USA > California > El Dorado County > Historical souvenir of El Dorado County, California : with illustrations and biographical setches of its prominent men & pioneers > Part 21
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RAYMOND AND M'NULTY'S MILL
Had been erected at an expense of six thousand dollars capable of crushing, twelve tons of rock daily, the rock yielding from twenty five to forty dollars per ton. This company are in the possession of two veins of quartz, either one of them would be sufficient to keep two such mills running for twenty years, without ever having to go below the bed of the ravine on which the mill is situated.
THE COLUMBUS QUARTZ MILL,
Of the Columbus Quartz Mining Association of Cold Springs, David Miller, president, erected a ten stamp mill in the fall of 1855.
POCKET MINES,
In the immediate vicinity of Placerville, especially on and around Quartz hill, are located a good many claims, all pocket claims, that have given out rich; sometimes a man took out as much as $5000 in one day; there is Quartz Hill, Log Cabin Ravine, Old and Young Harmon, Hodges, L. C. Fiske's, S. Alsburgh's. H. Lewis' and P. Vigonett's, Sam. Lemon's and others. The Pocahontas mine at Logtown, has proved another rich pocket mine, the ledge being lost deeper down. At various points, notably in the Poverty Point region, Spanish Dry Diggings, Uniontown and lately near Georgetown, immense results have been obtained at what is known as pocket mining. The Stuckslager claim, near Uniontown, has turned out several fortunes, and at present Armstrong's claim near Georgetown is another sample of that kind. This class of mining is like a lottery, it hardly can be called legitimate mining, but a good many have been successful and the success is deciding, however unre- liable the proceedings are. Westwards of the mother- lode, quartz veins have been prospected away down to the boarders of the plains. Many rich pockets have been taken out or are still under work, at Gray's
Flat, around Shingle Springs, and as far down as Clarks- ville; but in the main, the work has been desultory and unsatisfactory. The main reliance of the county will and must be : the gravel beds and the great quartz veins. Many miners after they have the good luck to strike a pocket of gold quartz, are content to take out what is just in sight, and fancy that this is all that is to be obtained. This is a wrong idea, for experience has taught the best pocket miners that if the shaft was sunk deeper, another pocket is most invariably reached at the depth of from sixteen to thirty feet. Such was the case, also with a pocket mine near Frenchtown, owned by J. W. Johnson, which has yielded $80,000 in all, the various pockets brought from $30 to 17,000.
Before leaving the subject of gold mining entirely we shall refer to a piece of juvenile mining as a curiosity; Between Anderson's store, Columbia Flat, and John- town, we were shown the place, located near the road- side, where two small boys, sons of Mr. Davey, in 1878 took out more than a hundred dollars worth of gold; they having there mine in full arrangments, with sluice boxes, and everything in a diminishing shape; The oldest of these promising young miners, at that time was not more than ten years old. There are numerous smaller ledges most all over the county' showing a fair prospect, but they are in the hands of men who are,not able to develop them properly, which will one day prove bonanzas to capitalists who are courageous enough to make the venture.
COPPER MINING,
The discovery of copper in Calaveras county, in July, 1861, and some other copper mine soon after, opened a new field for the prospectors, after the golden placers-which as far as surface placer work in the hills and gulches of the foothills of the Sierra Nevada are concerned-were about worked out and exhausted by that time. And an excitement in prospecting for cop- per throughout California commenced that was sur- passed only from the result, when a great belt of cop- per bearing veins was found extending through the whole foot-hill region, proving that the mineral was not confined to Copperopolis alone. The high prices paid for copper at that time, gave a great inducement to encourage the people for copper mining, and before long a great many copper mining companies were organized, some of them commenced to work with energy. To accommodate the copper miners and to make the products of their mines more profitable, copper smelting works had been erected at Antioch, Contra Costa county, convenient to the coal mines of Mount Diablo, and in the fall of 1863 the managers of this institution advertised the following rates paid there for copper ore ; "$2,00 per hundred weight, for
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QUARTZ MINES AND MINING.
ore yielding 8 to 12 per cent; $2,25, from 13 to 15 per cent, $2,50 for 16 per cent. ; and $3,00 for 20 per cent., and upwards.
