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Panorama of Downieville, Calif., ca. 1860-ca. 1870
BANC PIC 1982.081 -- E
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Collection Title: Panorama of Downieville, Calif.,
Date: ca. 1860-ca. 1870
Collection Number: BANC PIC 1982.081 -- E
Extent:
1 panorama photograph (2 photographic prints), mounted, 27 x 80 cm.
2 digital objects
Repository:
The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Berkeley, California 94720-6000
Languages Represented:
English
Collection is available for use.
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted
to research and educational purposes.
[Identification of item]
Panorama of Downieville, Calif., BANC PIC 1982.081 --E, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Digital Representations Available
Digital representations of selected original pictorial materials are available in the list of materials below. Digital image files were prepared from selected Library originals by the Library Photographic Service. Library originals were
copied onto 35mm color transparency film; the film was scanned and transferred to Kodak Photo CD (by Custom Process); and
the Photo CD files were color-corrected and saved in JFIF (JPEG) format for use as viewing files.
The Panorama of Downieville, Calif. photograph was purchased in 1982.
The Panorama of Downieville, Calif. was taken circa 1870 by an unidentified photographer. The mounted 2-plate albumen photograph
pictures an eastward view of the town settled in 1849 by a group of prospectors led by "Major" William Downie, a native of
Scotland, after whom the town is named. Originally called "The Forks," Downieville is located at the fork of the North Yuba
and Downie Rivers, the latter veering northward to the left in the photograph. A year after its settlement, as a result of
successful mining, the town had a population of several thousand. In 1851 the town gained notoriety following the lynch-mob
trial and hanging of Juanita, a Sonoran woman who stabbed to death an English miner after he broke into her home during Fourth
of July festivities. The town is the present seat of Sierra County.
Among the points of interest pictured in the panorama, in addition to the fork of the rivers, are the Sierra County Courthouse,
right; the Catholic Church, far left; the Methodist Church, center; Main Street, left of center, with the Armory Hall Livery
Stable and the McDonald Hotel both visible; the Downie Hotel, right of center; and cemeteries to the far left and along the
eastern ridge left of center.
That the panorama was possibly either produced or came to be used for purposes of documentation in Downieville legal proceedings
is suggested by the label appearing on the mount verso, which reads: "To amend an act entitled, ` An act to entitle any person
or persons to divert the waters of any river or stream, and run the same through any ditch or flume, and to provide for the
right of way through the lands of others,' Approved March 3, 1866."