On June 4, 1865, near the tollgate on the road from Placerville to Centerville, George Wilson was murdered, robbed of his gold dust, and his body hidden in a prospect hole full of water. Two musicians traveling from Placerville, banjo player L. Moulton and fiddler Fred Cursons, happened upon the crime in progress, and both men were shot in the back while attempting to flee the scene. Deputy Sheriff Maloney and his posse searched in vain for the suspects, who eluded justice. Local legend holds that those three men, and possibly Owrn McCaler, who died earlier the same day after being struck by a falling tree on California Hill, were buried together in a single grave at this site, where four pine trees grew from the corners of the gravesite as solemn reminders of the bloodiest day in Placerville's history.