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 The Maidu and Washoe Indians The Maidu and Washoe Indians were the first residents of this area of the Sierra Nevada. During summers they came into the mountains to hunt and fish. During the fall and winter, they returned to the foothills and valleys below. Artifacts such as spears and arrowheads, beads, mortars, pestles and grinding rocks have been found, particularly along Henness Pass Road. James Marshall's discovery of the yellow metal at Coloma signaled the ending of their peaceful way of life.  Downieville 1854 Gold in the mountains and valleys slashed by the forks of the North and Middle Yuba Rivers and their tributaries was so plentiful that by April 1852 the area was teeming with people. Sierra County was formed from the then-much larger Yuba County. By the mid-1850's, Downieville, the county seat, was one of the largest towns in California--surpassed only by San Francisco, Sacramento, Grass Valley, and Nevada City. It missed becoming the state capital by only one vote!  Mule Train Until 1860, all supplies were brought in by mule trains, which sometimes included 75 animals, as there were no roads wide enough for wagons. Downieville and Sierra City and points east were reached from Nevada City by way of Alleghany--there was no Highway 49 back then. Sierra County is comprised of two very different regions. On the west side of the crest of the Sierra it is mountainous and heavily forested, therefore supporting miners and loggers. On the east side is the 5,000-foot-high Sierra Valley, which is said to have been an ancient lake bed that was once part of the great inland ocean of Lake Lahontan. It is one of the largest alpine valleys in the Sierra Nevada mountains.  Settlers The settlers who remained after the euphoria of the Gold Rush era was over were a hardy and independent breed. Periodically, winter storms have left as much as thirty feet of snow, blocking roads and passes. | Page 1 | Page2 | |
