My first visit to Volcano was back in 2008 when I almost decided to reside here because of its picturesque beauty and history.  Volcano located at 2,053' in the sierra foothills of the Eldorado National Forest this place may just be one of the most beautiful towns in all of "The Mother Lode" also known as Gold Country.  In 2008 I was homeless I lived at Indian Grinding Rock at the time or known as Chaw'Se.  So I had really front door access to visiting the Volcano community often. Little did I know when I left this area in 2008 would I return 6 years later to really enjoy its worth much more in depth but back years ago it was my escape.

The area at one time was inhabited by the Mi-Wok Indians as it was abundant with wildlife, berries and even a fresh supply of water.  Their main village site was just a couple miles down hill at a place today known as Chaw'se. One can see all the various grinding rocks where the villages would mash berries and nuts causing rocks to develop deep impressions from years of this occurrence. While the women grinding up berries and nuts most of the men in the tribe were roaming the forested area which today is the town site of Volcano. 

In the winter of 1848 during the near beginnings of the gold rush the white man came to the region finding a few flakes of gold probably in the creek that flows through Volcano today. That same creek which once at the time had raging rapids which drained out into a lake are pretty much today nonexistent but back in the day you could look into the creek and see gold flakes within it. 

Since the winters can be harsh in this area the soldiers of Jonathan Stevenson's New York 7th Regiment decided to make Volcano their camp until Spring came. This is so that they could search for higher grades of gold here. During the gold rush it was madness many men lost their lives over the dream of getting wealthy. When news spread that gold was found at a given location people from all over the world would flock at that one given location even in the harshest of weather. The soldiers who encamped here during the winter named the area Soldier's Gulch which would be the main focal point for all the mining claims that came to be here.  Two of the soldiers who were from the regiment did not make it they actually froze to death and there bodies were discovered by Mexican miners who came to work the gulch in 1848. 

Although the names changed hand in hand what became known as "Soldiers Gulch" eventually was changed to "Stony Point" and its final name to "Volcano". Normally when we hear the word Volcano we think of Mount St. Helens. Although millions of years ago their was major Volcanic activity in the region today they have been long since then extinct leaving behind many caves in the area for example the nearby Black Chasm Caverns and the honeycomb limestone hills of the Masonic Caves which reside just a little below the present day town today. 

When the miners started to pour on in one thing was very apparent that the town resided in a bowl like shaped valley which resembled a Volcano. In the mornings fog would rise and settle within the valley which resembled hot steam.  So all the new settlers who came to the area began to call the place a Volcano which it was not but that is how its name derived from in the 1800's and today it still bares that name.  An immigrant by the name of Jacob Cook came upon this valley in 1849 comparing volcano to an English park because of the white leafy oaks of immense size, tall grass and burnt looking rock formations. Today the very same fog the first miners and explorers seen in Volcano are still seen by the locals nearly every morning giving this valley a volcanic feeling. So in retrospect not much has changed when you think about it maybe the towns size or how it looks but even today tall white oaks, high grass and fog surround many of the historic sites you see in our galleries throughout our Volcano Pages. 

There were many rumors that spread quickly throughout Gold Country about how one miners pulled out $8k in gold in a few days while another one pulled out 25lbs of it in the gulch. This caused the population to boom very quickly in the 1850's as you had many miners flock to the area you also had many people trying to form businesses here to accommodate those miners.

In 1851 a post office was established and by 1852 their were nearly 300 homes and over 200 family's living in this valley just as by 1853 thousands of miners came to the gulch to strike it rich.  In 1854 the town held the Amador county seat! By 1858 the population reached a total of 5000 residents as opposed to todays 102 to 110 residents. The city had 1 public school, Masonic and Odd Fellows Hall which was shared between the two fraternal groups, 5 churches, 3 butcher shops, 3 bakeries, 1 fire hall, 5 saloons, court house, multiple gambling halls, 11 stores, 2 breweries, 2 express offices, town hall, theatre,  library, private law school, debate society, several dance schools and even a newspaper.  One of its greatest hotels still stands today which we investigated it for haunting's and its dark history called The St. George Hotel & Whiskey Flat Saloon.  One of the last remaining hotels out of the 17 that once existed here in town.

