Coloma, California

Coloma, derived from "Cullumah," meaning "beautiful valley" in the local Maidu Native American tongue, is indeed a beautiful place, with its rolling hills and clear, whitewater river, the South Fork of the American, which attracts tens of thousands of rafters and kayakers each year. Much of the town itself is now encompassed in Marshall Gold Discovery Site State Park.

Here, on January 24, 1848, carpenter James Marshall discovered gold in the tailrace of an under-construction sawmill, setting off the California Gold Rush and utterly changing the course of history in the western United States.

Tens of thousands of visitors flock here each year to learn about the Gold Rush, paying homage to this important chapter in California history. They picnic, visit museums and historic homes, and they especially appreciate the dozens of docents who dress in old-time costume, re-enact the Gold Rush era and make history come alive. Each spring, up to a thousand schoolchildren a day come to this little town.

Writer/photographer Betty Sederquist grew up in Coloma and has thousands of photographs taken here over the years. She has also extensively researched the California Gold Rush. A few photographs are depicted below. She works with both film and high-end digital cameras.

Above: A replica of John Sutter's sawmill, site of the California gold discovery, attracts visitors.

Right: Rodney Bland is often on hand, demonstrating gold panning to visitors and thousands of schoolchildren.

Left: During the California Gold Rush, the Wild West was indeed wild, as demonstrated by this gun belt worn by a park volunteer.

Below: A park docent gracefully loses a game of checkers to a young visitor.

Left: Vigorous sloshing does not make for lots of gold flakes at the bottom of a gold pan, but who's counting as this young visitor enjoys the process.

Below: The ancient art of ropemaking proves challenging to this visitor, but a patient docent helps him along.

Left: On hand nearly every day, volunteers demonstrate how blacksmithing was done in the nineteenth century.

Below: In the old days, laundry was an all-day project. Here, old-time clothes dry on a line.

Right: A traveling blacksmith had to make do with whatever hot fire he could build. A portable anvil helped.

One of many historical buildings in Coloma, the Emmanuel Church is one of the oldest Protestant churches in California. Nowadays it is often used for weddings.

Below: With his old-fashioned gun, Rodney Bland stands guard over busy state Highway 49.