Kelly... MOTHER LODE…The Story of California’s Gold Rush by Louis J. Stellman written 1934. Knight's Ferry & William Knight "But Captain Weber of Tulesburgh was willing to take a chance. He believed the specimens exhibited by the prospector were gold. He staked his last dollar on the conviction, for he organized an outfitted an expedition to explore the unknown wilds of Stanislaus, as the region contiguous to that river was called. As a result, the sites of many important Mother Lode camps were located. One of these was Knight's Ferry, on the Stanislaus River. The stream itself was named for Estanislao, chief of the Wallas Indian tribe. William Knight, one of Weber's company of trapper-explorers, settled on the Stanislaus River, and, after the gold-seekers thronged that region, built a crude barge which he used as a ferry. The river, though only 150 feet wide at this point, was dangerous to ford. The crossing on Knight's barge was made in about one minute and the fare was $2-so it proved a profitable investment. Rich placers thereabouts attracted gold-seekers and Knight's Ferry became a populous camp. There were many tough "hombres." They shot up the taverns and ran wild until Knight's Ferry better citizens got together and built one of the strongest jails on the Mother Lode. After that there was better order. In the early fifties Knight's Ferry became Dentville for a time. Louis and John Dent surveyed the camp and renamed it, though it afterward reverted back to its orginal name. Six stages used to stop at Knight's Ferry daily and the stage company paid $200 a month for the use of the stables there." Jackie in California [email protected]