Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a preserve ofgiant sequoia trees, is in the county several miles east of the town ofArnold onState Highway 4. Credit for the discovery of giant sequoias there is given to Augustus T. Dowd, a trapper who made the discovery in 1852 while tracking a bear. When the bark from the "Discovery Tree" was removed and taken on tour around the world, the trees became a worldwide sensation and one of the county's first tourist attractions. The uncommongold telluride mineralcalaverite was discovered in the county in 1861 and is named for it.
Mark Twain set his story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" in the county. The county hosts an annual fair and Jumping Frog Jubilee, featuring a frog-jumping contest, to celebrate the association with Twain's story. Each year's winner is commemorated with a brass plaque mounted in the sidewalk of downtown Historic Angels Camp and this feature is known as the Frog Hop of Fame.Lukas Foss used Twain's story for his 1950 operaThe Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
In 2015, Calaveras County had the highest rate of suicide deaths in the United States, with 49.1 per 100,000 people.[8]
The Spanish wordcalaveras means "skulls." The county takes its name from theCalaveras River; it was said to have been named by Spanish explorerGabriel Moraga, during his 1806–1808 expeditions, when he found manyskulls ofNative Americans along the banks of the stream. He believed they had either died of famine or been killed in tribal conflicts over hunting and fishing grounds. A more likely cause was a European epidemic disease, acquired from interacting with other tribes near the Missions on the coast. TheStanislaus River, which forms the southern boundary, is named forEstanislao, aLakisamniYokuts who escaped fromMission San José in the late 1830s. He is reported to have raised a small group of men with crude weapons, hiding in the foothills when the Mexicans attacked. The natives were quickly decimated by Mexican firearms.
In 1836,John Marsh,Jose Noriega, and a party of men went exploring in Northern California. They made camp along a river bed in the evening, and upon waking discovered that they had camped amid a great quantity of skulls and bones. They also gave the river the name Calaveras.[9][10][11]
Mark Twain spent 88 days in the county in 1865, during which he heard the story that became "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" at the Angel Hotel. This story kicked off his career and put Calaveras County on the map.[12]
Calaveras County was one of the original counties of the state of California, created in 1850 at the time of admission to theUnion. Parts of the county's territory were reassigned toAmador County in 1854 and toAlpine County in 1864.[1]
The county's geography includes landmarks, rolling hills, and giant valleys. It is also known for its friendly communities, and businesses such as agriculture management and construction engineering. It has numerouscaverns, such asMercer Caverns, California Cavern andMoaning Cavern that are national destinations for tourists from across the country. Other attractions include a thriving wine making industry, including the largest of the Calaveras wineries:Ironstone Vineyards, mountain sports recreation and the performing arts.
Gold prospecting in Calaveras County began in late 1848 with a camp founded by Henry Angel. Angel may have first arrived in California as a soldier, serving under Colonel Frémont during the Mexican War. After the war's end, he found himself in Monterey where he heard of the fabulous finds in the gold fields. He joined the Carson-Robinson party of prospectors and set out for the mines. The company parted ways upon reaching what later became known as Angels Creek. Henry Angel tried placer mining but soon opened a trading post. By the end of the year, over one hundred tents were scattered about the creek and the settlement was referred to as Angels Trading Post, later shortened toAngels Camp.
