In earlier times, a tribe of Penutian language-speaking Native Americans called Chukchansi lived in this territory. They are a sub-tribe of the Yokuts, who occupied the entire San Joaquin Valley floor and the Sierra foothills before the arrival of white settlers.

Like other California Indians, the Chukchansi were mostly displaced from their villages and camps by gold seekers and ranchers during the second half of the nineteen century. A branch of this tribe has since regrouped and gained tribal recognition. Many of its members live on tribal land located east of Highway 41 and south of the current town of Coarsegold.

The first non-native explorers were likely Alta California Mexicans and early American trappers and explorers. According to local historians, gold fever struck in 1849 when some prospectors who were camped just east of the Fresno River found big, rough nuggets in the riffles of a small creek they later named Coarse Gold Gulch.

Miners flocked to the area (which naturally became known as Coarsegold) and soon created a typical transient boomtown. Early deep mines in the region were the Texas Flats Mine, the Enterprise, the Josephine and the Gambetta -- most of them located in the Grub Gulch area northwest of town. Placer mining was also big here, but it reportedly produced less gold. Other mines and mining communities dotted the hills and valleys north and west of town.

As the precious metal became scarcer, some prospectors discovered they could make more money raising livestock than grubbing for gold, and ranching became the Coarsegold region's prime industry. The ranchers in these parts still support much of the town's commercial activity.

At the same time, a lively tourist industry emerged with the popularity of Yosemite National Park, the southern entrance to which is about 25 miles north of "downtown" Coarsegold. A wagon road that passed through the town was extended to Yosemite in 1876. The completion of a new route through Raymond and Ahwahnee temporarily halted Coarsegold tourist trade, but the construction of State Highway 41 revived the town center.

An annual rodeo and the re-creation of an early Western village on the site of an old stagecoach stop help preserve Coarsegold's roots.

To visit an E Clampus Vitus list of historical monuments in our area, click here.

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Read an "as told to" account of Coarsegold's early history from the Historical Society.