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Notes for LESTER ALLEN PELTON:
Lester Pelton was an inventor who was born in Vermillion, Ohio in 1829. His father was a farmer. When Lester grew up he decided to travel by wagon train to California. He was a quiet person who liked to study and read books. At first he went to Sacramento and became a fisherman. He was not successful at fishing so he decided to move. He went to Camptonville in Nevada County after he heard about a gold discovery along the North Fork of the Yuba R iver.
In l860 all types of mining were going on, placer, hardrock, and hydraulic. Pelton did not want to be a miner so he decided to improve
mining methods. He watched, studied, and learned about methods needed to power hydraulic mining. Hardrock mines also needed power to lower the men into the mines, bring up the ore cars, and return the workers to the surface at the end of their shift. Power was also needed to operate rock crushers, stamp mills, pumps, and machinery. At the time, the steam engine was used by many mines for their main power
source, but the hillsides were running out of wood and trees. The Empire Mine in Grass Valley used about twenty cords of wood a day. Pelton knew the forests were disappearing so he began thinking about inventing a water wheel. In l878 he experimented with several types of wheels As the story goes, one day he was chasing a stray cow from his landlady’s yard in Camptonville . He hit the cow on the nose with water and the water split, circled the cows nostrils and came out at the outer edge. This gave him an idea. He rushed to his workshop and began to make a water wheel with split metal cups. The wheel was proven to be the best and most efficient in a competition.
The Nevada City Foundry began to manufacture the wheels and ship them all over the world. The world’s largest Pelton Wheel is a historical landmark located at the North Star Mining Museum in Grass Valley. Lester Pelton’s invention was the beginning of the development of hydroelectric power and is still used throughout the world today.
Legends of Nevada County Painting. Undoubtedly the most difficult step was choosing who should be represented in the painting. For assistance, the committee contacted three local prominent historians, Dave Comstock , Steve Cottrell, and Ed Tyson and involved them in the project. Limiting the list to only fifteen legendary figures based upon their lasting contributions to western Nevada County was a challenge. There were so many great individuals. After many meetings, much discussion, and trips to the Searls Library, the following were unanimously selected:
Charles Marsh -First whitesettler. P resent at Promontory Point
William Bourn, Jr. - Empire Mine flourished under his leadership
Errol MacBoyle - Rescued the Idaho-Maryland Mine
A. D.Foote - Directed the operations of the North Star Mine.
Lester Pelton - Inventor of the Pelton Wheel.
Martin Luther Marsh - Businessman: timber, sawmill.
Sarah Kidder - Nevada County Narrow gauge railroad, 12 years
Niles Searls - Attorney, judge, and State Supreme Court Justice
William Morris Stewart - Attorney, District Attorney, wrote mining rules
Aaron A. Sargent - U.S. Representative
Senator Harry Englebright -Grew up in Nevada City.
U.S. Congressman Alonzo Delano -Writer,
Wells Fargo Agent James J.Ott - Served as Assayer in Nevada County for 51 years
Carl Jones, MD. - Doctor. Built hospital. Supported Idaho Maryland
Father Thomas Dalton - Priest. Active in community. Established orphanage
Biography & Genealogy Master Index (BGMI)
889340
Pelton, Lester Allen 1829-1918
Biography Index. A cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. Volume 12: September, 1979-August, 1982. New York: H.W. Wilson Co., 1983. (BioIn 12)
The Cambridge Biographical Encyclopedia. Second edition. Edited by David Crystal. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. (CamBiEn)
The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography. Edited by John S. Bowman. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. (CamDcAB)
Chambers Biographical Dictionary. Sixth edition. Edited by Melanie Parry. New York: Larousse Kingfisher Chambers, 1997. (ChamBiD)
Random House Webster's Dictionary of Scientists. New York: Random House, 1997. (RanHWDS)
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