Nestled along the south fork of the American River is a place where the name speaks for itself. Marshall Gold Discovery State Park in Coloma is a spot rich in history. The first nugget was discovered there in 1848. More than 150 years later, that fever is still being felt.
*****
Must've been a slow news day. Gold washes down the hills and into streams every single time there's a heavy rainfall. That's how the gold gets into streams. Or streets.....
I remember sometime back in the 1980s there was a monster rainfall that sent a heavy stream right down through the streets of Sonora. As soon as it let up, a bunch of the townspeople grabbed their gold pans and went out to work the street's potholes, backing up traffic for miles. A week later I was in a mining supply shop and the owner told me he bought more gold the day after that flood than he usually does in an entire month.
The article mentions Woods Creek in Jamestown which is right below Sonora.
I've never worked that creek. The gold bearing part of it runs right on the backside of Jamestown and all of it is either on private property right in the backyards of people's houses or on mining claims.
Sure, there's portions of it where you can pay to play, but the fees were expensive. You'd pay 300 bucks a day to work a stretch that's been panned over and over and maybe recover 100 bucks worth of gold.