The period of operations of the Antioch Smelting Works, however, was brief ; the great decline in copper, a result of the excessive production, and immense advantages enjoyed by the Lake Superior Copper mines, caused its shut down, and probably will pre- clude any successful operation in this direction, for a long time to come. The work spent in El Dorado county for copper mining, in general average did not proceed further on, than to determine the presence of the ore in large quantities; in a few instances only, notably at the Bunker Hill mine near Pollard's, and in Hastings Ravine, both between Coloma and Pilot Hill, and at the Cosumnes Copper mine, large sums have been sunk in the development of those mines, which may be paid back in the future.
SILVER IN EL DORADO,
N. D. Burlingham, Superintendent of the Esperanza mine, and Dr. E. M. Alderman, of Spanish Flat, a few years ago discovered a quartz ledge not far from the town of Kelsey. The Doctor, in assaying some frag- ments of quartz taken from the ledge, was no less astonished than delighted to find a rich prospect in gold and silver, the latter largely predominating. Encouraged thus, he procured more average samples from the ledge, just where it forms a knoll, and from various other points of it, and made thirty-two assays, all of which were nearly uniform in their results, yield- ing from $100 to $150 per ton silver bullion, and the silver bullion containing $6 in gold to the ounce.
The gold taken out of String Canyon near Grizzly Flat, was known since long time to be heavily alloyed with silver; and a ledge bearing the latter mineral was believed to exist in the vicinity. Mr. E. F. Russell but recently found some rock which induced him to make further explorations, and the result has been the discovery of a ledge east of Mount Pleasant and Eagle, which has been traced for considerable dis- tance. A test indicated a large percentage of silver; the assays, as could be learned run from $26 to $28 per ton; 50 per cent gold.
CINNABAR.
Is also known to exist in several parts of the county ; but in one instance only, as far as our knowledge reaches, more extensive work has been done to secure the development of the mine, and to determine the size and value of the lode. This quicksilver mine is located in the south-eastern part of the county, near the Amador county line, and the report at the time of working very favorably spoke of a ledge of eight feet of ore which had to be drifted through; estimates
from tests made, will yield 20 per cent. After passing through this eight feet ledge, the workmen came to what miners term a horse, and drifting through this, rich ore was found, from one to two feet in width; pursuing the course of the drift the workmen cut through another horse, and came to a vein of consid- erable richness, being two feet wide, and weight as well as appearance of the ore will justify an estimate of 60 per cent. of quicksilver. After all appearances the mine indicated a great abundance of orė, the latter being of high value, and the " Amador Quicksilver mine," as the owners have christened it will, no doubt, rank in the future with the best mines of that charac- ter and prove a very valuable property; the present decline in quicksilver, however, is not favorable for an enterprise of that kind.
IRON.
Iron ore exists in considerable quantities, and in various portions of the county. In some cases the ore is of such a high grade that it only depends upon cheap fuel to make the smelting of it available and profitable. But up to the time that this difficulty may be overcome, these iron mines need not be looked upon as in the line of profitable industry. As a curi- osity, has to be mentioned here, the "Grand Victory" mine of Diamond Springs mining district, an iron mine which at present is worked for the gold that is imbedded in the iron ore.
CHROME IRON.
East of Negro Hill, near the foot of the George- town divide, is an extensive mine of chrome iron, owned by the Mitchell Bros. It has been traced from the South to the North Fork of the American river but whether it can be profitably operated for the entire distance of twelve miles, is not yet known. The ore is worth $6.50 per ton at Folsom, and it costs $2.50 per ton for hauling, the balance goes between labor and profit. About a dozen men are employed at the mine, part stoping out ore, the rest in prospecting for spots on the ledge, and from six to.ten tons can be de- livered daily at Folsom. Its use in the manufacture of paints renders its extraction profitable, while common iron ore would not be worth touching ; it is shipped to San Francisco, and from there carried all the way to Baltimore or England for its manipulation. Still another chrome iron mine exists near Garden Valley, the ore from here has to be hauled to Auburn station, and is shipped further on, to Boston.
ASBESTOS.
The various uses to which asbestos is now applied in the arts and sciences has created a demand at re- munerative prices, making the work quite profitable. The Georgetown divide abounds at various places
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
with strong veins of this mineral, and with the different owners of them, some years ago, a San Francisco firm endeavored to contract for a supply of one hundred tons per month, but none of them having the vein suf- ficiently developed to venture entering into a contract at that time'; but there is no doubt it will become an export article of some importance.
