The Calaveras County fair and,

Angels Camp 1864

It was nothing but a mud pit as it hadrained for days on end.

People came and went by the wagon loads. It was during this period a younger Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain, rode into the Camp. Hewas just another minerto everyone there. It was due to the weather he stayed.

As itwas there wasn’t much to do except to go and hang at the saloon and share tall tales. It was on a night such as this one, meaning wet. Sitting in the saloon Mark twain found the inspiration for The jumping frog story.

This story in todays terms went viral. And made a lot of fans want to head west. Where it was found out that it was a piece of fiction.

In 1893 The first County fair in the state of California opened in the Stae of California in Copperopolis California. Copperopolishaving the fifth largest copper mine in the World? Most defitenatly I the U.S. Calaveras County was a booming place and as history tells it a rather dangerous one too.

Meanwhile life in the county was a time full discovery. As not long after the telling of the frog the big Sequoia Redwoods were discovered up above Arnold, another big gold mine of a sort. Fortunately for those of us today who get to enjoy Big Trees State park it wasdiscovered riight around the time that the government was declareing such places as protected land. Becoming the National and State parks system. I can tell youas Resident of this County I am happy that certain measures were taken to protect such resources as the big Redwoods.

It wasn’t until 1927 that Someone decided to cash in on Mark Twains story. The Calaveras County Jumping frog jubilee was A roaring success with 15,000 people showing up to the festivities on main Street Angels Camp. Every year it grew in popularity as a plce for fun and entertainment.

In the years to come, I will call it Calaveras Counties major contribution to both WWI and WWII war effort years. It was 1938 when the the County knew that the two Festivals were getting to big for there respective locations. That spring they combined the fair and jubilee on a largeparcel of land South of Angels Camp.What is now called Frogtown.

And we have now the longest running county fair combined with the states most favorite frog jumping event. So from 1938 to present day the jumping frog of Mark Twain lives out at Frogtown U.S.A.

The last time I was personally there was in 1986. I snuck n with the help of a very good friend. They stamped your hand with a black light ink. Joy walked right around the building and stuck her and through the fence, I lickedthetop of my hand and pressed it against hers ad a perfect black light stamp.

Walked right through the gate with no problem. It was two years earlier that at the frog jumps my mom caught me there after not coming home or calling for three days. Down on the low part of the midway by the swing, took me behind it and laid the ulimatum live home by her rules or move. 97 years after the first county fair and 48 years after the merger. I had no idea then that I wold be writing a historical piece on the place I made probably the single most damaging decision in my life. Kind of Ironicthat I write so cool a story about a place I avoided like the plague since then.

The story as I researched about the creation of the Calaveras County fair and Frog jumping jubilee. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

James W.Sims IV