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Auburn and American History Timeline
1840’s-1920’s
1846-1848: Mexican American War
1846: Donner Party’s fateful trip through the Sierra Nevada Mountains
1848: Gold discovered in Auburn at Auburn Ravine by Claude Chana
1850: California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state
1850: Auburn was designated as county seat for Sutter County
1851: Auburn was voted in as county seat for the newly formed Placer County (winning by one vote over the more populated town of Ophir)
1852: Auburn Volunteer Fire Department was formed
1853: First Post Office established in Auburn
1854: 2nd Auburn Courthouse was completed
1855: 1st fire which destroyed most of Old Town Auburn
1856: James Freeland was the last publicly attended hanging
1856: American Hotel was built by George Stephens
1857: The original "burring grounds" at the courthouse was moved to the East Street Cemetery (Where the Veterans Hall is now)
1859: 2nd fire which destroyed most of Old Town Auburn
1859: Outlaw Rattlesnake Dick (Richard Barter) died in a shootout with the law
1861-1865: American Civil War
1865: California Stagecoach Company shut down in Auburn
1865: President Lincoln was assassinated
1867: Pike Bell found $100,000 worth of gold at the Green Emigrant Mine
1869: Transcontinental railroad completed
1878: Thomas Edison installed the first private electric system in his home
1880: Emily Casement, "The Fire Queen" moved to the Auburn township
1882: George Stephens took his "final rest" at the American Hotel
1884: The infamous Adolf Weber was born
1884: Stephen Richards last official hanging; he was hung where the current flagpole is
1885: The Fire Queen died in Colfax
1885: The Auburn Parlor #59 of the Native Sons of the Golden West was chartered
1881: Outlaw Billy the Kid is shot and killed by lawman Pat Garrett in the New Mexico territory
1882: Outlaw Jesse James is shot and killed by Robert Ford
1890: Yosemite was designated as America’s 3rd National Park
1891: "Big Dip" aka Frank Dependener voted in as a Placer County Sheriff’s Deputy at 21 years of age
1891: Historical Auburn Firehouse erected by the volunteer firemen of Auburn Hook and Ladder Company No.2
1891: Capital punishment at the county level in California ended in 1891. After that, executions were conducted at the state prisons of Folsom and San Quentin
1893: The East Street Cemetery was moved to the Odd Fellows Cemetery; now know as the Old Auburn Cemetary (a 3rd move for some of the poor souls and some where never moved at all and remain at the courthouse or Veterans Hall
1894: Construction began on the 3rd Auburn Courthouse, completed in 1897; a community celebration occurred on July 4, 1898 to dedicate the new building
1894: Odd Fellows Hall, Auburn Lodge #7 erected on Lincoln Way
1895: Pike Bell dies
1897: Placer High School was founded; the first and oldest high school in Placer County
1899: Poor wee little Leroy Coan Jr. dies from falling from the first floor glass skylight 22 feet to the marble floor below at the courthouse
1904- Adolf Weber’s family killed by Adolf
1905- American Hotel destroyed by fire
1906- Adolph Weber was hanged at Folsom State Prison for the murder of his mother, father, brother and sister
1906- The Great Earthquake of San Francisco occurs with a magnitude of 7.9
1908: Henry Ford introduces the Model T
1909- Alma Bell killed Joe Armes
1911: Women received the right to vote in California
1914-1918: World War One
1918: The Tsuda family established the K. Tsuda General Merchandise in Auburn
1920: Joss House was built by Charlie Yue to replace the original building, which was destroyed by fire in the late 1800's
1920: Union Saloon closes it’s doors after over 50 years due to Prohibition
1920- Women receive right to vote in America (19th Amendment)
1920- 1933: Prohibition (18th Amendment)
1928: Big Dip died
Our 2024 Characters
Our 2024 Characters
George Stephens (1819 - 1882)
Tom Bell (1823 - 1856)
Fire Queen (1825-1885)
Alexander “Pike” Bell (1832-1895)
Rattlesnake Dick (1833- 1859)
Mary Armes (1860 - 1947)
Mary Weber (1862 - 1904)
Mrs. Snowden (1864 - 1937)
Maggie Coan (1867-1924)
Big Dip (1869 - 1928)
Adolph Weber (1884 - 1906)
Alma Bell (1885 - 1952)
Bertha Weber (1886 - 1904)
Old Town Auburn prior to the fire of 1905 that destroyed the "Town Hall" pictured above...you can also see the Snowden House on the hill above.
Home of the Union Saloon; closed in 1920 due to Prohibition. Remains empty since the Covid Pandemic.
The Eastern Bargain Dry Goods Store in Old Town
The Women's jail cell at the Historic Auburn Courthouse
Infamous outlaw Richard Barter aka Rattlesnake Dick (or perhaps not, it's unknow if this is indeed him.)
