It wasn’t always known as Lotus, this now quiet Gold Rush town on the South Fork of the American river just to the west of Coloma. Originally it was named Marshall, in honor of James Wilson Marshall, the discoverer of…
Community Profiles – Latrobe
It’s hard to imagine that the small town of Latrobe, which is located in the most southwestern part of our County, for a short period of time was a “boomtown.” And, it was a direct result of the discovery of…
Community Profiles – Kirkwood
There were many inns or stations along the original Kit Carson emigrant trail over which the early pioneers who braved the treacherous trip overland into California traveled. As it was with other early roads, the inns and trading posts were…
Community Profiles – Kelsey
Kelsey was not only the name of an early El Dorado County town, but also an entire mining district. Because of this, the history written about Kelsey may include things that occurred in nearby mining communities, places with wonderfully descriptive…
Community Profiles – Kanaka Valley
During the Gold Rush “Kanaka”, the Hawaiian word for “person” or “human being”, was the common designation for a native of the Sandwich Islands, a place sometimes referred to as “Owyhee” (Hawaii). As with many terms that refer to ethnic…
Community Profiles – Indian Diggings
The first report of the discovery of gold at what would become the town of Indian Diggings, occurred in 1850 when a party of white men from Fiddletown (formerly called Oneida and then a part of El Dorado County) came…