USA > California > Amador County > History of Amador County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 37
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40,000 James Morgan.
Lower Randiccia Italian
7,500 Bruno & Co.
Pine Grove.
Tellurium
Loyal League 1858 20
water
40,000 A. Hayward.
Lincoln Q M Co
20
1859
16
15,000 Mahoney Brothers.
1866 20
20,000 C. T. Meader.
12,000 California Furnace Co
Eagle
1558
10
steam
40,000 Gashwilder & Co.
Unjon
1858 10
10,000 E. T. Steen.
water
10,000 Creed & Wood.
Keystone.
1856 40
1857 16
Power
9,000 W. H. Thoss.
Tulloch
21
162
HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
cano. The great sea that depositod the rocks, did not leave the material for a firm overlying bed. The corals, building up reefs, and modifying the influence of the ocean currents, perhaps, interfered with the deposit of a stratum as uniform in its char- acter as was done a few miles farther west. At any rate, when the mountains were lifted out of the sea the mass of rock overlying the gold-bearing strata opened in various directions, besides at the axis of elevation; hence the water holding gold and other minerals in solution found its way to the surface, sometimes through limestone, sometimes through granito or sycnite, and sometimes through soft slate, the fissures following no direction long, nor extend- ing to great depths, as at the Mother Lode, though the conditions admit of exceptions.
With these few general remarks the subject of their formation may be dismissed and a few of the mines noticed.
THE DOWNS MINE
Apparently conforms more nearly to a true fissure vein than any in the upper series yet found, though differing in its direction from veins on the Mother Lode. It has a gouge, a large amount of vein mat- ter or distinctly characterized rock, and firm walls, all of which conditions are favorable to permanence and depth. This mine was located as early as 1857 by Phil. Scibenthaler, Geo. Felmath, and others. The rock on the surface was worked by arastras and paid from forty to one hundred dollars per ton. They then enlarged the works and put up a twenty- stamp mill. There was not rock enough avail- able to keep the mill running, and the company failed, work being suspended until 1866, when the whole property was bought by James M. Hanford for one hundred dollars. Work was resumed, the quartz being hauled to the Fogus mill, two and a half miles below Volcano, for reduction. The milling was badly done, saving only eight dollars and twenty-five cents per ton. A year later the shaft was sunk forty feet deeper. Two tons ground in an arastra paid twenty-six dollars per ton. This so encouraged the proprietor that sinking was continued still further. A swell was struck in the vein which now became four feet in thickness, though the body of the vein had no greater amount of gold than before, now pay- ing only twenty dollars per ton; but this was good rock. Fifteen feet deeper the vein contracted to its original width of two feet. The next crushing of rock, taken from below the swell at a depth of ninety feet, paid sixty-eight dollars per ton by the arastra process. It was also discovered that there were two continuous parallel veins within the two wall rocks, which were about thirty feet apart, though one of the veins was of much less value than the other. The narrow vein (the first one worked) is now pay- ing, by mill process, twenty-five to forty dollars per ton. The mill is run by water-power and all the appliances are calculated to work economically. All the circumstances point towards a permanent and
profitable mine. The vein has an casterly and west- erly direction and can be distinctly traced some dis- tance towards the west, showing good rock all the way. J. N. Pock & Co. own one extension under the name of the Golden Star, and Benjamin Ross another.
THE MARKLEE MINE.
This mine is north of Volcano and not far from Dry Creek. It was worked with profit for about two years. Many good runs were made on it. May 11, 1872, sixteen days' run with twelve stamps netted thirteen thousand dollars. It was sold to au English company, who put some one in charge who was either unacquainted with quartz mining, or had a job on hand, as he drifted away from the pay chute, at least in the opinion of the workmen who secmed to be better acquainted with the nature of the quartz than the foreman. The mill and hoisting works were removed and the mine and improvements left to ruin. In the opinion of many the mine is still good.
THE TELLURIUM
Is a few hundred fect east of Pine Grove. The quartz in this vein is in considerable quantity, form- ing a regular vein. It appears rather white and pure to contain much mineral, but is said to pay thirty or forty dollars per ton, which, however, is very doubt- ful. The name Tellurium seems to have been given rather as a fanciful title than because any of that mineral exists in the rock. As usual with mines owned in cities or out of the State, the management has been given to incompetent men, the working of the mine being experimental rather than practical.
