July-August 2018

Administrator’s Notes

by Ralph Gibson, Museums

The Heritage Trail continues through Labor Day weekend with 15 more museums and a Donner Summit History Hike. Visit our website at www.placer.ca.gov/heritagetrail or give us a call (530-889-6500) for the full schedule and more information. If you have kids or grandkids, a Student Scavenger Hunt is part of this year’s event and if they complete their adventure they will be entered into a drawing for great prizes including a Samsung Galaxy 8 tablet and a Kindle Fire tablet. Open to everyone is our drawing for three great gift baskets. All you have to do is pick up a blue Get-Up-And-Go card at one of our participating museums and get it stamped at eight museums to enter the drawing. Your summer adventure, and perhaps a summer prize, awaits!


On August 17th from 4 to 6pm we will have the grand opening of our Gold Rush Museum! You are all invited to attend as we unveil what is truly a new museum. In 2014 we closed our Gold Country Museum in the Gold Country Fairgrounds and relocated to the Auburn Depot at 601 Lincoln Way. We changed the name to the Gold Rush Museum but, honestly, we changed a lot more than that. There are certainly hints of the museum from the fairgrounds, but there is a lot that is new. Like the old museum, we have an indoor panning stream and a mining tunnel, but both are much different and more dynamic. We tackled topics that were ignored in the old museum and added a new twist that will appeal to a new audience. We are proud of our latest museum and we hope to see you on August 17th as we celebrate the grand opening.

Collection Strategy

by Kasia Woroniecka, Curator of Collections

Gold Rush Medicine

Fleam C. 1850-1870

Scientific developments in the 19th century had a major impact on understanding health and disease. Yet medicines of the 1850s did not produce desired results and were often toxic and addictive. Anyone working in the goldfields during the Gold Rush was at risk of serious disease. Many died from treatments that consisted of the use of mercury, opium, arsenic, cocaine, heroin, purging and bleeding.

Olive Tar C. 1850

One of the objects in our collection that was commonly found in a surgeon’s medical kit in the 19th century is a bloodletting tool called a fleam. We know today that bloodletting is not effective for most diseases, yet at the time when antibiotics and antiseptics were not yet discovered bloodletting was used to treat most ailments, including pneumonia and gangrene. The u-shaped blade of the fleam is spring-loaded and activated by the trigger above it. Bloodletting killed more people than it cured, and use of the practice gradually diminished to a few select medical conditions.

The lack of sanitation and medical assistance, as well as a poor diet, meant that even a common cold could develop into a serious, and possibly lethal, illness.

Compound of Manzanita C. 1854

Dysentery, rheumatism, scurvy and infections from injury were common. One of the tinctures sold locally to battle some of these symptoms was the McDonald and Levy’s Compound of Manzanita. Produced by Richard McDonald, who opened a drug store on J Street in Sacramento in 1849, the medicine was distributed by his partner, Mr. Levy, who traveled to remote mining camps selling medical supplies. The drug contained in this interesting bottle had mildly astringent, diuretic and anti-diarrheal properties. The bottles were cast and blown in the eastern United States and would take several months to deliver to Sacramento.

One of the medicines that claimed to cure multiple ailments including bronchitis, colds, sore throat, consumption and bleeding of the lungs was J. R. Stafford’s Olive Tar. It was first sold in the 1850s and the medicine could be ingested or applied topically. According to one testimonial used in an 1855 advertisement, J. R. Stafford’s Olive Tar was also a successful remedy for the sore backs of horses.

Nineteenth century medicines often offered hope but not much more. They presented a solution to those who had no access or could not afford a visit to a doctor. The fact that many spurious cure-alls are still being bottled and pressed into pills today serves as a reminder that our journey to understand and treat illness is far from over.

 

From the Archives: July 4th Tugs-of-War

by Bryanna Ryan, Curator of Archives

 

In honor of Independence Day, here are a few items we would like to share from the archives. Tug-of-War competitions were extremely popular events and a staple of July 4th celebrations throughout Placer County. Teams could be  made up from many different groupings. Some popular parings  were married versus unmarried men, railroad men versus local “strong men” or simply according to whatever community the participants called home. Pulls could last over an hour and drew large crowds. There was usually a small pot of money involved, but bragging rights were the ultimate goal. How will you spend your July 4th?

 Those Old Carpets are History

by Katy Bartosh, Curator of Education

Have you ever had to move a fragile Victorian tableau of taxidermied birds? Or a nineteenth-century fainting couch?  These items just got checked off our museum worker’s bucket lists last month with our flooring renovation at the Bernhard.

For over twenty years, the Bernhard Museum carpet has been trod upon by tens of thousands of visitors. All of them walking in and out, rain or shine. This foot traffic has done a number on the carpet, which Placer County Custodial has valiantly tried to maintain. However, there is only so much you can do in the face of dirt, dust, and mud, and this summer the carpeting at the Bernhard was replaced.

