Muletown, Amador County Ghost Town

We head southeast from Cunningham's store and we are in Muletown. On the irregular but gently sloping terrain, it is at this date difficult to pick out or discern foundations or streets. Trees 3 feet in diameter have grown at random, breaking the geometric pattern of a town either when viewed form the air or at ground level. As late as fifteen years ago, numerous chimneys and footings of red Muletown brick still portrayed the grid pattern of the settlement. These have disap­peared into walks, patio walls, and barbecue pits, leaving no trace of their former position.

However, the older buildings in the business district of lone are all constructed of Muletown brick, and for a long time we will be able to enjoy their soft iridescent reds. The location of the kilns that produced them, and from the quantity of output they must have been of considerable dimensions, is not known.

Both early and modern geologists note with considerable interest the peculiar character of the Muletown gravels. These have been smoothed and polished by marine action. Some authorities are of the opinion that the gravels originated in a tributary or spur of the great Blue Lead and subsequently were subjected to the action of the ocean. Whatever their origin, they were very rich and yielded a high percentage of large nuggets. One Chinese, having found a nugget weighing 36 troy ounces departed immediately for Cathay, undoubtedly a most wise decision. The life expectancy of a Chinese in the diggings in the 1850S was not great enough to warrant taking any additional risks.

In 1854 the Johnston Brothers brought in the ditch from Dry Creek. With water available under pressure, the placers entered their most productive period. This turn swelled the population to its maximum. It has been stated that a return of one thousand dollars per week was by no means uncommon at the sluices when sufficient water was at hand. This is not comparable to the staggering richness of the Butler Claim at Put's Bar but still quite respectable.

There does no seem to be at hand any ready explanation as to why the brickwork of Muletown was spared when Quincy, Live Oak, and other communities were denuded to the bare earth. One possible answer could be that the McNealy Copper Mine at the back of the town was brought into production in the mid-1850S and that the ownership of the Grant had an interest in its development.

Though long abandoned, there still remains ample evidence that McNealy was once a great mine. Its point of maximum production was doubtless during the Civil War. Historians have repeatedly told us that the gold of California and the silver of Nevada were crucial in deciding the outcome of that conflict. Let us add to this that the copper of the California mines and quicksilver from the New Almaden of Santa Clara were of no less weight.

The old writers comment upon the ungainly appearance and awkward motions of the local Irish inhabitants of Muletown who, having purchased horses, rode forth on Sunday in search of fun and frolic. The sight of these horsemen, with flop­ping limbs and unsteady posture, brought forth the response, "Ah, the Muletown crowd."

Information, photographs courtesy of the Amador County Archives, The Historical Marker Database, The Chronicling America Database, and Larry Cenotto, Amador County's Historian