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Description
The Natomas News was the official publication of Natomas Consolidated of California and published monthly by the same company. The issues for December, 1911 and May, 1912 feature articles on flood-control, rock-crushing, crop irrigation and levee-building as well as gold-dredging and olives. Frank W. Griffin served as President with W.P. Hammon, instrumental in forming the Natoma Development Company in 1906, as first Vice-President. Offices for the company in Sacramento were located in the Forum Building and serving as secretary was P.C. Knapp. No editor is credited for Natomas News, which features a map of California on the front cover and a map of Natomas properties on the back cover. Nicely reproduced photographs fill the insides pages along with articles promoting development of the Sacramento Valley. Natomas is a Native-American word used by the Maidu in the Sacramento Valley meaning “north place” or “upstream people” adapted by the company to reference the heritage and location of their business.
The Natoma Water & Mining Company under the guidance of A.P. Catlin incorporated in mid-1853 to provide water for mining through a series of canals diverting flow from the North Fork of the American River. The Livermore family took over the company during the Civil War and began the acquisition of property and involvement in projects ranging from the construction of Folsom Prison to the first Folsom Dam and the development of a 2,000 acre vineyard and corresponding winery that established Natoma Water & Mining Company as a major power. The company reincorporated and focused their energies first on hydro-electric power and the Folsom Powerhouse and then shifted to gold dredging and development. The Natoma Development Company was incorporated in 1906 and became Natomas Consolidated of California in January of 1909 with a merger of most of the dredging companies involved. The land Mather Air Field was constructed on was leased from the Natomas Company, which sold much of its land holdings in 1950 and ceased operation of the last operating dredge in 1962. The American River Parkway and the community of Gold River were later projects the Natomas Company had a part in, but by 1984 the organization had been absorbed by a large corporation and was no longer in existence.
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