What is now Cedar Ridge and Comstock Ranch subdivisions are a part of the lure of Western history; a 1974 archeological study of “Comstock Ranch” reported: “This is a pre-historic location: Populations lived a hunting and gathering existence, moving around a defined territory with the seasons. The size of villages, political complexity and trade connections changed over the centuries.

Themost recent Indian residents were the MiWuk, present in the central Sierra foothills at the time of the Gold Rush”. The Indian presence in our locale was great. There was a good supply of water from Five Mile Creek and Sullivan Creek and a prominent feature nearby: the Great Falls (now Crystal Falls). Hot springs were throughout Crystal Falls, along Longeway and into what is now the south side of Kewin Mill Rd. at Highgrade. Charcoal kilns were also in the area of the Abbott property. The native oaks made particularly good charcoal which was a hot, sustained burn used for cooking, heating and blacksmithing.

Although some excursions to this area had been made by Spanish and Mexican authorities and by some trappers, the discovery of gold in 1848 marks the transition from indigenous to foreign occupation of the land. Virtually overnight people from all parts of the world swarmed over the hills, forming mine boom towns and camps.

In talking with 4^th generation families, they recounted how family members had furnished beef for Bodie and Aurora and another told of an ancestor who regularly walked to Bridgeport! Closer to home, remnants of the Keltz Mine, Comstock Mine and Kewin Mill are still here, although mostly grown over.

This heavily timbered area first drew attention in 1852 as a source of the vast amounts of lumber needed to construct the Tuolumne County Water Co. ditch that passed through here. Most early land claimants were speculators, buying 160 acre “wood parcels”. For a time, the main lumber mill of the water company was located at the head of 5 Mile Creek, immediately north of the Comstock. The real demand for lumber came in 1854 when the Columbia and Stanislaus River Water Co. began constructing a lower competing ditch.At this time, 2 mills were on the Abbott property.

Ranching and farming took over as the primary industries after the gold fever died down (about 1860). The County population shrank and stabilized. A “second gold rush” at the turn of the century was inspired by new inventions and a booming European economy. Hard rock or quartz mines opened all along the Mother Lode. Generally this gold had to be smelted (or sweated) out of the rock and with no facilities nearby to extract the gold in this manner, the mines became unprofitable and closed for good at WW2.

Copyright 1998-2000 � Joan Lainen
Published here with permission of Joan Lainen