October 3 - Joel Metzger - Utica Water & Power System:  Utica’s 10-person staff is responsible for conveying up to 33,000-acre-feet of water from the North Fork Stanislaus River through a 27-mile-long conveyance system built during the Gold-Rush consisting of wooden flumes, earthen/concrete ditches and five reservoirs.  Joel will talk about the history of the Utica, where the water comes from, where it goes, and the main challenges Utica is facing today.    
          
November 7 - Michael E. LaSalle – Wagon Trains of 1848:   Mike is a retired attorney who graduated from University of California, Davis, Law School in 1970.  During his many years practicing law, he found himself constantly drawn to the history of the Far West, especially to the era of the covered wagon and the emigrant trails.  Mike will share stories around the Wagon Trains of 1848.      

December 5 - Dave Bunnell – Cave Photography:  Dave holds a PHD in Psychophysiology and spent about 10 years doing research in human sleep patterns.  In 1996, he left the academic world and assumed editorship of the monthly National Speleological Society News, which he continues today.  The foothills contain large swathes of marble and this in turn serves as a home for hundreds of caves. This richly illustrated talk will draw on 20 years of exploration and photography in the area’s caves and highlight both the known and the unknown caves that surround us.

No January Lecture

February 6 - Michael Skenfield – Historic Trees of California Gold Rush Towns:  Michael’s book, Historic Trees of California Gold Rush Towns is considered a must for the outdoor adventurer, the casual explorer, and the visitor to the Foothills of the Sierra Nevada Range.  If you’re a Gold Country resident curious about your surroundings, you’ll enjoy excerpts and information from Michael’s book during this lecture.   
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March 6 - Frank Tortorich - Big Tree Carson Valley Wagon Road:  Frank has been a student and researcher of the California Trail for the past 40 years. He is an author of numerous articles, three books, and is a sought-after speaker.  Frank is considered by many as an authority on the history of the Carson River Route of the California Trail.  His published books are GOLD RUSH TRAIL, A Guide to the Carson River Route of the Emigrant Trail published in 1998 and Hiking the Gold Rush Trail, published in 2004. His newest book, John A. “Snowshoe” Thompson, Pioneer mail carrier of the Sierra published in 2015 was ten years in the making.  

April 3  - Lynn Downey – “The Fascinating and Sometimes Hilarious History of the Dude Ranch.” Lynn is the former Historian for Levi Strauss & Co. and lectured at the museum back in 2017. She’ll be talking about her new book, American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West. Movies, food, women’s history, clothing: all of these have a history with the dude ranch, and Lynn has stories to tell in her illustrated talk. She writes a blog about the West at: https://tumblereadsblog.com/blog-sg/, and her website is at http://www.lynndowney.com.

All are welcome. If you have ideas for future lecture topics feel free to submit them to info@angelsmuseumfoundation.org. For more information on the other projects by the Angels Camp Museum Foundation visit our website. 

About the Angels Camp Museum Foundation
The Angels Camp Museum Foundation supports the development and expansion of the collections, programs and resources of the Angels Camp Museum in Angels Camp, Calaveras County, California, to help establish it as one of the premier local history and educational museums in Northern California. 

Just in Time for Back to School (Or Not): Discover what Life was really like during California’s Gold Rush
 
Angels Camp, CA – September 28, 2020 – The Angels Camp Museum had just taken delivery in March of new Acoustiguide handsets for the upcoming launch of the new self-guided audio tour of their 3-acre campus full of Gold Rush era history when the stay at home order was put in place.  Since then, the planned April 11 launch date has come and gone and at present at least in California, only outdoor museum exhibits are allowed to be open.  

The new tour, funded and developed by the Angels Camp Museum Foundation that supports the work of the museum, wasn’t the only project they had developed. Last year the Museum was fortunate to acquire six letters from a Massachusetts family whose Italian Immigrant friend, Andrew Galliardo, moved to Angels Camp and penned the letters about what life was like in the small mining town from  1856-1858.   From these, the foundation created a companion track to the audio tour that tells the story Andrew in his own words, with historical facts and period sound effects, narration and voice actor playing Andrew Galliardo.   The foundation members thought making it available to the public at large during this pandemic would be one way people could still enjoy history and raise awareness about the museum.  To do this they used Instagram Stories to knit together the audio visitors to the museum would hear, and posted the story to their new Instagram Page. Each segment is less than 5 minutes long but transports you to an entirely different time and place.

1. Introduction: California in 1848
2. I arrive, 1856-57 and life is hard
3. Always on guard, missing home
4. December 30, 1857, Andrew “Galliard” is born
5. The Storm of the Century – January 1858
6. From hopelessness and despair to enthusiasm and excitement

“The Gold Rush is more than just a footnote in America’s history,” said Jim Miller, Education Coordinator for the Museum.  “Imagine how different our country might be had the news of the discovery of Gold not been announced widely by President Polk, news that sparked the rush to California in the first place hastening its statehood.”  

During the course of the story, audiences will learn important details surrounding the 1848 discovery of Gold in California.  For example, in March 1848, there were roughly 157,000 people in the California territory; 150,000 Native Americans of varying tribes, 6,500 persons of Spanish or Mexican descent known as Californios and fewer than 800 non-native Americans. Just 20 months later, following the massive influx of settlers, the non-native population had soared to more than 100,000 people - a diverse blend of young and old but largely male persons from all over the country and the world.  By the mid-1850s, there were more than 300,000 new arrivals—and remarkably, one in every 90 people in the entire United States was living in California.

