Volume 030-4 - October 1976 (8 pages)

over 450 homes and a large Mobile Home Park. The population is estimated to be at least 800 busy happy people. Many of the homes are small Ranches and most are more than adequate by todays standards. The Post Office numbers well over 600 Boxes and the Postal Route reaches out to another 100 or so homes of neighboring Ranchers. Tho’ it is located directly on State Highway 20 the Tourist just driving thru does not see most of the homes that house this increased population. However, Rough and Ready’s interest lies not in this more or less ignominious present but in its rugged and rebellious past. It is one old Mining Camp that will not “ghost’’. Name There were ten men in the Company that arrived ‘at that place” in 1849 under the leadership of Captain A.A. Townsend. The generally accepted date of their arrival is September but some historians claim it was February of that year. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican conflict, had been signed in 1848. In those days men were mustered out on the spot and left to find their own way home. It would be entirely possible to have reached ‘‘that place’’, after the Treaty was signed, by either date. Some records seem to indicate the Company crossed the mountains, on their way from Wisconsin, by the Truckee route and arrived on Deer Creek. Creek. The Company consisted of Townsend and the Reverend Pope of Iowa; Putnam and Carpenter of New York; and Peter Vanmetre, John Richards, Holt, Colgrove, Hardy, and Dunn of Wisconsin. When one of the men located rich diggins’ near their last stream crossing they “located at that place’’. They built themselves a rough log home about 12 by 24 feet in size and set to work to make the area their own. These men had admired their Commanding Officer, Zachary Taylor, enough to name their Company for him. They had served under him in the Winnebago Indian Wars where he earned the nickname “rough and ready’’. It came from a report made to the War Office. It was reported that “‘he handled the Indians in the roughest way and the readiest manner”. This remarkable man was later to serve as the 12th President of the United States. In his honor they named their Trading post Rough and Ready. They stocked it with mining goods to divert attention from their diggins’. Through a compromise with the Randolph Company, which had also located the rich diggins’, they were able quietly to divide the area between them. Captain Townsend returned East to obtain men to work the claims. When he came back, in the Spring of 1850 with 40 men, he found the hillsides covered with prospectors who had staked out their own claims. His own workers soon deserted him to stake out claims. And so, while the Rough and Ready Company was able toestablisha 2. Rough and Ready had its ups-n-downs like most early mining camps due to fire. Two years after this picture was taken all was gone except the IOOF Hall sitting ‘high on the hill. fine and lasting Community witha very honorable name, they were unable to make their own fortunes a reality. The later settlers did not stop to build homes. Many of the cabins were merely wooden frames with Ships Canvas stretched over them for protection from the elements. Some 40 people added businesses to their homes to supply the needs of the Camp. Fire It was on June 28, 1853 that the first fire struck Rough and Ready. It is said to have been started by a candle too close to a canvas wall. There were several thousand miners spread out over the neighboring hillsides (the figure is variously reported from 1500 to 6000 by reputable historians) and so the Camp, with the help of the neighboring Camps, was immediately rebuilt to fulfil their needs. The new Camp was laid out in two streets and was bigger and better than before. As reported in the Grass Valley National of November 4, 1853 ‘‘Phoenix like, she has arisen from her ashes and at this time presents a finer appearance than at any former period. The buildings erected are of a more substantial character, and the businessmen of the town, although they suffered severely by the fire, are preparing to do a large business this week’”’. Downey House One of the businesses that was particularly improved after the fire Five generotions of Rough and Reodyers have passed through the door of this neat white schoolhouse, This school was established on March 4, 1868 and unionized with Indian Spring School on July 1, 1953.

over 450 homes and a large Mobile Home Park. The population is estimated to be at least 800 busy happy people. Many of the homes are small Ranches and most are more than adequate by todays standards. The Post Office numbers well over 600 Boxes and the Postal Route reaches out to another 100 or so homes of neighboring Ranchers. Tho’ it is located directly on State Highway 20 the Tourist just driving thru does not see most of the homes that house this increased population. However, Rough and Ready’s interest lies not in this more or less ignominious present but in its rugged and rebellious past. It is one old Mining Camp that will not “ghost’’. Name There were ten men in the Company that arrived ‘at that place” in 1849 under the leadership of Captain A.A. Townsend. The generally accepted date of their arrival is September but some historians claim it was February of that year. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ending the Mexican conflict, had been signed in 1848. In those days men were mustered out on the spot and left to find their own way home. It would be entirely possible to have reached ‘‘that place’’, after the Treaty was signed, by either date. Some records seem to indicate the Company crossed the mountains, on their way from Wisconsin, by the Truckee route and arrived on Deer Creek. Creek. The Company consisted of Townsend and the Reverend Pope of Iowa; Putnam and Carpenter of New York; and Peter Vanmetre, John Richards, Holt, Colgrove, Hardy, and Dunn of Wisconsin. When one of the men located rich diggins’ near their last stream crossing they “located at that place’’. They built themselves a rough log home about 12 by 24 feet in size and set to work to make the area their own. These men had admired their Commanding Officer, Zachary Taylor, enough to name their Company for him. They had served under him in the Winnebago Indian Wars where he earned the nickname “rough and ready’’. It came from a report made to the War Office. It was reported that “‘he handled the Indians in the roughest way and the readiest manner”. This remarkable man was later to serve as the 12th President of the United States. In his honor they named their Trading post Rough and Ready. They stocked it with mining

goods to divert attention from their diggins’. Through a compromise with the Randolph Company, which had also located the rich diggins’, they were able quietly to divide the area between them. Captain Townsend returned East to obtain men to work the claims. When he came back, in the Spring of 1850 with 40 men, he found the hillsides covered with prospectors who had staked out their own claims. His own workers soon deserted him to stake out claims. And so, while the Rough and Ready Company was able toestablisha 2. Rough and Ready had its ups-n-downs like most early mining camps due to fire. Two years after this picture was taken all was gone except the IOOF Hall sitting ‘high on the hill. fine and lasting Community witha very honorable name, they were unable to make their own fortunes a reality. The later settlers did not stop to build homes. Many of the cabins were merely wooden frames with Ships Canvas stretched over them for protection from the elements. Some 40 people added businesses to their homes to supply the needs of the Camp. Fire It was on June 28, 1853 that the first fire struck Rough and Ready. It is said to have been started by a candle too close to a canvas wall. There were several thousand miners spread out over the neighboring hillsides (the figure is variously reported from 1500 to 6000 by reputable historians) and so the Camp, with the help of the neighboring Camps, was immediately rebuilt to fulfil their needs. The new Camp was laid out in two streets and was bigger and better than before. As reported in the Grass Valley National of November 4, 1853 ‘‘Phoenix like, she has arisen from her ashes and at this time presents a finer appearance than at any former period. The buildings erected are of a more substantial character, and the businessmen of the town, although they suffered severely by the fire, are preparing to do a large business this week’”’. Downey House One of the businesses that was particularly improved after the fire Five generotions of Rough and Reodyers have passed through the door of this neat white schoolhouse, This school was established on March 4, 1868 and unionized with Indian Spring School on July 1, 1953.