PLACER COUNTY
Placer, the county in the Sierras famous for its surface gold-mining, has a puzzling name for which no satisfactory explanation has yet been found. Although it has been used in Spanish countries for centuries in the sense of surface mining, dictionaries remain silent upon the subject. The theory often advanced that the word is a contraction of plaza de oro (place of gold), bears none of the marks of probability, and another that it means “a river where gold is found” is not supported by adequate authority. One old Spanish dictionary gives the meaning of placer as “a sea bottom, level and of slight depth, of sand, mud, or stone,” and states also that the word is sometimes used to designate places where pearl diving is carried on. It may be that the word was extended from this usage to include placer mining, since in that case the gold is found in shallow pockets near the surface. This theory is offered here as a mere suggestion.
Placer County has some of the most striking mountain scenery in the state, and has been the theatre of many remarkable events in its history, particularly those connected with the “days of ’49.” In the town of Placerville, the county-seat of El Dorado County, there is an instance of a change of name from English to Spanish for the better, for this place was originally called Hangtown, in commemoration of the hanging of certain “bad men” on a tree there.
THE TRUCKEE RIVER
The Truckee River rises on the borders of El Dorado and Placer Counties, and is the outlet of Lake Tahoe, discharging its waters into Pyramid Lake in Nevada. This mountain stream is justly celebrated for the wild charm of its scenery. There is a village bearing the same name, in Nevada County, well-known to travelers through being on the regular route to Tahoe. At this place winter sports, tobogganing, skiing, skating, etc., are provided for San Franciscans, who need to travel but a few hours to exchange their clime of eternal spring for the deep snows of the Sierras.
The explanation generally accepted for the name of Truckee is that it was so-called for an Indian, by some accounts described as a Canadian trapper, who guided a party of explorers in 1844 to its lower crossing, where the town of Wadsworth now stands. The party, who were suffering from thirst, felt themselves to be under such obligations to the Indian for having guided them to this lovely mountain stream, with its crystal waters and abundance of fish, that they gave it his name. Of this Indian it is said that “he joined Fremont’s battalion, and was afterwards known as Captain Truckee; he became a great favorite with Fremont, who gave him a Bible. When he died he asked to be buried by white men in their style. The miners dug a grave near Como, in the croppings of the old Goliah ledge. Here he was laid to rest, with the Bible by his side.”—(History of Nevada County.)
EL RÍO DE LOS AMERICANOS (AMERICAN RIVER).