USA > California > Amador County > History of Amador County, California, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 49
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MINERS' LIBRARY ASSOCIATION.
Such a gathering of professional and literary men was sure to ripen into action. Some attempts were made by Robert Beth as early as 1850 to bring about a publie library. Some of the merchants bought a stoek of novels and light reading, which was loaned at ten cents a volume. The first organ- ized effort to get reading matter was in the Autumn of 1854, when the "Miners' Library Association " was formed, with admission fees of one dollar, and monthly dues of twenty-five cents. Weekly meet- ings were held to discuss social, political, and scien- tifie questions. Such talent as was obtainable was engaged for occasional lectures. The Baptist church, the building now going to ruin, was frequently filled
with attentive and interested hearers. When a hundred dollars had been accumulated a list of books was ordered, and a respectable nucleus of a library formed. The institution ran smoothly for three or four months, when a series of revival meetings, held at the Methodist church, drew away the audience. The society made the mistake of neglecting to incorporate, and when the weekly meetings began to lose their interest, a rumor got into circulation that the society was broken up, whereupon a grab was made for the books, and the Library Association dissolved in a day or two, never to recover, as there was no power to compel restitution of books. Among the founders of this society, were John King, R. C. Jacobs, I. W. Whitney, Robert Stewart, Henry C. Foster, Charles, William, and Bartholomew Chapline, James Whitesides, J. D. Mason and others.
DRAMATIC SOCIETIES.
The Voleano Thespian Society was formed in the Winter of 1854-55. Many of the promoters of the defunet Library Association, threw their energies into this institution, and for a few months gave occa- sional exhibitions. " The Golden Farmer " was played, with James Whitesides for the farmer; R. C. Jacobs, for Elizabeth; Dr. Gibson, now of Stock- ton, for Jimmy Twiteher; other parts forgotten. James Rile was scene-painter. He was mining in Humbug guleh, and gave the society the benefit of his skill as a seenie painter, which was considerable, whenever a man was put in his place in the minc. Two young boys, by the name of Geo. Y. and Louis Miller, now stalwart, bearded men in San Francisco, made two handsome actresses. This institution gave the school a benefit or two, ran a few months until the evenings got too short for work, and collapsed. A wandering theatrical party afterwards borrowed the small property, and left without remembering to return it.
About the time this society started, another put in appearance. The second one embraced some musical talent, and played for a few times; onee for the benefit of the Baptist church. For the " benefit of the Baptist church," became a by-word; the gam- blers opened their games for the " benefit of the Baptist church."
RUSSELL'S HILL.
This is a gravel deposit on the line of the Voleano ridge, and probably belongs to the same range as Upper Rancheria. It was left in the great glacial . erosion which cut out the valleys north of Volcano. It was good for an ounce a day in early time.
FORT JOHN
Is a limestone deposit similar to Voleano, which place it bid fair to rival in 1850. Two or three men (names forgotten) who first mined here in '49, were killed by the Indians. P. Y. Cool, Thomas Riekey, and James, his son, mined here in 1850, previous to working quartz in Amador. They were instru- mental in building a church and school-house, per-
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VOLCANO AND VICINITY.
haps the first in the county. The deposits were neither extensive nor rich, and the place soon fell in the rear. In 1856 it contained a little one-horse store, with a dozen or inore miners, who were said by those who visited the place, to be always waiting for water to come or go down, amusing themselves in the meantime with bean-poker.
In 1850 several hundred miners made good pay on the flat; now one man, who has been there all these long years, is the sole inhabitant. He seems to have staid to point out the site of the former town, and relate to occasional visitors the glories of the ancient days. He remembers where and when every event of note transpired.
UPPER RANCHERIA.
This is a continuation of the Russell's hill lead, some of the gravel running under the deep lava bed in the vicinity. In 1856 to 1860 there were fifty or sixty miners here. Some fine structures, built of the indurated lava, from the adjoining hills, are still stand- ing, relics of the former glory of the town. The place is famous as the former residence of Jacob Emmin- ger, a Justice of the Peace, who sentenced a China- man to jail for life for stealing chickens. Upon being questioned about the matter, Jake denied the impeachment, but finally justified the matter by say- ing, "If I had not done so the crowd would have hung the poor fellow." Sam Loree now keeps a lonely watch over the site of the ancient town.
