A Shining Moment for Placerita Canyon

The earliest recorded discovery of gold in California occurred on this day near what is now Newhall, when cattleman Francisco Lopez pulled some wild onions out of the dirt and noticed gold flakes among the roots. The strike in Placerita Canyon was hardly as spectacular as what would occur at Sutter’s Mill half a dozen years later, but it attracted enough attention, at least temporarily, to drain many Santa Clarita Valley ranches of their workers. By the end of 1847, the site was more or less mined out. But during its heyday, it yielded about 260 pounds of gold annually.