Tells the story of fifteen of the most extraordinary visionaries who changed the Mother Lode history forever. Many are so famous that you would know them, but their association with the Mother Lode has unfortunately been lost. There is Dr. Albert Michelson from Murphys. He was the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1907. There is Glen Bell, founder of Taco Bell who began the Tuolumne County Historic Theme Park. There is Melvin Bell, famous attorney from San Francisco who was born in Sonora. There is John Studebaker who came west to find gold but made wheelbarrows instead and later, Studebaker cars. the Goldwater family settled in Sonora and opened their first store on Washington Street in 1850. Their grandson Barry Goldwater, ran for President of the United States in 1964. Dave Brubeck was from Ione. His “Take Five” changed the music world forever. And there was William Murphy from Columbia who met a beautiful young socialite from San Francisco. It was love at first sight. Their love affair led to the invention of the Murphy bed, and well, the rest is history.
There are lots more colorful men and women who brought their dreams with them and created the world we enjoy today.
