It was the early days of the Gold Rush in California
and this area of the country was continually seeing battles between the white
men who came in search of fortune and the Indians, who were fighting to protect
their home that was increasingly becoming encroached upon. Prospectors that
tried to enter California from the northeast were in particular danger.
This was where the California Trail was located and
the trail travelled south into Sacramento Valley through to Pit River route. It
was here that there were particularly nasty battles between the two groups and
many massacres were seen. This was how it was come to be known as Bloody
Springs. One group of prospectors was attacked so violently here that the entire
group was killed except one man. The man started towards Fort Cook and would
tell his story to people he met along the way.
He told of how his wagonload was a load of
twenty-dollar gold coins, totalling approximately $60,000. According to his
story, as he was leaving he saw the Indians playing a game with the gold coin.
They were taking turns throwing the coins over the Pit River gorge, to see who
could throw them the furthest. The Indians played the game until every coin had
been thrown across. The area today is still known as Bloody Springs in Lassen
County.
