One of the original 27 counties of California, Mariposa County, located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada and containing more than 900,000 acres, once covered one-fifth of the state and was considered the "Mother of California Counties." First inhabited by several Native American tribes, the land that became Mariposa County saw a flood of miners and other white settlers to the area with the discovery of gold in 1849. The county produced not only $48 million in gold, but also millions in copper, lead, zinc, and chromite, among other minerals. Now home to more than 20,000 residents, as...