Sawmill Flat

The bronze spells her name properly and then gives her sentence away. Dona Elisa Martinez ran a mining camp at the north end of this flat, and the plaque casts the tilde, which the Springfield bronze two miles west does not manage. Her camp is then reported as the hideout of Joaquin Murieta, and the text moves straight on to a short story it names. The flat itself is named for two sawmills that cut mine timbers, and its gold came in pockets.

What the plaque says

MARK TWAIN BRET HARTE TRAIL SAWMILL FLAT NAME DERIVED FROM TWO SAWMILLS ERECTED HERE TO SUPPLY MINING TIMBERS EARLY 1850'S. POPULATION AT ONE TIME 1000. RICH IN POCKET GOLD IN HEYDAY. MINING CAMP OF MEXICAN WOMAN, DOÑA ELISA MARTINEZ, AT NORTH END OF FLAT, REPORTED TO HAVE BEEN HIDEOUT OF FAMOUS BANDIT, JOAQUIN MURIETA. SITE OF STORY, "THE BATTLE OF SAWMILL FLAT". REGISTERED LANDMARK NO. 424 TABLET PLACED BY CALIFORNIA CENTENNIALS COMMISSION BASE PROVIDED BY ODD FELLOWS AND REBEKAHS OF TUOLUMNE COUNTY DEDICATED OCTOBER 2, 1949

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 2.2 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Columbia — 1.5 mi
• Shaw's Flat — 1.8 mi
• Springfield — 1.8 mi
• St. James Episcopal Church — 2.5 mi