Placer mining soon gave out around the camp, but an extensive gold-bearing quartz vein of the area's Mother Lode was located by the Winter brothers during the mid-1850s, and this brought in the foundations of a permanent town. This vein followed Main Street from Angels Creek up to the southern edge of Altaville. Five major mines worked the rich vein: the Stickle, the Utica, the Lightner, the Angels, and the Sultana. These mines reached their peaks during the 1880s and 1890s, when over 200 stamp mills crushed quartz ore brought in by hand cars on track from the mines. By the time hard rock mining was done, the five mines had produced a total of over $20 million in gold.[13]
In December 1849 and January 1850 the county was the site of "Chile War of 1849" in which Anglo-American andChilean miners raided each others camp and fought a legal battle. The conflict ended with three Chileans publicly executed inMokelumne Hill on January 3, 1850.[14][15]
Thetelluride mineralcalaverite was first recognized and obtained in 1861 from the Stanislaus Mine, Carson Hill,Angels Camp, in Calaveras Co., California.[16] It was named for the County of origin by chemist and mineralogistFrederick Augustus Genth who differentiated it from the known gold telluride mineralsylvanite, and formally reported it as a new gold mineral in 1868.[17][18]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,037 square miles (2,690 km2), of which 1,020 square miles (2,600 km2) is land and 17 square miles (44 km2) (1.6%) is water.[19] A California Department of Forestry report lists the county's area in acres as 663,000, although the exact figure would be 663,477.949 acres (2,685.00000 km2). There are a number of caverns located in Calaveras County.
Calveras County, California – Racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.
As of thecensus[38] of 2000, there were 40,554 people, 16,469 households, and 11,742 families residing in the county. Thepopulation density was 40 people per square mile (15 people/km2). There were 22,946 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile (8.5/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 91.2%White, 0.8%Black orAfrican American, 1.7%Native American, 0.9%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 2.1% fromother races, and 3.3% from two or more races. 6.8% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race. 15.7% were ofGerman, 13.0%English, 10.7%Irish, 7.4%Italian and 7.0% American ancestry according toCensus 2000. 94.5% spoke English and 4.0% Spanish as their first language.
There were 16,469 households, out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.9% weremarried couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 23.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.85.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 22.8% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 22.4% from 25 to 44, 31.1% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $41,022, and the median income for a family was $47,379. Males had a median income of $41,827 versus $28,108 for females. Theper capita income for the county was $21,420. About 8.7% of families and 11.80% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.
Calaveras County is governed by a five-memberBoard of Supervisors.Supervisors are elected by district at the Consolidated Primary Election and serve for four years.Current Board of Supervisors: Gary Tofanelli (District 1); Autumn Andahl (District 2); Martin Huberty (District 3); Amanda Folendorf (District 4) and Benjamin Stopper (District 5). In January 2023 Gary Tofanelli was elected chair of the board and Jack Garamendi was elected Vice Chair. Teresa Hitchcock is the County Executive Officer and Sarah Edwards is the County Counsel. Both are appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors.
Past presidential elections in Calaveras County have displayed preferences for Republican candidates; the last Democrat to win a majority in the county wasLyndon Johnson in1964, although DemocratBill Clinton lost the county by only 17 votes in 1992. In 2020, Republicans won 60% of the vote for the first time since 2004.
Calaveras Connect provides service in Angels Camp, San Andreas, and other communities in the county. Intercounty connections are available toColumbia (Tuolumne County),Jackson (Amador County)
^Lyman, George D.John Marsh, Pioneer: The Life Story of a Trail-blazer on Six Frontiers, pp. 207–208, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1931.
^Winkley, John W.,Dr. John Marsh: Wilderness Scout, pp. 54–5, The Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1962.
^Thompson, Thomas Hinkley, and West, Albert Augustus.History of San Joaquin County, California, p. 13, 1879.
^Purcell, Fernando (2009). "Becoming Dark: The Chilean Experience in California, 1848-1870". In Cobas, José A.; Duany, Jorge; Feagin, Joe R. (eds.).How the United States Racializes Latinos: White Hegemony and Its Consequences.doi:10.4324/9781315634104-4.
^abcdefghijklmnopU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B02001.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B03003.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 26, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19301.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19013.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B19113.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^abU.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
^U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey, 2011 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, Table B01003.U.S. Census website . Retrieved October 21, 2013.
A Memorial and Biographical History of the Counties of Merced, Stanislaus, Calaveras, Tuolumne and Mariposa, California. Chicago: Lewis Publishing Co., 1892.
"Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit: 2005 Pre-Fire Management Plan September 28, 2005 Edition," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, September 28, 2005, pp. 16, 17
United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics.
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