Ledger-Dispatch

By Scott Thomas Anderson (sanderson@ledger-dispatch.c= om)=20

The Amador Hotel, formerly the Ben = White Hotel,=20 was built by Bartolomeo Bianchetti in 1879. The mining camp was=20 experiencing a housing shortage, and like may hotels in the Mother = Lode,=20 the Ben White Hotel took in permanent boarders.

Photo by: Courtesy to the Ledger=20 Dispatch
Carolyn Fregulia lives on a = sprawling=20 ranch outside of Jackson cradled in a nook between the high, yellow = hills. For=20 five generations her family has worked the land - farming, ranching, = tending to=20 olive groves. Their story is in many ways typical of the Italian = immigrant=20 experience which left its mark on the Mother Lode and helped form the = county of=20 Amador. On Jan. 28, Fregulia's book "Italians of the Gold Country" will = be=20 released on by the highly successful Arcadia Publishing house, offering = a visual=20 and written history of a time when Amador was thriving with diversity.=20

Fregulia, whose cattle ranch off Clinton Road is still = operational, has=20 spent the last 20 years researching the Italian families who came to the = foothills during the Gold Rush, many of whom poured in from Italy's = northern=20 Provence. "Learning about what happened with the Italians who came here = was a=20 big part of my own family history," said Fregulia. "Investigating it was = something I worked on for a long time. By the time the opportunity came = up to=20 write a book for Arcadia, it didn't take long because the knowledge was = already=20 at my fingertips."

Fregulia's book is loaded with more than 200 = vintage=20 images, some of which have never been seen before by the public or other = local=20 historians. The book also highlights the stories of local families and = names=20 that have been prominent in the community over several generations. =

For=20 Fregulia, the contributions made by Italians who staked their future on = Amador=20 is a piece of history that's in danger of being forgotten. "I think the = older=20 people who live here have an idea about the contributions Italians = made," she=20 said. "But with expansion and development and a changing face of the = community,=20 I think many of the younger people do not know what an impact the = Italian=20 culture had on this area for a century and a half."

One example = Fregulia=20 cites is that in the 1880s almost every merchant known in Jackson was = Italian.=20 After the Gold Rush died off, Italians, along with Eastern Europeans and = people=20 from England's Cornish coast, continued to immigrate to Amador to work = in the=20 large mining operations, such as the Kennedy Mine and Argonaut Mine in = Jackson,=20 and the Eureka Mine in Sutter Creek. During the Argonaut Mine disaster = in 1922,=20 dozens of the victims who lost their lives where Italian (most of whom = are=20 buried together in Jackson's Catholic Cemetery). Fregulia explained that = the=20 influx of Italians continued right up until 1942, when the mines were = closed due=20 to World War II.

"Italians of the Gold Country" will be sale by = late=20 January at Hein & Co. Book Store on Main Street, Jackson. Fregulia = is=20 planning a book signing and release party, though a date has not yet = been set.=20 Interested readers can also purchase "Italians of the Gold Country" = directly=20 from Fregulia by calling her at 223-0443.

'Italians = of the=20 Gold Country'

Available at area bookstores, independent = retailers,=20 online bookstores or through Arcadia Publishing at = www.arcadiapublishing.com or=20 (888) 313-2665. $19.99, Arcadia Publishing.

Scott Thomas = Anderson