Plumas County
by Terry Burnes
(This article first appeared in the May, 1993 Club Newsletter. It has
been edited slightly for this edition.)
The '49er Rally moved to Quincy, in the heart of California's
Feather River Country, in 1993. For several years in the late '70s and
early '80s, a couple of friends and I used to go fishing at a little spot
called Three Lakes, above Bucks Lake. We got to know Quincy as one
of the last unspoiled Sierra towns, authentically quaint, but without
the tourist emphasis, shopping malls and traffic that have come to
characterize most of the others. It seemed so perfect that for awhile
we even fantasized about moving there. Remarkably, Quincy has
changed little in the last ten to fifteen years. There's a new Safeway
at the east end of town, and it now has a stoplight (the only one in
Plumas County), but other than that it's still the town I first got to
know fifteen years ago.
Of course, the history of Plumas County goes back considerably
more than 15 years. The modern history of this part of California
began in 1820 when Captain Luis Arguello led a band of Spanish
troops up a river in an unexplored portion of the northern Sierra. He
was struck by the large number of feathers of wildfowl floating on
its waters and named it El Rio de las Plumas. We know it today as the
Feather River, but the original Spanish name stuck when Plumas
County was organized from part of Butte County in 1854.
Back in 1993, some wondered whether it was legitimate to hold
the '49er Rally in Plumas County, not sure whether there was any
sort of a gold rush in this part of California or whether Highway 49
got this far north. Well, Plumas County qualifies on both counts. The
Feather River drainage was in fact the location of extensive gold
mining and the northern terminus of Highway 49 is located just
inside Plumas County at the little settlement of Vinton on Highway
70, just west of Beckwourth Pass. Beckwourth pass is the lowest
across the Sierra (5,212 feet) and after its discovery in 1851 by
James Beckwourth, it became an important point of entry to
California and later, the point at which the Union Pacific Railroad
crossed the Sierra Nevada.
Gold fever hit this area in 1849 when J.R. Stoddard claimed to
have stumbled upon a lake in the area between Downieville and
Sierra Valley, the shores of which were supposedly lined with gold.
Thus began the Gold Lake Excitement. Eventually, upwards of 1000
miners followed Stoddard back into the mountains, but to no avail.
Gold Lake was never found and Stoddard disappeared before those
who'd followed him could take their vengeance upon him. But the
influx of miners opened up the whole region and gold was found in
many tributaries of the Feather River. It was stragglers from the
Gold Lake influx who made the region's most important find on July
1, 1850 on the East Branch of the North Fork of the Feather River, at
a place later known as Rich Bar, just a few miles east of the present
settlement of Belden on Highway 70. It is said that pans of dirt from
this location frequently yielded from $100 to $1,000 and three
Germans took out $36,000 in three days. Rich Bar eventually yielded
$3-4,000,000.
In 1851, Louise Amelia Knapp Smith Clapp arrived in Rich Bar
with her husband, Dr. Fayette Clapp. While there she wrote a series
of letters to her sister in New England, playfully signed "Dame
Shirley." Originally written to give her sister a true picture of life in a
mining camp, the Dame Shirley Letters were later published in The
Pioneer, a monthly magazine of the time, and came to influence
many later writers, including Bret Harte.
Quincy got its start as American Ranch, owned by James H.
Bradley. Bradley was one of three Commissioners who organized
Plumas County in 1854 and owing to his influence he managed to get
his ranch designated as the seat of justice. He laid out a town, called
it Quincy after his home city in Illinois, and induced the people to
vote for it as the County seat, which it has been ever since. The
oldest buildings in town are the Masonic Hall (Harbison Avenue
between Jackson and Main Streets), built in 1855, and the Methodist
Episcopal Church, Jackson and Church Streets, built 1877. The Plumas
County Pioneer Schoolhouse, built in 1857, is now located on the
fairgrounds.
There is much more than a weekend's worth to see and do in and
around Plumas County. Be sure to take some time just to stroll
around downtown Quincy. While there, you might take in the Plumas
County Museum, 500 Jackson Street (8-5 Mon.-Fri.; 10-4, Sat.-Sun. &
holidays). To the southeast of Quincy on Highways 70/89 is
Plumas-Eureka State Park, just west of Blairsden on County A-14.
The Park is the site of many mining ruins, a ski area and the historic
town of Johnsville. From Blairsden, you can head south on Highway
89 to Graeagle (a mill town converted to a picturesque resort), the
Gold Lake resort area and Downieville, one of the best of the Gold
Country towns.
Head east from Blairsden ten miles on Highway 70 and you come
to the town of Portola, site of the Portola Railroad Museum (daily
9-5, train rides every 30 minutes 11-4) with over 75 railcars and
locomotives, including the Union Pacific Centennial, billed as the
world's largest diesel locomotive. Further east on Highway 70 is
Beckwourth Pass, discussed above. From there, head south on
Highway 395 for 25 miles and you're in Reno (about 75 miles from
Quincy)!
To explore the historic town of La Porte, go east from
Quincy a few miles on Highways 70/89, then south on the Quincy-La
Porte Road. La Porte is about 15-20 miles (some gravel roads and
careful map reading required). La Porte is famous as the childhood
home of Lotta Crabtree (more talented protege of Lola Montez and
the gold country's most famous entertainer) and as the birthplace of
American skiing (1850).
Head north from Quincy on Highway 89 and you can take in
Taylorsville (east of 89 a few miles on County A-22), a charming
historic village, and Lake Almanor (created in 1917 by damming the
North Fork of the Feather River). Even further north is Lassen
Volcanic National Park (the road through the Park doesn't usually
open until June 1, especially true this year I suspect).
West of Quincy on Bucks Lake Road is Spanish Ranch, a settlement
which predates Quincy itself and, of course, Bucks Lake. You GS
riders can go to one of my favorite fishing spots by taking the gravel
road below the dam, along the north side of Lower Bucks Lake about
10 miles to Three Lakes, on the edge of the Bucks Lake Wilderness.
The Pacific Crest Trail runs nearby.
And, of course, traveling west of Quincy on Highway 70 will take you
down the beautiful Feather River Canyon, with its many small dams
and deep gorges, and the Union Pacific railroad paralleling your
course all the way.
Be sure to pick up a copy of the AAA Northern California and Bay
and Mountain Section maps to guide your explorations. Have fun!
Back to the Norcal Home Page...
All material on this page Copyright © The BMW Club of Northern
California, 1996. All rights reserved.