Old Man of The Mountains

The Story of Peter Voiss, California’s Most Notorious, Eccentric Gold Prospector of the 20th Century Published July, 2008 By Brookelea Heintz Lutton The author shares a piece of California’s rich Gold Country history with the public. For the first time she shares the contents of an old black purse her father found in a mine nearly 60 years ago in Jenny Lind, CA. Tucked inside the purse were Voiss’ stories about his life in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, along with pictures and other snippits of his life. The old prospector traveled California’s highways and byways with his burros throughout the Mother Lode and into the Bay Area. On his way to Oakland/Alameda, San Francisco and San Jose to peddle his pictures, Voiss traveled through Gilroy, Hollister, Santa Cruz and Vallejo. He could also be seen in Marysville, Grass Valley/Nevada City, Merced, Mariposa and Turlock. Dr. Walter Durfee, an Auburn optometrist, befriended the old guy and his burros and supported him through the most trying of times. Voiss’ idyllic life changed when tragedy struck a young San Jose man in 1936. The “trial of the decade” followed, putting this Bay Area city on the map ending with a verdict that stunned the nation.

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