Editing Alpine County, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Woods-Lake-Sierra-Nevada-Alpine-Janine-Sprout.jpg|thumb|left|Woods Lake, situated in Alpine County]]
The [[Washoe people]], a [[Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin|Great Basin tribe]], inhabited the [[Sierra Nevada]] on the [[California]]–[[Nevada]] boundary, with the Hung A Lel Ti band populating the [[Diamond Valley, California|Diamond Valley]] including what would become Alpine County.

[[Kit Carson]] and [[John C. Frémont]] were among the first explorers to bring nationwide attention to the Sierra Nevada region in their [[John C. Frémont#Second expedition (1843–1844)|winter 1844 expedition]], though the first known westerners to actually explore the area were [[Jedediah Smith]] and [[Joseph R. Walker]]. Though gold spurred the infrastructural development of Alpine County, the [[Comstock Lode]] found near [[Virginia City, Nevada]] and the subsequent silver boom was what triggered Alpine County's growth, even attracting [[Gold mining in Nevada|gold miners from neighboring Nevada]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=History of Alpine County |url=https://alpinecounty.com/alpine-county-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128190537/https://alpinecounty.com/alpine-county-history |archive-date=November 28, 2020 |access-date=January 19, 2021 |website=Alpine County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor's Center |language=en-US}}</ref> This prompted the formation on March 16, 1864, from parts of [[Amador County, California|Amador County]], [[Calaveras County, California|Calaveras County]], [[El Dorado County, California|El Dorado County]], [[Mono County, California|Mono County]] and [[Tuolumne County, California|Tuolumne County]].<ref name="generalplan" /> It was named Alpine County due to its resemblance to the [[Swiss Alps]].<ref name="BrightGudde1998">{{Cite book |last=William Bright |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CET4QodMZysC |title=1500 California place names: their origin and meaning |last2=Erwin Gustav Gudde |date=November 30, 1998 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-21271-8 |page=14 |access-date=January 20, 2012}}</ref> At its formation, it had a population numbering around 11,000. By 1868, however, the local silver mines had proven unfruitful of replicating the Nevada silver boom and the population fell to about 685 in the [[1870 United States census|1870 Census]], a decline that would steadily continue through the 1950s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Census Browser |url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160331183721/http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu/ |archive-date=March 31, 2016 |access-date=September 24, 2015 |website=[[University of Virginia Library]] |via=[[Wayback Machine]] |ref=University of Virginia}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> [[Silver Mountain, California|Silver Mountain]] (established as Köngsberg)<ref name="CGN">{{California's Geographic Names|1202}}</ref> was designated the county seat following the discovery of silver nearby by Norwegian miners.<ref name="GT">{{Ghost Towns of California|104}}</ref> [[Markleeville, California|Markleeville]], established by Jacob Markley in 1861 as a 160-acre claim encompassing a bridge and toll station, became the new county seat in 1875.<ref name="generalplan" /> The collapse of the silver industry and closing of mines was finalized with the [[Panic of 1873|demonetization of silver]] in 1873, and Silver Mountain was abandoned by 1886, with most businesses moving to Markleeville.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="GT" />

Following the devastating collapse of the silver industry, the population began quickly declining until the 1950s, falling to an all-time low of 241 in [[1930 United States census|1930]].<ref name=":1" /> During this time, its small economy limited the county to serving primarily as a trading center for the local farming and lumber industries, as well as fishing and hunting during the 1930s. Several lots in the county were left vacant.<ref name=":0" />

Alpine County finally managed an economic rebound with the construction of the [[Bear Valley (resort)|Bear Valley]] and [[Kirkwood Mountain Resort|Kirkwood]] ski resorts in the late 1960s, the latter of which is split with [[Amador County, California|Amador County]]. The population shot up from 484 in [[1970 United States census|1970]] to 1,097 in [[1980 United States census|1980]], a 126.65% increase, and has remained around that level.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=March 27, 1995 |editor-last=Forstall |editor-first=Richard L. |title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990 |url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/ca190090.txt |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000410230159/http://www.census.gov:80/population/cencounts/ca190090.txt |archive-date=April 10, 2000 |access-date=September 24, 2015 |website=[[United States Census Bureau]] |ref=1900}}</ref> The three [[List of national forests of the United States|national forests]] ([[Eldorado National Forest|Eldorado]], [[Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest|Humboldt–Toiyabe]] and [[Stanislaus National Forest|Stanislaus]]) means 96% of the county is owned by the federal government,<ref name=":2" /> providing opportunities for economic development and tourism to the skiing resorts as well as historical tourism and outdoor recreation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Permits & Other Info |url=https://alpinecounty.com/permits-%26-other-info |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928162046/https://alpinecounty.com/permits-%26-other-info |archive-date=September 28, 2020 |access-date=November 24, 2021 |website=Alpine County Chamber of Commerce}}</ref>