White River, California
Encyclopedia
White River is a little village in Tulare County, ten miles east of Delano, California
, United States. It was founded as a gold camp in 1856, during the Kern River Gold Rush. It was first located on the Coarse Gold Gulch two miles east of the present site and was called Dogtown.
When the first road was built into the Linn Valley, Dogtown was moved a mile and a half west to the road. Its name was changed to Tailholt after one of the first stagecoaches to stop in town provided the new name, due to a humorous incident. It involved a lady passenger on the stagecoach that grabbed the tail of her dog as it jumped out the window in pursuit of a cat. She hung on screaming for help until the owner of the local restaurant, Mother Cummings came to her rescue. While she was lifting the dog through the window of the coach she said, "Well Ma'am, a tail-holt is better than a no holt at all". The coach driver, Yank on his return to Visalia told the postmaster and keeper of the stage station there that the new name of the town was Tailholt.
Its name was later changed to the more respectable title of White River. Among the points of interest are two cemeteries, one north of the river for regular citizens, and small one, the Tailholt Boot Hill Cemetery, south of the river for the those the town did not want in their cemetery, like Jack Gordon
, (formerly Peter Worthington), who died violently in a gunfight, and was a known member of the Mason Henry Gang
.
Delano, California
Delano's climate is characteristic of the San Joaquin Valley. The weather is hot and dry during the summer and cool and damp in winter. Frequent ground fog known regionally as "tule fog" can obscure vision. Record temperatures range between 115°F and 14°F...
, United States. It was founded as a gold camp in 1856, during the Kern River Gold Rush. It was first located on the Coarse Gold Gulch two miles east of the present site and was called Dogtown.
When the first road was built into the Linn Valley, Dogtown was moved a mile and a half west to the road. Its name was changed to Tailholt after one of the first stagecoaches to stop in town provided the new name, due to a humorous incident. It involved a lady passenger on the stagecoach that grabbed the tail of her dog as it jumped out the window in pursuit of a cat. She hung on screaming for help until the owner of the local restaurant, Mother Cummings came to her rescue. While she was lifting the dog through the window of the coach she said, "Well Ma'am, a tail-holt is better than a no holt at all". The coach driver, Yank on his return to Visalia told the postmaster and keeper of the stage station there that the new name of the town was Tailholt.
Its name was later changed to the more respectable title of White River. Among the points of interest are two cemeteries, one north of the river for regular citizens, and small one, the Tailholt Boot Hill Cemetery, south of the river for the those the town did not want in their cemetery, like Jack Gordon
Jack Gordon (Peter Worthington)
Jack Gordon , original name, Peter Worthington, renegade, outlaw, in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Later moving to California he became a member of the Mason Henry Gang....
, (formerly Peter Worthington), who died violently in a gunfight, and was a known member of the Mason Henry Gang
Mason Henry Gang
Mason Henry Gang 1864-1865, a bandit gang that posed as Confederate partisan rangers but acted as outlaws, committing robberies, thefts and murders in the southern San Joaquin Valley, Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, Santa Clara County, and in counties of Southern California.- Mason and Henry as...
.