These eggs have been scrambled with oysters, bacon, and onions, resulting in a dish called Hangtown Fry. There are competing stories of its origin.
One story, promoted by Placerville, tells of a miner who discovered a rich vein of gold in the mid 1850s. Flush with his new wealth, he came into town and demanded a meal made of the most expensive ingredients he could imagine. At the time Placerville was called “Hangtown,” and so the dish became known as Hangtown Fry.
There is another story, though.
That one tells of a man condemned to hang. Desperate to delay his final event, he requested oysters, bacon, onions, and eggs for his last meal. He thought it would take a long time to come up with those ingredients, especially the oysters.
It’s too bad for the macho reputation of the dish and for the rambunctious, gold-mining image Placerville promotes, that one restaurant serving Hangtown Fry today is called … Buttercup Pantry.