John C. Boggs- the nemesis of some of the worst outlaws of the Old West, including Rattlesnake Dick
Deputy Sheriff Frank “Big Dip” H. Dependener.
Deputy Sheriff Frank “Big Dip” H. Dependener.
One of the best- known, best-liked and most feared men in public service
One of the best- known, best-liked and most feared men in public service
SGT Edmund C. Snowden married Mary Weber's sister, Bertha in 1891
Auburn Journal, Volume 1, Number 52, 23 September 1885
Auburn Journal, Volume 1, Number 52, 23 September 1885
"While money is close, wages and prices low, expenses should be cut down in every household. Economy, the watchword for mothers, head oil doctor bills by always keeping in the house a bottle of Dr. Bosanko’s Tough and Lung Syrup. Stops a cough instantly, relieves consumption, cures croup and pain in the chest in one night. It is just the remedy for hard times. Brice 50 cents andsl. Samples free. Sold bv Snow - den, the druggist."3* (The Snowden's were Adolf Weber's Aunt and Uncle.)
"The Snowden-Meyer Wedding--Mr. Edmund C. Snowden, for years a successful druggist of Auburn but latterly living retired in his beautiful home on the south hill overlooking the principal part of the city, and Miss Bertha Meyer of Sonora, Tuolumne County and sister of Mrs. Julius Weber of Auburn, were married in San Francisco a week ago last Wednesday, the 13th instant. After enjoying a short honeymoon in the metropolis, the happy couple came to Auburn, arriving here on the early train Sunday morning and repaired at once to the Snowden residence, their future home. On Sunday night the Auburn brass band tendered them a serenade and were treated handsomely by the new married couple, who in turn wish us to extend to the band their thanks for the compliment. Mr. Snowden is one of Auburn's substantial and highly esteemed citizens, and the bride is of good family and is a bright and pleasant and sensible young lady. They both have a host of friends who join in wishing them a long and happy wedded life."
[Placer County Herald, Auburn, 5-23-1891]
SGT EDMUND C. SNOWDEN
This highly respected retired businessman of Auburn, California, Edmund Christopher Snowden, is a native of England, but has been a resident of this country since his boyhood and is thoroughly identified with its interests, having fought for the preservation of the Union during the days of civil strife and having enjoyed a long and prosperous business career. The following sketch of his life is of interest in this connection.
Edmund Christopher Snowden was born in England in 1838, and there spent the first fourteen years of his life. Then he accompanied his relatives to this country. They located on a farm in the state of New York. After leaving the farm he tried several branches of business, after which he took up the study of medicine and was preparing himself for a professional life when the Civil War broke out. In the meantime he had taken up his abode in Texas, but on the opening of hostilities he went north to Illinois. There in 1861 in answer to President Lincoln’s call for one hundred thousand volunteers for three years’ service in the suppression of the rebellion, he enlisted and went to the front as a member of Company E Twenty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was with his command in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama and participated in nearly all the actions in which it was engaged. At Belmont he was wounded, a ball passing through his hand. At the expiration of three years, he re-enlisted, becoming a member of the One Hundred and Forty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he remained until the close of the war, when he was honorably discharged.
After the War, Mr. Snowden resided for some time in Iowa. From there he removed to Concordia, Kansas, and engaged in the drug business, and was thus occupied at that place until 1874, the year he came to California. His first location in this state was in Santa Cruz County, where he opened a drug store. He remained there, however, only a short time, coming thence to Auburn. Here he engaged in the drug business and was very successful. Having for his motto “Live and let live,” he conducted his store on a liberal basis, and soon acquired a large trade. From time to time he made investments in property, acquiring both city and farm realty. His residence is modern and attractive, is located on top of a hill, and commands a pleasing view of the town.
Mr. Snowden has been twice married. In 1871 he wedded a Mrs. Jackson, with whom he lived most happily until her death in 1889. She left no children. On the 13th of May, 1891, he married Miss Bertha E. Meyer, and the following year on the queen’s birthday, a little daughter was born whom they named Frances Victoria, and who is now the sunshine of their home.
Mr. Snowden has all his life harmonized with the Republican Party, not however, being active as a politician. For a number of years he has served the town of Auburn as a trustee. He is identified with the Masonic fraternity.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: “A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern California”, Pages 475-476. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
- Julius Adolph Weber- Father of Adolf Weber an emigrant from Germany who ran the Auburn brewery on Brewery Lane from 1888-1897
November 14, 1904
The mother and her little son occupied one coffin. Floral offerings in profusion covered the caskets and a great number of the friends of the deceased were in attendance to follow the final rites. The services were conducted in the cemetery chapel by the Superintendent, E.B. McPHERSON, and the caskets were afterwards consigned to the reception vault, preparatory to the interment, which will take place this forenoon. The people in attendance at the funeral were not permitted to see the faces of the dead.
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