8-09-20(Elder_Ck)

Courtesy of E Clamus Vitus. A mining camp off California SR 4 east of Ebbets Pass. By the 1850s the original gold strikes in the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada were pretty much played out, and prospectors were fanning out across the rest of California and into what's now Nevada.

On top the concrete slab holding the E Clampus Vitus plaque. Silver Mountain, originally Kongsberg, was an early (late 1850s) silver strike in the easten Sierra Nevada, just off what's now California SR 4 over Ebbetts Pass. See enclosing photo for more information.

Or rather, the ruins thereof--and the only structure of which even ruins remain! Some artifacts have been put on top the slab holding a plaque from E Clampus Vitus (insert, upper right) The plaque (insert, upper left) reads: "Settled by Scandinavian miners in 1858, then called Kongsberg. Renamed Silver Mountain in 1863 and made county seat of Alpine County Aug. 11th, 1864. During the [18] sixties, the town supported a post office, two newspapers, express office, telegraph office and several hotels. Population was at its peak in 1865. County seat moved to Markleeville Nov. 1st, 1875." By the late 1850s the original gold strkes on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada were pretty much played out, and prospectors were fanning out across the rest of California and into what's now Nevada. BTW, Markleeville still exists and remains the county seat--with a population, per Wikipedia, of 210 as of the 2010 census. (Up from 197 in 2000!)