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It is hard to believe during my journeys that locations like Last Chance were once thriving communities where people faced real life challenges. Being a paranormal investigator more then often I visit many ghost towns that once were built around its mining and prospecting. Many of those towns rose and fell some today have become semi ghost towns. I have always wondered why they decided to call this location Last Chance perhaps because so many would be trapped up here during its harsh winters and once made your way along the ridge of the Forest Hill divide there almost was no going back for some of its early residents.

At the time of the Gold Rush in Coloma California many travelers came to the area to strike it rich with Last Chance far above the American River some gold was discovered in nearby canyons and gulches. In the spring of 1850 the land that would come to be Last Chance was discovered by a party of prospectors exploring the region. The area had a small stream near the town for water and plenty of trees for lumber. This meant they would have fuel to power the town such is having fire for warmth and eventually the town would be established in the year of 1852 as many mining towns were beginning to boom.

There is another story about Last Chance in how it received its name and how it was founded. The prospectors were searching the ravines, canyons and stream for gold in this region. Like most pioneers they hunted for there food and when no gold was found they would move on. Well the prospectors were being discouraged from not finding any gold thus they were about to moving claiming it would be there last chance to find any gold on the west slopes of the American River. One of the prospectors shot a bird it fell to the ground and when he went to bag it he noticed a glimmering rock. When he picked it up the prospector realized it contained gold within where he would share this news with the other party members thus deciding they would erect a town here called "Last Chance" whether this is a true story it is hard to say. Many of the ghost towns have certain names for a reason based on a miner or some other strange tale its rather interesting history.

In 1850 a trail would be built called the Western States Trail which became later a toll trail one of the very few in the state of Ca. This trail would connect other nearby towns such as Deadwood, Iowa Hill and Michigan Bluff where mule pack trains carried supplies to these mining camps. The trail was very difficult for wagons to maneuver on thus freight companies used this method. The freight companies could supply the miners with tools, clothing, drugs, food perishables and other necessities. During the winter months this method became almost necessary as the miners had very little contact to the outside world. Taking the trail took less time then following the Forest Hill divide which follows the Western Mountains along a steep cliff and trust me I drove it if your afraid of heights it is one of the scariest drives you will ever partake on in the high sierras.

Two years later the town would be established which would grow by 1861 into 25 homes with at least 75 to 100 residents all miners. The town would also boast a saloon, butcher shop, general store and a saw mill that sat above the rest of the town. There would also be a mining district established here and eventually over 8 miles of underground tunnels ran underneath Last Chance. Jack and P.G. Hyland were some of the first permanent settlers here they ran mining, milling and merchant business. Sadly not enough travelers came through town for them to make any money at trading thus they focused on mining. Imagine the challenges these miners faced throughout the years of living in such a town. You didn't really have any women residing in town and winters were so harsh that you had very little contact with the outside world. You basically lived for yourself when you hunted you brought the food to the butcher shop. To reach other towns such as Deadwood you would have traverse the Western Trail through snow for 7 miles I can only imagine some did not make the journey.

A water Aqueduct would also be built which would run from the American River all the way up to the town itself prior to the towns boom. This led to the result of Hydraulic Mining which in simple terms collected gravel and gold within a pipe. This pipeline was built by Messrs, Parkinson & McCoy. Today if you were to enter the town site you can clearly see that this large rusty pipe traverses around the entire town site. Hydraulic Mining was used by the Pacific Slab Mine from the 1850s to about 1970s. If you view our videos and look further below on this page you can see the iron pipes throughout the town. The only mining operation to have a permit to use this method was in Last Chance W.E. Bill Wilson. All other hydraulic mining operations were banned as dirt, rocks and vegetation were washed into the local tributeries which threatened local towns and agriculture. Perhaps this is what made the town so successful is that the miners earned fairly great wages from this unorthodox method at the time.

