History

Amador County: Jackson to Plymouth on Highway 49 Gold Mines of Amador - After the gold rush of 1848-1850, miners began to dig into earth and rock to uncover gold imprisoned in quartz rocks' deep veins. The largest vein was the Mother Lode between Yosemite (Oakhurst) and Georgetown in El Dorado County. The 20-mile stretch from the Mokelumne River to the Cosumnes River was the richest, producing some $160 million in gold between 1851 and 1942. (Current value $5 billion) The first hard rock mines were found in Amador City in 1851. The original Minister's Claim and Spring Hill were soon followed by many others; Lincoln (11), South Spring Hill (12), Keystone (13), Original Amador (14), and Eureka. By the 1970's-80's Amador County was working 300+ mines. There were some…

Family History The ranch was owned by Martin Murphy, Jr. (1807-1884), whose family was in the Stephenson-Townsend-Murphy Party, the first party to cross the Sierras by covered wagon in 1844! Alos, the first to bring oxen across the plains and the first to use the route now used by Union and Pacific Railroads. The Donner party used the route two years later and Martin Murphy, Jr. was a member of the party who rescued them. They settled in this area of Elk Grove along the Monterey Trail from 1844 to 1849. The Murphys lived north of the Cosumnes River and west of what is now Highway 99. At the time that road was known as the Monterey Trail, and it led from New Helvetia (Sutter’s Fort) to the Mexican capital of Monterey.…

 

In summary about American Football, Wikipedia says: American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby. The first American football match was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established the snap, the line of scrimmage, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also…