The
largest gathering of prospectors settled east of the
original discovery, in a rich, flat meadow.
Inevitably a town sprung up, and Holcomb's memoirs
tell of "Saloons. gambling dens, and bagnios of the
lowest kind." On the outskirts of the haphazard town,
earthen dugouts and hastily built shacks were thrown together
by the miners. There was even a brewery and the infamous "Octagon
House," an 8-sided saloon and dance hall, with
rooms where gliter girls entertained. For
the town's first July 4th Celebration, the blacksmith's
wife, Mrs Jed Van Dusen, stiched together a flag made from
the shiny skirts of the dance hall girls, and red and blue
from miners' shirts. Out of gratitude for her patriotic
endeavor, the settlement was named Belleville in honor
of her pretty little daughter, Belle. In 1861, at the peak of the gold rush, 1,500 people lived
in Holcomb Valley, and Belleville missed taking the county
seat by a mere two votes. The population was typical of
a mining town, with good men and industrious workers, balanced
by degenerates and professional lawbreakers. |
