You said a road trip would do us some good
Despite every instinct I said that I would
It’s been six years since you put on that ring
Maybe the road will fix everything
When all that remains is the gas in the tank
The tread on the tires and what’s left in the bank
Sometimes the road is the best remedy
How many more miles to Yosemite
- Molly Tuttle
Tales From the MoJo Road –
By Glynn Wilson –
COULTERVILLE, Calif. – December is just around the corner and to the consternation of the critics, I’ve made it to places they can only imagine in their dreams. The best thing about the MoJo Road and the secret to a long and happy life are one and the same: Constant discovery.
And what better place for discovery than one of the original California Gold Rush towns, which also happens to be the place where America’s best idea was born. I figure there’s another idea or two to be discovered here.
So it is on this, another sunny day in California, I’ve got another story to tell. The gold finches and the mountain blue birds are singing outside my window, visiting the water bowl I set up for them a few weeks ago. It’s 68 degrees inside and 58 degrees outside out behind the old Gazzolo Saloon and Dance Hall building, where there is now a radio station studio that was only a dream a couple of months ago.
The Old Johnny Haigh Saloon
For the past few weeks, on Friday and Saturday nights, I’ve had the luxury of walking less than a block across Main Street by a famous bench where John Muir used to sit to frequent the Old Johnny Haigh Saloon, still open by some miracle of timing and fate.
The history of the place is only told incompletely on a few old travel websites, and the story is out of date. It is said the Haigh family arrived here in 1849 just in time for the Gold Rush, and Johnny Haigh operated a saloon in this space. The structure is protected against fire by a layer of dirt in the ceiling. But it is now owned by Fernando Evangelho. Bartender and musician Jack Wilmeth, a.k.a. “Doc,” presides over the music, which is unamplified on purpose, and the conversation, which is the point.
He’s graciously accommodated my taste in beer, which also happens to be his own, stocking a few porters and stouts for our enjoyment. There’s local music on tap as well, sometimes a real treat, like last night when for the birthday party of Nina Rhodes, Brenda Sweeney of Greeley Hill came with her guitar and joined Jack on the mandolin for an amazing set of mostly bluegrass and humorous folk songs. She was a member a musical group until recently called “Geri and the Atrics,” which broke up when the guitar player and lead singer sadly moved away.
If I had known what was coming, I would have shot a video of it. But that’s the thing about discovery. You never know when it’s going to hit home.
One of the songs they performed was a song called “Yosemite” by Molly Tuttle and her Golden Highway band. This morning I found a couple of versions of it on YouTube.
For a little history, according to one travel website, there’s a slander on the people of the town out there on the internets. I wonder if anyone’s noticed.
“Local folks think their (sic) still in the 1800’s!” So says Dale Silverman, who also says there are still gun fights every Saturday night. She’s totally wrong. That entertainment ended with Covid. There are only fist fights at the VFW, and they tend to occur on Friday nights, which is also dart tournament night. According to one local who I consulted on this story, she laughed and said: “They do tend to take their darts seriously around here.”
Coulterville – Historic Site or District
“The town features a wonderful museum, several restaurants, the oldest bar in California to be in continuous service…located in one of the last 49’er hotels” (not true, the Magnolia Saloon behind the Hotel Jeffery closed in recent years).
She reports there are two bed and breakfasts “(one in town, one a few miles away) as well as a comfortable motel (nope), and two RV campgrounds (only one now), a real estate office and a variety of stores…antiques, gifts, groceries, gold panning equipment and a thrift shop.”
This much seems true.
“Coulterville is an authentic California gold rush town that was ‘too tough to die,’ she says. “During its heyday, it was a major gold mining and supply center. Coulterville remains filled with historic buildings and memories of the ‘’49ers’ and has been designated the California State Historical Landmark No. 332. Coulterville also serves as the base point of the newly designated John Muir Highway.”
It was “the lure of gold” that drew miners here from around the world. “During the Gold Rush, Coulterville boasted of nine nationalities with a population estimated at over five thousand.”
The town has been plagued by both fire and flood, she reports.
“In 1862 a major flood wreaked havoc, with all buildings located along the creek destroyed or heavily damaged. Large portions of the town burned in three major fires, each occurring in July, exactly twenty years apart – in 1859, 1879 and 1899. Boasting to have had the ‘crookedest railroad in the world,’ the original ‘Whistling Billy’ locomotive now stands under the local hangman’s tree next to the museum.”
Hangman’s tree and Whistling Billy: By Glynn Wilson
Across the street stands the Jeffery Hotel, whose 30” thick walls, made of rock and clay binder, date back to 1851.”
A view of Main Street in Coulterville, California from Highway 49 and the historic Hotel Jeffery: By Glynn Wilson
“In its heyday,” she says, “there were 25 saloons and 10 hotels scattered around town. In the late 1800’s, Coulterville became a popular stop over for Yosemite bound tourists. They came by stagecoach and horseback and stayed overnight. The first paved route into Yosemite National Park ran through Coulterville, bringing the horseless carriage. This route, via Coulterville (Highway J132), is still one of the shortest and most scenic ways to travel to Yosemite National Park.”
The Gazzolo Store and Building, built around 1860, she says, “originally had two buildings. The right side housed a barber shop and post office with a clothing store on the left. The clothing store burned in one of the many small fires that plagued the town in the late 1800’s. After a fire in 1995 that gutted much of the interior, it was rebuilt as a single structure and now houses a thrift shop. The first story of this building was constructed in the 1850’s and housed a saloon. Ice was hauled from Yosemite by wagon and stored in an ice room. The second story was added in 1899 originally as a fandango hall, then housed the dormitories for the California Division of Forestry in 1933.”
Now it is owned by Jim and Nina Rhodes, with a new radio station in the back.
Jim Rhodes with old Johnny Haigh behind him: By Glynn Wilson
The Coulterville Main Street Historical District includes 25 structures, including this one story building built circa 1860. This building’s stone and brick walls survived the 1879 and 1899 fires that destroyed Coulterville.
Using the walls, owners Ralph Jones and Peter Longhurst rebuilt after the 1879 fire. After the 1899 fire, owner Thomas B. McCarthy, again using the original walls, rebuilt the building in use today. In the 19th century this structure was utilized for a variety of purposes, including a laundry, a general store, barbershop, and cigar store. In 1937 the current building was home to the original Johnny Haigh Saloon and in 2011 it was reopened as the “Old Johnny Haigh Saloon.”
After over 150 years the historic walls remain standing.
Dedicated by Matuca Chapter 1849 E Clampus Vitus March 31, 2012
Credo Quia Absurdum: I believe because it is absurd.
The long version of this editorial column first appeared in the New American Journal.