THE THAYER MINE
Was on the north side of Grass Valley creek, and in 1859-60 was a promising vein. A man by the name of Thayer (from the city, of course) gave his name to it, and also demonstrated the inutility of new quartz machines, like many before and since, and probably many yet to come. His plan was an enlargement of the Chile wheel, which, in this instance, was made ten or twelve feet in diameter, shod with iron castings, and traveling in a circular gutter fifty or sixty feet in circumference, also lined with iron. The principle was correct enough, and has since been used with good effect with heavy cast- iron balls rolling in a cast-iron basin four or five feet in diameter; but in his case the eastings worked loose, both in the track and on the circumference of the wheel, making a total wreck in the course of a few days. The machinery was sold for old iron, and work suspended for some years. Some miners jumped the elaim and opened a paying vein, at least for a time. The surface of the vein, or a sheet of it, perhaps twenty feet wide, was found flat on the ground, having apparently fallen over. A hundred tons of this rock, crushed at the Fogus Mill, paid about thirty-four dollars per ton. An attachment was laid on the money by three lawyers from Mokel-
163
QUARTZ MINING EAST OF THE MOTHER LODE.
umne Hill, all of whom were dignified as Judges. An expensive lawsuit followed. Surveyors were sent to map the ground, experts to theorize on the probabilities of the existence of a vein, and, in fact, the whole legal mining machinery which had been introduced into Comstock mining litigation, was brought into play on the real discoverers of the pay- ing vein. They had to yield. The mine is now nearly forgotten.
THE CLINTON MINES
Were once considered good, but are not worked at present. These belong to the Pine Grove range, and, like them, have a short run in length as well as depth.
THE MACE RANGE
Has the north and south trend following the rifts of the slate. Though rich on the surface, they pinch out at a short depth, and are not true fissure veins. It would seem possible that these veins are produced by surface action, that is, by the precipita- tion of minerals held in solution, by water flowing over the surface, as the veins seem to have no con- nection with a gold-bearing strata, like the veins on the Mother Lode.
A good vein of ore in this vicinity may yield three or four thousand dollars before it pinches out. The milling is done by a custom mill at five dollars per ton, owned by F. Mace.
Though these veins have a family resemblance, they differ much in character in the course of a few miles, sometimes being clear, hard, and blue in text- ure and color, and then shading into syenite sand- stone or hornblende. In some, the gold, though pay- ing well for milling, is so fine as to be almost impalpable. In this case, the breaking down of a vein by glacial or other erosion would not make rich placers.
It may be observed of the country generally, that quartz boulders of any size usually indicate the proximity of a quartz vein of similar character, prov- ing that the streams or rivers forming the beds of gravel, were small. This, however, does not apply to the great east and west river, which had its chan- nel on the divide between Dry creek and Sutter creek, which escaped the great glacial erosion. A river which could sweep millions of tons of voleanie bonl- ders down the slope of the mountains, could and did, sweep along boulders of quartz three feet in diameter. Such a boulder was found in 1857, on Union flat, above any bed rock. It was of clear, blue quartz, without any admixture of iron, and had several hundred dollars in pure gold in a kind of stratum on one side, the other side being barren. The rock bore a great resemblance to that of the Sheep Ranch mine in Calaveras county, said to be one of the best paying mines in the State.
PIONEER AND GOLDEN GATE MINES.
Between the Mace, or West Point range, and Vol- cano, are veins of a very distinct character. They
are narrow but well defined, going straight down, neither widening or pinching out. Of this character are the veins named at the head of this paragraph. The veins do not follow the trend of the country rock, but seem to be rather in a transverse fissure. They are from sixteen inches to two feet in width, paying from twenty to forty dollars a ton. The mine owned by W. Q. Mason, is of this group. The vein varies from three to nine inches in width, averaging about thirty-five dollars per ton, though in places the rock is quite rich, paying several dollars to the pound. This range of mines has not been sufficiently explored to determine the value of them.
QUARTZ VEINS WEST OF THE MOTHER LODE.
These are numerous, and some of them quite large, being in some instances thirty or forty feet thick, as at Dr. Randall's ranch near Ione, and at Mrs. Nichol's ranch, in Jackson valley. The lower range is quite as extensive as the Mother Lode, and in the rich gulches and placers adjoining, bears evi- dence of having considerable gold. In the vicinity of French Camp, some of the small veins are said to have gold enough to pay for crushing, but as they do not hold their size, but ramify into numerous branches, they are not likely to be extensively worked. The Kirkendall range near Irish hill, was thought to be rich, but work on it is generally sus- pended.
