Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts I have written about local and regional history, people, places, documents, maps, Sacramento, Placer, and California.
I found the century old book West Winds at Mockingbird Used Books in Sebastopol, Ca. In addition to being printed in 1914, I was drawn to this book of California short stories because the illustrations were actually glued on to their respective pages and several of the authors signed their title page in the book. […]
Set in the heart of Pennsylvania’s early American clock making region, the National Association Watch and Clock Collectors museum in Columbia, Pennsylvania is worth a visit. Their collection spans from some of the earliest European and Asian clocks and watches to modern-day wrist watches and mystery clocks. They even have a wonderful display of the […]
It was a political junket that inspired the 1865 map of the western United States and territories. In the summer of 1865 Samuel Bowles, editor of the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts, traveled across the territories of the United States to California with Speaker of the House of Representatives Schuyler Colfax. Specifically included on the map are the […]
From the shoreline of Granite Bay Beach Park at Folsom Lake you can probably see where Mr. Reppert was buried in 1849 in an unmarked grave far away from home and family. The death and burial of this gold rush miner comes to us from a fellow traveler and miner who wrote about his experiences in the […]
When it comes to water conservation in the face of our current 2014 drought situation, golf courses, with the numerous acres under irrigation, come under intense scrutiny. This is why I wanted to talk with my fellow San Juan Water District Drought Committee member Matt Dillon who is the Golf Course Superintendent at Granite Bay […]
At a recent San Juan Water District (SJWD) Board meeting one of the Board members declared that the district would defend, with a lawsuit if necessary, their pre-1914 water rights to American River water during a period of drought. This board member’s passion that this government agency “owned” water because of a man made dam built during California’s gold rush struck me as pure folly. Water rights are a myth. No one owns the water flowing in a river.
When I picked up the old photo in an Antique shop in Albany I was immediate struck by hpw the suspension bridge supporting a water pipe across a river could be the one across the American River to the Zantgraf mine built in 1899. But upon closer inspection, and studying a companion photo, this suspension bridge was at another site in California. My research indicates that the suspension bridge was built to deliver water to a 1930’s hydraulic mining operations on the east side of the South Fork of the Trinity river, just south of the confluence of the South Fork and main Trinity River in Salyer, CA.
The Knickerbocker creek and waterfalls are pretty spectacular, if, you can get to them. These seasonal waterfalls through Knickerbocker Canyon are fairly inaccessible because of the steep terrain. Located in the Auburn State Recreational Area Park in Cool, Ca, Knickerbocker waterfalls in the rock lined canyon make for a challenging hike/climb to an area few people ever visit.
The east side of the north fork of the American River is challenging to hike because of the lack of accessibility and rugged terrain along the Folsom Lake. After I discovered the abutment for a bridge on the west side of the river, I had to get to Anderson Island on the other side. Not only was I able to find the suspension bridge cables, I found the ruins of Zantgraf mine which is fairly well preserved.
The low water levels of Folsom Lake in this drought year of 2014 offer unprecedented opportunities for hiking and biking around usually water-logged historical sites. The fully exposed North Fork Ditch offers a relatively flat trail for mountain biking from Beeks Bight up to Horseshoe Bar. At certain locations, you’ll need to park the bike […]
