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Local author pens history book Wants readers to discover the 'lost' Mother Lode |
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June 3, 2001 - 9:00AM
By Harold Kruger Appeal-Democrat
Marjorie Giles wants people to find the rest of the "lost" Mother Lode.
"It's just ignored," she said of the gold areas north of Auburn.
"The state tourism office just draws a line. There's nothing about the
Gold Country, except for the Mother Lode. The upper part isn't known,
isn't acknowledged. Nobody has heard of it. Marysville is huge as a
cultural center (and) is disregarded."
Giles, a Dobbins author, hopes to set the record straight with her
new book, "Gold Rivers of Northern California," which focuses on the
history of Yuba and Sutter counties from the 1800s onward. It also
features the notable "founders, rascals and citizens."
She writes about Yuba City founder Sam Brannan and Marysville historic figures Mary Covillaud, Stephen Field and Theodor Cordua.
James Beckwourth, the adventurer and explorer "is about as interesting as anybody gets," she said.
The book also mentions some of the out-of-the-way areas, still
undeveloped and looking much as they did in the 1850s, places such as
Cherokee, Graniteville, Johnsville, Sierra City and Washington.
"It makes a nice travel guide for the northern Gold Country, which has been disregarded and undeveloped," Giles said.
The new book, illustrated by Giles' husband, David, expands on her
1988 work, "Changes in Harmony: An Illustrated History of Yuba and
Sutter Counties."
Giles said she got conflicting advice from two friends when she mentioned she was going to write another book.
One warned her that if she wrote about all the unspoiled areas
"they'll all come swarming in," Giles said. "The other says you have a
depressed economy and you need some attention."
Giles said much of the area in her book is "undeveloped. That's the
major part of it. It's unexploited. A lot of the trails are still
present."
People can "hike for miles and not see anyone," she said. "That's pretty unique."
Today, she said, this northern Gold Country is populated by
"independents and renegades. They're mostly people who choose
independence and silence in nature over the cities."
Giles, a biophysicist by training who did research at Yale
University, said she was "a rich Orinda matron a long time ago" when
she decided to head north.
"I wanted to flee, and this is where I fled to," she said. "Yuba
County was small and nice. I've been here 28 years. I guess I like it.
I like the silence. We've had two fires and we thought we were gone
both times. Both times we decided to build again right where we are."
The Yuba-Sutter area is rich with history. Stories abound among our
readers of their work and lives here; of the 1955 flood, the barges on
the river, Marysville's heyday. It's a history that dates back to the
Gold Rush and original founding families who made their homes here.
Article is copyright Appeal Democrat http://www.appeal-democrat.com
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