Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Mariposa County
    Mariposa County
    Mariposa County
    Ebook196 pages1 hour

    Mariposa County

    By Leroy Radanovich

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    One of the original 27 counties of California, Mariposa County, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and containing more than 900,000 acres, once covered one-fifth of the state and was considered the “Mother of California Counties.” First inhabited by several Native American tribes, the land that became Mariposa County saw a flood of miners and other white settlers to the area with the discovery of gold in 1849. The county produced not only $48 million in gold, but also millions in copper, lead, zinc, and chromite, among other minerals. Now home to more than 20,000 residents, as well as most of the famous Yosemite National Park, Mariposa County takes pride in the history that lives in the Gold Rush buildings lining downtown Mariposa and Coulterville’s main streets and still standing in early mining towns like Hornitos and Bear Valley.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateSep 18, 2012
    ISBN9781439630853
    Mariposa County
    Author

    Leroy Radanovich

    Yosemite historian Leroy Radanovich has written extensively on the park and Mariposa County, and in this volume he explores the park�s surprisingly diverse history. Included here are images of Yosemite�s military and mining history, as well as the road that crossed the Sierra. Some of the settlements and mining camps shown here still survive, while others are merely shadows. Nonetheless, the outer zones of the park hold much intrigue and little-known history, all of which enriches this national treasure.

    Read more from Leroy Radanovich

    Related to Mariposa County

    Related ebooks

    Photography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Hubris in Art Form

      Jan 3, 2023

      Hubris in Art Form
      6 min read

    • Article

      Deep Ellum Clues

      Nov 25, 2021

      Deep Ellum Clues
      8 min read

    • Article

      Going West

      Oct 27, 2022

      Going West
      5 min read

    • Article

      Commentary: Forget It, Secessionists — We're One California, Indivisible

      Feb 5, 2018

      The latest California secession movement showed off its fantasy map of the state last month. It's kind of hilarious. It splits us this way: Old California looks like a narrow chain of counties starting with Sacramento, Solano, Napa, Sonoma, and headi

      3 min read

    • Article

      Texas Murders Revisited

      Nov 27, 2018

      Texas Murders Revisited
      6 min read

    • Article

      Montana

      Jun 27, 2023

      FAMILY, HISTORY AND PROGRESS COLLIDE in the popular TV series “Yellowstone” and its various spinoffs, much of them set and filmed in Montana. If your roots in the state go as deep as the Dutton family’s, read on for how you can find your own genealog

      6 min read

    • Article

      Frio Town, Texas

      Sep 24, 2019

      Frio Town, Texas
      3 min read

    • Article

      Alta California Becomes A State

      Jan 1, 2020

      Alta California Becomes A State
      4 min read

    • Article

      Cast in Iron?

      Apr 2, 2020

      Cast in Iron?
      7 min read

    • Article

      Selling Yosemite

      Oct 19, 2021

      Selling Yosemite
      10 min read

    • Article

      Pelagic Postcards

      Jun 9, 2020

      Pelagic Postcards
      1 min read

    • Article

      Major Rivers

      Apr 1, 2023

      Major Rivers
      1 min read

    • Article

      The Anonymous Bard

      Jun 30, 2020

      The Anonymous Bard
      5 min read

    • Article

      Fairbank, Arizona

      Mar 1, 2022

      Fairbank, Arizona
      4 min read

    • Article

      Nevada

      Oct 18, 2022

      Nevada
      5 min read

    • Article

      States of Wonder

      May 18, 2020

      States of Wonder
      11 min read

    • Article

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island

      Apr 1, 2020

      Celebrating Black History on Staten Island
      2 min read

    • Article

      This Land Is My Land

      Nov 29, 2019

      This Land Is My Land
      19 min read

    • Article

      Correcting History: On C Pam Zhang’s ‘How Much of These Hills Is Gold’

      Sep 23, 2020

      We need many more novels like this one: novels that breathe life into people who have gone unseen too long. The post Correcting History: On C Pam Zhang’s ‘How Much of These Hills Is Gold’ appeared first on The Millions.

      6 min read

    • Article

      North Dakota

      Apr 30, 2024

      YOU MIGHT FIND YOURSELF SURPRISED WHEN traveling along I-94 between Fargo and Valley City. Amid flat, prairie farmland, you will come across a sign saying, “Continental Divide.” Despite what you might expect, that sign is entirely accurate. “The” Con

      7 min read

    • Article

      New Hampshire

      Apr 30, 2024

      New Hampshire
      7 min read

    • Article

      A Legacy Of Hope And Glory

      Jun 9, 2021

      DESPITE my birthplace in the Mississippi Delta and my early years in schools whose teachers tried hard to educate the children in the poorest state in the Union, I reckon I had a head start when I arrived in Suffolk as the bride of a farmer. White ch

      3 min read

    • Article

      An Eventful Decade

      Feb 1, 2024

      An Eventful Decade
      1 min read

    • Article

      Freedom Towns

      Nov 23, 2023

      Freedom Towns
      23 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Mariposa County

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Mariposa County - Leroy Radanovich

      Radanovich

      INTRODUCTION

      In 1806, a group of Mexican soldiers ventured into the valley of the San Joaquin, via san Juan Bautista and Pacheco Pass. Upon crossing the San Joaquin River, they camped in a ravine containing a small stream. During the course of the afternoon, a sergeant of the troop became engulfed by swarms of butterflies. One of the beautiful winged insects became lodged in the sergeant’s ear and had to be removed. The troop’s padre, Fr. Pedro Munoz, noted in his journal that, This place is known as El Arroyo de las Las Mariposas [The Gulch of the Butterflies], because of their abundance.

