Ahhh yes - Sacramento County, where I first learned to pan. I lived in Fair Oaks from 1962 to 1972, (in Rancho Cardova 59-62) when most of the area was still "wild and wooly". My father worked for Douglas, and was deeply involved with the Apollo S-IVB testing done at the Sacto plant. I remember the old dredge that sat for years just off south Sunrise Ave (when Sunrise dead-ended at Douglas Rd. We lived next to a sheep ranch when we first moved to Fair Oaks, and a year or so later, the ranch was developed into a housing development. Between Fair Oaks and Orangevale, on Madison Ave, there was a lot of open land, and a we had the "goat man" who herded a large herd of goats in the open, undeveloped land between Madison and Sunset Aves. I get sad when I look at Google satellite photos and see how it is all built up. I lived on Illinois Ave, just off Sunset, and Illinois Ave. dead-ended at the American River at Sailor Bar. Piles and piles of dredge tailings, and the river had some pretty steep banks in some areas. It was about a mile from my house, and a short bike ride for me whenever I was out of school. I pretty much "owned" (in my mind) all the north side of the riverbank between Sailor Bar and Nimbus Dam. I worked the area for a couple of years, and found some color - just enough to keep me interested. In the two years I spent digging in that area, I "might" have accumulated a 1/2 ozt. I didn't find a glory hole there...but the north fork of the American up near Foresthill is a different story... I'm told that the Sailor Bar area is all county- or city-owned parkland, walking/bike trails, so likely nothing allowed other than "hands and pan", if even that.
