Angels Camp Museum Foundation Kicks off 2021-22 California Gold Country Lecture Series

After a year without lectures due to the pandemic, The Angels Camp Museum Foundation is kicking off its 2021-22 lecture series (proper COVID Guidelines will be followed.) The Foundation’s Lecture Series is a labour of love between the foundation and museum historians. The series starts in October 2021 and runs through April 2022 occurring monthly on the first Sunday of each month from 2:00-3:00 pm (no January lecture.)

All lectures are held in the Angels Camp Museum Carriage House with a $10 admission fee. This season’s series features: ​

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 [email protected]. 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.