Prospecting for ghosts in California's Gold Country

In the 1850s, people were crawling all over the Sierra Mountains like ants on a piece of wet hard candy. Their goal was gold. Once it was found at Sutter's Mill near Sacramento, people from all over the world were convinced there was enough for everyone. Today, people are returning again, but this time their motivation is paranormal adventure. Ghost Hunting in Mother Lode Country is about one man's exploration of the same region. The information provided is introductory at best, but it is an interesting read nonetheless.

This slim print-on-demand volume is divided into nine chapters focusing on a particular part of Northern California's gold country. The main body of the text is supplemented by an introduction, final summary, a short index of paranormal organizations, and bibliography. The text is sprinkled with plenty of black & white photos and little ghost icons to highlight sidebars.

Author Hilber H. Graf recommends planning to stay at least a full weekend and finding a hotel in El Dorado County to base at when exploring the Mother Lode. He chose Placerville, aka "Hangtown," for his visit. Graf dutifully repeats the legend of the Hangman's Tree Café, which was allegedly the site of many hangings before it was built. It claims the stump of the tree that was used is still under the building's floorboards. The staff there claims the specters of those who faced vigilante justice still torment customers out front or ride by on horses.

In Coloma, the Wa Hop Store, which supplied Chinese food and apothecary items, has been restored as an exhibit to what the Asian population contributed to pioneering Western settlement. Witnesses there claim to hear disembodied voices speaking in foreign languages and the occasional chop of a meat cleaver.

Sacramento—like Seattle, Edinburgh, and Rome—has an underground system, which was built over when city leaders grew worried over the rising flood levels of the American and Sacramento rivers. The basement of Records, a store specializing in used LPs, 45s, and 78s, is a part of it. Employees claim to hear disembodied voices and slamming doors and see an occasional apparition. One team of paranormal researchers investigating the site believe they found the ghost of a little girl.

Traveling is always seems more interesting when someone has a goal in mind and Graf has one that definitely comes with a spirit for adventure. (Pun acknowledged.) This book also reaches out to cover some heavily documented haunted locations in the Bay Area. Technically speaking, San Francisco and San Jose existed long before the Gold Rush, but much of those cities' growth arose from the demand. Graf never experiences anything really big himself, but ghosts are contrary like that. The people who would be most thrilled to have them visit are least likely to encounter them.

His research is also faulty in a couple of places. For instance, on page 34, he says, "Sometimes, such as the case of Deadwood, only the remains of a cemetery still exist to mark its memory." Was Graf out to lunch on this one? Deadwood, South Dakota, is alive and positively flourishing after small stakes gambling was legalized around 20 years ago. Even before that, it was a point of interest as the site of the murder and final resting place for Wild Bill Hickok. The nearby Homestake Mine was in operation until 2001. The HBO dramatic series based on Deadwood's founding and the segment Unsolved Mysteries devoted to the Bullock Hotel also help attract the thousands of visitors the town sees every year.

Graf's imagined scene between Sarah Winchester and her psychic advisor are as fictional as he states. The psychic who gave Mrs. Winchester her fateful advice was a man, Adam Coons.

However, Graf deserves a great deal of credit for taking the time to personally visit the sites he writes about and actually talking with the people who live and work at them. With all of the books being written on paranormal folklore these days, most of them simply rewrite the information provided by other researchers. Graf actually did some field research.

This 2006 book's biggest weakness is the limits placed on it from POD publishing. Its layout was meant to include sidebars indicating haunt hazards, spiritual advice, extra pursuits, and points of interest. Theoretically, one would think that these would be blocked off to the side with the main text wrapped around them, but they're confined to a standard size that is a challenge to work around. Instead, these sidebars are inserted between chunks of the main text and interrupt the flow of reading. Graf even makes a statement regarding limited space.

California's Gold Country actually encompasses Bodie at its northern most point down to Jamestown, capturing the entire Sierra Mountain range in between. For anyone who truly wants to sightsee the area, it is best to do this by car by driving up Highway 49, which was named after the 49ers (not the football team). A weekend is enough for someone who lives relatively close by and can easily make return trips, but anyone wanting to do a thorough job of it, should plan on at least a week for just driving the length of Highway 49. Ghost Hunting in Mother Lode Country can help plan such a trip with a quest of paranormal adventure, but please consider finding additional resources as well. There are plenty.

Ghost Hunting in Mother Lode Country

by Hilber H. Graf

ISBN: 0-7414-2963-2

Infinity Publishing.com

2006, 133 pages

More California ghost folklore:

The Incredible World of Gold Rush Ghosts (The Big Picture), by Nancy Bradley & Robert Reppert

Ghost Hunter's Guide to the San Francisco Bay Area, by Jeff Dwyer

Ghost Stories of California's Gold Rush Country and Yosemite National Park, by Antonio R. Garcez

Haunts of San Jose, by David Lee

San Francisco Ghosts, by Mark Lyon

Haunted Houses of California, by Antoinette May

California Ghost Notes, by Randall Reinstedt

Ghost Notes, by Randall Reinstedt

Ghost Stories of California, by Barbara Smith

Ghosts of San Francisco, by Kathryn Vercillo

Documentary:

Ghosts of California