AQUEDUCT CITY
Is at the head of Grass valley, which was taken up in 1850 by James Dolan, as a ranch. It was after- wards sold to Thompson and Perrin, who fenced it and cut the grass for bay, which was worth sixty- five to one hundred dollars per ton. Mines were discovered near the head of the valley in 1850. It was first worked by a party of four or five, Braden & Co., who made a secret of the discovery, but not long, for one morning James Henry and party appeared and staked off claims. The new comers had not yet built cabins, and when the rain came, in September, they were sleeping in blankets on the ground. They got up and sat out the night astride of a log, with the blankets over their heads. There was 1:0 more rain of any account until Spring. The Huet claim was the richest in the camp. French gulch, coming into the valley near Ham's Hotel, was very rich. One man carried away fifty thousand dollars from it. Sleeper, Lucas, and Bisbce (Bob, now of Sutter Creek), had claims that would pay an ounce each for two or three hours' work. When they had made this, the day's work was finished, and they put on white shirts and mounted their horses for a ride to Jackson, or some other town.
The water by the Ham ditch passed the Mokelumne divide at this place. An aqueduct one hundred and thirty fect high, carrying the water to the next ridge, gave name to the place, which, about the time of the coming of the water, had several hundred
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inhabitants, three hotels, two livery stables, three stores for general merchandise, one drug store, besides numerous saloons. The first store was kept by Henry, Graham & Biggs.
The old residents of the place remember the sen- sation created by the two tall Bell sisters, who rode like centaurs, whenever they appeared on horse- back. The livery stables had several pairs of fine saddle horses, which were much in quest at that time. Dr. Crawford and the Johnston brothers had a saw-mill there, with quite a history. It was for- merly located in El Dorado county; some kind of attachment being laid on it, or expected, it was determined to move it into Amador county. The removal had to be done between Saturday night and Sunday morning, to prevent a legal process for injunction. The engineer, Underwood, afterwards of Amador, ran the mill as usual, but had loosened every bolt and nut possible, and, when twelve o'clock came, the mill was shut down, dismembered and loaded on a wagon, within an hour, the boilers hot, and the furnace fires still glowing. Sunday morn- ing found the place deserted, which caused the remark that Dr. Crawford, who planned the elope- ment, carried off a saw-mill while it was running. Before midnight it was in Amador county, beyond the reach of attachment.
The gulches were soon worked out, and the hill diggings did not prove rich or permanent. The place now has a few families, one store, and one hotel. Captain Ham, the engineer and financier of the Ham ditch, resides here. Forty years of active life has not dulled his capacity for gigantic projects, one of his especial favorites being a canal which would transport the entire amount of wood and lumber in the Sierras to San Francisco.
POTATO DIET.
In the Winter of 1852-53, Major Shipman, Albert and Carter Land, had been prospecting a quartz vein near Grass Valley, boarding at Thompson & Perrin's, at twenty-one dollars per week. When the roads got so bad that they could not get pro- visions at all, Thompson & Perrin were obliged to close their house. The Major had cultivated a small patch in potatocs the Summer before, and the party now started in on roast potatoes. Jim Henry, Ike Eastman, Jake Cook, and other boys at Grass Valley, being out of provisions also, were invited in, and they all lived like kings on roast potatoes until the storm was over, and the roads got so that better food could be obtained.
CONTRERAS.
Twenty-five years ago a party of Mexicans, led by Pablo Contreras, who seems to have been a mnan of much education and influence, was mining at this place, which was a few miles east from Volcano. There were numerons small veins of quartz, from three inches to eighteen inches in width. They were pocket veins, a thousand dollars being often found in
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
a small space. A large number of arastras were running, three of them by water-power. There were soveral veins in the vicinity which were worked by larger companies. Tho Belling vein, worked by C. C. Belding of Sutter Creek, changed owners several times, at twenty thousand dollars. The Thierkant vein was also rich, some good crushings being made. The wall rocks were mostly granite, and the veins were soon exhausted. The system belongs to the West Point range, the Mace veins being a continuation of the same. The gold in some of these veins is so fine as to be unappreciable by the ordinary processes of working. Careful panning of the decayed quartz will sometimes show a thousand mnieroscopic specks of gold, as fine as bronze, which will float off on the water. Tavernier, the noted caricaturist and painter, operated here for a while. Contreras had a family of very pretty and virtuous girls, who fascinated a score of young Americans, some of whom followed the family back to Mexico. The place had three or four hundred inhabitants at one time, and was worked for some years. Very little work is being done at present.
