Ezra Hamilton Ezra M . Hamilton ( 1833 – 1914 ) was a pioneer known for his role in the development of Antelope Valley , California . In 1896 he discovered gold in Rosamond , California and began a successful mining operation that spurred growth in the area . He founded and developed the nearby town of Willow Springs . He was also an inventor , farmer , mason and businessman , served on the Los Angeles Common Council , volunteered in the Rogue River Wars and served two years in the Union Army . Personal . Hamilton was born in 1833 in Brown County , Illinois , spent his boyhood there and " worked a short time on a riverboat before heading west to seek his fortune " in 1853 . On his journey West he fell in love with a young woman , but they were prevented from marrying by Ezra ' s stubborn desire to first make his fortune prospecting in California . [ In the book he wrote about his adventures , he ] never reveals her identity , but his life is shaped by their relationship . . . . after seven years his lady friend married another . He returned to Minnesota after the American Civil War and there he found another woman , Sarah Landson , and they were married in 1861 ; they lived in the Minneapolis , area . Sarah and their son died in 1867 . Hamilton married again , to Harriet Moffett , and they had four sons , Fred , Truman , Eugene and Lester . While residing in Los Angeles , they lived at 310 Avenue 23 in today ' s Lincoln Heights district , East Los Angeles , in a house he built on first arriving . He was a commander of the Kenesaw post of the Grand Army of the Republic . Hamilton died in Willow Springs , California , on July 4 , 1914 , the tenth anniversary of his marriage to Harriet , and he was buried in Evergreen Cemetery , Los Angeles . FHe left his widow and three sons , Fred of Willow Springs , Lester of Avenue 23 and Trumon of Rosamond . Vocation . Military . Hamilton served for two years in the First Minnesota Regiment of the Union Army during the Civil War . Inventions . After the war , Hamilton worked in carpentry and farming , which led to his first patent for a peat - pressing machine in 1867 . Brick making . In Los Angeles Hamilton began manufacturing pottery , clay pipe , tile and bricks . For the clay needed to make his products , he purchased a hill near Rosamond , California , which is where he later made a gold strike . About 1884 Hamilton ' s brick yard switched from using wood to petroleum oil for the firing of the bricks , thereby reducing his cost from $ 3 to $ 1 per thousand . Mining . In October 1897 Hamillton was just a " poor old soldier receiving a pension of six dollars a month " when he filed a 300 - by - 500 - yard mineral claim in the Antelope Valley , California , ninety - six miles north of Los Angeles , five miles west of Roseland and three miles east of Willow Springs . In March 1899 he was transformed into a wealthy man by his discovery of a rich vein of gold ore : He took $ 30 , 000 worth of ore from it , and although the Lida Mine , as he called it , was " well worth a million dollars " he sold it for $ 100 , 000 in December 1900 ] . He retained an adjacent mine , which he named Fay . He told a newspaper reporter : " Three more days of prospecting would have finished me . I was worn out physically , financially and mentally , which I made the big find , but then , the gold cure is a good one , and now I feel young again . " Hamilton was sued by Helen Frick , who claimed she had been a partner in the claim but that he had misled her as to the mine ' s worth and bought her share for only $ 500 . She asked that the sale be set aside as fraudulent and that Hamilton account to her for all the profits . It was said that Helen Frick ' s name was used instead of that of her husband , who had bought out Hamilton ' s original partner , " a man named Gray . " Hamilton nevertheless retained ownership of mining property in the area until : After an ill - fated stock promotion attempt in 1907 by the Tiger Head Mining Company , the Antelope Mining Company acquired most of the claims in 1908 , selling them to the Tropico Mining and Milling Company in 1909 . The Tropico Company was so named because several stockholders were from Tropico , California ( located near Forest Lawn Memorial Park ) . V . V . Cochran was president of this company , which consolidated and patented many of the mines . Politics . Partisan affiliation . Hamilton was elected president of the Los Angeles County Greenback Party at a convention in September 1882 . Principles of the county platform included " the abolishment of the present system of National Banks , " establishment of a legal tender that should be issued " directly to the people without the intervention of any system of banking corporations , " government ownership of " all main lines of railroad and telegraph , " opposition to " Chinese coolie immigration , " in favor of women ' s suffrage and of direct election of the President and other officers . By October 1884 Hamilton was active in the People ' s Party , being the chairman of a rally at which the party candidates spoke . Newspaper editor and author Horace Bell was the featured speaker . In November 1892 he was the unsuccessful People ' s Party candidate for county supervisor in the 5th District . James Hanley was the winner . Common Council . He was elected as an independent ( no party affiliation ) to represent the 1st Ward on the Los Angeles Common Council for a one - year term beginning December 1878 and was elected again for two one - year terms beginning in 1883 and 1884 . " He claims the distinction of fathering the movement to increase the local saloon license from $ 5 to $ 50 a month , and also of compelling the Council to rescind an action taken whereby newspaper reporters were excluded from weekly meetings . " Manuscript . Hamilton compiled an 842 - page biographical manuscript during the last years of his life . It was passed down to his son Fred , whose widow donated it to the California State Library in 1920 . It begins with several second - hand accounts of major events that occurred around the time of Hamilton ' s birth . He describes the famous Leonid meteor storm of 1833 and the winter of 1830 - 1831 , known as the Winter of the Deep Snow . Legacy . Hamilton used the initial proceeds from his gold mine to buy a 160 - acre parcel of land three miles to the west . The area was an oasis in Antelope Valley and had been used by Indians and travelers passing through the Mojave Desert . He spent several years developing Willow Springs into a resort town , and many of the stone buildings he constructed are still standing . References and notes . Access to the " Los Angeles Times " links may require the use of a library card . < br >