DOUGLAS FLAT

Before the Gold Rush, Chief Walker and a tribe of Miwok Indians occupied this placid little valley, their camp located near a fine, clear spring. After the Gold Rush, things changed. With the discovery of gold in Coyote Creek, a mining camp appeared almost overnight, a camp that included a church, post office, flour mill, blacksmith, school, two distilleries, several merchandise stores, and seven saloons. Several thousand miners, a mixture of Chileans, Italians, French, English, Irish, Welsh, Danes, Mexicans, and Americans were working the placers, as well as four major mines. And as the Indians no longer had a place to live, they left.
Coyote Creek runs through a large meadow, or flat, and as a certain Mr. Douglas used to camp in the flat, the town came to be named after him. Although the main industry here was mining, many settlers planted orchards, vineyards and gardens as the ground was exceptionally fertile. It was well they did, for the placers were worked out in a short time and most of the camp’s population left, but at least the crops remained.

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