California's Gold Season 2, Episode 11: Natural Wonders

Living History

Join Huell as he spends an entire episode around living history. First, he experiences a recreation of everyday life in a 19th century Russian community at Fort Ross State Historic Park. Next, he sails aboard the state’s official tall ship, the Californian, and see for yourself the site where Sir Francis Drake left a plate of brass when he landed on our California shore.

L.A. Adventures

This adventure is all about Los Angeles! Huell’s adventure begins at the La-Brea Tar Pits and continues through the futuristic-looking Theme Room, also known as the Encounter Restaurant at LAX; then, Huell locates a buried bridge on the campus of UCLA; Next, he finds every conceivable food item, from fruit to cactus leaves, at the bustling Grand Central Market in downtown. Finally, join Huell as he watches the harvesting of grapefruit from a 100-year-old tree in Little Tokyo.

29 min

Preserving the Past

Huell takes a tour of the little, quaint town of Locke, founded and settled by Chinese immigrants on the Sacramento River Delta; then he hears ancient Cahuilla Indian bird songs sung by members of the Cahuilla tribe, and participates in a threshing bee and antique engine show in Vista, CA, featuring old farm vehicles and machinery.

28 min

Traditions

Join Huell and watch the exciting sport of the charreada or Mexican rodeo at a local Ontario arena; hear the crack of the bat at a baseball game played by the Stockton Ports, the minor-league team believed to have inspired the poem, “Casey at the Bat”; and listen to the sounds of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park Band, the oldest and only year-round municipal park band performing in the country.

28 min

Trains

Huell is ready to celebrate train travel at Railfair ’91 at the California Railroad Museum in Sacramento, and ride the rails at Railtown State Historic Park in Jamestown in the scenic Mother Lode foothill country.

29 min

Lost Sierra

Join Huell and travel to Downieville, nestled high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, to see what makes this little town so special. Explore a town that stood during the years of the California Gold Rush; meet the staff on the Mountain Messenger, the state’s oldest weekly newspaper; and watch a demonstration of the long, heavy wooden skis worn by the gold miners in the mid-1800s.

29 min