ASHLAND, GRIZZLY HILL, AND WHEELER'S DIGGINGS.
These are names of once flourishing mining camps, to the northward of the quartz veins last mentioned, on the different branches of Sutter creek. Ashland was worked by Colonel Bicknell and party. It sometimes paid as high as two ounces per day. Wheeler's diggings, on the north fork, were not quite so rich, but furnished remunerative employment some years for quite a number of men. In 1869, Mr. H. Parlin, James Hall, and - Halsey, experi- enced miners, traced the pay into the hills or ridges between the hills, and in 1876, succeeded in carrying a stream of water on to the hill, developing prob- ably the best paying gravel mines in the county at the present time. James Hall, the present owner, has a traet of twenty acres, which will probably put him in easy circumstances for life. A ditch from the middle fork of Sutter creek, which runs nearly the whole season, supplies him with water; the elevation above the hill gives plenty of fall for tailings, and the quantity of ground, twenty acres, ensures a life-long and profitable job.
The deposit seems of an alluvial character, the stream running transversely to the present streams. The pebbles are little rounded, the boulders of curi- ous looking quartz, seen in many places lying near the veins of which they were once a part, showing that the stream or river was insignificant, running at a small depression.
PLATSBURG,
Or Prospect hill, one of the places that was, the former site being overgrown with pine trees, so thick as to deter even a rabbit from attempting to explore it, was in the vicinity of Foster's ranch, Hunt's gulch, Spanish gulch, and Whisky flat or Karney's diggings, belonging to the same cluster of gold deposits.
Plattsburg has strong indications of being the bed of a river, the boulders being large and well rounded. When discovered it was a flat of a few acres in ex- tent, having four or five feet of gravel under two or three feet of red soil. In 1854 and '55, it had forty or fifty miners, but was soon worked out and deserted. When the place was discovered, Colonel Platt and Judge Gale, two lawyers, intent on immortalizing their names, played a game of euchre to see whether it should be called Plattsburg or Galesburg; the for- mer winning, and giving it his name.
HUNT'S GULCH
IIeads on the Platsburg hill, a man by the name of Hunt working it at an early day. One day when Hunt was in Jackson he was informed by Evans, the gentlemanly proprietor of the Louisiana House, that a lady in the parlor wished to see him. As he was young and rather good looking, the request was not surprising, and he responded with alacrity. The lady had arrived that morning from the East, on her way to her husband, whose name was Steven Hunt, of Volcano. On inquiring for him she was much pleased to learn that he was in the house at the time. Evans was not aware that Hunt had no wife, and thought to give him an agreeable surprise. She clasped her arms around Hunt's neck, kissed him, and sunk her face, bathed with tears of joy, into his bosom, as any faithful wife would naturally do after a separation of years. After reposing there a moment she took a second and better look at his face and starting back with a look of about equal parts of alarm and indignation, exclaimed, "You are not my husband!" "No," says he, " unfortunately for me, I am not." A little inquiry elicited the fact that the true Steren Hunt was in Volcano, unconscious of the proximity of his wife. As the interested parties were sensible persons, there was no shooting or other display of foolishness.
Spanish gulch emptied into the south branch near Hunt's gulch. It was worked in 1850 by James L. Halstead, who has been referred to before. It was said to be good at first but was abandoned in a year or two.
Whisky Slide, where Andy Karney and Charlie Ackerly made a raise, was a flat near Spanish gulch, and probably was once the channel. It was good for an ounce a day. It was discovered about 1855 by a rather ludierous accident. The lueky diseov- erers were in the habit of returning to their cabin late at night and in an inebriated condition. On one of these trips one of the party tumbled into a pros- peet hole. It was not deep enough to seriously injure him, but too deep for him to elimb out without aid. While the others were gone for ropes and a light, he took a notion to try some dirt from the bot- tom, and refused to come out until they gave him the means of getting a pan of dirt. When it was washed the next morning it proved to be rich, and was the starting-point for several fortunes.
RESIDENCE, HOTEL AND RANCH OF MRS MARGARET FOSTER, AMADOR WAGON ROAD, 6 MILES FROM VOLCANO, AMADOR, C9 CAL.
LITH . BRITTON & REY 8. F.
RANCH AND RESIDENCE OF CHARLES BAMERT, NEAR MOKELUMNE RIVER, TP Nº2.AMADOR. C9 CAL.
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VOLCANO AND VICINITY.
CRYSTALS.