“We may have to wait to re-open our doors to the public at the museum itself, but it occurred to us that for everyone stuck at home more than usual, we could bring history directly to them by creating a simple Instagram page,” said Karen Strand, Angels Camp Museum Foundation President.”  “It is a true story, and since the story is told in audio format with sound effects, it invites us all to close our eyes and use our imaginations as Andrew’s story unfolds.”  

The Corona Virus has hit cultural institutions hard all across our nation.  According to the International Council of Museums, of the world’s museums that are currently shuttered because of the coronavirus pandemic; one in 10 may not reopen. The Museum Foundation hopes that if you like Andrew’s story you’ll make a donation in whatever amount is possible to support their efforts, but a donation is not necessary to access and enjoy the story.   

​The new Museum Instagram Account dedicated to the Andrew Galliardo Story can be found at   https://www.instagram.com/angelscampmuseum/.  Special thanks to the Pierce Family who donated the letters, the Angels Camp Museum staff, resident historians, and the Calaveras County Archivist for helping to make this story possible.   For more information about the Angels Camp Museum, please visit the Angels Camp Museum website and Facebook page.

About the Angels Camp Museum
Angels Camp Museum, founded in 1951, is located on a 3-acre portion of the historic Angels Quartz Mine site in the city of Angels Camp and is the premier local Gold Rush history museum in Northern California.  Each year the museum hosts thousands of local as well as international visitors. The mission of the Museum is to preserve and interpret the gold rush history of Angels Camp & the Mother Lode Region for our community and surrounding gold rush communities, visitors to the region, visiting scholars and researchers, and families researching genealogy. The Angels Camp Museum is located 753 S Main St (Hwy 49), Angels Camp, CA.

About the Angels Camp Museum Foundation
The Angels Camp Museum Foundation works to support the development and expansion of the collections, programs and resources of the Angels Camp Museum in Angels Camp (Calaveras County), California, and to establish it as one of the premier local history and educational museums in Northern California.

Museum Introduces New Digital Docent Self-Guided Audio Tour 

Angels Camp, CA – March 30, 2020 – The Angels Camp Museum Foundation in collaboration with the staff and historians at the Angels Camp Museum is announcing the launch of a self-guided audio tour bringing the history of the California Gold Rush to life as visitors explore the museum’s three-acre campus.  The official launch is timed to coincide with the museum’s April 11 Living History Day where the Carpentry, Printing and Weaving artisan exhibits will all be staffed by docents in period costume and demonstrating their crafts.

A variety of fun and informative games for kids of all ages will be led by the museum’s education coordinator, Jim Miller, and Johnny’s food truck will be on hand to handle the appetites that result. 

“Not only does the self-guided audio tour allow us to share more historical content, it allows us to share it with more people,” said Chuck Schneider, Museum Coordinator.  “The staff had a hand during each step in development from fact-checking to selecting the narrators.  It’s really exciting to see our work come to life with music and special sound effects.”     

Thanks to the museum staff and resident historians, an excellent docent script was already in use and served as the foundation for the expanded digital docent script.  Content that had been written for the artisan exhibits in the Mining & Ranching Building is also included along with an expanded number of artifacts featured with their historical significance.    

The result is a 60-minute tour that starts in the main building with the Rush for Gold, Mark Twain and Medicine in Gold Rush exhibits. The tour moves on to the Carriage House where visitors hear in-depth histories of some of the museum's extensive collection of buggies and wagons including the stunning 1850s Downing and Son’s stagecoach on loan from the Native Sons of the Golden West.  

The tour includes artifacts both inside and out and concludes in the Mining and Ranching building where the artisan, gem and mineral and farm and ranching exhibits are located.  Just outside this last building is the Museum’s Gold Panning station where visitors can test their skills (and their patience) at panning like the original miners.    

The Museum was fortunate to acquire six letters from a Massachusetts family whose Italian Immigrant friend moved to Angels Camp and penned the letters about what life was like in the small mining town from 1856-1858.   From these, a companion track on the audio tour tells the story of their friend, Andrew Galliardo in his own words with additional historical facts and photos.   

“The Gold Rush is more than just a footnote in America’s history,” said Jim Miller, Education Coordinator for the Museum.  “Imagine how different our country might be had the news of the discovery of Gold not been announced widely by President Polk, news that sparked the rush to California in the first place hastening its statehood.”  

​The Angels Camp Museum welcomes visitors from all over the world regularly, and plans to make the tour available in multiple languages are on the horizon. Gold Panning and the new Audio Tour each have an additional $5.00 fee. During the launch month, the museum is offering a combined rate of $7.50 for visitors wishing to purchase both admission and the audio tour. This offer will extend through the Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee taking place at the Calaveras County Fair Grounds, known locally as Frog Town USA, May 14-17.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Thursday-Monday.  For more information about the Museum and upcoming events, visit our website or call (209) 736-2963.

About the Angels Camp Museum Foundation
The Angels Camp Museum Foundation supports the development and expansion of the collections, programs and resources of the Angels Camp Museum in Angels Camp, Calaveras County, California, and  to establish it as one of the premier local history and educational museums in Northern California.  The Angels Camp Museum is located 753 S Main St (Hwy 49), Angels Camp, CA.  For more information, please visit our website or call (209) 736-2963.