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308:, which itself had been founded just to the south in 1852. As its diggings played out, miners began moving about a half a mile to the north, to the other side of Birdseye Canyon. Lazarus Beard opened a saloon there in 1857. According to local lore, the Waloupa miners gathered one day in Beard's saloon to name the new town. His favorite phrase was "you bet". Whenever Beard was asked about a proposed name, he would reply "you bet." After much drinking, the miners decided that You Bet sounded just right.
50:
83:
337:
1884 banned most hydraulic mining. It continued legally in areas where the mines could contain their refuse, or tailings. Local lore has it that it also continued illegally, aided by a telephone line from the
Greenhorn Creek crossing which was used to warn miners that federal inspectors were coming so that they could turn off the water. Other miners turned to drift mining, tunnelling into rock and using explosives to dislodge the ore.
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90:
57:
353:
Logging was the other major industry in the You Bet area, which then contained, and still has, forests densely covered with pine and
Douglas fir. Charles Kitts, lawyer and county recorder, owned or leased over 2000 acres of prime timberland in the You Bet area, much of it along the banks of Greenhorn
327:
On April 24, 1869, the town was completely destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt, in part with buildings moved there from Red Dog, whose diggings were playing out. However, on
September 7, 1873, fire again destroyed much of You Bet. By the turn of the 19th century, many of the town's residents had moved
374:
in 1975. All that remains of the Gold Rush era are the scarred diggings, some of the ditches, and the historic cemetery, which contains gravestones dating back to the 1860s. Interments were resumed in the 1990s. The last remaining historic building, the old schoolhouse, was reportedly dismantled in
361:
Called the
Greenhorn Railroad, Kitts ran his railroad down the eastern side of the Greenhorn, across the Creek on a "flimsy" trestle approximately where the current bridge is, then down the western side to the You Bet Station. The Greenhorn Railroad was one of the Narrow Gauge's biggest customers.
357:
Initially, Kitts moved his timber down the
Greenhorn to the You Bet Station of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad, using teams of horses. In 1890, Kitts built a 2.5 mile long railroad connecting his mill to the You Bet Station. Initially, the flatbed cars containing the timber were moved by a
336:
Mining drove You Bet's economy for over 80 years. Hydraulic mining (dislodging gold bearing ore from hillsides with water under high pressure) was prominent in the early days. Water was brought in by ditches and flumes, and the diggings were one of the largest in the state. The Sawyer decision in
311:
The town grew quickly. Soon, several stage lines connected it with Nevada City and other mining areas. By 1864, the town had 40–50 buildings, including hotels, stores, shops and saloons. That year, a schoolhouse was built between Red Dog, a mining town about 1 mile to the north, and You Bet with
340:
By 1918, an estimated $ 3 million in gold (about $ 175 million at 2015 prices) had been mined. Few people remained in the area, many having moved to work in the hard rock mines in neighboring Grass Valley. The town experienced a revival between the wars, and commercial mining continued until
345:. Since then, there have been periodic efforts to revive commercial mining when the price of gold soars. Occasional prospecting has never stopped, especially in the spring when prospectors look for gold washed down by runoff from the Sierra.
324:, You Bet was a strong Union town. In the 1862 elections, the You Bet vote was 121 for the Unionists to 6 for the Secessionists. In the 1864 presidential election, Lincoln received 86 votes and McClellan received 2.
1480:
358:
combination of gravity and horses. Later, Kitts acquired a steam locomotive from Louis Voss, who had a mill near
Remington Hill a few miles north of You Bet and had built a railroad to move his logs.
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370:
Today, You Bet is a community of about 50 residences located within a radius of a few miles from the old mining town. It has a community church, but no commercial establishments. It was declared a
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Creek, and began logging in the 1870s. He built a sawmill near the confluence of the
Greenhorn and Little Missouri Creeks.
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The Sawyer decision is reported as
Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Co., 18 F. 753 (CCD Cal. 1884)
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The
Greenhorn Railroad operated until Kitts exhausted his supply of timber. In 1912, the line was scrapped.
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monies raised by subscription. A post office was established in 1868 and served the community until 1903.
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California's
Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State
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662:
Harrar, Paul, Red Dog and You Bet, Grass Valley Union, Nov. 30, 1992, p. 16.
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MacBoyle, Errol, Mines and Mineral Resources of Nevada County, (1918) p.64
304:, principally by miners from across Birdseye Canyon in the nearby town of
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Thompson & West, History of Nevada County - 1880, (1970 ed.) p. 71
712:
http://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=roads/ca/kitts/index.htm
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Brooks, Clark, Red Dog-You Bet, Mountain Messenger, Jan. 23, 1980.
