George W. Coulter started a Tent Store here early in 1850 to supply hundreds of miners working the rich placers of Maxwell, Boneyard and Black Creeks. The settlement was called Banderita from the flag flying over Coulter's store. A post office established in 1853 was called Maxwell Creek, but changed the following year to honor Coulter. Andrew Goss built the first stamp mill for crushing quartz ore. Nearby quartz mines, worked for years by crude methods and fueled with wood, produced millions. Coulter built the first hotel, and two Newfoundland dogs pumped water for it from a well. Francisco Bruschi erected the first permanent building, and his family became leading merchants for more than eighty years.