Coloma, CA lies in California's Sierra foothills. The American River flows through the town and was made famous in 1848 when gold was first discovered there at Sutter's Mill. James W. Marshall was building a sawmill for Captain John Sutter, using water from the American River. He noticed several flakes of metal in the water and recognized them to be gold. Though he tried to keep it a secret, the word spread quickly, and triggered the California Gold Rush of 1849. Today this river is also known throughout California for its whitewater rapids. Coloma is very close to where Lucy lives and we made a trip there one day and walked around Sutter’s Mill. It was interesting to see the old buildings and equipment. You can actually still pan for gold there and people are still finding it! I bought a little pouch of fools gold in the gift shop to give to Hannah.
we drove on California's shortest state highway to get there
Sutter's Mill
the California Stamping machine, it crushed stone in order to separate the gold from other rocks
these last two photos are of a blacksmith shop in Coloma, an interesting place to visit