Volcano became a bustling place but it also was a leading cultural center as the first theatre group in California began here along with the first debate society.  In 1855 it had the first private school in the state of California and its first private law school.  The first legal hanging in Amador County took place in Union Square here just as the first astronomical observatory in California was built here in 1860 where George Madeira discovered the Great Comet of 1861. The first lending library in California also was built here where you could get books then return them at a later date.  The first Solar Still in California was also established here however that came later in 1971.  So the town itself has an unprecedented amount of western history and if it were not for websites like ours you would never have known these important educational facts. 

The problem with Volcano was that allot of the mining done here was Hydraulic Mining and they used water cannons which ended up destroying allot of the buildings and landscape. It create allot of dirt, sludge and debris which would wash into some of the nearby structures. Allot of the town actually was washed away this also goes in addition with all the fires that took places here. Some of the locals though the town was cursed because fire after fire would sweep away many of the towns prominent sites so in theory its possible that the Mi-Wok Indians cursed this place when the white man arrived here but nobody knows for certain.  Some wonder if it was worth the 90 million dollars in gold that was dredged from the town itself!

As the towns population grew so did the amount of deaths that ensued here so by 1850 and 1852 the Volcano Catholic Cemetery and Volcano Methodist Cemetery were erected on the edge of town. Both of them we have done extensive work in since the cemeteries are a huge part of the towns history. Many of the wealthy prominent miners who lived in Volcano also died in Volcano so both are very relevant sites that are a must see if you happen to tour the town. 

Volcano also had a history in regards to the civil war as its gold did serve the Union.  A cannon made out of bronze was cast in Massachusetts in 1837 was smuggled into town via hearse by the Volcano Blues to intimidate rebel sympathizers. The cannon itself was cast by a Cyrus Alger & Co. in Boston and its the first of two 6-pounders made on the same day to be stamped with a serial number 4. The 800lb cannon was only fired once during the civil war in town. The confederate faction known as the Knights of the Golden Circle owned many of the businesses on Main Street some of them which still stand today. The Volcano Blues fired "Old Abe" down main street which caused many of the shops windows to break to serve as a warning for anyone who was sympathetic to the south. Tensions ran wild during the civil war here you just did not know if civil war would break out within the town itself. The other cannon which is "Old Abes" twin survives at Shiloh Battlefield and is called "Shiloh Sam". Abe is the only cannon of this age in the U.S. still on a 19th century wooden carriage making it quite original. 

Some other notable facts that surround Volcano is the birth of some legends for example Harry Liveredge was a two time track star in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. Also Brigadier General known as the leader of the regiment involved in the historic Iwo Jima flag raising dying in 1951 after serving 25 years of serving in the Marine Corps. The Iwo Jima was a marine unit that first raised the American Flag on Mount Suribachi during WWII's bloodiest battles against the Japanese on the small island. Even today that picture of that flag being raised in an iconic symbol of America's freedom and the strength we had to fight against a tyrant who wanted control of the world. 

From what I gathered visiting Volcano many times is that you do not have to look far to find its ghosts of the past. Everything has a story and nearly every historic site is haunted or has some strange tale. I found during our second investigation just from walking down the old streets that I had captured EVP's which is electronic voice phenomena or captured ghostly voices via recorder.  Not only is this one of the most haunted towns in gold country but its been labeled one of the most beautiful.

By 1865 most of the gold in Volcano had been mined so once the gold was gone people began to move on to other nearby towns. In 1868 many fires destroyed some of the major businesses therefore property values continued to drop after the Civil War.  Most of those buildings were not rebuilt while some business owners paid hefty property insurance fees which was okay back when the town was prospering. But between the fire, mining and lack of gold being found Volcano was slowly over the years turning into a semi-ghost town. Many of the buildings that burnt down were never rebuilt and life within town was coming to a halt. The park you see in the photos use to be the old swimming pool back then the creek flowed more like a river. Near the old St. George Hotel there use to be a lake you could boat and fish on. That lake is now just a dry meadow of what once was. The jail which sits on the edge of the town has a rumor that the men who built it also were housed in it. When poverty came into play due to the lack of gold the crime increased here and things were not looking well for this gold country town.

Back in 2008 I use to get the best train wreck marijuana strain here use to love smoking bud and just relaxing downtown memories that will stay with me for many years to come. I also use to enjoy taking some of the back roads around Volcano to admire the wildlife such as deer and other animals along with many of the wild flowers and butterflies which seem to be found everywhere around town. Its hard to believe my old Subaru car use to drive all over these hills so to return with my jeep years later is more like a reinvention not a remake of our past here. 

