Everyone agrees the town was named after Zachary Taylor, "Old Rough and Ready," the Mexican War hero who became president in 1849. But there are two versions of how Rough and Ready became, briefly, its own republic.

The prosaic version is that the local populace was angered by a federal mining tax and by the fact Rough-and-Readyians weren't invited to the formation of the state Legislature. But the more popular version is this:

One day a stranger strolled into the area and offered to buy the claim of a miner named Joe Swiegart. But the stranger wanted to "test" the claim. If he could take out $200 or more in gold in one day's digging, he'd buy it for a lot of money. If he dug out less than that, he'd keep what he dug and the deal was off.

Knowing the claim was a rich one, Swiegart agreed and had a contract drawn up. And the stranger began to dig. But when he reached about $180 worth of gold, he decided that was enough, quit digging and started to leave with his find.

Swiegart and his buddies demurred, and offered to make the stranger taller, using a rope and a tree. But cooler heads pointed out that under U.S. laws, the stranger was within his rights.

So still cooler heads came up with another idea: Secede from the Union and form their own laws. On April 7, 1850, Rough and Ready left the United States. Then they took the gold back from the stranger and invited him to vamoose.

As the Fourth of July drew near, however, the locals decided they missed their country. So they voted overwhelmingly to rejoin the Union in time for the festivities. It was a holiday, after all, and who wanted to wait until the next April 7 to celebrate Independence Day?