Coming Events

Tanis Thorne and Hank Meals will make a presentation on their new book The Nevada City Nisenan at the upcoming Speaker Night on May 19th.  

This generously- illustrated book on local history draws upon many multiple sources to reconstruct the lifeways of the Nisenan, the impact of the gold rush, and ensuing relationships with the townspeople.     

Hank’s chapter on mining history focuses on the Cement Hill area northeast of Nevada City, where the resilient community of Wokodot (later a reservation) was located. Gold mining in Nevada City continued well beyond the gold rush (2nd sentence) until about 1920.  It was a way of life and it was harmful to the environment (to put it mildly).  It must have been galling to the local Nisenan to see such wasteful practices.  How these Nevada City Nisenan survived the epic period of intensive industrialized mining is a key question the book addresses.     

Hank Meals will share some of the book’s new maps and rare images.     

Tanis’s part of the presentation will feature her new discoveries on the drawings of gold-rush artist Henry B. Brown. Brown’s work is highly acclaimed for its ethnographic accuracy and artistic merit. Tanis Thorne’s recent research on Brown reveals that Brown made repeated trips to Nevada County in 1851-1852. His portfolio includes drawings of landscapes, mining activity, and Native people. Tanis is pleased and excited to present some of Brown sketches and finished drawings, highlighting those done in Nevada City, Grass Valley, and the Empire Ranch/Union Ranch near present-day Smartsville.  Tanis’s new publication on Brown’s travels through Nevada County complements her new book: for a key  event in Nisenan-American diplomacy, the 1851 Treaty of Camp Union, is examined in detail and illustrated by Brown’s drawings.     When: Thursday May 19th at 7:00 PM.  Where:  The Sierra Presbyterian Church located at 175 Ridge Road, Nevada City. Admission: FREE and open to the public, this event last one hour. Free refreshments offered after the presentation.     For more information, visit:  www.NevadaCountyHistory.org or contact Daniel Ketcham @ (530) 477-8056 or President@NevadaCountyHistory.org