The American River, another of the names which have been translated from the original Spanish, is formed by three forks rising in the Sierra Nevada, and empties into the Sacramento at the site of the city of that name. The three branches forming it run in deep canyons, sometimes two thousand feet in depth, and the scenery along its course is of a rugged and striking character.
The river was originally called El Río de los Americanos (the river of the Americans), probably from the presence on its banks of a company of western trappers, who lived there from 1822 to 1830, and not “because it was the usual route of travel by which Americans entered the state,” as is stated by Bancroft and others.
In Fremont’s time it was still known by its Spanish name, by which he refers to it in the following paragraph: “Just then a well-dressed Indian came up, and made his salutations in very well-spoken Spanish. In answer to our inquiries he informed us that we were upon the Río de los Americanos, and that it joined the Sacramento River about ten miles below. Never did a name sound more sweetly! We felt ourselves among our countrymen, for the name of American, in these distant parts, is applied to the citizens of the United States.”
EL RÍO DE LAS PLUMAS (FEATHER RIVER).
“To this day the valley of the Feather is a favorite haunt for wild ducks and geese.”
EL DORADO COUNTY
El Dorado (the gilded man). Although it is known to most people, in a vague, general way, that the name El Dorado was given to this county on account of the discovery of gold there, the romantic tales connected with the name are probably not so well known. The Indians of Peru, Venezuela, and New Granada, perhaps in the hope of inducing their oppressors to move on, were constantly pointing out to the Spaniards, first in one direction, then in another, a land of fabulous riches. This land was said to have a king, who caused his body to be covered every morning with gold dust, by means of an odorous resin. Each evening he washed it off, as it incommoded his sleep, and each morning had the gilding process repeated. From this fable the white men were led to believe that the country must be rich in gold, and long, costly, and fruitless expeditions were undertaken in pursuit of this phantom of El Dorado. In time the phrase El Dorado came to be applied to regions where gold and other precious metals were thought to be plentiful. According to General Vallejo, one Francisco Orellana, a companion of the adventurer Pizarro, wrote a fictitious account of an El Dorado in South America, “a region of genial clime and never-fading verdure, abounding in gold and precious stones, where wine gushed forth from never-ceasing springs, wheat fields grew ready-baked loaves of bread, birds already roasted flew among the trees, and nature was filled with harmony and sweetness.” Although old Mother Nature has not yet provided us with “bread ready-baked” or “birds ready-roasted” in California, her gifts to her children have been so bountiful that they may almost be compared to the fabulous tales of El Dorado, the gilded man.