Thanks to consultant, Hank Meals, for his permission to
reproduce excerpts
from his report for the Foresthill Ranger District, Tahoe National Forest
Courtesy of Wihelmina Dorer's scrapbook & Richard Merz
. . .There are two spellings of Elliot Ranch. The original spelling, ending with
two “t’s”, probably came from Chris Elliott who was the owner of the ranch from
about 1895 to 1909. Over the years, the spelling has been shortened to “Elliot”.
U. S. G. S. Maps, U. S. Forest Service documents and the Archaeological Site
Record all use Elliot Ranch. . .
. . .The Government Land Office Plat Map for township 15N, R11E shows a house in
the general vicinity of the Elliot Ranch Site (1870). The 1870 Federal Census
for Placer County lists James Vickers farmer, age 66, native of Ohio “enumerated
with” Henry Keller, farmer, age 43 and Michael Cook, farm worker, age 62. An
1874 map clearly shows the Vickers encompassing the spring at the head of the
North Fork of Shirttail Creek. There are also two rectangular structures
depicted on this detailed map. Less than one half mile to the east of Vickers
Gap, a saddle that accommodates the road leading down Humbug Canyon to the Lynn
and Pioneer Mines and to Humbug Bar the Dorer Ranch (Uren:1874).
. . .Christopher Elliott appears in the Placer County Great Register of Voters
in 1870 as a 40 year old miner living in Damascus. He was one of the original
eighteen owners of the Mountain Gate Mine that had by 1880 shown earnings of
$1,556,000 (Angel 1880:216,378). In the 1882 Placer County Great Register of
Voters he is described as a miner from Jefferson County, New York, 5 feet 8
inches tall with a light complexion and gray eyes. He is also described as a
miner in the 1894 Great Register of Voters. The same document also lists a man
named Plumb Elliott, age 26, born in Wisconsin”. Both Christopher Elliott and
Plumb Elliott voted in Damascus.
Christopher is described for the first time as a farmer in the Placer County
Great Register of Voters for 1898. Plum Elliott is described as a miner.
Christopher Elliott is also listed in the Great Register of Voters for 1902 and
1906. During this period, the Elliott Ranch was mentioned in an article about a
recent fire:
. . .the most severe in the history of the country, burning over an area of
twenty miles long, embracing thousands of acres. The timber losses surpass any
ever experienced here. The course of the fire is given as commencing at the
river in Humbug Canyon, continuing beyond Bear Trap and Chris Elliott’s Ranch,
on the Giant Gap flume, back on the south side to Eureka and Sugar Pine mills,
and far up into the Fork’s House country (The Placer County Republican, Auburn
CA. Sept. 29, 1904).
Chris Elliott died on October I, 1909 at the Placer County Hospital at the age
of 79 (Placer County Archives).
Foresthill Ranger, Glen Sindel, in a report on the Sugar Pine Range Allotment,
wrote “My findings indicate that the Elliott family settled at the meadow,
established a home and actually farmed the upper portion of the meadow for
several years along about 1910-1912" (Sindel: 1966)
Ray Dorer, who was born in nearby Humbug Canyon in 1907, remembered “Plum”
Elliott as the owner of the Elliott Ranch. “In my early days, the Elliott Ranch
was all fenced up with what they called a “worm fence”. That was rails, split
out of cedar, there was no nails used, they were just crossed , like this, and
then the next one was crossed, and the building up of the rails held them in
place. But there was no nails used at all, they called it a worm fence because
it went across the country like a worm, just back and forth and back and forth.
That Elliott area was all fenced with a worm fence when I was a kid.” (Dorer
interview transcript on file at the Placer County Archives, n.d.: Van Riper:
2004.
Barbara Van Riper, Ray Dorer’s niece, had another relative, Henry Power, who
remembered that Mr. Elliott maintained a pasture, raised cattle and sold meat to
the miners (Van Riper:2004)
The Map of Brimstone Range- Foresthill Grazing District (1911) still shows
Melvin Russell and Peaslee & Robson as permitees. On this map Section 9 and 16
are shown as “Patented Land”. Elliot Ranch is located in the northeast quarter
Section 9, but does not appear on this map. According to Foresthill District
Ranger, Glen Sindell, “At a later date (after 1912) the old Elliott ranch was
taken over by a Mr. Jack Sinetti who maintained a shack there up to about
1932-33" (Sindell 1966:3)
. . .Apparently it was about this date (1932-33) that it was determined that the
land (Elliott Ranch) was legally owned by the railroad company and was therefore
not open for homesteading. Farming in that area did not prove to be profitable .
. .At a much later date about 1934, the Elliot meadow area along with Big
Reservoir area and other lands in that vicinity came back into Federal ownership
by exchange to the U. S. Forest Service (Sindel: 1966:3). . .