      The subsequent 40 years saw the decline of Mexican fortunes in California. The mission system was abandoned after the revolution displaced the Spanish in Mexico City. This led to the establishment of large ranchos of indeterminate size and questionable boundaries. Seeking one of these ranchos, governor of California Juan Bautista Alvarado petitioned Mexico City. He was granted an approximately 44,000-acre agricultural grant, created for grazing. Alvarado was unable to perfect the requirements of the grant, but nonetheless sold the grant in 1846 to Thomas Larkin, American consul general in Monterey, who was representing Col. and Mrs. John C. Fremont. Fremont was the military governor in California, but he resigned to proceed east to face court-martialling for a conflict between Gen. Stephen Watts Kearny and Cmdr. Robert Stockton during the California portion of the Mexican War of Independence. Returning from Washington, D.C., following the conviction of the court and remission of the sentence by President Polk, Fremont discovered that he owned this Las Mariposas instead of farming land near the Bay Area, as he had told Larkin. Fremont had given Larkin $4,000 to make the purchase for him. Larkin paid Alvarado $3,000 for Fremont’s property, pocketing the extra $1,000 as his fee.

      The name Mariposa was given to the new county formed in 1850, one of the original 27 and California’s largest, covering almost one-fifth of the state. The county seat was at Agua Fria, and in 1851, the county government was moved to the new town of Mariposa. By 1854, the county built a brand new courthouse from local lumber. This courthouse has served our county for 150 years. The town that Fremont wanted was laid out by the banking firm of Palmer Cook and Company of San Francisco. Fremont built an adobe office building for his agents, which still stands in downtown Mariposa. The streets were surveyed to be on a grid, giving proper blocks north-south streets being 60 feet wide, and east/west streets set at 50 feet wide. The north-south streets were named after the Fremont family—Jessie, Charles, Bullion (for Jessie’s father, Sen. Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri), and Jones (for Jessie’s brother in law). The east-west streets were named Quartz (or First), leading to the Mariposa Mine; then Second through Eighth.

      California became part of the United States as the result of the 1848 Treaty of Hidalgo with Mexico, which called for the recognition of existing property , ownerships, and grants. But in Fremont’s case, the grant that was purchased for him had a questionable title, as the requirements to perfect the grant had not been satisfied by Alvarado. Fremont applied to the U.S. Land Commission for clear title to his claim, which by this time had floated into the foothill mining region around Mariposa and along the Mariposa River (Creek) and into the San Joaquin Valley. Fremont understood that if he was to have a successful venture, he would need both the mines of the Mother Lode, the agricultural support and water for this project. By 1856, the Supreme Court of the United States directed the state court to restructure the grant boundaries and grant title. Legal issues, both private and public, delayed his full control until 1858. Fremont’s title gave him the only private land in the Mother Lode during the Gold Rush.

      Other items touched on in this book are the construction of the West’s oldest courthouse in continuous use; the beginning of the publication of California’s oldest weekly newspaper, the Mariposa Gazette; the growth of Mariposa at the county seat; the important mining areas and mines south of the Merced River, including Bagby and the Yosemite Valley Railroad; and a glimpse into the above-ground facilities in a major gold mine near Hornitos.

      While not covered in this volume, Mariposa County is also home to most of Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley was first entered and explored by a group of miners from Mariposa who were serving as the Mariposa Battalion. Under the leadership of Col. James Savage, they followed Native Americans who were thought to have killed miners and storekeepers and destroyed their property at various locations. Tracking them led to the discovery of the valley. Within a few years, the first permanent structures were built in Yosemite Valley, with Mariposa being the key dropping-off point for a trip to Yosemite and Wawona. More on this topic is covered in Arcadia’s Yosemite Valley book.

      In 1866, a major fire destroyed 63 wood frame buildings in downtown Mariposa. Rebuilding in brick with iron shutters and sod roofs made Mariposa more fireproof. Small family businesses, logging, and mining supported many Mariposa County citizens, with farming and livestock grazing in the lower elevations of the county continuing to be a consistent, major source of family income.

      Since 1950, the development of Yosemite National Park as one of the nation’s favorite destinations for families has proven to be the major provider of county revenue and jobs. Strong interest in preservation of the county’s scenic and historic assets is consistently a high priority of residents. Those of us who have spent our lives here understand the need to protect the rural nature of our county. Please enjoy this presentation of our history.

      —Leroy Radanovich

      One

      THE BEGINNING

      The 40 years between the butterfly in the ear and the purchase in 1846 of a Mexican land grant by Thomas Larking for Col. and Mrs. John Charles Fremont were eventful for California. The revolution in Mexico City and the Spanish departure meant the end

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1