Copperopolis' Mines Helped the Union Defeat the South
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- Опубліковано 30 чер 2024
- Jeff checks out the former copper mining town of Copperopolis in Calaveras County and revisits the extensive mining that took place there starting in the 1860s.
He will also show you the former gas station where Michael Landon filmed "Highway to Heaven" in 1984.
#copperopolis #calaverascounty #historyhunters - Фільми й анімація
Wonderful! Copperopolis has so much. That area of Highway 4/49 (Angels Camp, Jamestown, Copperopolis, Murphys, Columbia ) is one of my favorite vacation spots.
I hope he goes to those places as well.
I'll probably never get to see these beautiful places in my lifetime. Thank you for taking me there with you.
I’m glad you’re able to enjoy what we show! What part of the country or world are you from?
I wonder how many Californians drive past these old mining towns but never stop. So much history in its own back yard..
I have an ancestor cousin who delivered milk to Angels Camp from Murphys. Also she made butter and wine. She is a decendent from the Henry Adams of Braintree, MA. Her name is Ethel Willard. Table Mountain Ranch Dairy. She owned 1,300 acres of ranchland out in Pennsylvania Gulch. Her burial was moved to make a dedicated plot at Murphys Cemetery. Her father was a watchmaker for Calaveras County. His name is Zabdiel Adams Willard. We are cousins to presidents John Quincy and John Adams. Her brother, John Ware Willard was an Assayer in Murphys, California.
I'm SO not a binge watcher BUT with your channel, I am.
Thanks!!!
So much local history that we knew nothing about, doesn't affect our lives one way or another, but so interesting to hear about it.
Thank you Jeff and Sarah, my wife and i enjoy your videos.
Great episode! I live in Groveland and have taken my children and grandchildren to the town square for outdoor concerts. It’s magical lit up at night. Now I can share some of the history of that area with them and continue the life of the town.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Awhile back when you had a livestream I asked if you could visit Copperopolis and YOU DID! My husband and I moved here last July and are interested in it’s history. Beautiful seeing shots from your drone. Especially enjoyed comparison clips from Highway to Heaven! Thank you for sharing your talent with us!
Just settled into a yummy homemade chicken and rice lunch, and thankfully I said, “Hey find out if History Hunters has a new video we can watch!”
The mother lode for Cooperopolis and also for us. Another great UA-cam video for our Sunday pleasure. Lucky you to have those great pics of Michael Landon.❤️🌺
Jeff and Sarah, I love all our videos and I love learning about History. Keep up the hard work on your videos.
It’s to bad that not more of the town exits like Columbia and Jamestown. A lot of things I didn’t realize about this town! Thanks for the History lesson, you’re a great teacher!
It seems that Landon used a lot of the Central Sierra for filming. I wish the head frames to the mines were still erect. Another fascinating history lesson. Thank you!
Yes Landon was up here quite a bit! In fact they also filmed Bonanza right outside of Knights Ferry!
Awesome look at an area we usually zip thru on our way to Stockton. I have seen the Copper Park with all the rusty implements but never stopped to take a lookski. I always wonder how the town was named and glad I don't live there as it's a very long name to write on an envelope! Thank you for another look back at the history of this area.
Fascinating little town. It goes to show you that there is history around where you live and people have no idea. The lady there had no idea about the TV episode and it really wasn't that long ago. You had some great old photos of meeting him. Poor Sarah needed some animals in the town to pet and feed! I like seeing all the mining equipment and buildings you showcased. Still quite a bit there. Especially towards the end. The modern town square was a nice surprise.
Wow, you packed in a lot in that comment. Lol. 1984 doesn’t seem like that long ago but it also does when looking at the changes and thinking about the years that have passed. Sarah did stay in the car for that part of the visit but next week we will highlight the cemetery and she did get out to help me find some graves there. And we have a surprise visit from an animal in that cemetery video coming up. Thank you so much for watching and leaving the comment. We always appreciate your insight and your take on things!!!
