VIDEO: California’s only Civil War battle had a Volcanic bang

Volcano, Calif. – This circa 1850s settlement in the Northern California mountains was originally known for its odd name and rich gold mines, but a strange 1860s wartime experience brought it a different notoriety.

Named for the bowl-shaped valley surrounding it, Volcano immediately attracted fortune seekers and soon the town had 17 hotels, a library, a theater, post office and courts of quick justice.

During the Civil War, the citizens were divided between Union and Confederate sympathizers. As Volcano’s gold help pay for the Union cause, those favoring the rebellion conspired to steal it to divert south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

The Unionists, called the Volcano Blues, smuggled a big cannon, called “Old Abe,” into town to scare the Confederate faction, known as Knights of the Golden Circle.

The North supporters fired it once on Main Street, creating a giant boom that broke the windows of the shops that hadn’t been warned, the ones whose owners were rooting for the South.

Today, the town museum displays Old Abe, which was cast in Boston in 1837. It’s a rare 800-lb cannon from the era still on a wooden carriage.

And Volcano welcomes visitors, following appropriate Covid guidelines, to relive more of its Gold Rush heritage, including California’s longest continuously operated general store, which opened in 1852.