Chinese Camp

The town is named for the men who did the work rather than the men who owned it. The bronze says a group of Englishmen founded the place about 1849 and employed Chinese as miners, and lets that sentence stand without comment. It also claims the first Chinese tong war in the state was fought near here, between the Sam Yap and Yan Woo. This is one of a set of Mark Twain Bret Harte Trail bronzes cast for the 1949 centennial.

What the plaque says

MARK TWAIN, BRET HARTE TRAIL CHINESE CAMP REPORTEDLY FOUNDED ABOUT 1849 BY GROUP OF ENGLISHMEN WHO EMPLOYED CHINESE AS MINERS. MUCH SURFACE GOLD FOUND ON HILLS AND FLATS. HEADQUARTERS FOR STAGE LINES IN EARLY 1850'S, AND FOR SEVERAL CALIFORNIA CHINESE MINING COMPANIES. FIRST CHINESE TONG WAR IN STATE FOUGHT NEAR HERE BETWEEN SAM YAP AND YAN WOO TONGS. PRESENT STONE AND BRICK POST OFFICE BUILT 1854, STILL STANDING. ST. FRANCIS XAVIER CATHOLIC CHURCH BUILT 1855, RESTORED 1949. FIRST PASTOR, FATHER HENRY ALERIC. HISTORICAL LANDMARK No. 423 TABLET PLACED BY CALIFORNIA CENTENNIALS COMMISSION. BASE PROVIDED BY TUOLUMNE COUNTY COUNCIL NO. 2165, KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS DEDICATED JUNE 19, 1949

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 13 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Wells Fargo Express Company Building — steps away
• Montezuma — 2.9 mi
• Jacksonville — 3.3 mi
• Sierra Railway Shops — 5.6 mi