@@jbenziggy I did see here exiting the cemetery with you mentioning the companion video. It's great that she got her animal fix!
Hello History Hunters Jeff, Thanks for taking your time searching and sharing this interesting story and thanks for keeping History alive. Have a Wonderful 🌞 day.
Ethel Willard (Adams) 7th cousin 5x removed
The Brownsville Mining District and the Table Mountain Ranch house are located on Pennsylvania Gulch Road east of Murphys. The area got the name Brownsville from Alfred Brown and his brother George who were early owners of the ranch. The ranch had several more owners before it became the home of Ethel Adams.
Ethel Adams did not live inside the boundary of the Murphys town site but she was a large part of the life of Murphys. Ethel was born in Boston in 1858 to wealthy parents, and came to California in 1884 when her parents settled in Carmel, but visited Murphys frequently to take care of her father’s mining interests in this area. Ethel’s father, Zabdiel Adams Willard, came from a family that made their money manufacturing clocks and chronometers. The Willard home in Boston was the center of many large social events. His two children, Ethel and Jack, were brought up in that environment among well-known political figures and influential businessmen, and they were educated at the best schools in Boston.
Ethel met a mining engineer through her father’s contacts, and they married in 1886. The marriage to William J. Adams did not work out, so Zabdiel Willard paid a financial settlement to his son in law and William Adams deeded his interest in the ranch to Ethel and then left. Ethel Adams’ estranged husband William J. Adams died in San Francisco in 1910 from typhoid fever. Zabdiel Willard then purchased more acreage next to the land owned by his daughter, and deeded the newly purchased land to her. Because she was financially backed by her father, Ethel was able to make a showcase out of the ranch.
Ethel had a passion for animals, especially thoroughbred horses and dogs and eventually had three hundred and twenty acres on the home farm and another four hundred acres of grazing land reaching to the Stanislaus River. She ran a dairy, making choice butter from her Jersey cows and selling it in nearby towns, and often Ethel Adams drove the delivery wagon herself.
Ethel could often be seen riding her favorite horse, usually with a couple of her dogs accompanying her. She valued being alone but also did not avoid the social side of life and would host parties and balls, sometimes in Armory Hall if the event was too large for her home. A club house was built on her property next to a small lake in memory of her brother Jack who had died recently and parties were held there.
In April of 1897 the ranch house caught fire when no one was home, not the first fire at the property. By the time the few people who were on the ranch could arrive the home was lost with most of the possessions, including an extensive collection of museum quality Japanese items that Jack Willard had collected on his travels and had given to his sister. A new ranch home was designed immediately, with architects from Stockton arriving in Murphys a week later to work on the plans for a new home. Within a month, the house was under construction, with a tent city erected on the ranch for the artisans working on the building.
Ethel Adams was a working rancher and led the cattle drives to the mountains with her ranch hands. She was rumored to sleep in the barn with them and at times also ate there with them. She treated her ranch hands and domestic employees as family, and one of her big disappointments was when she discovered that her trusted ranch foreman George Hinkston was not the honorable person she had believed him to be. Around 1920 she hired a new foreman from Massachusetts, Fred Kenney and he remained with her at the ranch until her death.
On the ranch were English Walnuts, French prunes, peaches, grapes and apples. There was a natural spring which irrigated most of the farm with the waters collected in a large reservoir near the house, where Ethel Adams would often row around in a small boat. The Union Water Company ditch ran along the mountain side above the property and the water from it was also used for irrigation, with a pipe from that ditch bringing water to the house and barns.
In 1927 Ethel Adams had surgery to remove a large abdominal tumor. Against the advice of everyone she went on a cattle drive before her surgery was healed, and died in the mountains she loved. Her ranch hands brought her body back to Murphys and she was cremated, with the cremains buried under an oak tree on her ranch. The oak tree later ended up being in the front yard of a home in the Murphys Ranch Subdivision. That oak tree died many years later supposedly from over watering but possibly just from old age. Her ashes were removed in 2019 and reburied in Buena Vista Cemetery.