Besides the enormous wealth of El Dorado county in mineral ores there is a great variety of all kinds of valuable stones : granite, marble, limestone, slate, soapstone, etc., a resource embracing wealth that may rival at a not very distant day the former.
LIMESTONE.
In various parts of the county, several quite ex- tensive masses of limestone have been discovered, quarried, and burnt within the past 30 years, and the product, of a superior quality, always found a good market, part of it in the great valleys of this State, and part in the State of Nevada ; only a small amount is used for home absorption now. The firm of Cowell & Davis, of San Francisco, are in possession of some well opened quarries, but only little work is done at present in their quarries and lime kiln. Mr. M. W. Manning, in Cave valley, is the owner of a limestone quarry, which, in connection with one of the highly improved patent lime-kilns. produces an article of su- perior quality. A trestle-work is communicating be- tween the quarry and the top of the kiln, which is surrounded by an iron mantle, and by filling up from the top continuously, furnishes a daily product of 75 barrels; this is shipped daily by means of an eight mule team over Lyon's toll bridge to Auburn station, from where the agent designates it either way of the railroad. A view of Mr. Manning's residence and. lime-kiln, located on the road from Auburn station to Georgetown, can be seen in this book, also. Another limestone quarry and kiln is located in the same sec- tion of the county near Rattlesnake bridge, and is shipping its product to New Castle, on the Central Pacific railroad ; but is not worked at present. It is owned by the same parties that are in possession of the Alabaster cave, close by.
In Ringgold creek canyon, south of Darlington's ranch, is an inexhaustible ledge of the most excellent limestone, in the possession of Mr. P. B. Hogan, who has built a kiln for the production of lime to supply the demand of Placerville and surrounding neighbor- hood, which at present is quite limited. Marble Valley, in the western part of the county, close to the Placerville and Sacramento road, is another inexhaust- ible deposit of fine limestone ; kilns were built here years ago, and a great amount of lime produced, that went down and helped to build up the city of Sacra- mento, but the place is lying idle at present.
MARBLE.
Numerous are the ledges of marble, and just as numerous are the different varieties of marble, of all colors and grains, that have been discovered in some parts of El Dorado county. Only a few of them have been worked to such an extent that an estimate about their value could be given. Marble deposits have been discovered in Marble Valley, in Ringgold creek canyon on Mr. Hogan's place, at Indian Diggings, and at various places on the Georgetown divide. Promi- nent among these is, because it is the only one that has been worked sufficient to justify an estimate, the marble ledge at Indian Diggings. It was opened about ten years ago, by Messrs. Luce & Aiken, of Sac- ramento, who were the first owners. They erected saw-works in 1876 or 1877, and, after these had been destroyed by fire, a large marble-mill was erected with four gangs of saws, run by a ten-horse-power engine, which has been successfully worked during the favor- able season of the year. The marble of this quarry is of beautiful texture, and inexhaustible in quantity, and by competent judges has been pronounced as fine, as susceptible of as high a polish ,as the best Italian. The marble is used for mantle-pieces, for grave stones and other monuments-a very limited use, as long as we call a big lumber box inhabited by human beings, a mansion.
ROOFING SLATE.
El Dorado county in general, and Placerville par- ticularly, can boast of the first roof covered with domestic slate in the State of California ; some parts of the roof of the Cary House and Mr. Louis I.an- decker's store in Placerville, were the first buildings in this State, covered with the material produced from the slate quarry ou Chili Bar, or Kelsey Hill. Mr. W. O. Thomas, of Nashville, Tennessee, located two slate ledges here, one at the south end of Chili Bar bridge, which was first opened, and with the slate pro- duced the aforesaid buildings roofed in, in 1875. The quarry is now owned by the El Dorado County Slate Company, and a good many contracts for slate roofing to be done with this material have been ex. ecuted since all over the State. When fully opened, this quarry will be able to give employment to about a hun- dred laborers. Another deposit of superior slate has been discovered near Latrobe. Messrs. Rapp, of Latrobe, and Conoly, of Sacramento, were the owners. The quarry would have been opened thoroughly if there was a demand for roofing slate, but the same rea- son that is unfavorable to the development of marble ledges, as we have seen, is also retarding the slate industry.
