Photos Of Last Chance Area

I’ve had several people ask if I’m going to post pictures from our trip. Rachel figured out how to do so, and it looks like I’ll be the first to try.

This first picture is of my husband Allen and I on what used to be the main (and only) street in Last Chance. The second is a wider shot of the same area. It’s grown up with trees now and very little is left of the old town site. The evidence of a few foundations, the old cemetery, the spring that the town drew water from, and a few old posts are about all that remain.

The next photo on the top is the same area in 1862, just fifteen years prior to when my story takes place. The Last Chance Hotel is the third building down the street, on the left side. I’m not sure what the other two businesses are, but one is probably the general or dry goods store. The building in the far distance on the right (you can barely see a flag pole) may be the school/community building. It had two stories and the second story was used for community functions.
The photo on the bottom is a close up of the Last Chance Hotel with a pack train standing patiently in front. When the picture was taken there was no good wagon route into town and goods were only brought in by pack train. By the time my story takes place there was a very long, round-about route into town that a wagon could use, but pack trains were still prefered. The top floor of the hotel was a large bunk type room and could only be accessed by the ladder outside. It’s doubtful any ladies ever chose to stay there, but miners, mule team drivers, and other men were able to obtain lodging at the hotel. A candy store and barber shop flanked the main hotel in the small buildings on each side.

The picture on the top: We found four old corner posts of what appeared to be a corral, just a stones throw from a pretty meadow. A spring lay on the edge of the meadow and our archaeologist guide guessed that the corral could be a holding pen for the blacksmith shop. It contained broken pieces of square nails, used prior to 1895.

Picture on the bottom: This meadow/glade is mentioned in 1860’s diary entries as being just outside of town and having a small apple orchard for the town use. It’s not far behind main street (about 100 yards or so) and has a gurgling spring with substantial run-off. Unfortunately in the past few years, a vandal cut down the few 150+ year old still producing apple trees that were standing on the edge of the meadow.

On the top: Only a very few intact headstones remain in the Last Chance cemetery, but all are clearly marked. Two are damaged, but all show either names, dates or both. All but one are dated prior to 1890.

On the bottom: The Tombstone of Ethan Allen Grosh, the man who first found gold on Sun Mountain that later became the famous Comstock lode. He died a tragic death in Last Chance before being able to prove up on his claim.

This ends my photo gallery for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed the peek into the history of Last Chance. Be sure to watch for the release of my book next February, when you’ll find out even more about this fascinating town from our past and the fictional people who could have lived there!

We Made It! Last Chance, At Last!

My husband Allen and I arrived at the Sacramento airport early Thursday afternoon, then drove up I-80 to Auburn, across to the small historic town of Foresthill, and on another 13 miles up into the Sierra Nevada mountains to a wonderful B&B/lodge called The Christmas Tree Vineyard Lodge. Our hostess is Claudia, the owner and manager of the lodge and she’s made us feel welcome and has gone out of her way to be a help to me on this research trip.

Prior to my arrival she contacted people in the local historical group and was given the name of Nolan Smith, an archaeologist who works for Tahoe National Forest as a ranger. He offered to ride with us today up to the old town site of Last Chance, but first we spent 30 minutes or so in his office going over forest service maps of Placer county and particularly the area between Foresthill and Last Chance.

Before we even got out the door, he’d armed me with several books that have short bits of information on the old town, and urged me to keep them during our stay at the lodge. At his suggestion we’d rented an SUV with a higher wheel base as he hadn’t been into the old town site this spring and wasn’t sure what the road might be like.

We drove 24 miles at 25 mph and less, down a steep canyon on serpentine roads, then back up the other side to the top of a high ridge. We topped out on the ridge and began to go down the other side another nine miles on a gravel road, losing about 1,000′ in elevation until arriving in the vicinity of Last Chance. On the ridge to the east of town is a flat forested area well over a mile in length. According to historical records it used to be a flat, grassy glade with little or no trees, about two miles outside of town…a perfect setting for the ranch where Alexia lives.

Unfortunately, there isn’t even a foundation still standing where any buildings used to be, but we were able to see several leveled areas, with at least 3 that had surfaces dug into the bank. It was apparent a building had resided in those spots…and one area not far from a beautiful spring had the remnants of what could have been a split rail corral. A few of the posts still had square nails protruding from the sides. According to Nolan, those nails would be pre-1890’s—and could easily have been a corral where my blacksmith/livery kept the horses.

We also visited the few remaining tombstones in the cemetery up on a rise above the town site. Ethan Allen Grosch, the man who first discovered the Comstock lode, died in a tragic accident and was buried there in the 1850’s. His tombstone is clearly marked, along with several others both earlier and later.

Tomorrow we’ll be visiting Michigan Bluff, a very small town where Justin (our hero in my book) will be driving his wagon through on his way to Last Chance. We’ll also stop by the library, museum and historical society in Foresthill, as it’s the closest real town to Last Chance with any facilities or businesses.

I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to see the topography, the setting for the town and learn more detail about the time period and history my book takes place. When we return home I’ll be back at my manuscript with a renewed excitement! Stay tuned for more updates as I happen to stumble upon them.