Research sites?

[Twisted One]

Anyone willing to divulge some of their better research sites? I am looking for specifically news articles, maps, and any other things that would help me locate areas in my area to hunt for caches, or relics.
I have found a lot of "legends" about caches in my area, but all of them have vague details, and I am sure have been exaggerated, or shortened in the years since they happened.

There is a lot of information out there about everything, and I usually pride myself on finding said information, but historical information is fairly new to me, so having a hard time finding good key words, or sites for research.

 

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[Curtis]

When you find the sites or means to use please post for the rest of us. I too have used evey source I can find and have checked over 75 of those legends out. The only two that had any hope seemed to be ones that were first hand..not published stories.

 

[Twisted One]

Yeah the published stories you can read in a million places with very little changes, and funny enough no facts, or major details. I am looking into three local legends right now, and all of them lead to the same dead end lack of details, enough details to make you wonder how much of the story was originally made up how much was true.

Ruggles brothers. The most popular stories lead you towards the east side of 299 along middle creek, which is about a three mile stretch from 299 to the Sacramento river. However most stories also imply that the hold up was on the Old Stage Coach road which is actually off mule town road on the other side of 299.
On top of that on a recent venture out there, we discovered the from mule town road there is a gate with a dirt road labeled "Old Stage Coach road" one of the first road made in the local area, with a year, etc...
Trouble is about 150 yards down it's flooded due to a small damn that was built there. And where it comes out on the other side of that pond looks to be private property now. Not completely sure about the private property still have to find a local map that shows it.

Bloody Springs. Most of what I read says it was a few miles south east of Pittville. Well Most of that area looks to be farm land now, and the river looks like it was actually diverted for irrigation in many spots. And although I have yet to make it up that way, I can not see from google earth where a gorge as the one described in the stories would be, or any kind of springs. I believe that the the diversion of the river would be the reason why.

There is one other I have been focusing on, and not comfortable with sharing the details just yet, but possibly soon. Next weekend depending on what else is happening I think I am going to go to a couple of the local museums, and a few other place that covet these stories by hanging the original new articles and such about them in their establishments.

 

[Tuberale]

RE: Twisted One, you don't say what your area is, so I'll gues it's near Redding, CA. You ask for research sites: that's the name of the game. Search out old newspapers and references to caches/robberies/holdups/murders is your area for a specific time period. You might have to go to San Francisco or similar area to search for newspaper references, as Redding didn't have an early newspaper still in existence that I know of. But many early newspapers were always reading other regional newspapers for blurbs to add as filler or human interest stories to fill their local papers.

Searching for specific outlaws operating in your area is another possibility.

It would help if you gave specific parameters to what you consider your "area": 5-50 miles from Redding? 0-100 miles? 0-300 miles? Different people with different skill sets have much different ranges for their "area".

 

[usernotfound]

Loc.gov is a great research tool.