El Dorado El Dorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden one"), originally "El Hombre Dorado" ("The Golden Man") or "El Rey Dorado" ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish Empire to describe a mythical tribal chief ("zipa") of the Muisca native people in then Spanish colonial province of Colombia, who, as an initiation rite, covered himself with gold dust and submerged in Lake Guatavita. The legends surrounding El Dorado changed over time, as it went from being a man, to a city, to a kingdom, and then finally to an empire. A second location for El Dorado
El Dorado County, California through El Dorado County until its replacement with the telegraph service in 1861; U.S. Highway 50 follows the Pony Express route today. The "Placerville Mountain Democrat", California's oldest surviving newspaper, serves El Dorado County. The El Dorado County Sheriff provides court protection, county jail administration, and coroner service for all of the county and provides patrol and detective services for the unincorporated areas of the county. Placerville, population 11,000, has a municipal police department, as does South Lake Tahoe, population 22,000. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and