![[Hornitos Saloon], Group Portrait of '49 Gold Rushers Including Black Pioneer Moses Rogers, c. 1889](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/dollc/images/view/9bb0837e9f06c8fe3db44d62f4c3bf47j/daniel-oliver-hornitos-saloon-group-portrait-of-49-gold-rushers-including-black-pioneer-moses-rogers-c.-1889.jpg)
![[Hornitos Saloon], Group Portrait of '49 Gold Rushers Including Black Pioneer Moses Rogers, c. 1889](https://static-assets.artlogic.net/w_2400,h_2400,c_limit,f_auto,fl_lossy,q_auto/artlogicstorage/dollc/images/view/bac7d6be64462acaa49bcf298fc1484bj/daniel-oliver-hornitos-saloon-group-portrait-of-49-gold-rushers-including-black-pioneer-moses-rogers-c.-1889.jpg)
[Hornitos Saloon]
Group Portrait of '49 Gold Rushers Including Black Pioneer Moses Rogers, c. 1889
Albumen print
5 x 8 1/2 inches
With subjects' identifications, in pencil, mount verso.
With subjects' identifications, in pencil, mount verso.
AL 533
A wonderful and rare photograph showing a group of sixteen ''49 Gold Rushers” (and one dog) posed in front of R.W. Barcroft’s saloon in the rugged mining town of Hornitos,...
A wonderful and rare photograph showing a group of sixteen "'49 Gold Rushers” (and one dog) posed in front of R.W. Barcroft’s saloon in the rugged mining town of Hornitos, California.
Located in Mariposa county, Hornitos was a rollicking Mexican village that sprang up in 1850 a few miles from the newly rich gold diggings of Quartzburg. Meaning “little ovens” in Spanish, Hornitos was named for the above-ground rock and adobe graves of the Mexican settlers found in the area.
The men pictured are a veritable who’s-who of the miners, pioneers, and singular characters who came to Mariposa county to seek their fortunes. They are as follows:
Left to right, front row: Ralph Wood Barcroft, Alexander “Al” Sylvester, Sam Collier, Joseph “Joe” Spagnoli, Nathaniel “Nat” Bailey, Tom Thorn, Robert Arthur, and Tom “Spanish Tom” Williams.
Rear row: Henry Nelson, W. Smith Thomas, John Branson, William Dennis, Ben A. Shepard, Guiseppe Gagliardo, Jim D. Craighan, and Moses “Mose” Rodgers
Of particular note is the man in the back row on the far right, Moses L. Rodger. Born into slavery in Missouri, Rodgers came to California in 1849 when he was 14 years old. He worked in the mines by day and for himself at night until he had earned enough to purchase his freedom. He settled in Hornitos and went on to become a successful and extremely well-regarded mining engineer. He ran the famous Washington Mine near Hornitos and was a stockholder in several mines in the area. In summarizing his expertise, the Mother Lode newspaper declared, “There is no better mining man in the State.”
Rodgers later moved his family to Stockton so that his five daughters would have better educational opportunities. His daughter Vivian was the first African American female graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Rodgers passed away in 1900 at the age of 65. His obituary, published in the Merced Star, said of him, “He was an expert in his line and his opinion was always sought by intending purchasers of mines. He was a man of honor and his word was as good as his bond.”
Located in Mariposa county, Hornitos was a rollicking Mexican village that sprang up in 1850 a few miles from the newly rich gold diggings of Quartzburg. Meaning “little ovens” in Spanish, Hornitos was named for the above-ground rock and adobe graves of the Mexican settlers found in the area.
The men pictured are a veritable who’s-who of the miners, pioneers, and singular characters who came to Mariposa county to seek their fortunes. They are as follows:
Left to right, front row: Ralph Wood Barcroft, Alexander “Al” Sylvester, Sam Collier, Joseph “Joe” Spagnoli, Nathaniel “Nat” Bailey, Tom Thorn, Robert Arthur, and Tom “Spanish Tom” Williams.
Rear row: Henry Nelson, W. Smith Thomas, John Branson, William Dennis, Ben A. Shepard, Guiseppe Gagliardo, Jim D. Craighan, and Moses “Mose” Rodgers
Of particular note is the man in the back row on the far right, Moses L. Rodger. Born into slavery in Missouri, Rodgers came to California in 1849 when he was 14 years old. He worked in the mines by day and for himself at night until he had earned enough to purchase his freedom. He settled in Hornitos and went on to become a successful and extremely well-regarded mining engineer. He ran the famous Washington Mine near Hornitos and was a stockholder in several mines in the area. In summarizing his expertise, the Mother Lode newspaper declared, “There is no better mining man in the State.”
Rodgers later moved his family to Stockton so that his five daughters would have better educational opportunities. His daughter Vivian was the first African American female graduate of the University of California, Berkeley. Rodgers passed away in 1900 at the age of 65. His obituary, published in the Merced Star, said of him, “He was an expert in his line and his opinion was always sought by intending purchasers of mines. He was a man of honor and his word was as good as his bond.”