In her will Ethel Adams left the ranch she loved to her foreman, Fred Kenney. The only other local person to receive a bequest was Louis Malaspino who was left some of the income from a trust fund. There is a local legend that Louis Malaspino agreed to take the blame for some rustling that had occurred around 1916 and was paid by Ethel Adams for going to jail so she and the ranch would not be embarrassed. There is no proof of that but Louis Malaspino did get sent to prison for rustling at that time.
The old dairy is still there, but a large barn that was across the road is no longer standing. The reservoir that was to the left of the house is gone, but a new one is across the road. The many fruit trees are gone, as is the dance hall next to the lake that was the scene of many parties. Where there were fields of hay on Pennsylvania Gulch Road now there is a vineyard and housing development.
There is a burial ground on part of the Table Mountain Ranch that was used in very early years for the miners and families of the Brownsville mining district and the Douglas Camp area. There were at least twenty grave markers there at one time but the ranch foreman, George Hinkston removed them because they were in the way of the cattle, and is supposed to have dumped them in Coyote Creek. Currently only one grave has a marker that was installed for the Webster family in 1909. The grave is surrounded by a wrought iron fence.
Most of the attached photos are courtesy of Judy Marvin, current owner the property.
Really great video Jeff and Sarah and amazed at this small town having so much history to it and the now modern version looks beautiful Very much enjoyed Thankyou
Good ol Copperopolis. Some of the nicest people I ever met. I installed satellite dishes in Copperopolis. I also was stung by wasps in Copperopolis. Once again, you’ve taught me a lot. Don’t stop what you’re doing. My great grandmother loved highway to Heaven and I didn’t know they filmed out there. That’s wonderful
Jeff, you amaze me. I was born & raised in Eureka, California till I left in 1986 at the age of 36, & still you keep coming up with places in California I’ve never heard of! I really enjoy your comprehensive history accounts of all these interesting areas. Your videos have become quite polished & impressive, too. Thank you!
Wow thanks! I appreciate the kind remarks! Always trying to get better in video production!
Great job Jeff, appreciate how much detail you insert into your productions.
Thank you Steve!
Thanks for another slice of history, Jeff.
A beautiful town.
The new intro is brilliant, by the way👌
I’ve been living in Calaveras for over 16 years of my life and still learning new things.. Loved your video!! Stay safe
Such a wealth of knowledge! Thnx Jeff!
Nah, just a lot of research! It’s a learning experience for me too!
Really interesting place. As usual you did a great job bringing the history alive. Thank you for including your personal experience meeting Michael Landon and Victor French. Very cool!
When I see History Hunters. I watch.
Thanks very much!
Thanks for the LATEST & GREATEST episode of History Hunters!!!
Awww thanks Michael!
What a fantastic explore with a little bit of everything, outlaw history, mining history, civil war history, Hollywood history, and Jeff history. I now need to take anxiety meds after fearing that Jeff would take a tumble. Sarah needs to accompany and supervise him. Thanks once again!
Recently visited Copperopolis due to your video. We made a detour to explore in the footsteps of my favorite history hunter! You bring history to life, its your gift .
Wow, we are honored that you made the trek because of what you saw in our video! How was your experience there? Did you eat at the bar?
@@jbenziggy we enjoyed our stop & reading all the history. We explored the armory, adjacent buildings. Stacked stone store out back & the tailings.
Maybe the bar will be on the next trip🍺.
Has a lover of history this channel is right up my alley. Just found it today and have been binge watching most of the day. Love,love, love it.
Thanks for finding us! So happy to hear you like our episodes!
Thank you for taking me on another road trip. Have a blessed week.
Thanks Jerry! You too have a great week!
It's amazing how the buildings are still there . Very nice
After I got my 1st drivers license I found a little meadow on the way to Copperopolis that I claimed as my own little piece of Heaven.
