Tuolumne County history begins here. Early in 1848 a party of Philadelphia prospectors led by James Woods discovered gold 500 feet southeast of this site, where the old road crosses the creek that now bears Woods’ name. Members of the party included James Savage, J.H. Rider, and Searles Bassett, the lawyer prominent in the early history of Columbia. This site lies directly on the famous Mother Lode, the greatest gold-bearing vein in the world.