| Canyon City, California Canyon City was first discovered by J. W. Statler of Ohio in 1851. In 1852 and 1853 miners flocked to this area as large gold strikes were discovered. A peak population of four hundred in 1855 later fell down to two hundred by 1857 due to gold discoveries elsewhere. The townsite was just like Junction City in that the homes, cabins, businesses, and mines were spread out in a general area. There are only a few buildings left and a small cemetery to show that Canyon City ever existed |
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| Prominent amoung the later residents of Canon City was Ellis Flowers. His house has been reconstructed and placed where the heart of Canyon City is thought to be. Mr. Flowers's grandson - Mr. Fullerton - lives in a trailer next to this house. I spent some time with Mr. Fullerton one day and he told me how he was raised in his Grandfather's house. He and his brother had a small sleeping area in the attack while his other two brothers and parents each shared the two back rooms. The main cabin room was both kitchen, dining area, and family area. |
| Mr. Fullerton was also kind enough to let me into the old house and look at the assortment of old rellicks he and others have found over the years. Of speacial interest were two pianos, one a player paino and the other a large upright. The player was inside the house while the other was decaying on the porch. Mr. Fullerton offered the piano on the porch to me but I declined knowing that Angie would kill me if I showed up with that in the back of my pickup. |
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| In addition to Mr. Fullerton's boyhood home at the Canyon City townsite, there were two other cabins that had been reassembled and placed here. One was from the town of Dedrick and the other Hayfork. Both cabins would have been destroyed if Mr. Fullerton had not rescued them. |
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| Across the road from the Fullerton home are two more buildings. It is rumered that a lady who answered to the name of Glass Eye worked here "servicing" the miners of the area. I asked Mr. Fullerton if she was true and he said that her name was known in the area but that her association with either of these cabins could not be proved. He didn't deny it either! |
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| Down the road about half a mile from Canyon City was an area called the Guthrie Place. I found the remains of this area by accident when I was trting to find a place to turn my car around. William Guthrie had his house here and a sawmill was also located here. The apple orchard is still standing and fully loaded with apples. |
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| Canyon Creek next to Guthrie's Place shows many mining tailings and a cabel crossing the creek. There was a dirt road that followed the creek which I decided to explore. As I drove down this road I came across evidence of past human presence. Along the hillside was a rock wall about four feet high extending a few hundred feet. I'm pretty sure this formed the foundation of a water ditch system. |
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| This "facility" isn't an original from the 1800's but it sure has seen better days. Notice the pipes along this section of the rock wall. These pipes were probably used to transport water for hydraulic mining operations nearby. |
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| Along the main road below Guthrie's Place is the Canyon City cemetery. Buried here is James Gilzean, pioneer miner from Scotland and grandfather of James Albert (Bert) Gilzean and Warren Gilzean, very well known in the mining activities around Junction City. Also buried in this cemetery are some members of the Nicolas Wolff family. Vandals have taken away all the traditional upright grave markers. |
| James K. Gilzean 1814 - 1891 Native Scotland Isabella Gilzean 1861 - 1869 |
| Unmarked Grave. |
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| Canyon City Cemetery from the road below. |
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| Down the road stands the home of John Adam Burger and the Canyon Creek School. John Adam Burger came from Urweiler, Alsace in 1854. He and his paretner, Louis Heimburger, mined the area by drifting, digging tunnels at the creek level looking for gravel deposits under the bedrock. The Canyon City School is directly across from the Burger house. Among its teachers were Emilie Meckel McAfee and Nelie Scott Pattison. |
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| John Adam Burger house. |
| Canyon City Schoolhouse |
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