Wednesday, May. 05, 2010

Twist in Time: How civic pride took over at Hangtown

Not long after James Marshall discovered gold at Coloma in January 1848, another lode of the precious metal was found in abundance about eight miles away. In a few short months, a new camp that rivaled Coloma sprang up, and they called it "Dry Diggings," but not for long - not after the hanging.

How civic pride took over at Hangtown

All through the summer of 1848, Dry Diggings was a popular rendezvous for a good number of argonauts. The miners were making two to four ounces a day, and in the words of one of them, they were the "happiest set of men on earth." Then the inevitable happened, violence raised its ugly head.

In January of 1849, five men broke into a local gambler's abode and while one of them held a pistol to his head, the others rifled through his belongings. They didn't get much and were caught quickly anyway. As was the custom in the gold regions before statehood, a vigilance court of 200 or so miners was held, and the culprits were tried, convicted and given 35 lashes each.

Before the outlaws could leave town, the miners discovered that two of them had earlier committed another robbery in which they had attempted to murder their victim on the Stanislaus River. The "court" convened once again, this time to rid the gold mines forever of the likes of the Dry Diggings Duo.

"What shall we do with them," shouted the self-appointed judge. "Hang 'em," came the reply. The two men were then placed in a wagon, driven under a tree right on Main Street and fitted with a noose. At the signal, the wagon was driven out from under them, and they were left suspended between heaven and earth.

Since this was the first recorded lynching on the Mother Lode, Dry Diggings quickly got a new name - Hangtown - and a new reputation. Apparently the quick administration of justice there had a civilizing influence, and ne'er-do-wells were always on their good behavior in this strict mining camp.

So effective was the reputation of justice in Hangtown that the place became downright civilized - so much so the residents began to clamor for a more fitting name to match their good behavior, so in 1854, the state legislature gave it to them.

In an accommodating twist in time, what had begun as Dry Diggings and had earned the name Hangtown, received its third name in six years, and it has that name to this very day. As the county seat of El Dorado County, it is now known as Placerville, thanks to the civic pride of the law-abiding citizens of Hangtown.