1952 Map of Omo Ranch

About this map

Omo Ranch and the gold-mining district of Henry's Diggings define this mid-century survey of the Eldorado National Forest. The landscape is a dense network of extraction history, where the forks of the Steely Fork, Middle Fork, and South Fork Cosumnes River cut through high ridges like Barney Ridge and Farnham Ridge. Gold-era relics are everywhere, from the Independence Mine to the site of Brownsville. A notable pattern of early settlement is visible through the positioning of the Indian Diggings School and the Willow School, which served the scattered families of the timber and mining camps. Genealogical details like the Andreason Cemetery and the Andreason Mill site offer specific evidence of the families who worked these slopes before the transition to modern forest management.