Any time I was down in the dumps or had problems at home because of my Moms mental health issues I would borrow the car & head for my little meadow, with a lunch, a good book & my quilt & I would spend the day in my little meadow.
Being out in nature was my healing, saving grace. It always strengthened & healed my wounded Soul.
I can still see my little meadow in my minds eye even today.
Thank you for this reminder of those days.
Thank you for your videos. I always look forward to the next one!!
wow that was a nice long video, looks like a peaceful place to live, Thanks Jeff and Sarah
I used to watch Huell Howzer's California's Gold and Road Trip on the local PBS station when I lived in SoCal. I'm in Arizona now and so happy I found your channel. I love the history of California and I'd missed HHs programs for many years. Now I can enjoy the history once again. Thank you.
After a long , hard and stressful day at work, it's nice to come home to a new History Hunters video. With my glass of wine, it's like sitting down with an old friend and catching up...THANK YOU!
That is so nice to hear you say that we seem like old friends! That’s a fabulous compliment in my book! Thanks so much! We feel a kindred spirit with our audience!
Jeff, this was so interesting. I love how you not only do the research, but also intersperse your presentation with images of the past. The historical perspective is amazing. These places **tell their own tales, their own way. great job🌟👏☀️ That Michael Landon and Victor French insert was cool, especially with your connection.☺
Thank you so much! I actually cried when Mike died. So very sad to lose him so young.
@@jbenziggy I was a huge Victor French fan. Both Victor and Michael died at 54 years of age.💔💔
Jeff, you and Sarah sure do a Great Job sharing California History. Fantastic work and looking forward to the sequel Copperopolis.
I'm Hugh history buff and civil war & old west are always fascinating. Thanks I appreciate your show since I can't make it out to these places I get to see where & how history was made. Can't afford to travel so this is only way I get to see historic places!!!!
Thanks very much! Glad to hear we are of service but sorry you are unable to travel. By the way, your first name is spelled the same way as mine. Everybody wants to spell it Jeffrey but my birth certificate says Jeffery. LOL
Love the clips of the past overlayed over today ... thanks for the hard work...
Glad you like them! Thank you!
At 6:22, thanks for showing the ghostly remains of the old stage route. That was cool.
hey history hunters. you are great persons I love youre videos thanks for sharing guys
Thanks for another great video. Loved the pictures of you and Micheal.
Love the back story of these little towns. You could drive right through and never know the history. Thanks for sharing it.
Thanks for watching, Dave!
I'm glad that you did a video about Copperopolis, I've been curious about it's history. We like to go up there for day trips. Griffs is a great place to eat after a day of wine tasting.
Im glad i found youre page ive learn so much about the towns close around me 👍🏻
Welcome aboard, Carlos! We are glad that you found us!
What a cool little town. That tailing pile is amazing. I've never seen any that big. Thanks for taking us along...
Thank you Jeff and Sarah for bringing us another great episode! I'm at Angle's Camp again for a few days and we will be using some of your videos as guides to do some history hunting of our own. Your videos always bring new insights to the locations my wife and I visited and add new ones to visit in the future. We hope to run into you guys sometime in the future.
GoodMorning Friends.... gosh darn it, we missed you again. Great episode. Keep the adventures coming. Good stuff!!!
Good morning Jeff and Sara.... Copperopolis is now on the bucket list if we ever get out that way....looks like a must see quaint little History Laden town!! 🙄
Check it out if you ever get to this part of California but then also go up to Angels Camp another fascinating a little town.
Thanks, Jeff, interesting slice of history and, being a SoCal denizen, excellent information regarding a part of California about which I know little.
If KCET/PBS ever were to bring back the show California's Gold, you would make an ideal host and be a credit to the memory of Huell Howser.🙂
I absolutely love your videos. The quality is unmatched. I always give you positive comments because you deserve them. Thank you for all the editing and research you do. We all learn something in every one
Thanks for your praises! I am glad you appreciate the work it takes!!! And thanks for watching!!!
