Of the many colorful characters Auburn’s early history, none have attracted more interest than Richard Barter, who gained fame as the outlaw, Rattlesnake Dick, although he is purported to have preferred the more romantic pseudonym of “Pirate of the Placers”. He was not known to have killed anyone, but he terrorized the Sierra foothills over three years from 1856 to 1859. The following sketch of this “Pirate of the Placers” is from several publications Thompson & West 1882 History of Placer Co.; a publication issued shortly after his death; Placer Herald article, May 27, 1944 by Harry Furlong; information from Bob Elder from his book about Rattlesnake Dick; and article “Unanswered Questions–Rattlesnake Dick’s Death, by Norman McLeod in the Sunday Magazine section of the Auburn Journal, May 4, 1986; and the Placer Gold, May 30, 1973 article, “Who Really Killed Rattlesnake Dick?”
“Rattlesnake Dick”, was the son of an English Colonel and was born in Quebec about the year 1833, but very little is know of his early history. Dick was a roving, reckless sort of a boy, not exactly bad, but decidedly “wild”. He was caught in the great maelstrom that whirled around California after the discovery of gold and came to the State during 1850, accompanied by an elder brother and an old man supposed to have been a relation. They settled at Rattlesnake Bar, a small mining camp in Placer County, on the North Fork of the American River. Later his brother and the old man returned to Canada. Dick stayed on at Rattlesnake Bar, working for other men and doing a little prospecting on his own when rumors began arriving from Nevada City to the effect that rich quartz deposits had been found in the mountains. Many of the American River miners packed their gear and left. But not Dick Barter. Going from saloon to saloon, be bragged that his river bar was the best settlement in the placers. The older miners looked on Dick with amusement “There goes Rattlesnake Dick”, they would say. This was the turning point in his life. Thrown as he was, among scenes and men so different from any of his previous associations, he fell into the evil courses that eventually ended in his tragic death.
The rest of his story can be found in the Placer County Historical Society booklet, “Infamous Crimes and Criminals in Placer County.” The 1904 Adolph Weber murder case is also detailed. (See books for further information.) There is also a plaque at the corner of Foresthill Road and East Lincoln Way commemorating the poetress “Eulalie” and the Junction House, which was near where Rattlesnake Dick’s body was found. Dick is buried in the Old Auburn District Cemetery off of
Fulweiler Ave. in Auburn.