Adobe Gold Rush Oven

[james]

Here are a few photos of the wood-fired oven replica they have built at Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. For those of you not familiar with California history, Sutter built the fort in 1839, and was doing pretty well as a merchant, producing grain, cattle, sheep, furs, candles, etc., when he discovered gold in the foothills while building a lumber mill. The bad news is that he lost everything when all of his workers left to look for gold.

The fort has been restored by the state park system, and is a fun spot of kids -- fourth grader's study California history and the gold rush, so the trip was perfect for us. There is also the state Capital (we saw the governator's office) and the railway museum.

The oven was built about six years ago. It sounds like the don't use very good mortar, so it falls apart every 5-6 years and they build a new one. The fort has lots of demonstration and use the oven often; they also fired one of their cannons. Very cool.

The oven itself is very rustic. It's a barrel vault, and it doesn't have a vent, though it does have a little air hole hole in the back.

James