Gold Rush Field Trip

And so the day finally arrived yesterday when we all gathered on Risa Road, at 8:40 a.m., to meet the bus for our trip to Sonora and Columbia. The weather could not have been better all day long - crisp, fall weather, just perfect for enjoying our outdoor picnic at Sonora's Woods Creek Rotary Park and for walking up and down Main Street in Columbia, not to mention up and down the hill there leading to the old schoolhouse.

Gathering on Risa Road - every student received the Gold Rush pouch s/he made or one that was made for them, filled with a large piece of hardtack

The bus came right on schedule, though it took a good amount of time for Craig, our driver, to maneuver the 55-seater to face Mt. Diablo Blvd. We learned later that Craig trains the other drivers to drive school groups.

We got ourselves comfortable in the bus, and were ready to go.

Once the bus was on Hwy. 24, I began my introduction to our field trip. To get everyone in the right frame of mind, we sang two songs from the era - "Oh, California" and "Clementine," then I shared some general history about the pioneer Jews who came to seek their fortunes in Gold Country, most by merchandising, but some (like Adolph Sutro) in the mining industry. Each family received a packet of historical readings and activities just before getting on the bus. As part of the introduction, the adults were asked to read excerpts aloud to the children from a memoir, a letter, and a travelog, relating the writers' experiences on their journeys to California and to Sonora.

Then, it was time to watch a 42-minute film called "Birth of a Community: Jews and the Gold Rush," directed and produced by Bill Chayes, a local filmmaker. Blending action movies depicting the Wild West with interviews of local historians and still photos of the Jewish pioneers and their institutions, the movie was able to give us a detailed background history about the Jewish pioneers who settled in, and established the Jewish institutions we are familiar with today in San Francisco and the Mother Lode country. This was especially helpful for the adults and non-Edot students.

The film ended just about half an hour before we reached Sonora where we stopped to have our picnic lunch and meet the families who drove on their own. While the children ran around the field and played near the creek and on the playground structures, the adults had time to get to know each other over lunch. As a special dessert, I brought along the 1-2-3-4 cakes we made last Sunday which everyone seemed to enjoy. After half an hour, it was time to leave for Columbia, just a 5-minute drive from the picnic area.

We climbed the hill to Main Street and walked to the Fire House, where our docents, Diane and Don, were waiting to greet us in full period costumes.

We divided into 3 groups for 3 stations: the town tour with Diane and Don, the School House lesson with Ms. Phillips, and free time to explore what Columbia State Park had to offer in the form of activities and food - this Wells Fargo coach took you on a 15-minute tour of the historical part of Columbia and was a popular attraction for our families, along with gold-panning and watching a blacksmith work over a forge as they did in Gold Rush times.

When we arrived at the building that housed the S&H Dry Goods Store back in the 1850's, Ben read us his "pioneer letter home" to share the adventures of Harris Morris Levy and his wife, who were shipwrecked off the coast of Cuba on their way to California, and who finally arrived and conducted a very successful business.

After we learned about all the female clothing carried by Philip Schwartz in his "Fancy New York Dry Goods Store," Don captivated the boys by describing the "Gentlemen's Jewelry" worn by most men in those days (the gun, the Bowie knife, and the baton for defending themselves).

Once the tour was over, each group moved on to the old schoolhouse, situated on top of a very (read V-E-R-Y!) steep hill, where the school marm, Ms. Phillips, conducted a lesson typically taught back in 1860, when the school house was built. The superintendent of schools in Columbia back then was Bernard Marks, a Jew who had moved to California from Massachusetts where his family had resided for generations. 

Waiting for us at the entrance to the school was Ms. Phillips, dressed as the teachers would have back in 1860. Boys were told to line up silently on one side of the staircase, girls on the other. The cost for attending this public school was far less than to attend many others for a very good reason - just to the left of the school, nestled among the trees, is the city's cemetery.  School was sure to end before dark in Columbia!

Students had to stand to speak.

As part of our history lesson, we were asked which routes the pioneers took to come to California. I was so proud when many of the students in my Edot class raised their hands immediately, since we studied the routes in great detail in class.

