BRINGING HORSETOWN TO LIFE; A SHASTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH SETTLEMENT.

Filmed on location. 

During the California Gold Rush in September of 1849, miners descended into the vicinity of Clear Creek’s rapidly flowing channel in western Shasta County, California, and they started pitching up tents at an alarming rate upon a popular flat of the creek which was producing lucrative gold. From that point on Horsetown began to unveil its lucrative future as a burgeoning mining community which took off and stayed prominent until its demise which made it become one of Shasta County's present-day ghost towns. Come examine the lucrative history of this town site with me as I dive into old records, reports, articles, newspaper clippings and more to bring its history to life as much as possible in this episode of Exploring Shasta County History. 

Picture of Horsetown. Used Courtesy of Library of Congress, Special Collections. Western States, Shasta County, California. Contributor: Historic American Buildings Survey - McPartland, Mary Horsetown, General View, Redding, Shasta County, CA HABS CAL,46-SIRVI,1-

RESOURCES:

1850 U.S. Census

1852 California State Census

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 23, 1853

Rhodes And Lusk’s Express - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 30, 1853

From the Interior - The Sacramento Day Union newspaper of Sacramento, May 4, 1853

Middletown and One Horse Town Road - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 7, 1853

Staging Into Shasta - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 7, 1853

Adam’s & Company’s Express - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 7, 1853

Letter From Briggsville - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 28, 1853

Died - The Daily Alta newspaper of San Francisco, July 7, 1853

The Shasta County Dry Diggings - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 4, 1854

Miners Meeting - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 4, 1854

Mining In Shasta County - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 1, 1854

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 3, 1854

Died - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 19, 1854

Fire at Horsetown  - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 16, 1854

Fire In Horsetown - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, September 18, 1854

Notice - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, November 18, 1854

The Shasta Mines - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 17, 1855

Report - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 9, 1855

Dissolution of Co-Partnership - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, July 28, 1855

Dissolution of Co-Partnership - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 25, 1855

Died - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 6, 1858 

Births - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 17, 1858 

The Shasta Courie newspaper of Shasta, April 24, 1858

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 13, 1859

1860 U.S. Census

Horsetown Correspondent -The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 7, 1860

The Courier in Horsetown - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 14, 1860

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 3, 1860

A Case of Abortion and Death - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 17, 1860

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 23, 1860

The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, July 7, 1860

Northern Argust - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, August 4, 1860

E. Clampus Vitus - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 15, 1860

Fire In Horsetown - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 12, 1861

Death After Amputation - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 23, 1861

Died From the Effect of the Heat - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 20, 1861

Died - The Shasta Courier newspaper, September 14, 1861

Murder Near Horsetown, Shasta County, By Indians - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, June 2, 1862

Robbery Near Horsetown - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, September 7, 1863

Died - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, November 28, 1863

The Late James L. Hart - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 2, 1864

Administrators Sale -The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 5, 1864

Large Union Meeting in Shasta - Destructive Fire at Horsetown - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, November 1, 1864

St. Valentine’s Day - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 10, 1866

Richards & Co. - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 13, 1866, 

Christmas Tree - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 15, 1866

Killed - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 29, 1868

Simpson & Leiter - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 30, 1869

Horsetown Store - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 30, 1869

Fire - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 18, 1869

1870 U.S. Census

The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, January 1, 1870

A Shooting Affray - The Marysville Daily Appeal newspaper of Marysville, January 4, 1870

Married - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 5, 1870

Sold Out - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 1, 1871

The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, January 25, 1872

Murder and Wholesale Robbery - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, March 10, 1873

Assaulted - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 22, 1873

The Sentinel newspaper of Red Bluff, November 13, 1875

A Deserted Village - The Trinity Journal newspaper of Weaverville, June 17, 1876

The Weekly Butte Record newspaper of Red Bluff, June 24, 1876

1880 U.S. Census

The San Jose Herald newspaper of San Jose, June 15, 1881

Mike Sweeny Passes Away - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, February 15, 1890

The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 10, 1895

1900 U.S. Census

The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, June 5, 1900

The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 19, 1900

The Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 12, 1901

The Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 19, 1901

The Free Press newspaper of Redding, April 20, 1901

In Days of Old - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 13, 1903

Nelson Waite Critically Ill - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, April 8, 1904

Nelson Waite Dead - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 6, 1904

Nelson Waite Was Old Indian Fighter - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 6, 1904

Dredging In Shasta - The Marysville Democrat newspaper of Marysville, February 3, 1905

Oroville Man Buys Interest in Redding Mine - The Chico Record newspaper of Chico, February 3, 1905

Big Mining Deal in Shasta County - The Chico Record newspaper of Chico, December 23, 1905

Two Big Mines Reopened - The San Francisco Call newspaper of San Francisco, January 7, 1906

The Horsetown Dredger - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, April 5, 1907

Two New Dredgers Go in Near Redding - The Marysville Daily Appeal, November 19, 1907

Shasta County Dredgers - The Trinity Journal newspaper of Weaverville, November 23, 1907

Electric Substation Is Burned to Ground - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, July 1, 1908

$125,000 Gold Dredger Is Burned in Shasta County - The Los Angeles Herald newspaper of Los Angeles, August 8, 1908

Horsetown Dredger - The Tehama County Daily Republican newspaper of Red Bluff, May 12, 1909

1910 U.S. Census

Shasta County’s Oldest Pioneer Claimed by Death - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, February 1, 1910

Lived Fifty in Old Shasta Town - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, July 15, 1914

Building a Pole Line - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, June 4, 1915

Horsetown and Briggsville - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, August 20, 1915

1920 U.S. Census

The Courier Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 19, 1924

Former Resident of Centerville Dies in Her Old Home in Ohio - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, May 6, 1926

Final Chapter Mining Town - The Madera Tribune newspaper of Madera, July 10, 1928

1930 U.S. Census

Shasta’s Last Dredger Being Torn Down - The Blue Lake Advocate newspaper of Blue Lake, September 6, 1930

My Playhouse Was A Concord Coach, an anthology of newspaper clippings and documents relating to those who made California history during the years 1822-1888, by Mae Hélène Bacon Boggs. Published by Howell-North Press ©1942

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

Echoes of the Dim Past - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta written by Rosena Giles, June 21, 1951

Place Names of Shasta County by Gertrude A. Steger revision by Helen Hinckley Jones, ©1966 by La Siesta Press, Glendale, California

U.S., Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, California – County Report 6 – by Philip A. Lydon and J.C. O’ Brien ©1974 by California Division of Mines and Geology

Title: Northern Argus[microform] : 1860-1863.
Format: Book Publisher, Date: Shasta County, Calif. : Northern Argus newspaper. Description:
v. Subjects:  Horsetown (Calif.) -- Newspapers.

A Historic Downtown Redding Walking Tour, 6-28-2025.

In this episode you can learn some interesting facts about downtown Redding, and its history with this walking tour presented by Shasta Historical Society, and hosted by Gabriel Leete, whose been featured on my YouTube channel in past episodes as well. This tour features local historians Robert Frazier of California Unearthed and Jeremy M. Tuggle of Exploring Shasta County History. We spent the day educating a group of people and toured 17 plus historic sites on a 2.2 mile walk in downtown Redding. The following sites can be seen in this film here: Jesse Litle Shoemaking Shop, Bank of Shasta County, Shasta Historical Society, Old City Hall, Railroad Turntable Tracks, Railroad Semaphore, The Lorenz Hotel, Damburger and more. Please like share and comment, and if you haven't yet, please smash that subscribe button. I will see you on the next episode.