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Also known as Cherokee Flat, Forks in the Road, and Winterton,
Altaville was established on Cherokee Creek, northwest of Angels Camp
in 1852. According to legend, the area was a favorite haunt of Joaquin
Murieta, the bandit, who supposedly spent so much time here that a
mountain northwest of the creek was named Joaquin Mountain. While rich
pockets of gold, the "richest of the state," were discovered here in
1854, the gold only lasted a short time. The town was also an important
point for supplies and machinery; however, which enabled it to survive
even after the gold was gone. The camp eventually became a part of
Angels Camp as that town continued to grow and expand into the outlying
areas.Altaville achieved a measure of notoriety for being the starting
place of what many consider to be the Gold Country’s greatest hoax, the
Pliocene Skull affair. It occurred in 1866, when a human skull was
found deep in the Matson Mine on nearby Bald Hill. The skull was given
to Professor J. D. Whitney, then State Geologist, who later presented a
paper at a meeting of the California Academy of Sciences at San
Francisco in July of 1866. In his paper Whitney claimed that the skull
was the remains of a prehistoric man, "dating back to Pliocene times."
For years after, the press was full of stories as many scientists were
eager to accept the age of the skull, while many others merely scoffed.
In 1903, the American Anthropological Society accepted the skull as a
genuine relic, but questioned the extreme age attributed to it. One
newspaper may have reported the truth when it printed, "The
unscientific public hailed the story as a huge joke on the state
geologist perpetrated by the fun loving citizens of the camp." Bret
Harte’s poem, "To the Pliocene Skull," relates the humorous episode.
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