USA > California > Lassen County > Fairfield's pioneer history of Lassen County, California to 1870 > Part 40
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47
[ 421 ]
HISTORY OF LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
back with another crowd. Colonel Lewis and "Dad" Wyatt were in this party, and Thompson, Alberding, Jenison, and some of the first party who had wintered here, went with them to Black Rock. They had no better success this year and in the fall the most of the party went below. T. and W. say that Hardin came again the next year, and a relative of Hardin's told the writer that he came into this country three times in search of the mine. If he came in 1860 it must have been late in the fall, for it will be remembered that in the spring of 1860 there were seventy or eighty men prospecting in the Black Rock country when the Piute war broke out. Thompson was there, but no mention is made of Hardin. Alvaro Evans is positive that Hardin was at Black Rock in the summer of 1866.
Of course the Never Sweats took an active part in what was going on. In 1858 most of the men in Honey Lake had done more or less mining and some of them were still engaged in it, and the report that there were tons of silver at Black Rock started many of them in that direction. Some of them may have gone out with Hardin's party in 1858; but whether they did or not, they headed that way early in 1859. Captain Weath- erlow and his party went out there about the middle of April, and Lassen's party soon followed. In 1859 Hardin and some of his party and some Honey Lakers recorded the location of a ledge at Black Rock. From the time of Hardin's first visit in 1858 until the district was abandoned there was more or less excitement in Honey Lake in regard to these mines. Thompson, Jenison, Ladue Vary, Leroy Arnold, and other Honey Lakers, prospected there more or less for six or eight years, and some of them kept it up until all hope was gone. From 1860 until 1866 very few came from the lower country to prospect at Black Rock. In 1862 the excitement flamed a little higher than usual, but it died away and the next three years matters in that locality went on as before.
Some time during the first part of January, 1866, a man who is said to have been a Honey Laker discovered a ledge that he and the other prospectors there at the time thought was the Hardin ledge, so long sought for in vain. The news of the discovery sprcad like wildfire in every direction, and men from western Nevada and northern California lost no time in getting there, all anxious to find another rich ledge or to get a part of
[ 422 ]
THE YEAR 1867
those already found. The most of the travel from California to the mines passed through Susanville which by the road was about 125 miles from Black Rock. The Noble Road, at that time called the "Emigrant Road" to the Humboldt, was followed to the original Granite Creek station. From there the road turned north for a ways and then went east across the desert to the western side of the Black Rock range, about fourteen miles from its southern end.
Considerable of this story can best be. told by quotations from the newspapers of that time. "The Humboldt Register" of January 13, 1866, has the following :
"A MOVEMENT ON BLACK ROCK. THE HARDIN LEDGE FOUND
"During the past week we have conversed with parties who have been up in the Black Rock region and who report the discovery of the Hardin ledge for which so diligent a search has been made for the past four or five years. Also the ledge near there which other parties found about the same time, but could not again find on going back. Judge Harvey of Susanville saw this latter ledge and thinks it rich; but does not know. Some assays from it show a value of $130 to $200 a ton in silver. The ledge crops a width of about one hundred feet, but Harvey thinks it is broken over and is about fifty feet wide in the per- pendicular. A great deal of talk is indulged in here and parties are going out soon to prospect. Several men in this county have been out repeatedly in search for the lost ledge, and they will not be content without a look, even if they don't get a foot." (The other ledge referred to must have been the one discovered by John Foreman and two others in 1852. It was on the moun- tain across the desert west of Black Rock and was the same kind of ore as that found by Hardin. Mrs. Strobridge says that when Foreman went back there in 1859 he could not find the ledge.)
