El Dorado (Originally "Mud Springs")

El Dorado County · El Dorado · location approximate

El Dorado, meaning "The Gilded One," was first known as Mud Springs from the boggy quagmire the cattle and horses made of a nearby watering place. Originally an important camp on the old Carson Emigrant Trail. By 1849-50 it had become the center of a mining district and the crossroads for freight and stage lines. At the height of the rush its large gold production supported a population of several thousand.

1971 register text, presented as a historical document. It uses the period's terms for Native people; the state's landmark listings still carry most of this wording, and the California Office of Historic Preservation maintains the program's current texts.

Many of these plaques have since been recast or their texts revised. The California Historical Landmarks program and its current texts are maintained by the California Office of Historic Preservation. California Office of Historic Preservation ↗

David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Marker data: State of California, Department of Parks and Recreation, California Historical Landmarks (1971)

More markers nearby

El Dorado-Nevada House (Mud Springs)—Overland Pony Express Route in Californiaunder 1 mi
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