Camp Site of the Boston-Newton Party - Shingle Springs, California

DATE VISITED:  03/21/2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Camp Site Of The Boston-Newton Party

LOCATION:  4270 Mother Lode Dr., Shingle Springs, El Dorado Co., CA

MARKER #:  456

DEDICATED:  June 4, 1950

"On this site the Boston-Newton Joint Stock Association encamped on September 26, 1849. The company left Boston April 16 and arrived at Sutter's Fort September 27, after a remarkable journey across the continent. A rich store of written records preserved by these pioneers has left for posterity a fascinating picture of the gold rush.

**closer look below

Marker Placed By:  Placed by California Centennials Commission. Base furnished by descendants of Boston-Newton Party

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: David and I debated whether to try to get this last monument in before heading home. Both of us were tired, but it really was on our way home, so it was easy enough to drop by.

Almost everything I read about the Boston-Newton Joint Stock Association basically noted the amount of written accounts of the journey. "A rich store of written records preserved by these pioneers has left a fascinating picture of the gold rush." were the same words I read over and over.

I was starting to think that this is the reason they were "known" until I dug deeper.  Although that really does have a lot to do with the reason they are known, they also had several other things going for them.  They were family and friends...they went in to the venture with a pool of money...they were religious with the same moral beliefs; meaning no swearing, gambling or drinking...they stayed together for the entire trip...and when they got to California, it was a joint decision that the association be dissolved in order to increase their individual chances at getting rich.

The Boston-Newtown Joint Stock Association left Boston on April 16, 1849 and arrived at Sutter's Fort on September 26, 1849. 

Their journey was noted in the Boston Evening Traveler... "The Boston and Newton Joint Stock Association started yesterday morning for California, overland, by way of St. Louis and Fort Independence, via Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie, South Pass, Humboldt River, and Carson Pass".

Diaries and letters are part of what has been preserved. I read several things but the most touching thing was from George Gould to his wife... "I see by your letter that you have the blues a little in your anxiety for my welfare. I think we had better not indulge such feelings. I confess that I had set the example. I do not worry about myself, then why should you for me? I do not discover in your letter any anxiety on your account, then let us for the future look on the bright side of the subject and indulge no more in useless anxiety. It effects nothing and is almost universally the bug bear of the imagination...." Here was a man who was undergoing hardships that even the most prepared pioneer had not imagined, and he's comforting his wife.

Like thousands of other stories of the men who came to California to get rich, each member had varying degrees of success. A couple in the gold fields, but others went on to other ventures. A couple of men, the Locke's, moved to San Joaquin where they settled the town of Lockford. One gentleman helped the founding of the Fireman's Insurance Company in San Francisco. Others went back to Newton no more rich than they were when they left home. 

To the Associations credit, only one person died on the journey...a huge feat.  He was buried on the trail and given a headstone. A headstone on the prairie was so uncommon that the headstone is now a part of a larger monument and sits in silent tribute to all the people who perished following their dreams.