Gold was discovered here in March 1851 by Abraham Thompson, a member of a party traveling from Oregon to Scott Bar. After a heavy rain storm, particles of gold found in grass roots pulled up by pack animals led Thompson to wash three pans of gravel, convincing the party that the area was rich enough to work. Among the party were Dr. F.G. Hearn, Judge Silas J. Day, and Thompson’s partner, Mr. Bell. They staked claims on these flats, thirty feet square, and named the place Thompson’s Dry Diggings. Within six weeks 2,00 prospectors rushed here to mine, but the need for water caused the settlement to move to the creek, where it became known as Shasta Butte City. Because that name was confused with Shasta in Shasta County, it was changed in 1852 to I-E-KA, the Indian word for Mt. Shasta, now Yreka.