SeeCalifornia.com

SeeCalifornia.com contributor and historian Craig MacDonald has researched and written factual stories from the California gold rush era, many appearing in his holiday book, Old West Christmas-Tales with a Twist.

1. An Outlaw’s Christmas Eve Greeting: Once upon a time, All through the camp, Wasn’t a miner a-stirring, They was out like a lamp. Their six guns were hung, By the beds with care, In case Big Red, Soon would be there.

2. Santa Claus Papa: A widow named Mary Stewart was having a very hard time making a go of it after her husband had been killed in a mine explosion. She worked long hours washing miners’ clothes to put food on the table for her two small kids. Life was especially tough and discouraging with the approach of the first Christmas without her husband.

3. Finders Keepers: On Christmas Eve, 1880, a sleigh carrying G.W. Green and Dan Callarner was caught in a major snowstorm on the eastern slope of the Sierra. In spite of the incredibly heavy snowfall and high winds, both men were about to witness a Christmas miracle.

4. A Golden Child is Born: There was much optimism in California’s Mother Lode during the holiday season of 1849. Gold had been discovered a year earlier and miners were scampering to the Sierra Nevada foothills to make their fortunes.