Paloma

California's first senator owned this mine. William Gwin was a slaveholder who organized the Southern wing of the state's Democrats; the Union jailed him twice for disloyalty, and in 1863 he went to Paris and sold Napoleon III a scheme to plant a colony of Southerners in Sonora. Grant called him a rebel of the most virulent order and considered invading Mexico to stop him. The mine he bought in 1851 kept producing until 1908, long after the politics were over.

What the plaque says

PALOMA (FOSTERIA) STATE REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 295 GWIN MINE, PALOMA, LOWER RICH GULCH, WAS MINED FOR PLACER IN 1849. QUARTZ WAS DISCOVERED BY J. ALEXANDER IN 1851. PROPERTY ACQUIRED BY WILLIAM M. GWIN, CALIFORNIA'S FIRST U.S. SENATOR, IN 1851. THE GWIN MINE, CLOSED IN 1908, YIELDED MILLIONS. MARKER PLACED BY CALIFORNIA CENTENNIALS COMMISSION. BASE FURNISHED BY PALOMA COMMUNITY CLUB DEDICATED SEPTEMBER 5, 1949

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 24 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Middle Bar — 2.8 mi
• Double Springs — 3.6 mi
• Congregational Church — 4.1 mi
• Calaveras County Courthouse and Leger Hotel — 4.2 mi