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MINING LAWS.
SILICON.
Though neither of metallic nor mineral origin we may be allowed to mention right here a discovery lately made-at Smith's Flat immense beds of an infu. sorial earth was found and has proved to be quite val- uable. Large quantities of it are sold yearly as it is regarded with great favor as a superior polish for silver ware, etc. An equal amount, if not a greater one, is used in the preparation of dynamite, which takes advantage in its composition to a great extent.
SALT MINE.
Last but not least, a big deposit of rock salt has been discovered, or rather became known in 1855, located in a small valley, situated between the old. Car- son route and the Johnson cut-off road, between the summits of the Sierra Nevada. The Indians of Car- son valley and vicinity, it seems, had knowledge of its existence and took every precaution to keep it a secret, but one of their number thinking gold more valuable than the secret, disclosed it for $50 to a party of gen- tlemen in 1855. It is located in the bed of a little, stream, three inches of water running over it, and it seems to be inexhaustible.
CHAPTER XXI. MINING LAWS.
From the earliest days of the great era of gold mining in California the necessity of making laws and regulations, for the allotment of ground and the tenure of mining claims became evident with the miners. But for these purposes no statute-laws existed within the United States, nor were there any customs or precedents to guide; the mining laws of California originated from the necessity of the case, and rules were empirically adopted, which, by means of amend- ments, grew into a system that has been the basis of judicial decisions and statutes. Most every locality where any kind of mining was going on, as for instance a river bar, a certain hill or flat, or sometimes embrac. ·ing a section that included the work of different classes of mining, was constituted a mining district for itself. The miners of such a district, in public meetings, would organize, define the boundaries of their particular district, and resolve upon a code of laws, which became authority until changed by a reg- ular called meeting, or on account of being in conflict with some statute laws. The unsteadiness of the min- ers and their disposition to shift around, hunting for still richer diggings, made it soon neces ary to agree about some rules concerning the size of ground each man should be allowed to claim as his property, and the conditions that were connected with this claim.
The first set of such rules or laws were quite plain and simple instruments, in most every district, until some quarrelsome members would necessitate more compli- cated and elaborate statutes. In the following we shall give a few samples of the usual mining district laws:
At a meeting of the miners of Smith's Ranch, on the evening of March 24th, 1854, Mr. John E. Carter was called to the chair, and T. Burns appointed sec- retary.
The following laws for the government of Hill Claims in Smith's Ranch Mining district, were pre- sented and unanimously adopted.
ist. A claim shall be 150 feet front, and run to the center of the hill.
2d. A claim must be worked within ten days from the time at which it is taken up, and as often as one day every week afterwards ..
3d. Two, or more, holding claims may form a company to work any of them, without being bound to work each claim.
4th. Any miner, or miners, finding new diggings in this district, shall be entitled to one extra claim for each member of the company, on any vacant hill ground in the district.
G. Bass, John Mayhood and E. George were then appointed a committee to define the boundaries of the district; who reported as follows :
The district of Smith's Ranch is bounded: Begin- ning at the southeast corner of Negro Hill district and running east until striking where the road running through Smith's ranch intersects the emigrant road east ; thence south until it strikes the Coon Hollow ditch; west along said ditch until it strikes the Spanish Hill district ; thence north to the south line of Negro Hill district; thence east on said line to the the place of beginning.
JOHN E. CARTER, President.
THOS. BURNS, Secretary.
This form of mining laws, however, did not express sufficiently and distinctly the nature of every case, giving too much chance for arbitration and unlawful action, consequently the miners of Smith's Flat assembled in public meeting on September 21st, the same year (1854,) to reconsider the laws of the district; E. Gage was called to the chair, and T. M. White appointed secretary, whereupon the following laws for the government of claims in Smith's Flat mining dis- trict were unanimously adopted.
MINING LAWS OF SMITH'S FLAT.
I. The boundaries of Smith's Flat mining district shall be as follows, viz: Follows the same description of the lines and corners, as in the former mining la ws of March 24th, 1854.
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HISTORY OF EL DORADO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
2. yards.
