Bett's Gold Coin Sports Tavern

The Fremont Adobe/Gold Coin-Where Mariposa History Lives
By Leroy Radanovich

All the old ghosts and spirits were awakened in Mariposa the first weekend in August 2011. From the looks of the crowd, they were never really asleep; maybe just dozing. Yes, the opening of the Gold Coin in Fremont’s Old Adobe Office Building brought out the spirit of this small Gold Rush community as reflected by its patrons. It certainly brought back many fond memories from my younger years.

Maybe the awaking of those dozing spirits explains why the place was packed with a predominantly “local” crowd when the town, itself, was packed with tourists. We all have a place in our life where the Gold Coin played a special part; maybe it was a family connection; maybe a personal memory.

At any rate, the doors opened promptly at 5:00 PM, Friday August 5, 2011 to a waiting crowd. I suspect the old sprits of the building were already awake from all the noise of construction that had been going on over the past year. As the doors opened, it all came together. The ghosts of past occupants, Mariposians looking to reconnect to past times and a sprinkling of “tourists” who just came around to see what all the fuss was about.

The Gold Coin “business” has a rich and colorful history in Mariposa dating back to the great Depression days. Maybe it is only coincidence that the doors are reopening at the tail end of the greatest “recession” since the early 1930s.

For the building itself, our “recent” economic bumps over the past fifty or so years are only part of the story. For the Fremont Adobe structure, the story starts before California was even a state. Among the many boots that have trod those newly restored floors are the boots of John Charles Fremont, perhaps one of the most colorful characters in California’s rich and colorful history.

In the Beginning
The story begins in 1846, when American Council General Thomas Larkin, stationed in Monterey, California, a province of Mexico, was given $3,000 by Col. John C. Fremont, to acquire farm land for him. Fremont had in mind the fertile lands to the south or east of the San Francisco Bay area. But Larkin became aware of a Floating Agricultural Land Grant that was recently acquired by Juan Bautista Alvarado, departing governor of the Mexican state. Alvarado sold the 44,386 acre Grant to Fremont through Larkin for the $3,000. However since the Grant had no fixed location but only described as being east of the San Joaquin River, north of the Chowchilla River, south of the Merced River and west of the Sierra, Fremont at first was concerned about the purchase. Upon hearing of the discovery of gold in the foothills of the Sierra during January 1848, he perhaps having some knowledge of the existence of the mineral on the Grant, decided to follow the dictates of the Mexican Land Grant and begin perfecting the title to the property.

The Perfection of the Los Mariposas Land Grant
By 1849 Fremont came to the area of Mariposa and “floated” his grant into the gold region by setting the corners of his claim. In March of 1848, California had become property of the United States so Fremont began the process of not only developing his Grant but also the acquiring of legal title under American Law. The treaty with Mexico agreed that those Land Grants distributed by the Spanish and Mexican government over the past 200 years, be respected by the American Government. Fremont entered his claim as California Land Case #1. His position as a husband of Jessie who’s father was the Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, was not a handicap. In the meantime California became a state of the United States in September of 1850. Fremont was one of the two Federal Senators although his term was short.

The Gold Rush Begins
While waiting for clear title, Fremont began granting leases to mining property as well as for commercial and residential uses within the boundaries of his claim. Gold had been discovered in the Agua Fria and Mariposa Creeks by a group of Mexican miners sent to the area by Fremont. In the process of gathering and processing the gold containing quartz, the miners discovered the formation containing the gold which became the Mariposa Mine. The Mexicans finished their initial work and returned to Mexico. By 1850 Fremont had leased the lode claim to the San Francisco development and banking firm of Palmer, Cooke and Co.

The Company arrived in the Mariposa Valley with surveyors, engineers, carpenters, miners, cooks, hotel keepers and faro dealers. They laid out the town of Mariposa starting at Quartz (1st) Street running east and west, through 8th Street, having a right of way of 50 feet, and three north and south Streets with 60 foot easements, named Jessie (for his wife), Charles (for John Charles Fremont) (also Main St.), and Bullion St., (after his father-in-law). A fourth street was soon created named Jones St., for Benton’s brother-in-law William Carey Jones, a lawyer. With Thomas Hart Benton, Jones unsuccessfully defended Fremont in a Court Martial Trial. The basis of which was a conflict between two superior officers during the California war. Fremont had chosen to support the wrong officer, thus the Court Martial.

The Fremont Adobe
At the north-west corner of 5th Street and Charles Street, Fremont constructed an adobe building in 1850 for the purposes of providing office and living spaces for his and Palmer, Cooke and Companies agents. The “adobe” structure was the first building in a building “complex” that evolved over the years as dictated by need and funds.