Fine specimens of crystallized quartz, of a smoky color by transmitted light, and black by reflected light, are found near Volcano. Mr. Williams, near Peter Dentzler's house, has some fine specimens five or six inches in diameter. Some of these show the lines of deposit and are valuable for illustrating the processes of crystallization.
CAVES.
There are many caves around Volcano. Several of the smaller ones were discovered at an carly day, but the large one was not explored until 1834. This is supposed to underlie the hill south of Stony Point. E. Sammis, with a party, is believed to have been the first to enter it. The opening, about eighteen inches across, is near the top of the hill, and descends rather precipitously to the water level, one hundred and fifty feet below, the distance on the slope being about two hundred. The first thorough exploration was made in the Summer of 1854 by a party of which the writer was one, the previous explorers having gone down but a short distance. The long rope was fastened to the rock at the sur- face, and the coil thrown forward and downward into the darkness. Several pounds of candles were taken along and placed in the soft clay, which formed the sloping floor of the cavern. The ad- vanced man of the party, not having a realizing sense of the abyss yawning below him, stood without fear on the steep slope, where a slip of the foot would have sent him sliding to the bottom. As the descent progressed and the cave became lighted up, a vaulted chamber, large enough to contain the largest trees, came to view. Stalactites, or rather crystals of rhomboidal . spar, sparkled like diamonds all over the roof. As the size of the cavern, and the depth and almost perpendicular descent, became apparent by the lighted candles a hundred feet below, all except the advanced portion of the party beat a retreat, the descent looking too dangerous. The courage of the first to descend was rather a matter of unconsciousness of danger, than a knowl- edge of the situation and a willingness to face it, as, when coming up, the at first fearless persons clung with a nervous feeling to the rope, nor dared to take a full breath until they were well on their feet on the ground above. About one hundred feet from the surface a small space was found which was compara- tively level, affording a resting-place. From this place the cavern seemed to branch off in several directions; towards the north was a narrow fissure, or nearly vertical opening, corresponding in pitch and direction to the lines of cleavage of the country rock, and might have been, under other and more favorable circumstances, the location of a quartz vein; in fact, the capping or roof of this fissure is a kind of jasper or ferruginous quartz. On the south side there was a perpendicular descent of perhaps twenty feet, and then another comparatively level place. So far the bottom or floor was soft clay, which, 28
apparently, had been washed in from the surface of the ground through the opening; but they now found the true floor, which scemed of infinitely small stalagmites, fine as snow, which crunched under the foot like frost. This formation was all destroyed in a short time by the tramping over it of numerous visitors. Some thirty or forty fect below this second flat or floor was the lake, a pool of clear water, sixty or cighty feet across, which is, proba- bly, the source of supply for the numerous cool springs in the vicinity. This last floor seemed to rest on numerous pillars of rhomboidal spar, which were originally stalactites, or pendant formations from the roof, which had grown by continual pre- cipitation of calcareous matter, until they united with the floor. Some of these columns were round, some thin and slab-like, the latter being the prevail- ing type. When struck they would give forth a peculiar bell-like, musical sound, each column having a different note, which reverberated through the cave like the sounds of an organ in a cathedral. One of these columns, a thin slab, perhaps three feet wide, one-fourth as thick, and fifteen feet high, had a peculiarly rich tone. In trying to see how loud it could be made to sound it was cracked, and its voice forever silenced. This act of vandalism has been, and always will be, a source of regret, though the other columns, in consequence of repeated ham- merings by subsequent visitors, were soon silenced and have given forth no song for a quarter of a cen- tury. The side caves were full of the boveled crys- tallizations, which, when broken off, fell to the bot- tom of the cave with a tinkling, jingling sound, as of a hundred tiny silver bells. The last-mentioned crystals, though formed of rhomboid spar, stood out from the walls in every conceivable direction, turning and bending into many shapes, according to the law of obtuse angles, prevailing with that variety of crystals. It is thought by some naturalists that they result from vapor containing lime, as it is impossible for them to have been formed from drip- ping water, like stalactites or stalagmites.
