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.

ROYAL TYLER SPRAGUE; A SHASTA COUNTY 49NER & A CALIFORNIA SUPREME JUSTICE.

Royal Tyler Sprague, a native of Vermont, (according to the 1870 U.S. Census) was born about 1814. He led a busy productive life who started out as an elementary school teacher, and eventually Sprague opened his own school. Later on, he became a lawyer, and eventually the seduction of the California Gold Rush seduced him to venture west from Ohio to California where he settled in Shasta County in September of 1849, settling at Reading Springs (now Shasta), that month. This is where the forty-niner mined for gold on Clear Creek. He became a public figure holding various titles in the State of California, and ultimately, becoming a California Supreme Justice. He died on February 24, 1872, and is buried in the historic Old Sacramento City Cemetery, in Sacramento, California. You can learn more about this Shasta County pioneer in the following YouTube video from Exploring Shasta County History:

Filmed on location October 19, 2024.

Resources:

1850 U.S. Census

1852 California State Census

The Supreme Judgeship - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 22, 1858

Death of Chief Justice Sprague - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, February 26, 1872

Death of Judge Sprague - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 2, 1872

1860 U.S. Census

1866 California, U.S., Voter Registers

Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, October 10, 1867

Took the Oath - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 11, 1868

Appleton's annual Cyclopedia (1867), Volume 7, 1869.

1870 U.S. Census

Appointment of Supreme Judge. Russian River Flag. No. 17. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 7 March 1872. p. 2. 

Sacramento Daily Union, January 1, 1873, State & County Statistics (For the year 1872)

The Legislature Sacramento Daily Union. Vol. 2, no. 247. California Digital Newspaper Collection. 6 January 1852. p. 2. 

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.

Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the California Supreme Court: The Justices 1850-1900, vol 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender Moss Co. pp. 104–106. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. 

Old Shasta, Town of Shasta Interpretive Association with Al M. Rocca, 2005, Arcadia Publishing, p.

Sacramento Historic City Cemetery Burial Index (PDF). Old City Cemetery Committee. 2005. 

Online Archive of California, Royal T. Sprague journals, collection guide.

JOHNSTON LECKY GRAVESITE AT SHASTA.

Note: this gravesite is located on private property in Shasta.

The headstone of Johnston Lecky (1809-1849) at Shurtleff Hill in Shasta. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.

The town of Shasta was established in 1848 as a sprawling tent community called Reading Springs which was surrounded by gold rush pandemonium as miners pitched up tents establishing the new settlement. A natural spring flowed near the community adding to its original name of Reading Springs. Reading Springs was named in honor of Major Pierson B. Reading (pronounced like the color red) the first European-American settler in Shasta County, California. The population at Reading Springs increased between 500 and 600 residents in September of 1849, near the end of Johnston Lecky's life on October 8, 1849. During the interim the name Reading Springs was changed to Shasta on June 8, 1850. It was named Shasta by Armstead C. Brown an early pioneer settler. Brown named the town Shasta because it was the nearest town to Mount Shasta. Siskiyou County wasn't formed yet in California until 1852. As Shasta grew, the early settlers made it a ramshackle community, but the town flourished.

On March 6, 1851, the town of Shasta became the county seat of Shasta County. Shasta was now a bustling city, and a future post office and a courthouse would be constructed soon. Locals would come to call it the Queen City of the Northern Mines or simply, the Queen City of the North, due to the many accommodations it boasted during its heyday. Johnston Lecky is well remembered by local historians in the area and what's known of him is that he caught the gold fever and came out during the California Gold Rush. Johnston Lecky became the first recorded death and burial in the history of Shasta County, California. He was a native of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. His burial is located on Shurtleff Hill in the present-day town of Shasta. I was fortunate to create and Johnston Lecky to my Find A Grave.com, account today, and honor him with a proper memorial. This posting is an extension of that memorial found at: Johnston Lecky (1809-1849) - Find a Grave Memorial.

Resources:

The 1944 Covered Wagon, published by Shasta Historical Society, page 40.

The 1945 Yearbook, published by Shasta Historical Society, page 2.

Solitary Graves - The Oakland Tribune newspaper  of Oakland, December 8, 1946

Report On Cemeteries and Lone Graves written by Beth Shuford. The 1965 Covered Wagon. Published by Shasta Historical Society, pages 40-42.

The "Cemetery Book" and Some of its Stories written by Beth Shuford. The 1973 Covered Wagon Published by Shasta Historical Society, pages 60-70.

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949, page 188.

Shasta's Growth, Prosperity and Decline, Part One written by Jeremy Tuggle. Published July 5, 2018.

Shasta's Growth, Prosperity and Decline, Part Two written by Jeremy Tuggle. Published July 5, 2018

Johnston Lecky Gravesite Photo. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.