BURSON, CA – January 21, 2015 – From intimate love letters to tales of the original hotels of Valley Springs, from gold dredging to the earliest inventions from West Calaveras pioneers, the newly-published Volume V of the popular magazine series “Something From Nothing: The Early History Of West Calaveras County” is a treasure trove of local history.  The magazine will be available for purchase at the Valley Springs News anniversary celebration on Friday, February 20th.  Historian Sal Manna will be present to autograph copies from 5:30-7 p.m.  The publication will also be available at westcalaverashistory.org.

Other fascinating stories in the 48-page publication concern threatening letters surrounding a mysterious death, Jenny Lind schoolteacher Monroe Sinclair, Milton’s Masonic Hall, the naming of the town of Camanche, a pioneering Jewish family, the Lime Kiln Ranch, the Donners of Milton, and even a boxer from Burson.  Most of the magazine’s subjects had never been written about before the original columns were published in The Valley Springs News from September 2012 to April 2014.  Those 20 columns have been expanded with additional photographs and color.