The size of mining claims shall be 50 by 100
3. Each miner may hold two claims, one by loca- tion and one by purchase, or both by purchase.
4. All claims must be recorded by a recorder duly elected ; and he shall receive one dollar for recording each claim. He shall set a permanent stake at each corner of the claim, and put a written notice on each,
giving the name or names of the party or parties. All claims to be recorded with the number of the claim, and the time of recording ; a duplicate of such notice shall be filed in a book kept for that purpose.
5. No claim shall be forfeited by not being worked between the first day of July and the first day of December; provided the owner of any claim shall notify the recorder of his intention to work the said claim before he leaves it.
6. Any person having a claim shall forfeit it by neglecting to work it one whole day in every seven, between the first of December and the first of July following.
7. Any person having two claims may hold both by working either, as above mentioned.
8. Any difficulty that may arise relative to mining interests shall be referred to a jury of five miners ; four of them to be chosen by the parties, the fifth by these four.
9. Any person having a claim that requires a tail- race, shall have the privilege of cutting it through the claims adjoining it below ; (provided said cutting shall not interfere with the working of the same), until he has obtained sufficient fall for all reasonable mining pur- poses. But he shall in no case permit his tailings to accumulate on the claims below, to the detriment of the working of said claims.
1. A tunnel claim shall be 150 feet front and run to the center of the hill.
2. A claim must be worked within ten days from the time at which it is taken up, and as often as one day in each week thereafter.
3. Two or more, holding claims, may form a com- pany to work any one of them, without being bound to work each.
4. Any miner or miners finding new diggings in this district, shall be entitled to one extra .claim for each member of the company on any vacant hill ground in the district.
5. Any tunnel company, who shall have expended $200, upon notifying the recorder of their intention to leave their claim, shall not forfeit the same, pro- vided they resume operations within three months from the time of giving said notice.
Resolved, That the old code of laws be hereby re- pealed, as far as they conflict with those now adopted.
E. GAGE, President. T. M. WHITE, Secretary.
The next mining laws that we have notice of were framed by the miners of Chili Bar ravine, and those of Cold Springs mining district ; both of them it seems had taken model after the mining laws of Smith's Flat district, and if not verbally the same, they were quite similarly arrainged for prevailing and command- ing circumstances, but differing considerably as to the size of a claim, the latter being accepted in the Chili Bar ravine laws with 70 feet front, running to the cen- ter of the hill ; while in the Cold Spring Mining dis- trict on Weber creek, a claim was understood to be 100 feet up and down on the creek, and from the center of the creek extending 50 feet into the bank; and claims laid in a ravine or on a flat were pronounced 100 feet square.
The miners of Mount Pleasant met on February 3d, 1855, and appointed L. H. Rathbun, Chairman, and Duncan Quin, Secretary. The purpose of the meeting was declared to regulate the laws for govern- ing the miners and mining work on the above said hill ; and, on motion, a committee of three was ap- pointed : Isaac Hall, William Taylor and John Tripp, to draft laws, which were adopted as follows :
ARTICLE I. Each man shall hold 100 feet square, and a notice be placed at each corner stating the number of claims, and a trench at the turn of each corner ; every set of claims to be worked one in seven days, in order to hold possession. All claims hereto- fore staked off are allowed to hold possession for two months from the time of staking, if the tools have not been removed.
ART. 2. All claims shall be recorded within seven days from staking off the same.
ART. 3. The recorder shall receive $5.00 for re- cording cach set of claims.
On motion, Duncan Quin was appointed recorder. Following are the names of the miners present :
ISAAC HALL, WILLIAM TAYLOR,
JOHN TRIPP, PETER LASHBROOK,
H. GOODFREY, THOMAS ABSCANDER,
PETER GERARD, MARTIN GALACHAN,
GEORGE RANEV, THORINGTON ISHBURTON,
JOHN BARKER, THOMAS ISHBURTON.
L. H. RATHBUN, Chairman.
DUNCAN QUIN, Secretary.
This shows one of the plainest law instruments- the whole subject expressed in three short articles ; it could not be said in less, and it is more than proba-
HENRY METTE. MRS. JENNIE METTE.
+
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MINING LAWS.
ble that it was an honest set of men who constituted this district; these laws were made by the honest miners for the honest miner.
COON HOLLOW, April 24, 1856.
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