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The Sawyers Bar Cemetery is located in the hamlet of Sawyers Bar, California. Sawyers Bar was founded as a California gold rush town in 1850 & once peaked at 3,000 people. There are two cemeteries - this one I took at the grave of John Billings & John Gregory. An excerpt from the Sacramento Daily Union on April 13, 1877 reads the following:
Fatal Accident - Two Men Instantly Killed - Remarkable Escape of a Third.
Yreka, April 12th. - By an accident at the Black Bear mine Tuesday morning two men - John Billings and John Gregory - were instantly killed. The workmen were coming up out of the mine for breakfast, and, contrary to the express orders of the Superintendent, three men started up from the lower level by the car track in the incline. A Chinaman in charge of the car above let it get unbooked, and the car started down with fearful velocity. It met the three men, who were in single file, killed and frightfully mangled the first, jumped over the second without injuring him, and struck and killed the third man. On Wednesday all the mines and mills in the vicinity were shut down to allow the men to attend the funeral, over 400 being in the procession. Billings leaves a wife and six children in Santa Clara. The Chinaman who let the car go has vamosed, and has not been seen since. This is the first accident that ever occurred at this mine.
Source: https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SDU18770413.2.11.1.3&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1
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