Editing Calaveras County, California (section)

== Etymology ==
The Spanish word ''calaveras'' means "skulls." The county takes its name from the [[Calaveras River]]; it was said to have been named by Spanish explorer [[Gabriel Moraga]], during his 1806–1808 expeditions, when he found many [[Human skull|skulls]] of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]] along the banks of the stream. He believed they had either died of famine or been killed in tribal conflicts over hunting and fishing grounds. A more likely cause was a European epidemic disease, acquired from interacting with other tribes near the Missions on the coast. The [[Stanislaus River]], which forms the southern boundary, is named for [[Estanislao]], a [[Lakisamni]] [[Yokuts]] who escaped from [[Mission San José (California)|Mission San José]] in the late 1830s. He is reported to have raised a small group of men with crude weapons, hiding in the foothills when the Mexicans attacked. The natives were quickly decimated by Mexican firearms.

In 1836, [[John Marsh (pioneer)|John Marsh]], [[Jose Noriega]], and a party of men went exploring in Northern California. They made camp along a river bed in the evening, and upon waking discovered that they had camped amid a great quantity of skulls and bones. They also gave the river the name Calaveras.<ref>Lyman, George D. ''John Marsh, Pioneer: The Life Story of a Trail-blazer on Six Frontiers,'' pp. 207–208, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1931.</ref><ref>Winkley, John W., ''Dr. John Marsh: Wilderness Scout,'' pp. 54–5, The Parthenon Press, Nashville, Tennessee, 1962.</ref><ref>Thompson, Thomas Hinkley, and West, Albert Augustus. ''History of San Joaquin County, California'', p. 13, 1879.</ref> 
  
Mark Twain spent 88 days in the county in 1865, during which he heard the story that became "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" at the Angel Hotel. This story kicked off his career and put Calaveras County on the map.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-calaveras-county-marijuana-20180228-htmlstory.html|title=A rural county legalized marijuana farms. It took their tax money – then voted to ban them|last=Parvini|first=Sarah|date=February 28, 2018|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US|access-date=October 3, 2019}}</ref>