HotelLeger.com
Title
Welcome to the Historic Hotel Leger in Mokelumne Hill California!
Description
It took awhile for people to agree on how to spell the name. Mokelumni? Muquelumes? Mokelemy? In 1848, the government explorer, John C. Fremont, picked Mokelumne and his choice made the cut.
More than 150 years later people are still stumbling over the pronunciation. Mo kuh lo me. (Is there any wonder many just say Mok?) The word means people of the Mokel, a tribe believed to have lived in the area for nearly 1000 years.
The peaceful tribe of Northern Sierra Miwoks thrived unnoticed until 1817 when a foraging band of Spanish soldiers came through. Father Narisco Duran of Mission San Jose, searching for fresh converts to augment his dwindling workforce, recorded the Indians as Muquelmnes. Indians allowed to remain on their ancestral lands saw life change before their eyes. French trappers were the next arrivals, fanning out along the Mokelumne River in search of beavers. Many historians believe they found gold as well—and hid it on French Hill.
