Bunch Creek is a stream in

Placer County, California Placer County ( ; Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 404,739. The county seat is Auburn. Placer County is included in the Gre ...

, United States. Bunch Creek is a tributary to the North Fork of the

American River , name_etymology = , image = American River CA.jpg , image_size = 300 , image_caption = The American River at Folsom , map = Americanrivermap.png , map_size = 300 , map_caption ...

, which confluence is to the east at elevation. In reaching that confluence, Brush Creek flows through Bunch Canyon. The water quality in Bunch Creek is characterized by low

turbidity Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of a fluid caused by large numbers of individual particles that are generally invisible to the naked eye, similar to smoke in air. The measurement of turbidity is a key test of water quality. Fluids ...

, and is free of odor;

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

were being caught in the creek according to a 1989 survey.(Earth Metrics, 1989)

History

The history of the town of Colfax, California is intertwined with Bunch Creek. During the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

of the mid-19th century,

miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two senses in which the term is used. In its narrowest sense, a miner is someone who works at the rock face; cutting, blasting, ...

and trappers of this part of Placer County found a place along Bunch Creek that was generally below the snow line; this place became known as Illinoistown. With the passage of time, and the increase in

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

mining activities, the camp grew. It became a village with a general store, saloons, freight company and even a brothel.(Colfax, 2005) This settlement later became known as Colfax.

Notes

Colfax, California History (2005)
* Earth Metrics Inc, " Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Bunch Creek Shopping Center, Colfax, California", printed in San Mateo, Ca., Document File Number 7928W0, May 16, 1989

History

Notes

See also