The youth of America should be acquainted with the history, the development and the ideals of our nation. They should know under what conditions our nation had its birth; what problems have beset it; and how they have been solved. The should know something of our present problems, and such knowledge can be built only upon an understanding of the past. They should know the facts of our nation's history, of which they should be proud. Not only is this true of our nation, but it is as true of our state and our immediate locality. It has been my purpose to gather together some of the interesting facts of Tuolumne County's history and present then in a form suitable for the use of high school pupils. I trust that all who read these pages will be inspired with an appreciation of and a greater reverence for the forefathers of Tuolumne County.

Back in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, in the heart of the Mother Lode, lies Tuolumne County, whose history is rich with memories of the days of forty-nine. It was in this country of yesterdays, during those frenzied days of gold, that men fought and toiled and died for that precious metal. Miners in search of this precious substance penetrated into its forests, prospected up and down its canyons, and climbed its steep and rugged mountains. Towns sprang up overnight and disappeared almost as quickly. The miners were forever moving on to richer diggings in search of the “El Dorado.” The gold rush days found Tuolumne a wild and rough country, with the most varied population of any country in the whole region. Yankees, Mexicans, Englishmen, “Sidney Ducks”, Frenchmen, Germans, Spaniards, Chinese, Negroes, Irishmen, and Chileans rubbed elbows and occasionally fists with each other. The region was full of gamblers, drunkards, fast women and lumps of gold. Before the great rush for gold, California was a quiet, peaceful, sparsely settled land. In 1842, the population was about 5,000, not including the Indians. There were about 4,000 native Californians, 90 Mexicans, 80 Spaniards, 80 Frenchmen, 360 Scotchment, Irishmen and Englishmen, 90 Germans, Italians, and Portuguese. There was little immigration, and by 1847 the population had increased to only 7,000 or 8,000. The pueblos of Monterey, San Jose and Yorba Buena were the principal centers of trade. San Diego, Los Angeles, Sonoma and New Helvetia (now Sacramento) also contained a small population. Then came the discovery of gold. It took a little while for the news to travel, and at first people thought the reports were exaggerated, but as more and more reports were carried back to the pueblos, the excitement increased. On the first of April, 1848, the California Star printed “We are happy to be able to say that California continues to be perfectly quiet…. For more than a year no disorders have occurred, -the native Californians are beginning to mingle with our people, and are gradually turning their attention to agriculture. No further difficulties are apprehended.” Little did the writer of this article dream what was to take place before very long. BY the end of May only about 300 men were in the gold fields. So rapidly did the gold-fever take hold, however, that by the tenth of June, the same newspaper was fearing that every town would be depopulated. It reported that “every seaport south to San Diego and every interior town is drained of human beings.” As yet, of course, the news had not had time to reach the Atlantic states, so the gold rush was purely local, and there were relatively few digging for gold. The Star estimated that there were “1,000 souls washing gold”, and that about $100,000 had been taken from the mines since the first of May from an area about 100 miles in length and 200 miles wide.

This investigation was undertaken to determine if there were morphologic characters that would allow rapid field identification of Allium tribracteatum Torrey and A. obtusum Lemmon, or if, in the absence of such characters, it would be possible to separate the two species on the basis of plant associations that might be unique to each. Allium tribracteatum is restricted or nearly restricted to volcanic soils of the Mehrten Formation in Tuolumne County, California and is a species of concern to the United States Forest Service because of this restricted distribution. Allium obtusum, on the other hand, is found both on the Mehrten Formation and on other soil types in the Sierra Nevada and has a much wider geographic distribution. I found that the only reliable way to differentiate the two species morphologically was by the cell pattern on the bulb coats, a difficult characteristic to ascertain in the field. However a number of species of vascular plants were found that were associated only with one or the other of the species in question and were reliable indicators of the Allium species identity. Environmental impacts facing Allium tribracteatum include winter recreation activities, illegal off highway vehicles, power line maintenance, seasonal wood cutting, some livestock grazing, and activities associated with the Bald Mountain Helitack fire base. Currently, these activities have minimal impacts on the Allium tribracteatum populations.

The flora of California has been studied as a whole, but with the exception of Yosemite Valley few specific areas in Tuolumne County have been investigated. The area chosen for this investigation was approximately forty acres of the lava flow known as Table Mountain. This forty acres is located in the southeast portion of the Omega Mine near Rawhide Flat, Tuolumne County, California. The decision to use this area for study was based on its relative freedom from man's influence and its accessibility. The Omega Vine belongs to the author and its use was restricted during the period of investigation

During most of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth numerous railroads were built throughout America. Some. grew into gigantic systems with names we recognize today; Southern Pacific, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe, Chesapeake & Ohio. Others faded into oblivion. But all, successful or not, were built to fill transportation needs. In Tuolumne County, California, located along the Mother. Lode and stretching into the high Sierra Nevada, the first railroad reached the county in 1897. By World War I a number of rail lines had been built. Several, having served their purpose, had already been removed by that time. They played varying roles in the different industries of the county; mining and minerals, lumber, hydroelectric power and agriculture, as well as passenger service. After the war many things changed. Automobiles and trucks successfully competed for some traffic. Mining suffered as labor costs increased while gold held at a price fixed by the government. Dams built by public agencies dwarfed the earlier projects of private industry. And, outside capitalists acquired control of companies that had formerly been locally owned and managed. The transportation picture changed dramatically from what: it had been before the war. The purpose of this paper is to study those early years of the twentieth century in Tuolumne County. What were the needs for railroads in different: industries and enterprises in the county between 1897 and 1917; and what was their importance to those industries? And finally what was the impact of railroads on the economic development of Tuolumne County as a whole? By focusing on an area with a relatively self-contained railroad network it is hoped that influences in the economy will be more apparent. Trends identified here should find application in other areas. It is also hoped that topics for future research will be suggested and that methods and resources for that research will be suggested.