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California Dreaming

 I thought this visit to my brother-in-law, Steve, would be devoted to nature photographs like this pic of the California redwoods in Sequoia National Park.

Or this one of Yosemite Falls.

I hadn’t planned on taking any statue photos. Then I visited old town in Sacramento and there it was:

A cowboy on a galloping horse -

There’s probably another statue at the other end of the mail ride. I originally thought that was St. Louis. After reading this next plaque, I realized my mistake. It wasn’t St Louis that was the terminus for the mail run, it was St. Joseph, Missouri.

If anyone has the St. Joseph statue, please send it to me at ontheroadtohistory@gmail.com.

The centennial remembrance of the Pony Express.

The main data points about the Pony express are:

Ø  18 months in existance

Ø  One way trip – 1.966 miles

Ø  121 riders

Ø  500 ponies

Ø  35,000 pieces of mail

Ø  Lost only one pouch

Right next to the Pony Express statue was this plaque. Who was this guy? This Theodore Dehone Judah?

After reading the plaque, I find out he was instrumental in getting the spike pounded in at Promontory Point, Utah. It was his survey through the Sierra Mountains that the Central Pacific Railroad used to lay its tracks. Little did I know that Sacramento was the end point of the transcontinental railroad. Once I looked around, I noticed there was a museum dedicated to enlightening Easterners like myself about Sacramento’s contribution to great expansion west. Here’s a few things I found out.

Governor Stanford, the same person that the University is named after, was a leading force in getting the railroad over the mountains.

An unheralded contribution was made by Chinese immigrants. At the completion of the transcontinental railroad, Chinese laborers made up 90% of the Central Pacific workforce. However, they were greatly mistreated. The company paid them less money than their white counterparts, and they had to supply their own meals and tents.

I just read that the upcoming anniversary of the golden spike will this time include some descendants of those Chinese workers, unlike when that famous photo was first taken in 1869.

After visiting the museum, we ate lunch, and then Serendipity struck in the afternoon when we pasted this structure -

On closer look I recognized that name. He had a mill just 35 miles away where gold was found. In school I learned about the mill but not the person. What’s his story?

Johann Augustus Sutter, a German who lived in Switzerland, left Europe in 1834 to avoid paying his debts. After traveling across the country even to Hawaii and Alaska, Sutter settled in California. He started with a small adobe compound and a small plot of land which he eventually expanded with the help of the Mexican Government to over 48,000 acres. He then purchased Fort Ross from the Russians. Inside his walls were sleeping quarters, a gunsmith, distillery, bakery, grist mill, blanket factory, and carpenter and blacksmith shops. He provided many settlers with temporary living accommodations.

His men and supplies helped rescue the Donner Party when they were stranded in the Sierras.

Discovery of gold at his sawmill was Sutter’s undoing. The horde of miners overwhelmed him. There was no one left to work on his business. Also, He was subsequently cheated out of most of his property. He used the $7,000 he received from selling his fort to pay his debts and left.

If someone has a photo of Sutter’s Mill, send it in and I will post it. Ontheroadtohistory@gmail.com

Traveling back to San Diego, I did get one more nature photo on the Pacific Highway. Hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did.

Somewhere south of Carmel, California.