Site of Grist Mill Built by Jared Dixon Sheldon

Sheldon held the Omochumnes grant from the Mexican government and built his mill on the Cosumnes in the mid 1840s. Five years later the miners killed him. He had thrown a dam across the river to drive the wheel, the backwater drowned claims being worked downstream, and on 11 July 1851 a party came to argue about it and shot him. A Mexican grant was paper by then, and there was gold in the river it covered.

What the plaque says

Sheldon Grist Mill Site of grist mill built by Jared Dixon (Joaquin) Sheldon 1846-47 on Omochumnes Rancho, granted to him by Mexican government 1843. Sheldon born Vermont January 8, 1813, came to California 1832. Sheldon shot July 11, 1851, by miners in quarrel over dam he built which flooded miners' claims. Tablet placed by California Centennials Commission. Base furnished by Liberty Parlor No. 213 Native Daughters and Elk Grove Parlor No. 41 Native Sons of the Golden West. Dedicated May 8, 1949. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 439 Plaque replaced by Liberty Parlor No. 213, Native Daughters of the Golden West, September 26, 1997

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sacramento — 18 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.
• Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park — 27 mi
  The tailrace at Coloma where a carpenter found gold in January 1848 and the world came running.

More markers nearby

• Sloughhouse — steps away
• Fifteen Mile House-Overland Pony Express Route in California — 7.3 mi
• Michigan Bar — 7.8 mi
• Coloma Road-Nimbus Dam — 9.6 mi