Two brick structures were added to the front of the three story adobe structure. The original 1850 adobe east wall can be seen in the portal to the restrooms towards the back of the dining room/tavern area. At the back of the north half of the adobe, he later erected a three story section with sleeping rooms, a kitchen and storage area. The south half of the building became office space. Under each half of the building is a basement carved out of the rock and dirt, the walls of which are still solid more than 150 years after construction.

By 1856, the title to the Grant is presented to Fremont but the development by others on the Grant occupied Fremont legally in 1859 when all legal actions were completed. At that point, with his finances depleted, Fremont was ready to sell the Grant and no he longer needed the adobe building.

He sold the building to Victorio Ablies who held title until 1863 when jeweler Louis Feibush acquired the property. He operated a jewelry and clock shop for about one year when he sold the property to the Stahl Brothers. At first the new owners operated a bakery but soon added a Dry Goods store and thus began a long line of succession of owners and occupants down to the present Bett’s Gold Coin.

Succession and Fire
In 1856, Frank Williams built another building behind the Fremont Adobe and opened the Union Hotel. This building, owned by Frank Mello, was destroyed in the 1866 fire, according to the records. Another or perhaps a restored building was constructed providing rooms for the hotel. This addition was destroyed in the fire of 1949.

The great 1866 fire, which destroyed 63 structures in the Mariposa mining town, damaged the original adobe building. The owners of the building, the Stahl Brothers, rebuilt the damaged sections with fire proof brick, which is the primary support of the old adobe building today. By the 1880’s the Stahl Brothers leased the adobe to John Higman who operated a General Store for at least two years before he moved to 7th and Charles Streets. By 1888, Peter Gordon and his wife Margaret, acquired the adobe and operated the attached hotel and restaurant until 1898, thereafter leasing the business to Pat Stanton,

In 1909 John Trabucco, a Mariposa merchant, acquired the property from the Margaret Gordon Estate. It was held by the Trabucco family for three generations until being sold to Wilfred Von der Ahe in 1988. During the Trabucco ownership, George Bertkin operated a butcher shop from 1921 until 1937.

The Famous Wall Murals
During the period of ownership by Peter and Margaret Gordon, 1888 to 1898, the walls of the saloon were covered with paintings in oil. Cornelius J. (or Cornelious) Vejer painted a series of scenes which depict naval engagements. Other scenes, which are no longer exist, depicted mountains, valleys, waterfalls and big trees. A total of seven scenes were on the walls, four of which were destroyed either by fire or remodeling. It is said that the mountain scenes were selected because Peter Gordon could no longer visit the high country and these murals would remind him of earlier times.

Vejer also drew inspiration from paintings he had seen in museums in Washington D.C. Vejer would sign his work as ‘Con Vega’, although that name doesn’t appear on the remaining murals. The three painting left in the north half of the building are all that is left of a number paintings of his in this and other buildings in Mariposa. Vejer often was paid with meals and lodging. Over the years attempts to restore the paintings were made, the first in the late 1940’s when Gill Haney, a house painter and his daughter Barbara, undertook the effort. Other attempts at restoration included only one oil painter, Harold Gabrielson, who worked on the paintings in the early 1970’s. No further serious attempts has been made until artist, Marsha Crawford, “Yeshe“, repaired and restored the three remaining paintings as part of the building’s recent restoration by Helen Kwalwasser.

The establishment of the Gold Coin
Charles Greenamyer leased the building from John Trabucco and opened the Gold Coin Club in the south half of the building complex. The name for the club came from a Greenamyer family owned mine located west of Bagby. It is rumored that much of the capital used to establish the original Gold Coin Bar came from Gold Coin mine and is how the Bar got it’s name.

Greenamyer took Don Turner on as a partner in the business. The remodeling of the building was significant in that only the south half of the main building and the back three story portion, plus the added building in the back was involved. The exterior was stuccoed with the front door and window having cathedral arches installed and the ceiling coved and painted in the art deco style of the time. The hotel rooms in the back of the building complex were converted into a dining room with the downstairs, or basement rooms, becoming card rooms.

Early Gambling
Gambling became the popular attraction at the “Coin” during this period (when?). Card tables, slot machines and punch cards were all available. During that time partner, Don Turner was married to the daughter of Sheriff John Castagnetto. There was a casual attitude, throughout the Mother Lode, towards gambling. While the Gold Coin was the center of activity in Mariposa, punch cards and slot machines could be found at the Bear Creek Lodge in Midpines, the Jeffrey Hotel in Coulterville and even punch cards were available at the Mariposa Drug Co.

