Indian Gulch (formerly Indiangulch and Santa Cruz) is a ghost town in Mariposa County, California, United States. It lies in the foothills of the western Sierra Nevada at an elevation of , approximately west-southwest of Mariposa along Indian Gulch Road off California State Route 140.
The community was established in the 1850s as a gold mining settlement. At its peak it supported a church, hotel, blacksmith shop, and several hundred residents. The Santa Cruz Cemetery and scattered stone foundations remain at the site today.
History
Indigenous peoples
Indian Gulch lies on the western boundary of the traditional territory of the Southern Sierra Miwok. Linguist Sylvia Broadbent, drawing on accounts from Southern Sierra Miwok speakers, recorded that one informant placed the western limit of Miwok territory "on a line running through Merced Falls, Hornitos, Toledo, and Indian Gulch." The name "Indian Gulch" was applied by Euro-American settlers in the 1850s, consistent with the pattern of naming sites in the region that showed evidence of indigenous use.
Settlement and mining
The community was founded around 1851 during the California Gold Rush. It was originally called Santa Cruz, after the nearby Santa Cruz Mountain to the north-northwest, and also known as Indiangulch. Gold was extracted from a lode deposit in a quartz vein within metamorphic schist; the site is recorded in the United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Data System as a small past-producing lode mine.
By the mid-1850s the settlement supported a hotel, blacksmith shop, and several hundred residents. The community was associated with the broader Hornitos mining district.
Holy Cross Church
Holy Cross Church () was built at the settlement in 1885 within the Santa Cruz Cemetery grounds. By 1910 the congregation was no longer active, and in 1914 the property was deeded to the Catholic Diocese. In 1973, the church building was relocated to the Mariposa Museum and History Center in Mariposa. On July 24, 1980, a grass fire destroyed the church at its new location.
Post office
A post office operated at Indian Gulch from 1855 to 1912, with a closure during part of 1901. The long post office tenure reflects the community's role as a service center for the surrounding mining and ranching district. After the post office closed, mail service consolidated to neighboring communities.
See also Hornitos, California Mariposa County, California Southern Sierra Miwok California Gold Rush
References