Later on ledges were discovered that were two hundred feet wide and could be traced for miles. Fred A. Borrette says the first milling test of the Black Rock ore was made at Dall's mill at Franktown in the Washoe valley. A. B. Jenison hauled five hundred pounds there and had it crushed, and it paid at the rate of $306 per ton. I. N. Jones says there were two Thacker Boys at Black Rock, John and James. The latter told him that
[ 423 ]
HISTORY OF LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
he was the first man to haul any ore away from there. He loaded an ox team and at first went out on the Humboldt. They would not crush the ore there and he went on down into the neighborhood of Virginia City. "In Miners' Mirage-Land" says that one of the Thacker Boys took several tons of the ore to Unionville where it was worked at the John C. Fall mill. Noth- ing was obtained from the rock and the mill was blamed for it. The same book says that they were not satisfied with this and another man named Giddings took about a thousand pounds of the ore to Dall's mill. Hiskey, the foreman, who was a good judge of ore, told him his rock was worthless and laughed at him for bringing it so far to be worked. He refused to work it say- ing that it would be robbery to do so. Giddings hung on and insisted that they should work it. At last, to satisfy him, Hiskey agreed to do it, but told him that if they got anything out of the rock, he would not charge him a cent for working it. The rock was worked and brought great returns and the mill man kept his word.
"The Red Bluff Independent" prints a letter to T. M. Boar- man from Honey Lake valley, dated February 7, 1866. It says that the Black Rock country is alive with people. Some speci- mens of the rock have been taken to the mills at Humboldt and produced $2700 a ton. An expedition, among whom was B. Neel, went out from Red Bluff several years ago, but didn't find any- thing. Other parties have hunted since then, but have found nothing until about four weeks ago. "The Sage Brush" de- scribes the ledge as being fabulously rich, equal to the Poorman ledge at Owyhee. February 19th Tunison says "Great excite- ment about Black Rock nowadays." Judge Harvey, E. D. Bowman, Lawrence Bass, Major Smith, and others, had the rock assayed and milled at different places with varying results, and of course the old prospectors made tests for themselves. They hired a man named Isenbeck by the month to stay at Black Rock and make assays of the ores. He was supposed to be a good assayer and mill man and he got from good to great values out of nearly all the samples brought to him. After a while some of the boys began to say that he could find silver in a piece of grindstone.
The "Register" of March 17, 1866, says "Johnny Thacker is on his way from Black Rock with about six tons of ore for
[ 424 ]
THE YEAR 1867
Torrey's mill. He expects it to work up into the hundreds, and, as is his habit, offers to back up his judgment. The working will prove Black Rock as to quality anyhow." On the 24th, probably referring to the same load of ore, it says: "A portion of Harvey's rock from the Black Rock mines has been worked- enough to show that the ledges contain gold and silver, but not enough to indicate the value of the ores. Isenbeck, who came through with Harvey, and undoubtedly an excellent assayer and experienced mill man, was permitted by Mr. Torrey, by request of Harvey, to superintend the working of this rock, on account of its peculiar character. After running three tons through the pans, it was agreed that a different process was necessary in amalgamating. The chlorides floated too easily to be caught by the quicksilver. Accordingly the tailings and the pulp of the other three tons of ore were run into a large vat, to evaporate some of the superfluous moisture from it. Together with hun- dreds of others we look with much interest for the result of a satisfactory working of this rock. Judge Harvey showed us before leaving for home, a little bar from the ore worked. It weighed 11.40 ounces, and showed by assay .806 fine in silver- $11.87, and .022 fine in gold-$5.18, total value $17.05. A con- siderable quantity of gold was panned afterwards from the battery, which if worked would have largely increased the value of the bullion. Torrey and Isenbeck are confident that by experimenting a process can be worked out, by which this char- acter of ores can be made to give up almost entirely what gold and silver they contain.
"Jo Voshay has gone to work on his claim about twenty miles north of Black Rock. Black Rock is all the go now. Thursday forenoon a snowstorm was on, which turned about meridian to rain; but it did not deter a number of prospectors from setting out for the new Dorado. When you see a man sitting in front of a roll of blankets and a frying pan, and behind a Henry rifle, you need not ask him where he is going- he is 'going to Black Rock or burst.' Great excitement is re- ported in Petaluma on account of the discovery of large ledges of silver near the boundary line between Lassen county and Nevada."
On the 31st it says "A portion of the party that went out last week to prospect in that region has returned. Those we
[ 425 ]
HISTORY OF LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
have spoken with have no faith in the reputed richness of the ore there found. They describe the ledges as monstrous in width, and cropping from three to ten miles on the surface. If they are good silver ore, the boys say it is heaviest deposit of it ever yet found in the world. One thing puzzles people. The assayers here can make out but a bare trace of silver in any of the Black Rock ores yet tried, while Isenbeck and Mosheimer make certificates of fabulous results. Black Rock is as much a mystery as ever."