Soon after the discovery of the cave the entrance was enlarged, for the purpose of putting a stairway down, and making it a place of public resort. The project was abandoned, and in a short time the numerous visitors despoiled the cave of all the spar; and visitors of the present day can form no idea of its splendor twenty-five years ago. The other smaller caves had no curiosities like the large one. It is believed that the hill north of Volcano also contains a large cavern, as in many places water runs down that does not again make its appcar- ance at the surface. The name of Volcano was given to the place, under the impression that the masses of chalcedony, carnelian, cacholong, onyx, and jasper, were of volcanic origin. Many beautiful specimens have been carried away, some of which were cut into jewelry. The composition is of silica, lime, red oxide of iron, and perhaps other minerals
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HISTORY OF AMADOR COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
in minuto quantities, the color varying from trans- luceut to milky white, or flesh color, as the minerals named, predominate in the mixture. They have uo value except as curiosities. The same formations on a smaller scale, may be found in many other places, especially in the serpentine range in the western portion of the county. Pebbles of various kinds of agate, ent away from these ranges during the glacial era, may be found on the plains west of the county line. They have the same character and origin as the famous Pescadero pebbles found on the sea-beach near Santa Cruz.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
NORTH-WESTERN PART OF THE COUNTY.
Sutter Creek-First Foundry-Knight's Foundry and Machine Shop-Planing Mill-Society at Sutter Creek-Schools and Sohool-Houses-Shipment of Gold-Fires-Incorporation- Future Prospects - Amador - Ministers - Placer Mines- Gold of Lower Rancheria-Oleta-Execution by Lynch Liw -Killing of Carter by Doctor Unkles-Home Rule-Fatal Explosion-Bad Case of Erysipelas-Lynch Law Vetoed- The Famous Safe Robbery-First School-Churches-Pres- ent Mining Prospect -- Sewell's Addition-Cosumnes River -Amusing account of Mining Machinery-Famous Lynch- ing Affair at Jamison's Ranch.
THOUGH General Sutter and his party mined here in 1848, there was little done until the discovery of quartz in 1851. In October, 1849, persons passing through could see no evidence of any mining. There was a small, cloth tent at the crossing of the creek, owned by a man by the name of Jackson, from Oregon, where meat, whisky, and some provisions. were sold. A few miners gathered here on Sundays when the weather did not permit them to go to Dry- town or Jackson. After the discovery of the quartz mines on the north side of the creek, the gulches and flats began to be worked. The placers were only moderately rich. Perhaps the streams making off of Tueker hill were as good as any. A report is current that a twenty-five pound lump was found in the ravine below the Lincoln & Mahoney mills, but it cannot be traced to any reliable source. The gulch below the Hayward mine was only moderately rich. Indeed, it seems quite certain that a vein which has enriched many gulches has nothing left for milling purposes. Gopher flat, above the town, was worked mostly by Spaniards, by drifting from one hole to another, only a few feet below the surface. Some- times the dirt was carted to Sutter creek to be washed. The hills east of the town are gravel deposits of the pliocene period. Though worked in many places, they were only moderately rich. They are interesting as showing the course of the streams in past ages. One may still trace the directions by the bodies of gravel left in many places. The divide between Amador and Sutter is full of interesting points, showing a river running towards the west before the close of the volcanic period. Four or five miles west of Sutter this stream seems to have ter- minated in a precipitous fall, boulders of many tons in weight, some of granite and others of vol-
canic matter, being piled in a confused mass. Some few places along this line have been mined out, but, as in nearly all the rivers of the volcanic period, the irruptions of lava kept the stream from wearing away the beds of anriferous slates, the sources of the river gokl. On the south side of Sutter creek is the largest stream of volcanic gravel in the county, which may be traced from Prospect Rock twenty- five miles cast of Volcano, to some miles west of Ione, where it spread out into the ocean. This chan- nel is remarkable as having at one time in the vol- canic period a body of hot lava running from the summit to the sea. What a sight for the primeval man, which, according to Whitney, must have lived here at that time.
The mining here at first was of a primitive order, the rocker being the main reliance for separating the gold. In the Spring of 1850, a great improve- ment was introduced. Jim Wheeler, Boz. Goodrich, and Dick Moulton, brought a long tom, which was first used in the northern mines, from Sacramento. It was a daring innovation, and, like most new things, was unmercifully ridiculed by the conserva- tive portion of the miners. It was only seven feet long, and sixteen inches wide. Small as it was, it effected a great saving of labor, and was soon brought into general use, though a year later it was displaced by the string of sluices, which enabled men to make wages out of still poorer dirt. After the discovery of the Quartz mines, the energy of the best men of the camp was turned in that direction, and placer mining became a minor interest. The development of quartz mining, which built up the most flourish - ing town in Amador county, that annually sent a million or more of dollars into the general circula- tion, is described in another chapter.
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