The town would hit a second growth spurt in the mid 1880's this time around it had seven saloons, two-story hotel and many other general businesses. It was not uncommon for a group of women to roll on into town to provide the local miners with a little entertainment. Brothers and Bordellos were not uncommon in the west today in NV they are found throughout the state and are legal. Red-light entertainment was a way for women to earn money traveling from one mining town to the next. These traveling women stayed at the towns hotel where men would enjoy a few drinks and then a trip to the hotel to enjoy mother earths greatest gift "Ladies" not sure if these women were ladies but they gave the miners a sense of hope that living in Last Chance really wasn't so bad afterall.

Last Chance was a growing town it had within its district the El. Dorado, Murdock and Mohawk Mines. If you were to walk in the woods you can find some of the holes in the ground trust me its not safe. If you were out hiking off the trail and you fell down one of these holes NOBODY would find you. I am just stating this fact because ghost towns are great historically but they are also places that contain hazards. There are many mines hidden all up and down throughout the canyons. I also heard not sure if this is true but there are people who live in the woods maybe this is why we felt so watched out here this is afterall today the "Wrong Turn" type of place. The road is very narrow and long with allot of bumps that can easily get a vehicle struck. I do not know about you but this is not the type of place id ever want to be stranded at! Ill explain a bit further below as to why I feel this way in this prologue.

The town did not have a post office if you wanted to write a letter or pick up a telegraph you had to travel down to Michigan Bluff. Sometimes a courier would take letters on up to the residents of Last Chance. However in most cases during the winter months many of the miners went to lower altitudes as winter was difficult here supplies was limited and mining was cutback. Despite that factor these mines stayed up for almost a century for example the El Dorado Mine was in operation from 1890 to about 1982. In 1982 I was 7 years old I never even knew about mining nor did I ever realize that one day I would be living true adventures like these.

The town also had other sites of interest such as a Masonic Lodge and Oddfellows Hall which during the 1800's such fraternal organizations were not that uncommon to belong to. In addition there was also a cemetery today it still exist although its overgrown. Some of the burials within this cemetery were relatives of the Donner Party who met there tragic fate up at Donner Lake an area our team has worked with and done research at. Which makes this location all the more fascinating based on its enriched history.

Today very little remains of the town you have some cellars, wells, cabins, remnants of mining machinery, pipes, scattered debris, cemetery, piles of wood and some collapsed structures. This is about all that remains of the town and more then often the area is now used for dirt bike races. I happened to know this due to the fact that we nearly had a head on collision with a group of bikes racing out here. One of them came within an inch of my side view mirror I even filmed one of the bikes on a crash course collision with my truck check out our videos section. Today allot of people come on out here to explore the ghost town although it is in seclusion one friend of mine told me that his wife always felt this place was haunted and felt a bit creeped out while visiting here. Personally myself I would have to agree this is one of the more spookier ghost towns that I have visited. It resides in a very dense forest and their are many dirt roads that go off in every direction for miles with no signs as to where you are going.

Based on my first exploration of the site I found signs that someone at one time or another was living here. There was other strange happenings such as in one of the vacant homes we heard what sounded like big heavy boots walking around. My son was chased by something coming from the woods when I sent him back to the truck to get the EMF detector just up the hill. I heard something moving around the town that sounded big we all felt watched but what really struck my fancy was we heard these banging sounds coming from woods behind the town nearby. Tammy watched a heavy wooden door that was leaning against the cellar stand up on its own then slam back down with no explanation at all not to mention how sick she became after we experienced this paranormal phenomena. I have no doubt that there are ghostly miners that still choose to haunt Last Chance but I also have no doubt that something is lurking in those woods watching perhaps even waiting. As Tammy stated our lead investigator she is totally right when she stated that for all we know something could be watching us and we would never even see who or what it is. As historically intriguing as this location is its also the type of place you will not see on television or on any paranormal show but you will see it here at The Paranormal & Ghost Society!
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Lord Rick aka AngelOfThyNight
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