El Dorado, meaning “The Gilded One,” was first known as Mud Springs for the boggy quagmire that cattle and horses made of a nearby watering place. It was originally an important camp along the old Carson Emigrant Trail. By 1849–50, it had become the center of a mining district and the crossroads for freight and stage lines. At the height of the Rush, its large gold production supported a population of several thousand.