We again quote from "The Humboldt Register." April 7th it says: "Black Rock will perhaps be heard from in a few days-unless somebody is interested in keeping back the truth. An arastra has been running for several days; and if there is silver it ought to show. We saw a dab of amalgam which Steve Bass had carefully worked out by hand from an exact pound of rock. The amalgam looked well-felt well. It was cupelled and made no sign of silver. Black Rock is not understood; the ledges may pay-but the thing doesn't look promising by the light we have." On the 21st it says "A handsome specimen Jo Voshay sent us the other day from his claim in the Black Rock region. He took several hundred pounds of this sort of rock to the East last year, and it worked well up into the hun- dreds-don't recollect the figures. Black Rock promises well, but has not yet been entirely proved." In May A. T. Arnold hauled a four-horse load of Black Rock ore to Dall's mill. It was worked and paid fairly well.
During the year 1866 the Black Rock excitement was at its greatest height. From the early spring until winter Black Rock was "all the go." Everybody talked about the mines and every one who had any speculation in him, or any blood likely to catch the mining fever, owned more or less "feet." When two men met they soon commenced to talk Black Rock, and generally one, or both of them, exhibited specimens of the ore which he carried in his pocket. There was all kinds of "dicker- ing" going on in claims. Like whiskey, it was all good. Some men made the most of their opportunities and got what they could out of it. If they could not sell for money, they traded "feet" for plug horses or "any old thing." The outcome showed that a person did well if he traded his mining claims in that country for "chips and whetstones."
[ 426 ]
THE YEAR 1867
Hereafter all quotations in this article not credited to any- thing else, are taken from "The Eastern Slope," a paper pub- lished at that time in Washoe City, Nevada.
June 23d, 1866, it says "Harvey, Ward, and Buckbee have been in town for the past week. They brought a considerable amount of Black Rock ore to get a working test at Dall's mill and flattering results are being obtained." July 28th. "The migratory part of our citizens are leaving Excelsior and rushing to Black Rock where there are a thousand times as many induce- ments as there ever were at Excelsior. Ledges of unlimited extent pay $50 a ton from the top down and this exceeds any discovery ever made before in the mining world."
Some time during the month of June H. N. Skadan hauled a load of provisions, lumber, and shingles from Milford to Black Rock for T. H. and E. H. Fairchilds. He brought back a load of ore for Manley Thompson, and took it to Dall's mill to be worked. Thompson told him that it didn't pay anything. J. D. Byers took some ore from the same district to the same mill. Five hundred pounds paid at the rate of $400 a ton, but when the rest of it, four and three fourths tons, was worked it paid only $40 a ton.
August 11th. "The Evans Boys of Long valley are about building a mill at Hardin City, a city of fifteen houses and 15000 rats, and expect to have it in running order by October first. The people of Black Rock think they have treasure enough there to build a railroad from Chico to Vallejo with silver rails, pay off the national debt, and buy Ireland for the Fenians." Nothing small about that.
September first it published an article taken from the "Mining and Scientific Press," written by J. Mosheimer, well known in Nevada as a scientific and practical miner. He says that numerous assays of Black Rock ore have been made in different places. Some assayers have been fortunate and others have obtained nothing at all. This has been the case with some San Francisco assayers. He says he has assayed more than a hundred samples from Black Rock, and is sure that seventy-five out of that number have contained gold and silver from a low percentage to $900 per ton. The ledges in Black Rock are from twenty to sixty feet wide. Some strikes in these veins are very rich, and he thinks that half of those discovered will pay for
[ 427 ]
HISTORY OF LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
the working. Especial credit is due Mr. Harvey for his per- severance in testing those ores. The writer says he has in his possession a bar which was extracted from 3800 pounds of ore at Dall's mill in Washoe valley. The ore was from the Merrimac ledge and paid $48.85 per ton in gold and silver. Another lot from the Monadnock paid $256. This ore was not selected, and was taken from not more than two feet below the surface. The writer says he has no further interest in the matter than to verify the assertion that the Black Rock mines are real mines, and he thinks that several mills will be put up there before the summer closes. The newspaper then says that since the fore- going was written extensive prospecting has been done in the Black Rock region, new and rich discoveries have been made, and arrangements have been made for the speedy erection of several mills. November 24th it says that the Snow Storm ledge has developed richer ore than that famous ledge has ever shown before. December 8th. A letter from Black Rock dated Novem- ber 22nd tells that new discoveries are being made that surpass anything heretofore found, and that the Evans Company's mill is almost ready to commence work.
