Geography has played an important role in the history of Nevada County. Stretching across the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, over the famed “Donner Pass” to the State boundary where it meets the State of Nevada, the county has seen the entire panorama of the development of California.

Native peoples, primarily the Maidu Indians were the only occupants of the area prior to the explosive migration of Americans and others to the wonderful area of California. Pressures of economics and politics encouraged the westward movement of Americans with the famous phrase “Go West Young Man.” The discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill turned the westward migration into an all-out stampede.

The native peoples used the area for hunting and worked their way up and down the mountains as the seasons changed.  The migrations of the deer and bear were followed and as the weather closed in on the upper reaches of the mountains the people found an easier life in the lowlands where the acorn and other native vegetation provided winter nourishment to supplement the hunting.

Prior to the gold discovery and subsequent stampede, there was a slow but steady movement westward. John Sutter had established his “Fort” near Sacramento and was expanding his activities. Sutter’s Fort became a goal for wagon trains of Americans looking for land to farm and make their new homes. The Stephens-Murphy-Townsend wagon train was the first to cross the Sierras near Donner Summit in 1844.

This first party across the Sierras was nearly lost to history when it was over-shadowed by the tragedy of the “Donner Party” for which the pass and lake became know. In the often-told story, the party had been delayed in their crossing of the continent by innumerable problems and errors in judgment. They were stranded near Truckee, on the shores of Donner Lake by a snowstorm and the stories that followed that fateful party have been told and re-told. 

After the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill in Coloma the tales of fabulous wealth lying around for the picking spread through the world. The Americans were arriving in droves from across the prairies in their wagon trains and by ship into the once sleepy village of San Francisco. The world was also arriving. From South America, Europe, The British Isles, The Hawaiian Islands, Australia, China from all of these came the seekers of gold.

As the miners moved east across the foothills and mountains many found the mining of the rivers to be very difficult and turned to other fields. Food, tools, housing and clothing were needed by the millions of workers and some found their way to “mine” these workers by providing such necessities at exorbitant prices. Mining camps and small towns appeared across the hills, mountains and ravines. Many lasted only as long as the gold in the adjacent streams. Other small towns became permanent and were suppliers of all kinds of needs, material, spiritual and otherwise. 

In Nevada County, Caldwell’s Upper Store was the first name given the town of Nevada. This little town grew to where it was once the third largest city in California and was a serious contender for the state capitol when statehood came about. 

A few miles away was a grassy valley in which the town of “Centerville” was established just above the area known as “Boston Ravine,” these two eventually merged and the town of Grass Valley has been growing ever since.

Quickly the loose gold in the streambeds was disappearing. The seekers followed the streams and river beds up hill toward the summit of the Sierras, but what mother nature had placed in the streams and rivers over millions of years was soon found and recovered by man. More and more inventions were used to reach the more inaccessible gold. No attention was paid to the damage to the rivers and streams or to the mountains—only the gold was important.

Once the easily acquired gold (placer gold) was recovered from the rivers and streams the mind of man was turned to the question of where the gold had come from? Quartz rock was found to be the source of the rich gold fields and the mining of that source became a goal of the miners. To follow the quartz veins underground mining systems were developed. This development of underground mining called for the investment of large amounts of money and hundreds of mining claims were filed only to be under-funded and the development of the mines too expensive for individuals.

Mining companys appeared. They raised funds and developed the claims they had and acquired claims from discouraged neighbors or discouraged them to the point of selling out. Gradually, the major mines of the Nevada County became the primary employers and buyers of materials from the local businesses. The Empire, North Star, and Idaho-Maryland Mines were critical to the economy of the area. These mines were all what is termed “hard-rock” mines and they recovered their gold by tunneling, blasting and processing the ore in mills on the surface. The continuous infiltration of ground water into the miles of tunnels caused the mine owners to import a good number of Cornish Miners who had developed the “Cornish Pump”. They had been using this pump in the tin mines of Cornwall for many years and it was the most efficient method of de-watering miles of mine tunnels at that time. The Cornish miner was also in a financial depression at home and eager to move to the new country. With their expertise in hard rock mining they were most welcome.

In other parts of the county another type of  mountain contained gold in quite another form. These mountains were composed of decomposing granite with lower quantities of gold mixed in. The discovery of this led to hydraulic mining. Enormous water cannon were developed and called “monitors.” Water ditches, flumes and pipes were laid and funneled to these monitors which were turned on to the mountains and vast quantities of mud and other debris were washed down. The debris was processed for gold and the waste allowed to pile up in the canyons, ravines and riverbeds. The following winter’s storms washed the debris down into the fertile central valley of California. 

In the valley, primarily around Marysville and Yuba City, the debris flooded farms,fields and orchards and filled the riverbeds to such an extent that steamboats could no longer reach Marysville and the farmers could not continue their work. A lawsuit was filed against the mine operators and eventually the “Sawyer Decision” nearly stopped the destructive hydraulic mining operations. 

The Sawyer Decision is considered by many to be the first “Environmental Protection” law in the United States.

The huge demands for power sources in the mines triggered the development of steam power and almost all the mines operated at one time or another with this source. At the Empire Mine alone, it is said that they used up to 11 cords of wood per day to power their operations. Whole crews did nothing but cut trees for the wood required by the mines.

The water wheel had been used for centuries to provide power for all forms of mechanized operations throughout the world. A local man, Lester Pelton, improved the water wheel by changing to a double cup instead of the flat board. This development greatly increased the effectiveness of the water wheel, which in turn, allowed many operators to turn to the use of water wheels for generation of compressed air and electricity in the mines. The Miners Foundry in Nevada City manufactured many of these “Pelton Wheels” for the mines. Today the Pelton Wheel is still in use in many places for hydr-oelectrical power generation. 

After the Sawyer Decision there were many underused water canals, ditches and res ervoirs which had been built to provide the hydraulic miners with their water. At the same time, the development of electrical service for the use of homes and business was coming along and the underused water supplies of Nevada County were ready to be tapped. The early formation of what would eventually become Pacific Gas and Electric Company began in Nevada City and the use of the Pelton Wheel to generate that electricity with the water available helped lead the state into the world we know today.

The large mines of Nevada County kept producing gold throughout the depression, which began in 1929 and held the nation in its grips until World War II. Thus, it is said that no depression happened here. However, the entry of the United States into the war and the subsequent Manpower Act which required the closing of the mines and the redirection of manpower to the war effort hit the county hard. Many families or their breadwinners were out of work and moved to the cities to be employed in the war effort.

After the war, the price of gold was still controlled by the United States government. The mines were found to be in such ill-repair that they needed serious upgrading.  The demand for increased wages and improved safety for the miners, the needed repairs and the controlled price of gold, eventually lead to the closing of the deep hard-rock mines. Pumps were shut down, head-frames demolished and other equipment auctioned off.

Some smaller operations remained and the semi-amateur gold seekers still worked the rivers and streams looking for the illusive gold nuggets, but basically the gold mining industry had collapsed.

As time wore on, many county residents realized their unique history and they turned to the tourist industry to broaden their source of income. The City of Nevada City was declared a National Historic Site and the City created its “Historic District” in which buildings from the past were preserved, and protected.