The Blacksmith at Coloma

About an hour and a half north of us along hwy 49 is the small town of Coloma. This is the place that grew around the water powered sawmill that John Sutter built here on the bank of the American River. While many sources tell that gold was discovered here 24 January, 1848, I struggle to find one that clearly states when the mill was constructed. The Britannica states that James Marshall found the gold flakes while the mill was being built, so let's go with that.

Today, this site is a state park and James W. Marshall is the central character for he is the fellow who found gold.

Most of the visitors (although we were nearly alone here on our visit) are California 4th graders since this is the year in school that this piece of California history is taught. One of the stops for everyone, us included, is the blacksmith shop.

The blacksmith and his apprentices did an excellent job of tells us the story of the blacksmithing at this location and just what the job of a blacksmith is in general.

The main thing I learned, which I possibly knew but certainly never thought about, is that a blacksmith is first and foremost a tool maker. During the apprenticeship, one begins with nothing and starts making the tools needed to make other tools until one have enough tools of the right sort ot make the thing you need. And as new items are always being requested, new tools and always being made. The making of tools never ends.

The people operating the smithy are all volunteers and it is clear that they have a strong passion for this old and art/engineering form.

While a few things have been updated, such as the bellows used to fan the flames, most of this is just as it has always been since long before there was a California.