Thanks Jeff & Sarah!! Great tour (as always!!) Looking forward to the next one already. The way you bring California history to life is wonderful.
I've watched loads of your videos and there very good and interesting, Black Bart gets around.
I love that town name. Very cool episode and great research as always. We must visit the next time we are in California.
Really cool Jeff! You did your homework! Atleast you did not encounter any snakes on the walk by that rocky hill. Not sure but think that was a late 70s or early 80s model Oldsmobile, the late great Michael Landon was in. Lots of interesting sites! I will pass this video on .Thanks! Bob
Early 80's Ford LTD.
@@straybullitt remember them, my dad had a Galaxy 500 when I was a kid early 70s model, could not see car too good could not zoom in on back, I love them old big cars , I just love them cars of yesteryear regardless ford chevy , like Hunters car bad ass four barrels easy to work on thanks buddy
amazing that the Civil War reached all the way back to California. A war fought mostly on the east coast! Nice bit of history thank you stay safe
THANKYOU AGAIN...
I absolutely love This Channel.
I cannot think of ANYTHING I would be more Stoked to do than what you do on this channel.
And I must add...
This one is one of my Favorites.
Cheers~
Wow, thanks Zack! That’s a true honor!
Thanks for all your hard work God bless you and Sarah have a good week 😊 🙏
Thank you very much, Bruce!
Thanks for this informative & very interesting video of Copperopolis, California. Adding to my list of future places to visit. Pleasant inclusion of Michael Landon & Victor French, thanks.
Glad you liked it! Thanks!
Copperopolis, a hidden gem! Great video Jeff. Michael Landon references are always enjoyable!
Thx for another great vlog! With your research, you bring the places you visit to life. And since I'll never get to any of these sites, i always look forward to seeing where you go each week. 👍👍
Thanks Jeff, another ball park winner. Sure would like to hang out with you on one of your adventures. I love American history. Please keep a catalogue on disk to preserve what so many are trying to hide & destroy. 👍🇺🇸🤠🌵
Another neat travel through history, like then then and now pictures.
Thank you very much. I always like it when I can include them and I’ll pictures.
Another interesting history video. Many thanks. Best wishes
Hi Jeff and Sarah! Thank you again for another great video! ☺️👍
Excellent Show !
Perfect presentation.
Enjoy watching your videos as I recover from dual operations. Keep up you informative and interesting content.
I love copperopolis, I'll never leave!
Oh, do you live in that town?
My husband and I are thinking of relocating from Palm Beach Gardens to Copperopolis. We will be joining a club, but can't find one nearby that includes a pool with memberships. Any suggestions?
Thank you so much for filming calaveas and amador county. I born and raised there. I moved few years ago to North Carolina and really miss home.
From Amador County to the Carolinas? Interesting. Do you like it there?
Awesome job delivering great information! I live here in Copper and thank you for your footage and insights!👏🏻
Thanks very much! We get up to Calaveras County a few times a year! Maybe we’ll bump into each other! We like to eat at Mike’s Pizza in Angels!
Time for you 2 to get on TV!!! Love the videos👊🏻
I agree this is the best History show on or off of the internet. just think what Jeff could do if he had a sponsor.
Good stuff !!!!!! Always enjoy the gold counrty video's
awesome town history. when they used old time building methods that have proven itself over the long years past.. thanks for bringing your channel to life! ..happy trails always...
Thank you very much!
I lived in Copperopolis for two years it's my favorite town so beautiful
Lots of folks go through without ever stopping. I would have to go back in a time machine and see it in 1865!
That would be amazing
Wow Jeff, another great video! Wonderful research and the personal touch of Michael Landon was so fascinating. Great work.🙌
Hi .... Again a wonderful fact filled adventure with you. Your vlogs are always exciting to follow. Stay safe. Thank you again
Looks like a 1934 Ford truck. A lot of places for Sarah to explore!
You have mastered the art of storytelling !
Thanks very much Jeff!
