Vallecito Bell Monument

The tree fell on 16 February 1939 and the monument was dedicated on the first day of October, which is seven months from windstorm to bronze. The bell had hung in that oak since 1854. It was cast at Troy, New York in 1853, came round the Horn as freight, and residents bought it off the ship. Above the text the plaque carries a cast relief of the oak with the bell in its branches, so the monument commemorates the tree as much as the thing that hung in it.

What the plaque says

VALLECITO ONE OF CALIFORNIA'S IMPORTANT EARLY DAY MINING TOWNS NAMED BY MEXICANS MEANING LITTLE VALLEY GOLD WAS DISCOVERED HERE BY THE MURPHY BROTHERS IN 1849. IT WAS ORIGINALLY CALLED "MURPHYS' OLD DIGGINGS" THIS BELL WAS CAST AT TROY N.Y. IN 1853. AFTER BEING BROUGHT AROUND THE HORN IT WAS PURCHASED FROM THE SHIP WITH FUNDS CONTRIBUTED BY EARLY DAY RESIDENTS, THEN BROUGHT TO VALLECITO AND ERECTED IN A LARGE OAK TREE IN 1854. IT WAS USED TO CALL THE PEOPLE TOGETHER FOR ALL PURPOSES UNTIL FEBRUARY 16, 1939, WHEN A SEVERE WIND BLEW THE OLD TREE DOWN. THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY POPULAR SUBSCRIPTION AND DEDICATED BY THE GRAND PARLOR OF THE NATIVE SONS OF THE GOLDEN WEST ON THE FIRST DAY OF OCTOBER 1939

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Columbia State Historic Park — 4.8 mi
  The Gem of the Southern Mines, still open for business on a car-free Gold Rush main street.

More markers nearby

• Vallecito — steps away
• Douglas Flat — 2.3 mi
• Parrott's Ferry — 3.4 mi
• Site of Brownsville — 3.4 mi