It was only after WWII that the State of California insisted on the end of gambling and after the death of Sheriff Castagnetto the new Sheriff, O.M. Whitley, instituted local program to end machine and punch card gambling in Mariposa County. Card games continued at the Gold Coin until the early 1960’s. Whitley was a well liked and respected Sheriff who gently but resolutely moved the slots machines to the County dump.

Eighteen year old Ed “Baggy” Greenamyer was a card dealer. He recalled the various local gentlemen who frequented the tables. After gambling was shut down, the same gentlemen continued their habits at private homes throughout town. Many of them were town leaders, merchants and ranchers.

The Gold Coin Dining Tradition
The old dinning room of the Gold Coin was noted for it’s steak dinners. There was a private entrance to the dinning room so families would not have to pass through the bar. The bar, however, could be noisy and fun, even during the later years of the Depression. The Gold Coin Café was added to the original building around 1949 and was a favorite local eating place until the building was closed down in the late 1980s. The Gold Café also served meals to the “temporary” residents of the old Mariposa Jail just up the hill for many years. Many old timers remember the jailer marching the prisoners down the hill for their meals at the Café.

The End of the Depression and World War II
Business of all forms was very quiet during WWII. The patrons of the local bars were mostly old miners, loggers and workers from Yosemite. Most tourist travel ceased, and while the Park did not close, most facilities were shuttered. Caretakers watched over various locations and the Ahwahnee Hotel became a convalescent hospital for the Navy. The ending of the war brought the visiting public back to Mariposa, reviving local business. The returning servicemen and their young families brought a new energy to Mariposa. Saturday night was especially lively with dances at Bootjack, Hornitos, Acorn Inn, at the Liberty Hall in Mariposa, Timber Lodge and various community centers around the county. The young men worked in the re-opening sawmills, some mining, on the roads under construction, and Yosemite.

The Coin Becomes the Town’s Entertainment “Hot Spot”
Saturday night was the time to unwind and continue to celebrate having survived the war and working hard all week. The American Legion, VFW in Mariposa, the IOOF in Coulterville, and the Order of the Golden Stag provided outlets for exuberance. Young men and their girls danced the night away while the kids slept on the benches lining the hall.

When the dances were over, the participants retired to the Gold Coin for a night cap. In those days the Mariposa County Fair closed at 11:30 P.M. and everybody headed up town, the Gold Coin becoming packed with people. The natural result was often a bit of pushing and shoving with an occasional right knuckle. George Hanlin particularly would like to close on time at 2:00 A.M. and would put his heft behind the crowd, spilling participants out front on the sidewalk. Skinny cowboys were at a disadvantage and I was always grateful for mothers rich cooking.

The theater in downtown Mariposa showed two movies on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon. We kept the Drug Store open for the Soda Fountain. The weekend routine was that the wives attended the lodge in the evening, while the kids were at the show, and dad had a couple of beers at the Gold Coin, 49’er Bar or Capital Café. The Gold Coin always seemed the loudest and busiest establishment. During the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, motorcycle clubs from the Valley would be part of the mix with the locals at the bars. The most outstanding was the Bar Hoppers from the Merced-Atwater area.

Busy Streets in the “Old Town”
Parking downtown was diagonal for some years and until there was enough money to buy a post war car, parked along the streets were Model “A”’s, Chevy’s, Plymouth’s, Hudson’s, all sorts of pickups and an occasional exotic prewar car like an Auburn, Cord or Hupmobile. Many of the men from the mines had Model “A” coupes with the lid from the rumble seat replaced by a wooden pickup box. It was not unusual to see a dead rattlesnake or bear in the back of the car. When an unusually interesting specimen was collared, the boys would head to town to celebrate their prize and have a toast to their good luck. Celebrations of the sort would always draw a crowd since the proud gentleman often had a gold nugget to buy a round or two.

Probably the most active and well known owner of the Gold Coin for many years was George Hamlin. He was a very large man with a bit of an attitude from many years of hard work in construction. George was big enough to be his own bouncer. His ownership in the Gold Coin was through his father-in-law, Bill Darnell. Bill purchased the Gold Coin after the fire in 1949, and then added a restaurant on the south side of the building called the Gold Coin Café. Noted for their big and greasy hamburgers, the restaurant offered three meals a day and was operated by various ladies of the community who are still fondly remembered today.

For many years the half of the building which contain the paintings were not part of the Gold Coin Club. During the 1930’s, Dan Kidder, a mining man, opened an assay office and sold Ingersol Rand mining equipment in that half of the building. The assay office closed about 1948 when the current owner, Elijah Phillips (whose daughter is Joan Phillips Radanovich) ceased operation and returned to Arizona. Sometime in the 1950’s a pool hall connected with the owners of the Gold Coin, was opened in that half of the building with the separating wall being completely removed (along with the two other paintings) about 1967.