"The Sage Brush" of December 7, 1866, says "The mill at Black Rock started to run this week, with what results we have not yet learned. Black Rock is all right, so the Freyberg men tell us." December 14th it says "The mill at Black Rock is running. Judge Harvey has gone out to bring in a load of bricks. Our scientific fellow citizen, Judge Harrison, assisted by Messrs. Ward and Bowman, has been engaged during the week in experimenting on Black Rock ore. The result of these experi- ments has demonstrated to the satisfaction of the most incred- ulous, the richness of these mines. The Merrimac is rich, but the Black Wax is richer. Judge Harrison has just called and shown to us the metal taken from an ounce of Black Wax ore. The result of this test would almost warrant the belief that the ore is worth $7 per pound." A letter written from Black Rock about the middle of December said the miners in that section were every day gaining confidence in the richness and per- manence of the mines.
[ 428 ]
THE YEAR 1867
THE EVANS QUARTZ MILL
Mention has several times been made of a quartz mill built at Hardin City by the Evans Company. The following in rela- tion to the building of it was told by Alvaro Evans. The Evans Brothers were men of means, and people kept coming to them for help in developing the Black Rock mines. The men who owned ledges there showed them big silver buttons that Isenbeck claimed he obtained by assaying their ore, and at last the Evans Boys concluded to assist them. In the spring of 1866 they sent a man with a team of four yoke of cattle to Black Rock and told the miners to load it with ore, and he would take it to John Dall's mill at Ophir on the west side of Washoe valley. Accord- ingly they loaded the team with the best ore from the Snow Storm, Black Wax, and other ledges that were considered to be the best in the district. The team then came back to Long valley and Alvaro Evans accompanied it to the quartz mill. At that time Dall's mill was run by Superintendent J. B. Hiskey. He at once took some ore from the Snow Storm ledge and assayed it, and told Evans that it went $1000 to the ton. Two other assayers, Wiegan of Gold Hill and a Virginia City man, assayed some of the same ore and could get nothing out of it, though they said something might be there that they knew nothing about. The Virginia City man offered to bet a thousand dollars that there was nothing in the ore. Hiskey said he would take the bet, and would make the assay in the presence of the other man and get the same results. The other man backed down- said there might be something in it, but he couldn't find it. The Dall mill was engaged in crushing ore from the Ophir mine in Virginia City. The ore was treated by the "Bartola" process. It was crushed and roasted and then put into hollow cylinders with old iron and rolled around. Hiskey worked eight hun- dred pounds of the Snow Storm ore by this process and got $800 out of it. This excited Evans, and he inquired what it would cost to put up a five stamp mill. Hiskey thought it would cost between six and seven thousand dollars, and Evans imme- diately ordered the batteries and machinery for such a mill from San Francisco. He then came to Honey Lake and had a sawmill south of Richmond saw out some lumber for him. This was hauled to Black Rock and the quartz mill was put up as soon as possible. If "The Sage Brush" made no mistake, it was ready
[ 429 ]
HISTORY OF LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
to run the first week in December, 1866, and a man named Cheatam, who had been recommended by Hiskey, went to Hardin City to superintend the running of it. The rest of the story will be told later on.
During the first part of the year 1867 the Black Rock excite- ment continued, but in a different way from that of the previous year. By this time the country had been thoroughly pros- pected and everything that seemed to be of any value was claimed by some one. The rush to the district was done, and the excitement was kept up by reports that the ore worked was paying well. Still, as some of the papers said, there was a sort of mystery and uncertainty about it. There were so many con- flicting reports in regard to the assays and the returns from the rock crushed that the prevailing idea was that the value of the mines was yet to be proved.