In the vicinity of Stony creek the quartz seems to be auriferous, but here, as at French Camp, the veins are neither permanent nor well defined. It would seem that in all this western range of quartz veins, copper, not gold seems to be the predominat- ing mineral.
SOAP-STONE, OR STEATITE GOLD MINES.
These mines are some miles east of the lower range of quartz veins, and seem to be connected rather with the serpentine or green ledge formation. There is considerable doubt in the minds of many who have not examined the locality, as to the pres- ence of gold in steatite; but the fact that all the gulches running from the locality were rich, ought to set all doubts to rest. Attention was called to these places twenty years since, by specimens of the steatite with gold, like bronze, well-distributed through it. There was some coarse gold found occa- sionally. Major Barting, who did the most to test these veins, found a piece in this vein thirty feet from the surface, which weighed some sixty grains or more.
It is claimed that the rock contains twenty or thirty dollars to the ton; but all attempts to save it have been failures, the gold being so fine as to float off on the top of the water.
QUARTZ MINING IN THE FUTURE.
Much money has been expended in quartz that has not been returned. A few have become wealthy, others have made a living, and many have worn
164
HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
themselves out in the unsuccessful search for gold. The fact that gold, which made the placers, was originally derived from quartz, and that many of the veins are still rich, will induce the examination of the last one where there is any probability, or even possi- bility, of finding it. GOLD! what a magic in the word! What a spell it will work. For gold, man will dare the depths of the earth, the heights of the mountains, the heat of the tropics, and the ice regions of the pole, the solitude of the plains and the crowds in cities.
Those who preach moderation in seeking it are the first to sniff a strike, and the fiercest to strive for its possession. Until human nature is changed, the gold hunt will continue.
"'PUT MONEY IN THY PURSE.'
" Make it thy soul's delight to gather coin. Suffer not thy thoughts to stray from this purpose. Make cor- ners in bread, so that the poor shall go hungry. What is it to thee that hundreds suffer? Make cor- ners in water, though the great Father poured it out without stint for all his children. Fence it up ; gather it into reservoirs and make the thirst as well the hunger of the people fill thy purse. What were hunger and thirst made for but to help thee put money in thy purse ? Watch the progress of industry, and buy up the land that lies in its course. Hold it for high prices ; hold it until the homeless and landless must have it at any price. What is it to thee that industries are paralyzed? Put money in thy purse.
"Thy brother may be fainting by the wayside, crushed by misfortune and sickness. Heed not his cry of agony. Shut all avenues of the heart to the cries of suffering humanity. What is the world to thee ? Put money in thy purse.
- " The world is full of beauty. Every little flower that opens its petals to drink in the sunshine, is full of marvelous, self-acting machinery. Heed it not. Turn not aside from thy great work. The rocks of the earth, all the elements, tell a wondrous story of the creation, extending through myriads of ages, of changes from chaos to order; from darkness to light and life; of alternating ages of torrid heat and icy solitude. The stars spangling the infinite blue deep, tell a marvelous tale of the extent of God's works, and suggest the possibility of a future greatness of the soul; of a wandering at will through endless beauty-wondering, admiring, and learning. Leave such things to fools; they are nothing to thee. Put money in thy purse.
" Work for money with all thy might, mind, and soul, and it shall flow to thee, as the water floweth to the sea, in streams ever widening and deepening, gathering strength as it comes. Thou shalt own broad acres in the hearts of cities, and principalities in the country. Thy flocks shall cover a thousand hills, and thy bank accounts increase by day and by night. Though in the pursuit of wealth thy fea- tures become the incarnation of all that is vile, a record of years of sin, at thy approach with the golden key the doors of palatial residences will fly open; obsequious servants will conduct thee to the innermost shrine; melodious voices will sing for thee the sweetest songs; gray-haired wisdom will lend thee its aid, and youth and beauty will come to thy arms. Thou mayest ride rough-shod over the people, for hast thou not the wherewith ?
