Rural Mysteries of the North Fork Polygon

Rural Mysteries Book Club

The First Rule of Book Club is - You do NOT Talk About Book Club

Most of our Rural Mystery research and investigation is conducted on a bicycle or on the "InterWeb". But every once in a while, when we don't have Internet access, we'll read something that's been written on little pieces of paper.

Read This Book Now

Thirteen Moons: A Year In The Wilderness
by Robert P. Johnson

The author spent the year of 1984 in the North Fork American River wilderness known as Green Valley, located about 13 miles upstream from Colfax, CA. Bonus: His June 13th journal entry describes his search for an ancient pyramid. More...

We only have two copies of this book to share so it may be awhile before we can complete our fair and balanced three-sentence book review.

Other Books on our Reading List

• Bogus Thunder Mountains , by Gene Markley - This compilation of stories, legends, and essays of the Northern Sierra includes chapters titled "Big Foots Haunt the Divide", "The North Fork", and "Green Valley, A Place to Remember". More...

  

  Note: This book is out of print so you'd better look for it in the Placer County Library System. Hauntingly, one of the three library copies is due 5/28/1999.

  Special Note: The year 2006 marks the 30th anniversry of Bogus Thunder, which some speculate is the inspiration for this Web site.

• California Fault by Thurston Clark - If you like earthquakes and irony in equal proportions, then this book will shake your brain. More...

• Ooti, A Maidu Legacy by Richard Simpson of Meadow Vista - The book provides a history of the Native Americans of the North Fork Polygon and chronicles the process of turning acorns into a food staple.

  Note: This book is locked in a special case at the Auburn Library

• Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California, by Richard P. Hilton of Meadow Vista - On page 145, this Professor of Geology at Sierra College conducts an investigation of the Dinosaur Rock Fossil Monster of Clipper Gap.

  Note: The first chapter is available for online preview.

• Solar Biology, by Hiram Butler - Written by the founder of the Esoteric Society who moved his following from Boston to Applegate in 1891 and established a prolific publishing company of alternative theosophic books.

• Around the World on a Bicycle, by Thomas Stevens - Half way through Chapter 1, Over the Sierras, the author rides his bike into the Polygon towns of Auburn, Clipper Gap, and Colfax in the Spring of 1884.

  Note: The entire book is available for reading online. You can also download Volume 1 (PDF, 915 KB) and Volume 2( PDF, 870 KB) as Adobe Acrobat files.

• Aircraft Wrecks in The Mountains and Deserts of California (3rd Edition), by Gary Patric Macha and Don Jordan - This book features the archaeological aircraft wreck located in the earth-gash known as Lovers Leap. Also describes plane crashes in Clipper Gap and Weimar.

New Books Shine Light on Dark Corners of Polygon

Attention Mystery Shoppers: Here's a list of four locally authored books that our book club read, or at least glanced at, in 2005:

Nature Noir, by Jordan Fisher Smith (Web Site - Auburn Journal Review) - A rangers-eye perspective of the dark mysterious undercurrents of the American River canyons. Bonus: Contains a suspenseful blow-by-blow description of events leading up to the Auburn Ghost-dam Flood of 1986.

Take a Hike, by Bob Griffis and Evan Jones (Web Site - Auburn Journal Review) - A guide book to secret historical trails and not-so-trails in and around the American River canyons. Bonus: Contains a description of the long-lost 3.5-mile Iowa Hill section of the famous Stephens Trail.

Georgetown Hiking Trails: Trying to Get Lost Off the Divide, by Tom Petersen - (P.A.R.C. Review) A guide book to exploring lost, remote, obscure, and secret trails in the Georgetown Divide area. Bonus: Provides maps that are "not necessarily exact replicas of the terrain".

American River Canyon Hikes , co-authored by Jim Ferris. - (A.J. Review) A guide book of 21 hikes in the Auburn State Recreation Area (ASRA). Bonus: The list of trails includes a route called "Applegate Road".

Also, don't miss our annual Christmas Chopping Guide.

Rural Mysteries of the North Fork Polygon