Oak of the Golden Dream

0:01 We've all heard the saying, there's gold in them, there are hills. But what about these here onions? Let's take a field trip.

0:08 [Music]

0:12 Hidden in the rolling hills of Glasserita Canyon, our destination is an unusual piece of SoCal history. Located on the former Rancho San Francisco, the Oak of the Golden Dream.

0:26 [Music]

0:36 This quiet path was once the backdrop for a legendary event. On March 9th, 1842, when California was still a part of Mexico, Ranchero Francisco Lopez stumbled upon gold while napping under this very tree.

0:52 [Music]

0:53 As the story goes, with his cattle brazing nearby, Lopez dreamed he was floating on butter. When he woke up, he was hungry. So he pulled some wild onions from the ground with his knife.

1:04 And lo and behold, on their roots was gold flakes. Lopez had made California's first ever recorded gold discovery. And it started a sort of mini gold rush here in the canyon, complete with small scale mining operations. And all this took place 6 years before the more famous gold discovery up north at Suners Mill.

1:23 So if you ever want to visit the true birthplace of the Golden State, take a detour through Placerita Canyon, step back in time, and see what you can discover.

1:34 I'm Michael Imlay and thanks for joining me on this backstory fieldtrip.