Kasia Woroniecka, our Curator of Collections, began moving artifacts in late May. Things really began to pick up on Saturday, June 2nd when the museum officially closed to visitors. The curtains came down, artifacts made their way up stairs or out to the winery, and the movers came Monday. By Wednesday, the carpet installation was done, and it was time to move everything back and start cleaning and redecorating!

This was a real team effort! And hopefully, the increased stain resistance and durability of the new carpet, will make it well worth the whirlwind effort.

Special thanks to Fran Hanson and Daphne Lake for washing the Bernhard Museum drapes. With thousands of visitors and Living History students they collect a lot of dust, so this job is very important. The museum looks and smells great! But don’t take our word for it, come see for yourself!

News from Placer County Historical Society

by April McDonald-Loomis, President       

April400@wavecable.com    (530) 823-2128

The Society was pleased to present a plaque to the Gold Rush Museum at the Heritage Trail event on June 16th. The plaque was to commemorate the legacy of May Perry. She was so very influential in forming the basis of our museum system as it exists today. She fought tooth and nail to turn the little exhibit set up for the Sesquicentennial  into a full-time museum. We have some of her letters to the Board of Supervisors, and she was not a little lady writing polite notes. She demanded action and most often was very successful. I am sure some of those supervisors trembled when they received her letters! A special thank you to Archives Volunteer Patt Gray for getting the process started. She was working on some of May’s letters and scrapbooks and became fascinated by this very charismatic woman. It was Patt who first suggested that May deserved some kind of recognition. Thanks also go to Karri Samson, our long time Landmarks Committee Chairperson, for following through and getting the plaque made.

The Society gets quite a few newsletters from other societies, and one of the best just recently received was from the Donner Summit Historical Society. Over the week end of September 15-16th they are hosting their annual Donner Party Hikes. If you are interested in this part of Placer County history, this might be the perfect event for you. As well as several walking tours, some focusing on the Donner sites, one on Roller Pass, one on railroad tunnels and snow sheds. Hey even offer a driving tour. Check out their packed schedule at donnerpartyhike.com

Speaking of Heritage Trail, the Benton Welty Classroom was lucky enough to have Christie Brzyscz and Sandy Rogers back to do the quill and ink penmanship activity. There was a good turnout of families that came to visit the historic classroom. Thanks always go to Jean Allender for being the go-to person for the classroom and to the other Society members who volunteered their time.

We will not have another Dinner Meeting until October 4th. The speaker has yet to be booked but we will certainly let you all know before October.

Hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Remember, it’s not too late to pay your annual dues!

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Placer County Historical Organizations 

 

Colfax Area Historical Society
Chris Miller (530) 346-8599
colfaxhistory.org

Donner Summit Historical Society
Bill Oudegeest (209) 606-6859
donnersummithistoricalsociety.org

Foresthill Divide Historical Society
Sandy Simester (530) 367-3535
foresthillhistory.org

Fruitvale School Hall Community Association
Lyndell Grey (916) 645-3517

Historical Advisory Board
Glenn Vineyard (916) 747-1961

Old Town Auburn Preservation Society
Lynn Carpenter (530) 885-1252

Lincoln Highway Association
Bob Dieterich bobd@iname.com
lincolnhwy.org

Lincoln Area Archives Museum
Elizabeth Jansen (916) 645-3800
laamca.org

Joss House Museum and Chinese History Center
Richard Yue (530) 346-7121

Loomis Basin Historical Society
Karen Clifford (916) 663-3871
ppgn.com/loomishistorical.html 

Roseville Fire Museum
Jim Giblin
JGiblin@roseville.ca.us
rosevillefiremuseum.org 

Maidu Museum & Historic Site
Glenie Strome (916) 782-3299
roseville.ca.us/indianmuseum 

Native Sons of the Golden West, Parlor #59
Dave Allen (530) 878-2878
dsallen59@sbcglobal.net 

Newcastle Portuguese Hall Association
Mario Farinha (530) 269-2412

Golden Drift Historical Society
Sarah Fugate (530) 389-2121

Newcastle Portuguese Hall Association
Aileen Gage (530) 885-9113

Placer County Historical Society
April McDonald-Loomis (530) 823-2128
April400@wavecable.com 

Placer County Museums Docent Guild
Tom Innes (530) 888-8969

Rocklin Historical Society
Hank Lohse, President (916) 624-3464
rocklinhistory.org 

Roseville Historical Society
Christina Richter (916) 773-3003
rosevillehistorical.org 

North Lake Tahoe Historical Society
Marnie Carr (530) 583-1762
northtahoemuseums.org 

Placer County Genealogical Society
Toni Rosasco (530) 888-8036
pcgs.pcgenes.com