As said in Wells and Chambers' History of Butte County: "Stages ran from Oroville to a great many mining camps. The streets of Oroville looked like those of a great city. The thoroughfares were crowded with people passing to and fro, and by heavily laden wagons and pack animals....Every other door opened into a saloon or a gambling house. The amount of business transacted by merchants and hotel men was enormous. Vast quantities of gold dust were taken out every week within a mile of the town, irrespective of the stream of wealth that poured in continually from other quarters. Those were "flush times" in Oroville."

The bill providing for the incorporation of the town was passed by the legislature in 185, and signed by General Bigler on March 14, 1857. However, the mines began to wane soon after incorporation, and on February 18,1859, the bill disincorporating Oroville was approved.