Tuolumne County history begins here. Early in 1848 a party of Philadelphia prospectors under the leadership of James Woods discovered gold five hundred feet south east of this marker, where the old road crosses the creek now bearing Woods' name. James Savage, J. H. Rider, and Charles Bassett, the latter prominent in the early history of Columbia, were members of the party. This marker is located directly on the famous Mother Lode, the greatest gold-bearing vein in the world.

Erected by Tuolumne Co. Chamber of Commerce