February 15th, 1867. "Reports from Black Rock continue flattering and if the mines stand the test, Washoe county in two years will be the richest county in the state, and in three years Black Rock will be yielding more bullion than all other dis- covered mines besides. William Kingsbury alias "Smoke Creek Sam" has just arrived from the mines and reports the boys in good spirits. Prof. Robinson, the assayer, is taking out large chunks of bullion. The mill will be ready to run as soon as Mr. Evans arrives with the salt. February 23rd. "It is re- ported that they obtained $8000 from twenty tons of rock by mill process, and one pound of pure silver from four pounds of rock." "The Sage Brush" of March 30th, 1867, says "News from Black Rock is like the mail. It doesn't come very often, but is good when it comes." The first part of April Bowman and Jenison went from Susanville to Washoe valley with samples of choice ore which they were going to work in the presence of doubters. Some time this year the Fairchilds Brothers had a couple of tons of Black Rock ore worked at the Dall mill and it yielded $500. "The Eastern Slope" of June 22nd said that the practical working of the Black Rock ore was no longer an open question, and that they now worked it in San Francisco by mill process with as much certainty as they did the ore from the Comstock. June 29th. "Hon. C. C. Goodwin left Honey Lake on the morning of the 18th inst. in company with Isenbeck for the scene of his labors in Black Rock. Isenbeck was the first
[ 430 ]
THE YEAR 1867
assayer who succeeded in working Black Rock ores by the fire process, and he is now returning to the mines determined to establish the fact that these same refractory ores can be profitably milled. Success to him." "The Humboldt Register" of July 20th calls Isenbeck the prince of humbugs, and says that he is again on his way to Black Rock with a fresh installment of victims to insanity. "The Eastern Slope" said it would not defend Isenbeck because it didn't know him, but it thought that the mines at Black Rock were much richer than those of the Humboldt country. "The Sage Brush" and "The Humboldt Register" told that in August Judge Goodwin had forty tons of what was supposed to be rich ore hauled from Black Rock to the Ophir mill. It was crushed there and then taken to Dall's mill where it was worked by the united skill of Hiskey and Isenbeck. They worked small quantities of ore from each of the ledges so as to find out which one was the best. They then intended to work the ore from the best ledge. September 7th "The Eastern Slope" says that the results thus far obtained at Dall's mill are a complete vindication of Mr. Isenbeck. It also proves that Black Rock is richer than the Comstock. For the truth of this people are referred to Jolin Dall and James Hiskey, and are invited to visit the mill and see for themselves. The paper could not give the exact figures, but it was authorized to say that Snow Storm crushed from $170 to $200 per ton, Black Prince from $150 to $175 per ton, and Emerald $350 per ton. These tests were made by Isenbeck, Cockran, Hiskey, and Good- win, superintended by Dall. September 21st it says that Mr. Isenbeck has on exhibition in that place fourteen small bars of bullion, the result of working Black Rock ores, the aggregate weight of which is 488 ounces, the exact value of which has not yet been ascertained. It says that Mr. Isenbeck has labored under many disadvantages owing to the lack of machinery adapted to his peculiar process, but that enough has been done to show the character of Black Rock as a mining country. In conclusion it says that it looks upon the little five-stamp mill of Judge Goodwin and his associates as the pioneer of the greatest metallurgical work in the United States and perhaps in the world, and that Black Rock is destined to revolutionize the monetary affairs of the nation. (Do you mind that?) On the strength of these results Atchison & Company, San Francisco
[ 431 ]
HISTORY OF LASSEN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
and Humboldt men, and Judge Goodwin & Company determined to build some quartz mills in the neighborhood of Black Rock for the purpose of working the ores of that district. The first named company selected the Double Hot spring, six or seven miles south of Hardin City, as its building place. Goodwin & Company concluded to build a ten-stamp mill at Granite Creek meadows about thirty-five miles from the mines. In that location there was said to be plenty of wood and water. At this time Isenbeck was working at the Evans & Company mill reconstruct- ing it upon a plan suited to the working of the ores after his own process. October 26th "The Sage Brush" says "Atchinson & Company's mill is on the road to Black Rock with a fair pros- pect of being in a working condition at a very early date. Judge Goodwin's mill is ready for shipment, but probably too late to be placed on the ground this fall. Black Rock is the coming country as sure as the world stands." November 2nd it reports that the Evans and Bass mill at Black Rock has commenced work under the superintendence of Isenbeck, and that results will be given a few days from that time. On the ninth it says that Atchinson & Company's mill is in progress, and it looks as though work would begin that fall on the Goodwin mill.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.