Tuscan Springs

by Bryon Burruss

Overview

Tuscan Springs, originally "Lick Springs," was a collection of mineral waters near Red Bluff, California, which Native Americans considered such sacred ground that even warring tribes would lay down their weapons and bathe there together in peace. It was here that Dr. John A. Veatch became the first person in America to discover "white gold" (borax) in 1856, and he renamed the site after the fumaroles of Italy. While plans to extract the mineral proved impractical, word quickly spread of the healing properties of these alleged miraculous springs, and hundreds soon "were taking the waters." But, it was not until the property fell into the hands of an ambitious local merchant, Edgerton Walbridge—equal parts Teddy Roosevelt, William Randolph Hearst, and P.T. Barnum—that the springs gained worldwide fame, drawing visitors to Tehama County from throughout the country by carriage, railroad, and steamboat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467131223
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	02/10/2014
Series:	Images of America Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	6.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.31(d)

About the Author

Bryon Burruss, author, professor, and historian, developed an early and intense interest in Tuscan Springs after continually hearing stories of it throughout his childhood. This fascination intensified in the 1990s, when he coauthored an award-winning stage play about the historic resort. He maintains the largest known collection of Tuscan Springs memorabilia and photographs and is always searching for another piece of its puzzle.

Table of Contents

Foreword 6

Acknowledgments 7

Introduction 8

1 Once Upon a Time 13

2 All This Happened, More or Less 25

3 Somewhere in La Mancha 35

4 The Best of Times 45

5 The Worst of Times 55

6 Defying Fortune's Spite 65

7 Of Mice and (Mad) Men 75

8 The End 89

9 The Beginning 101

10 O Brave New World 113