A fire in 1949, thought to be linked to a defective furnace, destroyed the old dining room located in the old Union Hotel behind the Gold Coin on 5th Street and gutted the Bar space in the front. George Hanlin added the Gold Coin Café after the fire when he and father in law Bill Darnell bought the business. The Gold Coin Café was in a space covering the walkway on the south side of the building. It was well known for the best hamburgers and for the steak dinners grilled in the café and served in the bar.

A Pattern of “Connection”
The Fremont Adobe building complex has passed through many owners since Fremont. The Gold Coin Bar business has also passed through the hands of many owners since it was founded by Charles Greenamyer and Don Turner, including J.P. and Ruth Ellis, Mr. & Mrs. Maxwell, Tom Elliott and Whitey Thorsted, John and George Combs, George Hanlin and Bill Darnell. The bar closed in 1989 while under the ownership of William Brandhurst and has remained so until the opening of Bett’s Gold Coin Sports Tavern.

Current restoration of the building carried out (and financed) by Helen Kwalwasser, owner of the Triangle Market in Mariposa. She purchased the building from the Von der Ahe estate and began the process. The restoration of this most historic building has been a labor of love and along with Linda Halvorson, owner of the Bett”s Gold Coin Sports Tavern will contribute to the preservation of Mariposa’s oldest building.


On opening night, Friday, August 5, 2011, Bett’s Gold Coin was “Piped In” by Richard and Gwendolyn (pictured above) Foster of Bootjack, California.
Building owner/restorer Helen Kwalwasser (left) and Betts Gold Coin business owner Linda Halvorson (right) in front of one of the three restored Cornelius J Vehaer (Con Vega) 1888-1898 wall murals.

Linda Halverson has been involved in food service in Mariposa since the 1970s. The General Manager of the Coin, John Saucedo, has a long association with food service and entertainment in Mariposa County. Most recently he was the food and beverage manager of Chukchansi Hotel and Casino in Coarsegold. John is well known as the son of Cruz and Willhamina Saucedo who operated the popular Cruz and Willies Restaurant in Bootjack a number of years ago.

Helen & Leroy

The reopening of the Gold Coin and restoration of the Fremont Adobe, brings closure to the restoration/revitalization to the core of downtown Mariposa. After a number of years of having this historic building sit vacant at the heart of the community, it is expected that it’s re-establishment will mark the end of the “Great Recession” in Mariposa like it’s original opening in 1930s marked the end of the Great Depression.

For more years than I have been alive, downtown Mariposa was the center of commercial activity and entertainment for our County. While many commercial areas have grown up around downtown Mariposa over the years, the core of the historic past of our community between Eighth and Fourth Streets along Charles Street (Hwy 140) has survived because of the interest and investment of the business families and operators. There should be obvious pride in our historic center which more than ever is attracting visitors from all over the world.

I hardly think that the new customers of the Bett’s Gold Coin Sports Tavern will be very much like the old crowd that has passed on leaving me behind. Mariposa residents do not even know these boys and girls that were part of my growing up in our little historic gold mining village but they were hard working and reliant friends. I fully expect a new cast of characters to enter the Gold Coin and absorb probably an unknown aura left behind. Be gentle my friends, George Hanlin, and other spirits of this building and business, may be lurking somewhere. They are surely awake now and enjoying the new life that this “reawakened” business and restored building, have brought to our “old town”. ________________________________________






Thank YOU:
On behalf of myself, my good friend and the Fremont Adobe building owner and restorer, Helen Kwalwasser, the cadre of craftsmen, engineers, technicians and artisans who have made all this possible, thank you. Thank you for joining us at Betts Gold Coin Sports Tavern and becoming part of our family of friends and supporters of this monumental effort.

The staff of Bett’s Gold Coin have enjoyed the opportunity to serve you and hope that your visit has been memorable. Our August 5, 2011 Opening was just the beginning. Over time it is our plan to constantly improve our service, add new menu items and refreshment specials. It is our desire to make the Coin one of the brightest spots in your memories of Mariposa and your Mother Lode/Yosemite experience.

We appreciate your signing our Guest Book and your comments and suggestions will be carefully reviewed. You can maintain contact with us through our Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Betts-Gold-Coin-Sports-Tavern/187451364654278?ref=hnav ) and our Web site (http://www.bettsgoldcoin.com). You can contact us for special events (weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and we will be happy to work with you to create that special moment for your group.

Linda Halvorson, Owner


Bett’s Gold Coin Sports Bar
Historic Downtown Mariposa, California