by Lincoln Area Archives Museum (Author)
Charles Lincoln Wilson was the founder of Lincoln. His enthusiasm brought the Sacramento Valley Railroad from Folsom as far as the Auburn Ravine. The citizens of Western Placer now had a rail terminal. The new town was given Charles Lincoln Wilson's middle name. After the goldfields played out, copper deposits were discovered. By April 1863, large pieces of copper were being exhibited from the Gardner Claim. There were large copper mines at the J.D. Saunders ranch and at Whiskey Diggins, later Kilaga Springs. In 1874, clay deposits were also found while mining for coal. Charles Gladding, Peter McBean, and George Chambers, all from Chicago, had read about the superior, widespread clay deposits in Lincoln, and they started the California Clay Manufacturing Company in May 1875. The name soon became Gladding, McBean & Company.