Lotta Crabtree

During the time the famous dancer Lola Montez was living in Grass Valley, the only woman who was friendly to her was the proprietor of a local boarding house named Mary Ann Crabtree. Mary Ann ran the business while her husband John was out searching for the gold strike he never found.  Mary Ann dreamed of gold too, not from the creek beds but in her red-haired daughter, who was then an impish seven-year-old.  Her name was Charlotte but they called her Lotta.  She was a pretty child with bl