Lower Rancheria, California

38°26′17″N 120°49′10″W / 38.43806°N 120.81944°W / 38.43806; -120.81944

Former settlement in California, United States

Lower Rancheria

Location in California

Coordinates: 38°26′17″N 120°49′10″W / 38.43806°N 120.81944°W / 38.43806; -120.81944CountryUnited StatesStateCaliforniaCountyAmador CountyElevation

^[1]

1,017 ft (310 m)

Lower Rancheria is a former gold-mining camp in Amador County, California. It was located on Rancheria Creek 2 miles (3.2 km) east-southeast of Drytown,^[2] at an elevation of 1017 feet (310 m). Placer mining began at Lower Rancheria in 1848.^[2]

Prior to 1855, the camp at Lower Rancheria was mostly populated by Spanish-speaking miners. On 6 August 1855 a series of murders were carried out at the camp by a group of Mexicans, who killed five men and one women and who also robbed the contents of a safe. Following this, three of the Mexicans were hanged, and the Mexican population of the camp were driven away.^[3]

References

^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lower Rancheria, California
^ ^a ^b Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 478. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
^ Gudde, Erwin G. (April 2009). California Gold Camps. University of California Press. p. 283. ISBN 9780520261440. Retrieved 16 December 2021.