Northern California Trivia Thread

Okay, he says the town was established in 1848 and Monroeville was established in 1850... I'm going to be googling until my eyes fall out on this one, I fear!!!
 
Was it the town of Hamilton, founded by John Bidwell on the Feather River in 1848? (Not to be confused with the aforementioned Hamilton City...)
 
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Oh, oh, oh, oh... I got it!

Bidwell's Bar

from wikipedia:

Bidwell's Bar (also known as Bidwell Bar, Bedwells Bar, and Bidwells Bar) was a gold mining camp in Butte County, California, United States, which lay at the end of the California Trail. It was located 6.5 miles (10.5 km) east-northeast of Oroville,[2] at an elevation of 902 feet (275 m).

It was founded by John Bidwell, who discovered gold near the Middle Fork of the Feather River in 1848. By 1851, the camp had attracted enough miners to warrant a post office, and by 1853, the town's population swelled to 3,000, becoming prominent enough to become the county seat. A fire destroyed much of the town in 1854, but it was quickly rebuilt.

Ferrying people and supplies across the river proved to be difficult, especially during the winter months, and funds were raised to construct the Bidwell Bar Bridge, the first suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River. The bridge was completed in 1856.

As quickly as the town rose, it went into decline. By the end of 1856, the year the bridge was completed, the gold disappeared and the San Francisco Bulletin called it "Another Deserted Village." Miners were instead going to nearby Ophir (now Oroville). Within a year, the population was down to 200, and by 1882, only 30 people remained. The last remnants of the town were submerged with the creation of Lake Oroville in 1968, and only the original bridge and the clock tower (in Butte County Historical Museum) are left. Another survivor of the town is the Mother Orange Tree, the first orange tree in Northern California.

The site of the town has been declared a California Historical Landmark (#330).
 
Question #25

This place was called by Indians something to the effect of home of the devil; the Spanish called it something similar, too, but in Spanish. There was another name given by a Hudson Bay trapper and then the final name that we call it now.

A bloody battle took place here between the white miners (whom Joe told there was a famous mining claim there, but I think he was just trying to increase business) and the area Indians who did not appreciate having their creek muddied and game killed off. The area Indians set up an embargo of sorts and that meant war. The war was the last war in which whites fought Indians armed with only traditional Indian weapons like bow and arrows; after this battle, they used guns. Of course, one minor detail, the "Whites" were comprised of over 50% Indians of another local tribe!

The battle lasted one day and many Indians were killed; one white man was killed. The spot the battle took place is named for the battle. How did the "whites" find the Indian stronghold? They Indians raided Joe's place and stole some bags of flour, which had holes in it, making a white trail straight from Joe's to their stronghold.

Where is this place?
 
Castle Crags, now part of Castle Crags State Park. Wintu Indians called it "Abode of the Devil," Spaniards "Castle del Diablo," Hudson Bay trapper, Michel LaFramboise, named it "The Needles."

Joe spread false rumors about gold and miners flooded the area, killing or driving off game and ruining the salmon run on Soda Creek. The Modoc Indians were starving to death. Enemies of the Modoc, Shastas fought on the side of the calvalry.

The battle site is a California historic site. It took place at Battle Rock under the tallest of the rock spires in the crags.
 
Castle Crags, now part of Castle Crags State Park. Wintu Indians called it "Abode of the Devil," Spaniards "Castle del Diablo," Hudson Bay trapper, Michel LaFramboise, named it "The Needles."

Joe spread false rumors about gold and miners flooded the area, killing or driving off game and ruining the salmon run on Soda Creek. The Modoc Indians were starving to death. Enemies of the Modoc, Shastas fought on the side of the calvalry.

The battle site is a California historic site. It took place at Battle Rock under the tallest of the rock spires in the crags.
Nicely done!
 
Castle Crags, now part of Castle Crags State Park. Wintu Indians called it "Abode of the Devil," Spaniards "Castle del Diablo," Hudson Bay trapper, Michel LaFramboise, named it "The Needles."

Joe spread false rumors about gold and miners flooded the area, killing or driving off game and ruining the salmon run on Soda Creek. The Modoc Indians were starving to death. Enemies of the Modoc, Shastas fought on the side of the calvalry.

The battle site is a California historic site. It took place at Battle Rock under the tallest of the rock spires in the crags.

I spent hours googling for this! How did you find it?????
 
Question #26
In the 1940's, this town featured the world's largest sawmill. The man who started logging in this area choose the area because the high winds helped quickly dry the lumber; the town is named for this man.
 
I spent hours googling for this! How did you find it?????
Dumb luck. :p

I usually try cominations of words until something starts to look like a lead. This ended up being a double level search. NoBonu has made them harder to find.

I believe a combination of California +indians+flour+Joe, go me to Castle Crags State Park and Soda Springs. Of course the town of Soda Springs is in the Sierras and that didn't fit with Castle Crags State Park up near Shasta.

Then (duh) I checked and NoBonus's clue didn't actually say it was a town or city. Then I began to suspect it was actually the Crags themselves was the "place" being referred to in the clue. Then I just looked for a history of Castle Crags that went back as far as the Indians before Europeans and voila.
 
Question # 27
During this man's lifetime, he was the largest wheat farmer in California; rusty remnants from this massive farming operation can still be seen today. He was murdered by his bookkeeper who probably was embezzling (amazing how often that has happend in history... who knew bookkeepers were so dangerous?)

What is this man's full name (including middle name)?
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Question #28

Back in the 1960's, Mysterium was believed to have been discovered in this sleepy, Northern California town. A large device was used to allegedly discover the mysterious mysterium. It may not have been Mysterium they discovered, but what they did find was something that had never been discovered before.
 
They discovered masers using an 85-foot diameter antenna at the Hat Creek Radio Observatory in Hat Creek, CA.
 
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