Nevada City, California

Miners began finding gold along Deer Creek, a tributary of the South Yuba River, in 1849. A cabin was built at the confluence of Gold Run and Deer Creek in September by a trio of gold miners – John Pennington, William McCaib, and Thomas Cross.

A store opened nearby in the next month to supply the influx of miners. The settlement was called Deer Creek Dry Diggins or Caldwell’s Upper Store. Hundreds of men spent the winter of 1849 to 1850 searching for gold, living mainly in tents or hastily-built huts.

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