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Archive for March, 2009

History of Auburn, CA – Claude Chana

by Lonnie Crider, Auburn, CA

Statue of Claude Chana

Thousands of people fly pass the large statue of a kneeling gold miner on highway 80 at the Maple street exit under the train trestle in Auburn, California, as they travel to and from Lake Tahoe every week.

When thinking about it, one would be tempted to guess that due to the location in the historic gold country near Coloma where gold was discovered in 1848, the statue must be that if the famous James Marshall who discovered the “color” in the bed of a diverted river while building a saw mill for Captain Sutter of “Sutter’s Fort” fame.

Close, but no cigar……….The statue is that of French settler, agriculturalist and gold miner Claude Chana. who was, ironically, a friend of James Marshall.

The majority of settlers who migrated to California in the mid 1800’s to seek their fortune soon found it a disappointing and difficult life. Most went back from where they came or ended up changing their goals and professions in order to survive, especially after the early and easy “placer” mining period where gold could be easily gathered from surface methods as opposed to digging, mine shafting or “monitoring” by use of water cannon.

Claude’s story is quite different in that not only was he a successfull miner, but he also made major contributions to a burgeoning California agricultural industry which eventually became our number one industry for many decades.

Chana came west from St. Josephs, Missouri, in the spring of 1846, and had a brief encounter with the ill-fated Donner party at Weber Canyon, Utah. Chana’s company made a decision to take a different route to California and to press on, which allowed them to arrive at Johnson’s ranch (next to the Bear River in now Yuba county near Wheatland) several weeks before the Donner party was trapped in the Sierra’s.

Chana soon found out that a fellow countryman Teodor Sicard had a land grand just a few miles from Johnson’s ranch across the Bear river and went to work for him in late 1846.

Shortly after this, Chana found his way to Sutter’s fort where he worked as a cooper and where he also met and became friends with James
Marshall of Sutter’s Mill fame.

After 7 months Claude migrated back to Sicard’s ranch where news soon arrived about the discovery of gold in Coloma.

Chana travelled up to Coloma where he saw many of his countrymen panning for gold and immediately headed back to Sicard’s ranch to outfit himself to return to the American River to pan his fortune.

Chana and a group of several countrymen set out under the leadership of Eugene Gendron who had been in California since 1832 and knew many routes to the foothills. He took them on a shorter route than going back through the normal Sutter’s Fort route of the day.

On May 16 1848 Chana’s party was camped next to a stream later known as Auburn Ravine, close to where the town of Auburn, and now non-existent town of Ophir, eventually grew. Claude may have been keeping his hand at panning when he suddenly found 3 large nuggets in his washed out pan. Needless to say, the Chana party never made it to Coloma.

Within 18 months, the town of Auburn was named from it’s original gold mining moniker of North Fork Dry Diggins (Plenty of water in the Winter…much less in the summer) and 1200 to 1500 people inhabited the very small and hilly area of Auburn and Ophir.

Claude had a successful stint as a gold miner but as the easy placer mining days waned he realized that he needed to take his fortune and pursue his other passion which was farming and agriculture.

Chana returned to Sicards ranch where previously in 1846, he and Sicard had planted peaches, apples, almonds, pears, plumbs in the rich loamy Bear River bottom lands. Their trees were healthy, growing and bearing fruit enough to sustain the local area with these rare commodities.

Sicard eventually sold his ranch to Chana for $6,000 in gold and immediately set out to make major improvements to the ranch.

In 1848 Chana obtained 200 Mission Grape vine cuttings from San Jose and proceeded to plant them at the ranch. Claude was among the first winemakers in California and by 1870 he was producing over 12,000 gallons of wine annually!

So the next time you pass the large Statue of Claude Chana as you pass by the town of Auburn, dazzle your family and friends with your knowledge of Claude Chana, Early California Settler, Gold Miner, pioneer and agriculturalist.

Pricing your home to sell

Price it right out of the gate!

Pricing your home correctly is the single most important key to getting it sold. Of course location and condition come in a close second. Even if you do find an eager buyer who is willing to overpay for your home, the deal will screech to a halt when the lender’s appraisal comes in under the value of the contracted price.

There is a magic ”window of opportunity” when a property first hits the market. This is when it attracts the most attention from buyers and real estate agents who represent motivated buyers. If your home is priced too high, both buyer and agent will discard it from the prospect list, and probably won’t revisit it. They will assume they are dealing with an unrealistic seller.

Factors that affect the price of a home

Location: You can’t get away from this one. If your house is located in a desirable area that is in demand, you will be able to get a higher price than you can for the same house in a less desirable area. Freeway or road noise, busy corners, train proximity will detract from a home’s desirability, while good schools and convenience to shopping & commuting will add to desirability.

Condition: A house that has been better maintained and shows better will always sell for more than one that has had deferred (neglected) maintenance and needs work. A home that has been properly prepared for sale  home will always show better! A house that has been updated with modern amenities will also command a higher price.

How to set the price

CMA (Comparable Market Analysis): A comparison of similar properties in the same general area that compares actual sold prices. A Real Estate Agent can generate a CMA for you at no charge. A current popular consumer CMA tool is Zillow.com. Do not put too much confidence in the accuracy of this tool as it does not take into effect condition or other amenities of a property.

Current Active & Pending Properties: In our current “Buyer’s Market,” it’s important to analyze the competition. Price your home below the competition (Active properties) to generate an offer. Note at what price point Pending properties received an offer. Don’t try and test the market by starting out with a higher price in hopes that you will get an offer.. You will end up lowering your price, and can often end up chasing the market downward, and getting a lower price than if you had priced it right in the first place.

10 Steps to preparing your home for sale

1. Say goodbye to your home now.  Get over it…it’s time to move on. Prepare it for the next person who is going to live in it. Picture the day you hand over the keys and move into your new home.
2. Take the “you” out of it.  Get the family photos off the wall, neutralize paint colors, pack up personal collections ahead of time. Buyers want to picture themselves living in your home. Taking the you out of it allows them to see the house and not be distracted by the stuff.
3. Lean and mean!  It’s time to sort through stuff, throw away, sell or donate excess items, and prepack those you want to take with you. Clear the kitchen counters, minimize books in bookcases, get things off the floor of the closets. Put your bathroom essentials out of site.
4. People open doors!  Make sure your closets and cabinets are neat & tidy. Less stuff makes them look more spacious!
5. Rent a storage unit  Store excess furniture and prepacked boxes to give the feeling of spaciousness.
6. Take down fixtures or window coverings that you plan to take with you in advance.Keep these items off the bargaining table if they are important to you!
7. Make repairs now.  Fix anything you know is broken or not working in advance. This will keep them off the Home Inspector’s report and will show the buyer that your home is in good repair. Consider painting over any bold walls in more neutral shades.
8. Clean, clean clean!  Make sure your home shines! Clean windows, baseboards, fans & fixtures, remove cobwebs, power wash decks & walks.
9. Give it the once-over.  With the help of your Realtor® or a friend, stand back and take another look. Does your home have curb appeal? Are the shrubs and lawn in good condition? Does it beckon people in? If not, consider adding some pots of bright flowers, a new welcome mat, a new coat of paint on the front door. Make it shine!
10. Call in a professional.  Have a professional stager add the touches that will cause buyers to want to stay a while. These folks know what they are doing, and know how to evoke the emotion in buyers that generate offers! It is worth the investment.