in Placerville. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>It’s made of eggs, bacon -- and oysters. Houston has never tried it, but I do. And after a few bites, my biggest takeaway is that the bacon really helps the dish.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>None of the restaurant staff I talked to had tried the Hangtown Fry. So why serve it?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Because it’s cool,” says Houston. “It’s a unique piece of history we were able to recreate, because we are old Hangtown.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To find out the history behind that name, Hangtown, I visit local historian Marilyn Ferguson at the \u003ca href=\"http://eldoradocountyhistoricalsociety.org/fountaintallman2.htm\">Fountain and Tallman Museum\u003c/a> on Main Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She says, for the people staking claims here in 1849, before statehood, “They had to have some kind of rule of law, some control over the bad guys: the gamblers, the robbers, those kinds of people. They didn’t fool around with them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when a few men who were on the run from a murder rap robbed a guy in Placerville, they were tried and hanged. And a nickname was born.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688565\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-800x565.jpg\" alt=\"Marilyn Ferguson, local historian at the Fountain and Tallman Museum on Main Street in Placerville.\" width=\"800\" height=\"565\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688565\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-800x565.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-400x282.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-1440x1016.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-1180x833.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Ferguson-960x678.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Marilyn Ferguson, local historian at the Fountain and Tallman Museum on Main Street in Placerville. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Hangtown is certainly an attention-getter!” says Ferguson. And not a bad name for a mining camp, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s right,\" she says. \"It was a deterrent.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So what about the Hangtown Fry? Alhough Ferguson hasn’t found any firsthand accounts, it’s widely believed to have been created in 1849 or ’50.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A miner hit it rich,” says Ferguson. “He came into the El Dorado Hotel and ordered the most expensive things they had on the menu, which turned out to be oysters, bacon and eggs.” That's because these ingredients were hard to come by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688567\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-800x694.jpg\" alt=\"San Francisco's Tadich Grill started in 1849 as a coffee tent on the wharf. They've been serving the Hangtown Fry for over 160 years.\" width=\"800\" height=\"694\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688567\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-800x694.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-400x347.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-1440x1250.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-1180x1024.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichGrill-960x833.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San Francisco's Tadich Grill started in 1849 as a coffee tent on the wharf. They've been serving the Hangtown Fry for over 160 years. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Oysters from San Francisco Bay -- transported by horseback, on ice -- could cost $1 each. Some are even believed to have been shipped in barrels from the East Coast, around the Horn. And in those early years of the Gold Rush, there were very few farms with livestock like chickens and pigs. The Hangtown Fry denoted status.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“He was letting people know he was rich,” Ferguson says, “and he could have anything he wanted.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The normal options were paltry. In a glass case at the museum, Ferguson points out an old bill of fare from the El Dorado Hotel in 1850 that indicated that the scale was at the end of the bar. All items had to be paid for in gold.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s a menu here: They had beef, they had jackrabbit, they had grizzly bear,” says Ferguson. Grizzly bear was prepared three different ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688571\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-800x592.jpg\" alt=\"Tadich Grill general manager David Hanna.\" width=\"800\" height=\"592\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688571\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-800x592.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-400x296.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-1440x1065.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-1180x873.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/Hanna-960x710.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tadich Grill general manager David Hanna. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When I tell that to David Hanna, general manager of San Francisco’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.tadichgrill.com/\">Tadich Grill\u003c/a>, he laughs, “You won’t find that here! It might sell, but you won’t find that here.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s a classic seafood restaurant -- think wooden booths, waiters in white jackets and three-martini lunches even today -- that began in 1849.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Three Croatian immigrants started it off as a tent on the long wharf, serving coffee to merchant sailors as they came into the bay,” says Hanna.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ever since the restaurant went brick and mortar over 160 years ago, it has served a Hangtown Fry. Its origin story is a little different.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_10688628\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg src=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-800x496.jpg\" alt=\"The Tadich Grill's version of the Hangtown Fry.\" width=\"800\" height=\"496\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10688628\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-800x496.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-400x248.jpg 400w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-1440x893.jpg 1440w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry.jpg 1920w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-1180x731.jpg 1180w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2015/09/TadichFry-960x595.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Tadich Grill's version of the Hangtown Fry. \u003ccite>(Vickie Ly/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“The one we tell is, it was one of the last meals that people condemned to die would order,” says Hanna. Those guys on Gold Rush death row knew they could extend their lives by requesting such hard-to-get ingredients.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He takes me into the kitchen, where cook Luis DeLeon crisps breaded oysters and bacon strips in a deep fryer, then whisks three eggs. He tosses scallions and tomatoes in a buttered pan on the stovetop, then pours the eggs over the fried bits, frittata-style.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And since I’m a believer in second chances, this dish is for me. It’s really different having those oysters deep-fried. I’d order it again.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, for the first time ever, the Tadich Grill is expanding, opening a sister restaurant in Washington, D.C. On the menu? The Hangtown Fry.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
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"marketplace": {
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"mindshift": {
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"order": 12
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
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"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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},
"pri-the-world": {
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"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
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"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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"order": 16
},
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},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
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