05.09
As a history buff living in the cradle of the California Gold Rush, I was ecstatic to find out about Clarksville Day, the one day a year old Clarksville is to the public.
Clarksville was formed during the Gold Rush and later was a transfer stop (at least for a few weeks, folks were vague about that) on the Pony Express route. It’s located just outside of what today is El Dorado Hills and like so many other areas in El Dorado County though you’re only a few steps off the main road, you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere.
Today, Clarksville is located on private property, so you can’t get in there normally. On the grounds are a handful of old houses — curiously, some lived in until shockingly recently — and a number of old stone foundations.
The folks who put it on did pretty well. There were folks in period clothes and wagon rides and all that. There was even a shootout by the varmints in the Blue Canyon Gang.
I also had the odd opportunity to meet one of the six — yes six — candidates running for El Dorado Sheriff. Bob Luca made an appearance and I worked up the courage to ask him about his stance on CCW permits and Open Carry laws in the county. While Luca has taken some heat in the past for not being as rabidly pro-CCW as the other candidates (notably Larry Hennick), he did state he was in support of AB 375, the bill to make California a “shall issue” CCW state (tho we agreed it would never pass), and talked about the need to proceed cautiously, “look what happened over in Isleton.” While I’m still not sure who I’m voting for, that he took the time to show up won him points.
Anyway, while I shot a lot in digital, I also shot a half a roll of Ilford Delta 100 with the Leica. In a few days I’ll soup that roll and hopefully add to the set.
