The "Heritage" Ride-Part II

The ride begins from Southern California and I ride North to The Bay Area.  Its always fun when I set out on a new journey.  I have met some pretty good people on the road and still stay in touch with most.  It wasn't any different this time around either.  I meet Neal and Steve at a gas station stop,  a couple of guys that are doing the 4 Corners.  They have ridden from Maine and are on they way up to Alaska.  I'm overly impressed.  We talk and they decide they want to see San Francisco on the way and they aren't sure which way to go.  I tell them I do and we are off.   After a nice little ride, I drop them off at their hotel, we wish each other a good ride and I head to my house.  What a great day of riding!

Neal & Steve

I take a day to map and figure out just where I want to go and how I want to do it.  I decide to take it in parts and pieces.  So I start it where my GGG Grandparents are buried...at Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland.  I ride to their grave site and pay my respects.  I feel good at their grave site and now I am content to start a ride for them. A journey to the first place they lived in California. Columbia, The Gold Country.


Having a “base point” of travel in the East Bay is perfect for this excursion. It is approximately 2 ½ hours travel north or east to what is known as The Gold Country in California. Columbia is the main destination for me. Having made a brief visit  previously, I was really eager to have more time to discover the surrounding area and work on getting some family information.


The rolling hills of California are incredible this time of year for a ride. The weather is perfect and the oak tree filled hills were surrounded with brown grasses holding on to its last bit of green. Livestock is out and the lakes are full to the brim with water. The beauty of traveling East instead of North from The Bay Area, is that it is only about an hour or so of freeway riding. The rest of the ride is through small farming towns and working cities from the past that still work today. Riding through the smells of the grass and livestock is not as bad as you would think. One of the reasons I love to ride is that I get all the senses…including smell. Completely open aired. The hills are interspersed with old barns and out buildings.  Agriculture is the primary income and that hasn’t changed since the Gold Rush. Windmills are seen here and there over the hills. When the ride takes you through Jamestown and Sonora, you come upon Columbia. A little city kept in its historic era…the 1850‘s.


Windmills Roadside On The Farms



Main Street of Columbia

The city of Columbia is frozen in the time zone of 1850's when gold mining was the main function of one’s life. Motor vehicles are not allowed to park in the historic part of the city. There is plenty of parking and everything is set up for a short walk and is very convenient so I park the bike. As I walk through town, I see a complete example of life as it was. Everything is there from gold mining exhibits, Saloons, a Blacksmith, Stagecoach rides, a Justice of the Peace Office and the old School House up the road a bit. The later two, are part of my life and is what I am interested in learning more of.

Discovering that my GGG Grandfather was the first Justice of The Peace in Columbia was exciting to say the least. As I walked down the streets, I imagined a Wyatt Earp kind of lifestyle. I was kind of hoping to hear some rip roaring stories… but didn’t. It was a thriving gold mining city, so obviously there had to be. He immigrated in from Maine in 1847 where he was a newspaper editor, and later had his wife join him in 1850. He was 28 years old and she was a 27 year old school teacher. There, they set up a lifestyle that would dictate the rest of their lives in California. He later became a Judge, a California State Senator, and the United States Receiver of Public Monies, along with founding organizations in this State… and it all started in Columbia.

I found little on my GGG Grandmother other than a small document of her teaching. In the museum, there is a mention on her and another person starting a school, as the territory now was growing in numbers and many families were settling in and near Columbia. So many, that Columbia was actually considered for the State’s Capital. I learned that my GGG Grandmother did not found the school house there, as I was led to believe through life. They moved before the school was built. I did, however, find out that she was the first woman school teacher , teaching in a room in a private home located by the Methodist Church. She went on to be the State Treasurer of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union and one of the founders of what is now called the YWCA in California.  The town offers a great museum which covers a lot of Columbia history and the Bay Area.     

After enjoying the main portion of Columbia and having fun panning a little for gold (no luck), I get on the bike and take a short ride up the the school house. Its up on a hill and it's brick building is a sight to see. I have brought with me some of my GGG hair… a braid that was cut at the time of her death and saved in an envelope after all these years. I love it. I had previously tied a piece of it on the Oak tree in front of the school house… this time I buried a good part of it next to the corner stone. Her life was all about education, so leaving a piece of her by the school house just felt right.



Columbia School House



Great Great Great Grandma Chamberlain's Braid



The School Out House



Pooper Seats All In A Row With No Privacy

Walking around the city made me feel like I was really a part of their lives. An important piece of my heritage walked where I walked and I loved it. On top of everything I am enjoying my adventure into the past on my motorcycle, on my own time and in this beautiful part of California. Having taken care of business, it was time to go. I am happy with what I have learned. All I want to do now is ride and discover the area around where they lived and made their lives.

Down the sweeper roads of Hwy 49 is Jamestown, another thriving gold rush city in its time.  Most of the cities on Hwy 49 are historic and Jamestown proves no different.  It also is the only Harley Davidson dealership in that area. I bought my pin and made way to walk the street. A view to the past with all its old buildings now antique stores, restaurants, and saloons. It is a cute little town and I let my imagination take me away to the past viewing its present life.

Riding through town I see a sign, “Railtown“. This I have to check out, and I take a left hand turn and ride up the hill a few blocks. I’m enjoying the ride through old buildings and Victorians and finally end up at a railroad station that is now a State Historic Park birthed in 1897. I love  trains and still have a good train ride planned on my bucket list.  So when I heard it was still a working railroad I was a little too happy.  Yaaayyy bucket list.  It is also known as “The Movie Railroad," featured in various films such as High Noon and Petticoat Junction. I got a kick learning about that.  



Railtown Depot

I get a good tour of Railtown and decide its time to ride back up the hill and check into the hotel in Sonora.  The day has been good and on this part of the excursion I am ready for food and sleep. Its been a full one.

So, at this point, and already,  my “Heritage” ride has been successful in getting enough information to fill in the blanks.  So what to do now?!  Next Post... Yosemite...

Happy Riding Trailzzzzz
KT Did