Norden in Nevada County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 30, 2014

1. Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush Marker

Inscription.
History
Love - Excitement - Pathos - Humor. It’s all in “The Gold Rush” which was filmed at Sugar Bowl (and Truckee).

“The Gold Rush,” written, produced, directed, and starring Charlie Chaplin was one of Chaplin’s most famous movies and was the film he is quoted as saying for which he most wanted to be remembered. The 1925 silent was the highest grossing silent comedy.

Charlie Chaplin had read about the Donner Party and the Klondike gold prospectors. He combined elements of hardship and the search for gold in “The Gold Rush.” Charlie, the Little Tramp, headed for Alaska where he found himself in a cabin with a criminal, Big Jim. There was not enough food and they were reduced to eating one of Charlie’s boots. The cabin teetered precariously on a cliff edge. Charlie fell in love with a dance hall girl and danced the dance of the “dinner rolls.” Charlie, the character, later became a multi-millionaire and met his dance hall girl again. The film is wonderful and still available.

A Good Story
As Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of the story:” During

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the winter filming, many of the cast caught colds and Charlie caught the flu. The movie was finished on the sound stages in Hollywood and much of the Sierra footage ended up on the cutting room floor. For the Klondike scene over the Chilcoot Pass, the Truckee Ski Club cleared a path in the snow up the mountain at what would become Sugar Bowl. Six hundred extras were brought by train from Sacramento to appear as miners going up the pass. The boot Charlie ate to stave off hunger was made of licorice. There were so many retakes requiring so much licorice eating, that Chaplin became sick and had to have his stomach pumped.

Things to do right here
From here you can hike to see some great scenery. You can hike up directly from here to “conquer” Mt. Lincoln. The Mt. Judah Loop Trail takes you across the top of Mt. Judah and down the pass between Judah and Donner Peak. Scramble up the granite slabs of Donner Peak to the top and see straight down 1000 feet to Donner Lake. A really ambition (sic) person can go from here all the way to Squaw Valley or just go to Mt. Anderson or Kinker Knob on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Erected by Donner

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 30, 2014

2. Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush Marker

This marker is second from the right.

Summit Historical Society. (Marker Number 19.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Entertainment. In addition, it is included in the Donner Summit Historical Society, and the Nevada - 20-Mile Museum - Hwy 40 Scenic Bypass series lists. A significant historical year for this entry is 1925.

Location. 39° 18.824′ N, 120° 20.308′ W. Marker is in Norden, California, in Nevada County. It is on Donner Pass Road, on the right when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 58404 Donner Pass Road, Norden CA 95724, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Sacramento Metro

and in the Sierra Nevada.

It is also in the American Mountain West.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Sugar Bowl (here, next to this marker);

Filming Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Unknown

3. Filming Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush

The Magic Carpet (here, next to this marker); The Lodge at Sugar Bowl (here, next to this marker); Mt. Judah (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Truckee Trail - To Summit Valley (approx. 0.4 miles away); Summit Hotel (approx. half a mile away); Tunnel 6 (approx. half a mile away); Donner Ski Ranch (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Norden.

Regarding Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush. This marker is removed every Fall for the winter months and replaced every Spring for the summer season.

Also see . . .
1. Filming the Gold Rush - Charlie Chaplin Website. Charles Chaplin made The Gold Rush out of the most unlikely sources for comedy. The first idea came to him when he was viewing some stereoscope pictures of the 1896 Klondike gold rush, and was particularly struck by the image of an endless line of prospectors snaking up the Chilkoot Pass, the gateway to the gold fields. At the same time he happened to read a book about the Donner Party Disaster of 1846, when a party of immigrants, snowbound in the Sierra Nevada, were reduced to eating their own moccasins and the corpses of their dead comrades.

Photographed by Unknown

4. Filming Charlie Chaplin’s Gold Rush

(Submitted on March 25, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.)

2. The 20-Mile Museum Brochure. Information and the listing of all the markers within this series. (Submitted on March 30, 2015.)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on March 25, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 971 times since then and 56 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on March 25, 2015, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.