Michael Landon's character always knew where to go but many times he didn't know who to meet or even what his assignment was. In my opinion one of the saddest episodes was when they arrived at a beach community and Victor French fell in love with a woman. Victor French died in 1989 and Michael Landon died in 1991, leaving me to believe that they really were on a "mission" together.
Another great video. I'm in awe of all the history you unearth in your research. Thanks for the lovely video.
Thank you very much!
Thanks for another informative video. I didn't know Will Wheaton was working during the early 80s. I will keep my thoughts on Michael Landon to myself. Keep up on telling us all the history here in Ca. Thanks! Side note: That saw is an early version of an electric hacksaw for cutting metal parts.
What a great place to visit Copperopolis. Thank you so much for the history that you shared. I really enjoyed the history on Michael Landon filming there and thank you again for sharing this. Maybe one of these days I'll be able to visit that area I would love to see it
Thanks, Joel! We appreciate you watching and how you enjoyed our video!
OMG Jeff, we LOVE Griffs! Yes, the whole video was cool, but when you called out hubby's favorite bbq place, it cemented this one as a favorite! Now I'm craving a Brisket Burger....(btw, the town square was built around 2006-2007)
Another great video Jeff and its great how you try to cover everything on the Town etc you do like Social and Movie history. Enjoyable
Thanks so much for your great comment and compliment! I appreciate your encouragement!
I rode through Copperopolis today, plugged your channel when I was filming, and linked this vlog in my description. Gotta spread the word of a quality channel!
I love watching these videos. they are extremely interesting and am now a history lover. Sarah and Jeff are awesome, you have captivated my attention!
Wow, thanks so much, Georgeann, that is very sweet of you to say! Bless you!
I would LOVE to be able to process all those tailings. Mining equipment is much more sophisticated than it was even 75 years ago, and especially going back into the 1800's. After "Stand By Me" Wil Wheaton played Wesley Crusher in "Star Trek, The Next Generation"
I suppose you're right but can you imagine the red tape you'd have to go through to do that in modern California?
@@jbenziggy Wackyfornia
@@zedsdead5454 😮
Good one I spend a lot of time up there even stay above the bar in the rooms several times (never saw a ghost 👻) Fun spot to ride the motorcycle to especially when we stayed the night lol not usually planned love the back roads all around the area
Great video. You really are a Michael Landon fan. He was a good actor and Director. It was very sad when he passed. I remember watching the Johnny Carson show that night that Mr Landon did his last appearance and he explained the sad part about they cancer that he had. Thanks Jeff for another great video. Your drone piloting has gotten real good!
I saw that Johnny Carson episode at the time too- Landon made fun of people that wrote to him and suggested he 'swim with a dolphin" in order to heal his cancer. Who knows? if he had tried it maybe he'd still be with us today!
Another great video..never realy was that intrested in California, but thats changeing, it has some rich history for sure
It really does have a lot of great history!
Wonderful as always . Thank you Jeff and Sara
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it!
Another great informative video Jeff. Thank you so much for all your work making these videos
Been here many times. Have hiked all over the area. Thanks for sharing the story.
I certainly would if I ever got back to DC. I last visited in 2001.
Really good one Jeff. One of my favorite areas. Think I’ll take a drive this week, just to get out of the house, and wander around a bit. Maybe even stop at Griffs. Thanx for the history lesson of the area!
Been thru that town hundreds of times never knew much about the history. Probably the only reason why that pay phone is still there if I remember correctly calaveras telephone co. Is across the street. You can spend the rest of your life doing videos in the motherlode. Use to ride my motorcycle going east heading to west point and end up in Angels camp via old dirt roads all kinds of stuff left over from the mining days. Enjoy your videos.
Enjoyed this very much. Driven through their many times but never stopped to see the area.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Another Great video. And very educational
Loved the video. I have been up and down 49 over the years, but never took hwy 4 over to Copperopolis. Looking forward to seeing the cemetery.