Historic paddlewheel

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I took these photos along the south fork of the the American River (now part of Folsom Lake) in May 2014 when we drove out to the Salmon Falls bridge to watch the Amgen Tour of California.  At the time I had no idea what the structure was used for, but apparently it was a fish and debris screen forming part of the Natoma Water Company’s diversion dam, constructed in the 1850s.  To learn more about the historic Natomas Ditch Canal and Dam and to see additional images of the area, please see the excellent blog post entitled American River Salmon Falls bridge to bridge hike, written by Kevin Knauss.

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