First There Were Grapes

Gold was not the initial reason for all the people to settle in the Sierra Nevada Range of mountains. The agrarian possibilities of the soil and climate of this coniferous belt of trees brought more settlers. John Ramm of Camptonville acquired a large tract of land, cleared it, and planted acres of grapes. To transport his product of wines and brandy to market, he had a road crew that maintained the road to Nevada City as if it were paved. John Ramm was one of the initial founders of the University of California at Berkeley. There was some disagreement as to the weights and measures of the wines and brandy that Ramm was shipping to all parts of the world, and the accompanying government fines caused the downfall of the great Ramm Ranch.

The Pendolas bought parts of the Ramm Ranch for the timber and established the largest saw mill in the district. Many men worked for the mill, which was the largest form of commerce in the region after the Ramm Ranch slipped into oblivion.

The search for gold was still popular during the Depression. On occasion the thumping of the rock-crushing stamp mill operated for gold alongside the road to Pendola's saw mill, but it was not a smashing success. Dredging the creek beds for gold using sluice boxes to separate sand gravel from the gold - with a gold pan doing the final job of isolating pure gold flakes - kept many people in pork and beans, but not much else.

In 1878 Lester A. Pelton invented the water wheel named after him while he was living in Camptonville. The Pelton Water Wheel is used the world over where a small amount of water that is under high pressure is available. This may be found in steep mountain streams, but not in delta country.