SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70 HEIZER AND FENENGA 



97 



would last indefinitely, but access to the walls by rain water would 

 cause their rapid dissolution, since the bricks were composed only of 

 sun-dried earth. In one instance (the Bruschi Warehouse in Coulter- 

 ville), the large adobe bricks were fired. 



MARIPOSA 



The town of Mariposa marks the southern end of the Mother Lode 

 and Highway 49. It is also located on Highway 140, about halfway 

 between Merced and Yosemite Valley. In 1844 Micheltorena, then Mexi- 

 can Governor of California, granted to Juan Bautista Alvarado the land 

 which in 1847 was bought by John C. Fremont and later known as the 

 Mariposa Grant. The first quartz mine in the Mother Lode was worked on 

 the Fremont Grant in August 1849, only 18 months after James Mar- 

 shall 's discovery of gold at Coloma on the South Fork of the American 

 River. 



Mariposa retains abundant evidence of its growth in the 1850 's and 

 the visitor may see on the main street the old Fremont Company Office of 

 brick, now much altered but still identifiable from the accompanying 

 photograph (Fig. 3) . Across the street is the old Schlageter Hotel (Fig. 4) 

 built of brick and with wide wooden balconies. The Trabucco Warehouse 

 of brick with its iron doors (Fig. 5), the present Bank of America Build- 

 ing and the I. 0. O. F. Hall all evidence the early brick architectural 

 styles of the 'fifties. Of the old stone buildings, the most accessible 

 is the present Butterfly Grocery whose exposed inner walls are built of 

 soapstone set in mud mortar. Source of the soapstone is the hillslopes 

 immediately east of the town. The jail (Fig. 7) which sits on the hill at 

 the southern end of town is made of dressed granite blocks from Mormon 

 Bar two miles south of Mariposa. This granite is significant as it comes 

 from the intrusion which terminates the Mother Lode on the south. No 

 visitor in Mariposa should neglect seeing the wooden courthouse, erected 

 in 1854, and built on classic lines. 



MT. BULLION 



The tiny rancher's village of Mt. Bullion, first settled in 1850, was 

 the scene of intense mining activity and the site of the Princeton mine. 

 On the east side of the highway are the remains of the Marre Store, made 

 of adobe and built before 1860 (Fig. 8). The individual adobe bricks are 

 12 inches square and 3^ inches thick. 



HORNITOS 



Hornitos, reached via side roads from Mt. Bullion and Bear Valley, 

 was founded by Mexicans only a few months after Marshall 's discovery 

 of gold. The Spanish name (meaning "little ovens") derives, according 

 to one report, from the domed stone and mud tombs whose remnants may 

 still be seen on the hill just below the Catholic church. The visitor is 

 immediately struck with the impression that here is a Mexican pueblo, as 



FIG. 7. Jail, Mariposa, DMBS Mrp-H3. 



Fio. 8. Marre adobe, Mt. Bullion, I1ABS 1527. 