" But know, O mortal' that thy millions cannot purchase one atom of love or respect; that the poor- est sewing girl in the city, or the dirtiest dustman, is richer than thou art, for some one may have for them a tender thought; but thou shalt be abhorred of all. When sorrow cometh to thee, no heart will beat in sympathy, no tears will mingle with thine. Every man's hand will be against thee, as thine has been against mankind. Every dollar of thy millions will be a demon to gnaw thy withered, shrunken soul. Thy heart shall be like a desert land, without green thing, fountain, or shade. The harpies of the law shall quarrel over thy ill-gotten wealth, as the wild dogs and wolves over the fallen bison of the plains, and thou shalt have lived in vain, for what doth thy wealth profit ?"
Gold mining and the pursuit of wealth will go on nevertheless, and may be regulated, but not pro- hibited.
SCHOOL CABINETS.
Cabinets of elegant curiosities abound everywhere, but, notwithstanding, there is a great deal of con- fusion regarding the names of the commonest rocks. The metamorphic slates, constituting the wall rocks of the quartz veins, are generally called granite, than which nothing is more different. A collection of a hundred common rocks, properly labelled and cased, at the school-houses, would cost but little and would soon have a perceptible effect in remedying the confusion.
COPPER MINING.
Copper, in quantity, was first discovered in Cala- veras county, at the place afterwards called Copper- opolis, by W. K. Reed, July 4, 1861. The outerop, along where the Union and Keystone mines were located, was very marked, and large quantities of oxidized ores were taken out near the surface, as well as fine specimens of native copper, some of which were arborescent or crystallized in form. There were also large quantities of impure oxide of copper (cop- per smut) mixed more or less with red oxide. These ores were all shipped to Swansea, England, for reduc- tion, and the profits were such that fortunes of half a million were made in a little time. It is said that the Union mine opened the largest body of ore ever discovered in the world, the shipments from it being made on an immense scale. The run of ore was three hundred and fifty feet long, and from four to nine thick at the upper level; twenty-one feet at the depth of two hundred, and thirty-one feet at the depth of two hundred and fifty feet, all of No. 1 and No. 2 ores. Other mines in the vicinity were also rich. The shipments from Stockton of the Copper- opolis ores, netted in 1863 six hundred thousand dollars; in 1864 over one million dollars. For the first year or two little attention was paid to cop- per in other places, but the rapid development of the mines, and shipment of ores with profitable returns, soon set hundreds to tracing out the copper forma- tion. The gossan or calico rock, so named from the spotted appearance caused by patches of iron rust, was found in a thousand places, and on uncovering
EDWARD WELLINGTON FAGAN.
BORN JULY 7,1872
EVALINE FAGAN. EMMALINE FAGAN, TWINS BORN DECEMBER 8℃ 1878.
THOMPSON & WEST BUB. OAKLAND, CAL.
LITH . BRITTON & REY S.F.
LIVERY STABLE
LIVERY STABLE
CARRIAGE HOUSE
HARNESS SHOP
LITH. BRITTON & REY. S.F
RESIDENCE AND LIVERY STABLE OF PETER FAGAN, SUTTER CREEK, AMADOR C9 CAL.
165
QUARTZ MINING EAST OF THE MOTHER LODE.
the rock, mundic or sulphuret of iron was generally found a few feet from the surface with a little copper also. Considerable veins were found at Lancha Plana and Campo Seco, especially at the latter place. Several companies were organized and the shipping of ore commenced. In 1862 Dr. Newton, near Ione, commenced sinking for copper on general principles rather than any practical knowledge of the ores or croppings; but the following Summer, 1863, he struck a vein of shipping ore, and the excitement in Amador county commenced. It was found that the calico, or gossan rock, was common over a tract of country eight or ten miles wide, east and west, and extend- ing from the Mokclumne to the Cosumnes rivers.
GENERAL CRAZE.
Within four months, or by the first of October, at least one thousand men were at work sinking on every discoloration of rock that could be found. At first some attention was paid to the range, but soon the veins were found everywhere, though not in sufficient quantity to be of any commercial value. A vein of four inches of black oxide of copper was discovered on the top of Bald hill, near Buena Vista, and shares were soon selling at the rate of two hun- dred thousand dollars for the prospect. This claim or mine was known by the name of Bull Run. The Star of the West, not far away, also went up to a fabulous price. Quite a town, Copper Centre, sprang up in the vicinity and many more sites werc staked out. The Ione City company struck a vein of a few inches in thickness near Stony creek, and shares were immediately held at two thousand five hundred dollars per hundred feet. Shares in an adjoining claim without the color of copper were worth two hundred dollars. Copper could be melted out of the ores of many of the veins with a common black- smith's forge. This was the case with a vein an inch or two in thickness near Sutter creek (name of the mine forgotten), and forthwith each hundred of the two thousand feet was worth one thousand dollars. Many of the companies incorporated with a capital stock of one hundred thousand to one million dollars, and opened offices, hired secretaries at salaries from fifty to one hundred dollars per month, issued hand- somely printed certificates of stock, and did everything that Washoe companies did. Large handsome signs such as, Office Ione City Copper Min- ing Company; Office Chaparral Copper Mining Company, indicated the "Copper on the brain " which was afflicting almost every one.
