About District 4

Fourth District, Calaveras County, CA

Altaville | Angels Camp | Douglas Flat | Murphys | Vallecito

More on Walking and Family

Marilyn and I went door-to-door again this Saturday. We started in Douglas Flats along Main Street then walked Rocky Hill Road in Murphys. As always, folks were friendly and wonderfully supportive.

Walking District 4 gives me a chance to see many historical sites. Saturday's journey fit perfectly with the book that I had read earlier in the week: Jack Burrows' Black Sun of the Miwok. Published in 2000, it's Professor Burrows' recollections of some of the Miwok men and women of his youth. It contains many references and pictures of the Miwok community on Rocky Hill in the early 20th Century. On the way to Douglas Flat, I recognized the buckeye tree where Ray Jeff, Miwok hero of Second World War was buried. Today these sites like the Miwok are easily overlooked but their history is an essential part of our own.

My Great Aunt Mabel pursued her interest in the family history. She made sure that my father got the family Bible and her own genealogical research notes. I have used a PC program to make a family tree of both my father's and mother's ancestors at least back to the Colonial Era. On my Mom's side, the Coursons were in the southeast, particularly in Georgia. While James Olgethrope founded a penal colony in Georgia, it does not appear that any of the Coursons were among his "guests". Another part of my family also was present in the southeast. Long before colonists, there were the Cherokees. However, the connection to the Seaton family came in Oklahoma.

My father's mother, Bessie Barrett, was the daughter of Saphronia Crutchfield Barrett. Saphronia and her children are on the Dawes Commission's enrollment of the Cherokees (#11501) in 1901. I recall that my Dad got a check for $50 in the 1950s as payment for sand taken from the Arkansas River, which ran through the Cherokee lands. I've never claimed any favors but am proud of that part of my ancestry.

Here in District 4, we have the Cherokee Creek which runs through Cherokee Flat. According to O. Henry Mace's Between the Rivers, Cherokee Flat was the site of Wintertown, which was renamed in 1857 to "Altaville". In 1972, Altaville was annexed into Angels Camp. So while it is important to remember, we are reminded that things change.

As always, please use the "Write Lee" link to share your thoughts.