As part of our reading lesson, we were introduced to McGuffey's Reader, and were asked to turn to the page with the poem, "Try, Try Again" on it. Its message is still valid today!

A little after 3 p.m., we all met back at the bus, and drove back to Sonora, to visit the pioneer Jewish cemetery which dates back to 1853. The cemetery lies adjacent to the Tuolomne County Sheriff's Department, with its county jail. For the past 10 years or so, a detail of prisoners has been sent to clean up the grounds of the cemetery, so its one of the best-maintained cemeteries of the 7 pioneer cemeteries the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks in the West owns the deeds to and oversees.

As soon as we arrived at the gate of the cemetery, even before we opened the combination lock, some of the Edot students could already spot "their" graves - the graves of the pioneer Jews they were asked to "become" during our letter writing exercise two weeks ago. 

After a brief introduction to the cemetery and the Commission, I gave each family a "treasure hunt," which allowed them to look at almost every gravestone in their search for specific symbols.

Many gravestones were decorated with broken sheaves of wheat, broken tree limbs or wilting flowers, to indicate that here lay someone who died too young. Other stones had Masonic and Odd Fellow lodge symbols, showing how proud the men were who belonged to these fraternal organizations which accepted Jews into their midst.

Then it was time for some Edot students to read the "letters home" they had written, sharing information we know about the pioneer or, since we don't know much about most of the people buried here, making up information which would be historically accurate. Here Sammy brings Moses Reeb, a shoemaker, to life...

...while Jennifer "becomes" Melanie Reeb, wife of Moses.

Alex "becomes" Mayer Baer, a clothing store merchant...

...and Kyra shares the life of his wife, Helena.

Jacob "became" Abraham Barlow, who owned the only Sefer Torah in Sonora and who led prayer services in his home.

Emma Barlow, Abraham's wife, was brought to life by Jessie and...

Ella. Both had a lot of material to work with since the Barlow's were a wealthy family, and so there were a lot of records and articles about them.

Abi brought along her own bonnet, which she put on to help bring Pauline Morris to life.

Jake had his own backup group to support him as he "became" Aron Jacob.

Andrew stood by the iron gate surrounding the grave, as he "became" the wealthiest man in Sonora back then - Emanuel Linoberg. As we walked up to the cemetery, we passed by Linoberg Street.

You may have noticed from the photos above, that by the time it was time to place stones on the graves and recite the Kaddish, the Mourner's Prayer, it was already getting pretty dark. Interestingly, aside from the fact that it was getting cold and damp, no one seemed upset by the fact that we were standing in a cemetery in near-dark conditions. We left the cemetery, locking the gate behind us, said goodbye to the families who were driving on their own, and headed back to the bus. 

On the bus, there was one more song to sing as we started the trip back to Lafayette - "The Ol' Gold Rush Jews," sung to the melody of "Sweet Betsy from Pike." The lyrics were composed by members of Congregation Shir Ami in Castro Valley, the synagogue to which Robert Levinson, the "father" of research into the Jews of the Gold Rush, belonged. Each year during the 1970's, they would visit one of the pioneer cemeteries, and put on a musical relating to the pioneers buried in that cemetery and to the Jews of the Gold Rush era in general. The final verse of the song is a perfect way to sum up our trip -

"So this is the end of our story today

We hope that you've learned and you've found much delight

Like the gold in the mountains

The Jews stood out bright

A beacon of courage

A beacon of light!"

Then we all sat back in our seats, and enjoyed watching "The Frisco Kid" on the way home. It sounded like a lot of people enjoyed the comedy about the adventures of a Polish rabbi (played by Gene Wilder), sent to become the rabbi of a new congregation in San Francisco in the year 1850. It takes a bank robber he meets on the way (played by Harrison Ford), to keep him alive long enough to reach his destination. The movie ended just 10 minutes before we pulled up in front of the Veterans' Building on Mt. Diablo Blvd at 7:15 p.m., and we ended our day-long learning adventure in Gold Country. 

 JEWS IN THE GOLD RUSH?! YES, INDEED!