Major McGlaughlin was a prosperous businessman and built the beautiful house on Beach Hill he called Golden Gate Villa. His circle of friends were politicians, wealthy families and the upper class of Santa Cruz. He crafted a scheme to divert the water of the Feather River to get at the gold nuggets he believed were there and raised the money from investors to engineer the solution using dams and flumes. The endeavor was a failure and no gold was found leaving his reputation in ruins. He sunk into depression over this disaster, compounded by his wife-s death. He shot his daughter and committed suicide in the house forever casting a shadow on the property.