Alice Dutton
gold mines
The Los Burros Mining District and the Lost Town of Manchester
Organized 1876, transformed by Willey Cruikshank's Last Chance strike in 1887 — and gone by 1897, burned and grown over. The rise and fall of the coast's gold district, and the lost town of Manchester.
mabel article
Jolon Remembered as Thriving Community on Camino Real
Portolá camped there in 1769; a century later Jolon was the thriving crossroads of the Camino Real — saloons, hotels, and fiestas three days long.
mabel article
Parishioners’ Labor Has Built St. Luke’s
In 1884 three Plaskett brothers rode horseback from Pacific Valley to Jolon to raise a church — St. Luke's, built by its parishioners, standing yet.
mabel article
Willey Cruikshank - Mining Was His Life
The boy who watched Chinese miners pan Salmon Creek struck the Last Chance mine — and vanished into the Lucias in 1937. His life, told by a woman who knew him.
story
Building St. Lukes Church
Three Plaskett brothers built St. Luke's at Jolon in 1884 — and it still stands.
story
Willey Cruikshank Jilted Twice
Willey Cruikshank bought the ring twice. He never married.