Archie Stevenot

This is a tribute to a man who was still alive. The Clampers dedicated it in October 1961, when Archie Stevenot was seventy-nine, and cast the whole thing in the present tense: he has spent a productive lifetime, there is hardly an activity with which he has not been identified. The legislature had proclaimed him Mr. Mother Lode earlier that year. He lived another nineteen years. The birthplace the landmark is named for lies half a mile west of the bronze.

What the plaque says

TO HONOR ARCHIE STEVENOT "MR. MOTHER LODE" HE WAS BORN SEPT. 25, 1882 ON THE OLD STEVENOT HOMESTEAD ONE-HALF MILE WEST OF THIS MARKER, SON OF EMILE K. AND SARAH E. STEVENOT AND THE GRANDSON OF GABRIEL K. STEVENOT, CALAVERAS COUNTY PIONEER WHO PITCHED TENT THERE IN APRIL, 1850. STUDENT, SALESMAN, MINER, RANCHER, POST MASTER, SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER AND GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT OF THE NEARBY CARSON HILL MINE, HE HAS SPENT A PRODUCTIVE LIFETIME IN THIS REGION. HE ESTABLISHED THE MOTHER LODE HIGHWAY ASSOCIATION IN 1919, SERVING AS PRESIDENT OR DIRECTOR UNTIL 1950 WHEN IT JOINED INTO THE GOLDEN CHAIN COUNCIL. ONE OF THE ORGANIZERS OF THE CALIFORNIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE. ONE OF ORGANIZERS OF MOTHER LODE BASEBALL LEAGUE. A NATIVE SON AND ONE OF THE STATE'S FAVORITES, THERE IS HARDLY AN ACTIVITY FOR THE BENEFIT OF CALIFORNIA AND THE MOTHER LODE WITH WHICH HE HAS NOT BEEN IDENTIFIED. TO OUR SUPREME NOBLE GRAND HUMBUG OF THE GRAND COUNCIL OF E. CLAMPUS VITUS, INC., THIS MARKER IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED THIS 14th DAY OF OCTOBER, 1961. MATUCA CHAPTER, E. CLAMPUS VITUS No. 1849

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 6.1 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Carson Hill — steps away
• Robinson's Ferry — 1.3 mi
• Parrott's Ferry — 2.9 mi
• Mark Twain Cabin — 3.2 mi