COUNTRY FORMED INTO DISTRICTS.
The country was all districted off, recorders elected, and laws passed, which were recognized in the courts as valid and binding. The fees for recording a location were usually one dollar, with an additional twenty-five cents for each name attached to the notice. Some of the recorders would make one hundred dollars a month at this alone. Placer mining was nearly suspended in the hunt for
copper. Not less than three hundred companies were doing constant work between the northern and southern boundaries of the county, besides others who were doing enough to hold the ground. Tunnels hundreds of feet long were run in the hard metamorphic slates, just to strike the supposed range. The serpentine range had a green color, and was thought by many to be copper ore. "Uncle Thomas Rickey " formed a company of two hundred or more, to run a tunnel into this, near Poe's ranch. " It would only cost a dollar to get in, and if they struck any- thing there would be enough for all." This tunnel was run something over two hundred feet. Fifty companies were sinking near Horse creek, one hun- dred near Forest home, fifty or more in the vicinity of Ione, as many more near Jackson and Stony creeks; in fact, it was hard to find a hill which was not claimed, with a little work done to hold the ground. Some of the notices were amusing enough.
FUNNY NOTICES.
Hon. W. A. Ludlow, now of Oakland, is authority for the following :-
" tack Notes thee unter singd clant two Huntent foot Sought on thes Loat from thee mans Neten bushes
Febuary 12 1863 Clamte sought ter Pint three"
" Nota Bean Is here By given notes ter unter signed clame too cooben clames of too Hunter feet square sought Nort too 200 Hunter feet
Thounship No 5
AmTore country feb 12 63"
"Take Notes the untersiGent chlames North 400 foot to a mains neeten Bush for Preubens of Mining Coper
Febuary 12 one thousand 800 63 "
Lest people should think this style was owing to the absence of the school-master, the following notice for the sale of property in Berkeley, in the shadow of the University, is appended :-
"FERR SALL TUR MES EZI."
Selling claims or shares was a profitable business, and stock gambling came near being established. Almost every person had his pockets full of rocks, and wanted to sell shares.
The finest and best arranged collection of ores and croppings was collected by Judge Carter, of Ione. Some twenty or thirty of the leading mines were fully represented, cropping and ores being arranged in the natural order from the top down. It should have been preserved for the use of schools.
NEW TOWNS.
Forest Home, Mineral City, and several other towns sprang up in the northern part of the county, where the excitement was greater, if possible, than in any other part. The One Hundred and One, or
166
HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Cosumnes Company, shipped considerable ore, as did several other companies. The MeNealy Company (Arroyo Seco Copper Company), near Muletown, also shipped several hundred tons of ore. C. T. Meader, of Stockton, became the copper king of the State, buying into many promising locations, the Newton mine among others. This was extensively oper- ated, and numbers of teams loaded every day for the water-front.
RESULT OF THE GENERAL SEARCHI.
A thousand shafts were sunk, many of them strik_ ing copper in small quantities. The serpentine range, spoken of in the chapter on geology as an axis of elevation, seemed to be the center of the copper belt. The deposits on the castern side were gener- ally in bunches of a few tons, eapped with iron ore. At one point, between Stony and Jackson creeks, twenty-three of these chimneys could be seen within a space of half a mile square. Around the Mountain Spring House the " mineral caps" were equally notice- able before they were removed for grading the turn- piked road. This section of the country is well worth the attention of mineralogists for its indica- tions of other minerals than copper. Some of the shafts near the serpentine struck asbestos in consider- able quantities, which is likely to be valuable.
CHROME IRON
Was also found in quantity in several places, one vein, now claimed by the Westfall brothers, being nearly three feet thick. Twenty years since, this ore was worth sixty dollars per ton, but since the dis- covery of large quantities of it in Sonoma and other places, it is worth only the cost of mining it.
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