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Saturday, Aug. 29, 2009

Where there's gold, there's history -- the La Grange Museum

LA GRANGE -- It's been said that life is in the blood.

In La Grange, the veins of this town for the first hundred years were filled with gold.

Mostly obscured from view, amid clumps of trees in the hills along the Tuolumne River, this sleepy town may be small, but with many residents whose ancestors homesteaded in the area, it's a tight group.

It's a small town, so be careful who you talk about, says Billee Zanker, president of the La Grange Museum Society. Her late husband was one of the original members when the organization started close to 20 years ago. Both of them were born and raised in California. A plaque in the museum honors Evan Zanker as "Farmer, Friend, Leader."

"We love history, and there's a lot of it in La Grange," Zanker continues. "We've collected so many amazing artifacts, and we have this grand old building."

The museum is in what used to be the old trading post, which was built in 1852. The ceiling beams are original, but the floor and roof had to be redone.

It had been abandoned for years, Zanker explains. One faded photo shows the building with much of the roof missing. Kids used to play inside, and holes in one of the walls reveal some serious target practice.

One-half of the museum houses mostly common 19th and early 20th century items from the people who lived in the area. The other half contains an old blacksmith shop where iron tools were forged to help the miners in their work. There's a unique cement and iron safe about 400-500 square feet in size. It's where the gold sat while waiting for the Wells Fargo stage to come pick it up.

The museum is part of the California Association of Museums, and sits on Stanislaus County Regional Park land. The county also owns the building, but the Museum Society owns everything inside. Volunteers do the work of record-keeping, making decisions, cleaning up the place and giving tours. Shirley Ingalls is membership chairman, and her husband's portrait hangs on a wall inside. Barbara Painter is the secretary, and Evelyn Welch is treasurer.

Welch was also an original member of the Museum Society. Soon she'd like to retire, though, so a younger person can take her place. She's 95 years old.

Anyone who shares her love of history becomes an instant friend. Besides the fascinating stories she tells, she's still smart as a whip. With a gentle, yet authoritative voice, she speaks as if she knows the people she's talking about, partly because many of them are or were at one time, her neighbors and friends. Welch reads constantly, and remembers much of what she learns from books and folks who have shared their stories with her.

About the museum's humble beginnings, she says, "We started with a membership drive and fundraiser. People here were just happy to see that action was unfolding."

Over the years many residents of La Grange and neighboring towns have contributed items. And there's a full basement downstairs where more stuff is kept.

Receipt books from Hammond & Bates, Dealers in General Merchandise sit stacked on one of the glass cases.

Ledgers from the meat market, dated 1860, reveal the name Don Pedro as a customer. Pedro was not his real name, though. As a Frenchman, Pierre Sainsevein was too hard for local residents to pronounce, so they came up with a nickname.

And Ulysses S. Grant was camped here for awhile, says Welch. His men came on three occasions to buy meat, to feed eight men for a week at a time.

Inside the museum artifacts are displayed according to their relevance, having to do with various parts of the area's history. Some are from the Gold Rush era, with a huge, solid-brass gold scale, also from 1860. The engraving reads, Standard Balance, Howard & Davis Manufacturers, Boston. Several photos, a large painting and a model of the dredger are included, depicting one of the mining methods. And a few of the two-ton dredger buckets sit across the street.