One of my favorite sites found in town is the Cobblestone Outdoor Amphitheater where outdoor plays are held. This is not something you see all the time its very special all in itself. One could go get a prohibition ale at the ole Whiskey Flat Saloon then head on over to the amphitheater to catch some theatrics on a beautiful Spring day. 

Today nature has reclaimed most of the town as its rather shady and tree covered. Most of the mines are overgrown of course I did find a couple of them that went so far back while exploring. But all the damage of hydraulic mining has long since been forgotten so now its easy to overlook the damage that has been done. As a matter in fact the town is like a giant museum therefore I scanned and posted a map with all the historic sites for anyone who wants to visit here. I kind of figured our visitors would like to get a more in depth tour of the town so our Volcano pages have been redone and we have added allot of great content for our visitors to enjoy.

 It is important to preserve this place for years to come so that our children's children can enjoy it the way we did and the way the miners did in the 1800's. This truly is an important part of wild western history that very few knew about until we were able to raise awareness for the public school system so we welcome you to enjoy these pages. I do plan on a third investigation of Volcano when I spend the weekend at the St. George Hotel in the future to bring you a few other sites friends of mine told me about to check out so were far from done with this project so sit back and enjoy the show ladies and gentlemen! Further below on this page is even a more in depth history of Volcano if you feel inclined to read it and your a true history buff like myself it is a wonderful piece that goes into detail about each historic site with some of the towns first pioneers and their accomplishments surrounding Volcano. 

© By
Lord Rick aka AngelOfThyNight
Founder 
Author, Producer, Talk Show Host and Paranormal Investigator

Volcano An In Depth History

By:  www.amadorgold.net/tours/volcano/index.html

Who the first men were to mine this region is not known for certain, but legend has it that among the earliest were members of Stevenson's Regiment who chanced upon the diggings in 1848. They found the placers exceedingly rich, averaging $100 a day per man, with some spots yielding up to $500. The claims in Soldiers Gulch were paying so well that no one took the time off from mining to build any kind of permanent shelter. So when the first snows began to fly, most of the men packed up their gear and headed for friendlier climes.

A few of the soldiers; however, decided to dig in for the winter, undoubtedly hoping to continue working the rich placers and build up their stakes. But the winter proved cruel, and without substantial shelter from the storm or adequate supplies, the soldiers perished. Their bodies weren't discovered until several years afterward, at which time they were buried on Graveyard Hill.

Volcano Jail, built 1857.The tiny Volcano Jail seems hardly able to withstand a strong gust of wind, let alone hold dangerous criminals. Built in 1872, the secret to its success are the metal plates sandwiched in between the wooden planks which form the walls. The jail is virtually escape proof, and the story goes that its first prisoners were the men who constructed it.

  With the melting of the snows and the opening of the trails, it wasn't long before the diggings at Soldiers Gulch were once again jumping. An immigrant named Jacob Cook came upon the valley in 1849, which he described as "a natural beauty spot, covered with leafy white oaks of immense size, and carpeted with grass, three to five feet high, having the appearance of an old English park." While the miners may not have noticed the natural beauty of the spot, blinded by their search for gold, they did notice the strange, burnt-looking rock formations and the fact that the camp seemed to be located in the crater of a huge volcano. Someone dubbed the place Volcano and the name stuck.

The surface gravels paid handsomely, and to the miners' surprise, the claims seemed to get richer the deeper they went. Men picked out large nuggets with only their fingers as tools; the diggings were easy. Until they hit a layer of disquieting yellow clay. Sure, there was gold in the clay, but it was almost impossible to get out. Discouraged, several claims were abandoned which later turned out to be worth fortunes when methods of separating the gold from the clay were discovered. Boiling was found to disintegrate the clay, so boilers were built to steam out the gold. Another method was to let the clay dry in the sun, afterwhich it was an easy matter to pound it to dust and extract the gold. One miner is reported to have taken out $8,000 in only a few days, another took out twenty-eight pounds from a single pocket. With returns like these, it's easy to see how the region produced the $90 million credited to this area.

