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Volume 064-1 - January 2010 (6 pages)
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Page: of 6
A Nugget Rediscovered in Nevada
County’s Gold Country
by Richard H. Clark
L OCAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE BROCHURES OFFER
a quick snapshot of what is worth visiting in a given
area or city. During an extended visit to the Nevada County
area of northern California, it was recommended to visit the
local art deco courthouse and, by the way, a unique firearms
collection which was housed there.
A brief visit made readily apparent that there were indeed
some special firearms on display. Unfortunately, the display
was showing a bit of age. Being retired and with some time
to spare, I thought this would be a fine opportunity to represent these forgotten firearms to the community and how
they fit into the history of Nevada County. This was a project worth time and effort.
First, a little background.
Nevada County has a rich and colorful history. This
area was very much involved in the gold rush and all the
raucousness of that era, including highwaymen, vigilantes,
stagecoach robberies and frontier justice dispensed by lawmen, some of who paid the ultimate price.
The early settlers to the West and to this area had to
be self-reliant and firearms were important. These settlers
«> worked in the mines and sawmills. They built railroads.
They experienced the cruel realities of the Civil War and
other wars. Most abided by the laws and built lives for their
families based on dreams. The need for hunting to sustain
a family as well as the need for protection against the occasional grizzly bear meant a firearm had to be at hand.
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Nevada Gounty Historical Society
Bullelin
\ ee 64 NUMBER 1 JANUARY 201 i
One of the early citizens of this area, a lawyer named
Niles Searls, became Chief Justice of the California Supreme
Court. His son Fred (1854-1929) followed in his footsteps,
becoming a lawyer who specializing in mining law, with his
practice located in Nevada City. It was Fred’s collection of
firearms that makes up this collection. His former law office is now a historical library and museum across the street
from the county courthouse. The Searls family donated his
firearms collection to the County of Nevada in 1966.
The uniqueness of this collection is that the firearms
on display were important to the settling of this area. The
collection includes rifles that are known to have “won the
West.” Many of the firearms helped in protecting and feeding the early settlers.
Included are firearms that are historically important in
the evolution of firearms. In this collection the visitor can
see examples of one of the earliest type of firearm and examples of forerunners to modern firearms. The visitor can
also view “percussion” devices that were the forerunners of
the present cartridge, today commonly referred to as a “bullet.” The visitor can also see examples of the “pepperbox”
pistol that was the forerunner to the modern revolver.
Chief Justice Niles Searls
Former law office of the Searls family, now the
Searls Historical Library on Church Street,
of the California
Supreme Court.
The Nevada County court house, home of the
Searls collection of firearms, which author
facing the Nevada County court house. :y
—___
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Richard H. Clark researched and refurbished.
.