174th Anniversary of Gold Discovery in SOUTHERN California

CALIFORNIA GOLD. — A letter from California, dated May 1, speaking of the discovery of gold in that country, says: — "They have at last discovered gold, not far from San Fernando, and gather pieces of the size of an eighth of a dollar. Those who are acquainted with these "placeres," as they call them, (for it is not a mine,) say it will grow richer, and may lead to a mine. Gold to the amount of some thousands of dollars has already been collected."
New York Observer, Oct 1, 1842

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Francisco Lopez discovered the first Southern California gold, in Placerita Canyon, on March 9, 1842 — six years before Sutter's Mill. The site of a large oak tree which still stands today is called "The Oak of the Golden Dream" and is marked by a plaque indicating it as CA State Registered Landmark 168. Legend has it that on his 40th birthday, Francisco Lopez, while deep in the Canyon de los Encinos (Live Oak Canyon), selected a spot underneath an old oak tree for his noon siesta. Following his nap, in which he dreamed of floating on a sea of gold, he dug up some wild onions with his knife and found gold clinging to the roots. According to Bancroft, by May, 1842, the gold region had been found to extend over two leagues (seven miles) and the dirt, with a scanty supply of water, was paying two dollars (1/10 of an oz) per day to each man engaged in mining. In its heyday, Placerita Canyon yielded approximately $80,000.00 (3,867 oz.) worth of gold. An estimated 2,000 miners, primarily from Lopez's home state of Sonora, worked Placerita Canyon in the ensuing years.

You may have seen the area in which gold was discovered, and not know it. In the late 1950s, the Walt Disney Company took over a portion of the property that was located off the Placerita Canyon Road and named it Golden Oak Ranch. In recent years, the State transferred ownership of the Placerita Canyon Park to the County of Los Angeles. The oak tree beneath which Francisco Lopez took his famous siesta - Oak of the Golden Dream - is located within Disney's acquisition; however, the California Historic Landmark monument that commemorates the actual event is located near the Placerita Canyon Nature Center within Placerita Canyon Park.

The ranch was used to film the episodes of Spin and Marty, a popular segment of The Mickey Mouse Club and parts of Zorro. The first movie shot at the ranch was Toby Tyler. Most of the exterior scenes in Old Yeller were filmed here. The Bolton Estate scenes and several others from Disney's The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit was shot here. The town featured in Roots: The Next Generations was also built on the Golden Oak Ranch. Other films that were shot on this location include The Apple Dumpling Gang, The Muppets, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Pete's Dragon, Behind the Candelabra, Treasure of Matecumbe, The Cat from Outer Space, The Muppet Movie, The Electric Horseman, Little House on the Prairie, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Majestic, Desperate housewives ( season 8 episode 6 ), and Colonel Sanders commercials for Kentucky Fried Chicken. A covered bridge spans the man-made stream featured in Follow Me, Boys! and episodes of Bonanza and The Greatest American Hero. The exterior house featured in the original 1961 film The Parent Trap was also shot on the ranch, as was the Peabody farm from the Universal film Back to the Future. It was also used for the filming of three of the five Herbie films, including two scenes at the lake in The Love Bug and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, along with Alonzo Hawk's dream sequence in Herbie Rides Again. In 1985, Big Top Pee-wee was filmed here and part of Short Circuit was filmed here as well.

Ironically, the County now prohibits mining and gold panning at the very site that owes its historical prominence to a lucky discovery made 174 years ago today.