The Clute Building was also built in 1855 by the brothers Frye. John, George, and Reuben Frye arrived in Volcano during the early 1850's, and by 1855 had done quite well for themselves. Their income came from mining, and selling water from their ditch to the miners working the placers in Soldiers Gulch. They also speculated in real estate, owning several pieces of property on Main Street, upon which they erected buildings to meet the growing demand for stores. Standing on the west side of Main Street, with Soldiers Gulch behind, this building was constructed on two lots, each twenty feet wide by sixty feet deep. From the outside, the building appeared to be a single store; actually it was two, divided down the middle by a common wall. When the building was finished, the brothers sold the north lot and north half of the building on it to E. M. Strange in November of 1855. Four days later, they sold the south lot and south half of the building to John LaRoy and James A. Robbins. LaRoy and Robbins sold out the following year to Charles Crocker (later one of the Big Four), who sold it to Franklin W. Clute in August of that same year. Franklin ran a general merchandise store here, later selling out to his brother Peter. All in all, the Clutes operated from this site for nearly four decades, from 1856 to 1905, with the two buildings trading hands several times between different parties, at one time being repurchased by the Frye brothers. The structure eventually came into the possession of the Volcano Pioneers community theatre group who reinforced and converted the building into their new theatre.

Pre-charter meetings of the Masonic Lodge were held in this caves upper level's. This photo was taken in 1921,members of the Volcano F. & A.M. Lodge 56, they are, from front to back, on the left: Jack Giannini, Albert Swithenbank, Edmund Santirfo, Charles Cook, and Oliver Kimball; and on the right, Griffith D, Denend, Henry Chapman, George Sheppard and George Schacht.See what the cave looks like today

The Masonic Caves are an eerie, phantasmagorial place once used for secret meetings by pre-charter Masons. The caves are located on different levels and vary in size and shape. Several openings lead into the caves which honeycomb the limestone hill, the one used by the Masons is a little bit larger than the others and is located higher on the hill. The caves were abandoned after five meetings when the Masons moved into their new meeting hall which they shared with the Odd Fellows, which was most likely a bit warmer and dryer.

  Volcano was an election precinct as early as 1849 and within two years a post office had been established. The town really came into its own in 1852; however, when the Volcano cutoff off the Carson Route was completed. John Doble relates in his diary, "The Emigration is coming in rapidly at the rates of 10 to 20 wagons a day & every two or 3 wagons a family sometimes two or three...Many of them are stopping here & going to Mining so our town is now quite lively." Before the year was out, some three hundred clapboard and pine houses were scattered about the hillsides, and the population was nearing two thousand. The following year Doble reports, "...There is now in this Town Eleven stores 1 Restaurant 3 Bakeries 6 Hotels 3 private Boarding Houses & 3 Bars & Gambling Houses one of the Bars is in an Apothecaries shop which leaves only two Gambling Houses.".

The I.O.O.F. & Masonic Hall is located right behind the Sing Kee building. Built in 1856 by Samuel Hayes and James Adams for their store, the two orders acquired the two-story building and shared it for their meetings. The Volcano Weekly Ledger moved here from their original building shortly before relocating to Jackson when it became apparent that Volcano's boom was drawing to a close.

The town was becoming quite civilized; as early as 1850, Robert Beth attempted to bring about a public library but his efforts didn't amount to much. In the autumn of 1854; however, the "Miners' Library Association" was formed. Admission fees were $1 and monthly dues 25 cents. This entitled members to participate in weekly meetings, where social, political, and scientific questions were heartily debated. When $100 had been collected, a list of books were ordered and a significant library formed. After three or four months, the weekly meetings began to lose their interest and a rumor began circulating that the society was finished. This prompted a wild grab for the books and the Library Association dissolved a day or two later. The year 1854 also saw the organization of a Masonic lodge in Volcano, which held their first five meetings in a cave.

Volcano's school from 1875 to 1955; now a private residence.. When the easily mined placers of Soldiers Gulch began to give out, hydraulic mining came into favor, enabling the town to continue to thrive and prosper. Ironically, the destructive forces of this form of mining, which tore the soil away from the bedrock and sent the paydirt running through the sluices, almost wiped out the town. Many of the buildings were undermined; dirt, sludge and debris washed into homes and gardens, and the town was in danger of being swept away in the miner's hydrophilic quest for gold. A good illustration of the amount of land washed away is the St. George Hotel. Seemingly located on the outskirts of town today, old photos show it originally being near the center of the community.

By 1865, most of the gold was gone, and so were most of the people. Volcano had suffered its share of fires over the years, and in 1868 the problem seemed epidemic. Property values had been dropping steadily since the end of the Civil War, but many of the businesses were heavily insured from earlier, more prosperous times. Numerous fires broke out that year, prompting a rumor that the property owners may have had something to do with them. The buildings which burned were not rebuilt, the owners simply left and the town slowly settled down to a more prosaic way of life that it still experiences today.

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