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McKinney, Gage, The 1930s: No Depression Here, (2009), pp.361-62.
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Comstock, David A., Exploring Nevada County, (2010), pp.61-62.
1286:‡This CDP also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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California Historical Landmarks in Nevada County, California
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north about one half mile to be closer to the diggings.
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Unincorporated communities in Nevada County, California
1377:
List of people associated with the California Gold Rush
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Populated places in the Sierra Nevada (United States)
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Gudde, Erwin G., California Gold Camps, (1975) p. 380
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Unincorporated community in California, United States
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Unincorporated community in California, United States
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710:Brandon, Andrew, Greenhorn Railroad, available at
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450:. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 579.
1486:Mining communities of the California Gold Rush
390:Mining communities of the California Gold Rush
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740:. Grass Valley, CA: Cottage Hill Publishing.
536:History of California Post Offices, 1849-1990
8:
375:the 1960s by squatters looking for lumber.
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275:foothills, 7 miles (11.3 km) east of
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738:You Bet, California Gold Fever
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372:California Historical Landmark
1:
105:Show map of the United States
271:. You Bet is located in the
102:You Bet (the United States)
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205:2,910 ft (887 m)
1458:
1450:Copper mining in Michigan
1412:Key California Gold sites
1398:Oh My Darling, Clementine
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789:Nevada County, California
534:Salley, Harold E. (1991)
446:Durham, David L. (1998).
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261:unincorporated community
36:Unincorporated community
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349:The Greenhorn Railroad
134:39.20917°N 120.90000°W
72:Show map of California
851:
736:Brady, Jerry (2002).
538:, p. 237. The Depot,
419:"You Bet, California"
228: • Summer (
1460:Part of a series on
1347:California Gold Rush
1304:United States portal
569:, November 11, 1864.
557:, September 5, 1862.
302:California Gold Rush
139:39.20917; -120.90000
501:, November 14, 1863
306:Waloupa, California
130: /
1361:Gold in California
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674:, pp. 161–286
555:Morning Transcript
322:American Civil War
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319:
310:
295:
281:Chicago Park
277:Grass Valley
256:
255:
18:
1462:Gold mining
1429:Empire Mine
1228:Spenceville
1173:Moores Flat
1168:Meadow Lake
1158:Little York
1138:Hunt's Hill
1118:French Lake
1108:Coyoteville
1098:Chalk Bluff
1053:Badger Hill
1040:Ghost towns
985:Mooney Flat
940:Cedar Ridge
932:communities
905:Penn Valley
869:Alta Sierra
834:Nevada City
811:Nevada City
804:County seat
366:Present day
320:During the
298:mining town
259:is a small
137: /
125:120°54′00″W
1475:Categories
1248:Union Hill
1218:Snow Point
1208:Sebastopol
1088:Bridgeport
1063:Birchville
975:Hirschdale
970:Hills Flat
920:Washington
401:References
269:California
247:feature ID
184:California
122:39°12′33″N
1282:Footnotes
1243:Tsekankan
1238:Town Talk
1233:Sweetland
1223:Snow Tent
1128:Gold Hill
1123:Glenbrook
1068:Blue Tent
980:Lake City
960:Gold Flat
874:Floriston
316:Civil War
292:Gold Rush
211:Time zone
202:Elevation
1113:Democrat
1103:Cherokee
1005:Peardale
884:Kingvale
593:, passim
379:See also
1391:Culture
1354:Geology
1263:Wokodot
1258:Waloupa
1193:Red Dog
1178:Newtown
1163:Maybert
1143:Iceland
1030:You Bet
1010:Polaris
839:Truckee
287:History
257:You Bet
250:1656416
151:Country
96:You Bet
63:You Bet
28:You Bet
1370:People
1273:Yamako
1253:Ustoma
1213:Shands
1015:Relief
990:Norden
955:Gaston
744:
542:
454:
332:Mining
196:Nevada
191:County
181:
161:
1183:Omega
1048:Alpha
239:(PDT)
237:UTC-7
216:UTC-8
171:State
1073:Boca
1025:Wolf
861:CDPs
742:ISBN
540:ISBN
452:ISBN
296:The
245:GNIS
263:in
230:DST
1477::
807::
792:,
466:^
431:,
427:.
421:.
408:^
283:.
267:,
1339:e
1332:t
1325:v
886:‡
779:e
772:t
765:v
750:.
460:.
435:.
232:)
222:)
218:(
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