USA > California > Napa County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 20
USA > California > Lake County > History of Napa and Lake Counties, California : comprising their geography, geology, topography, climatography, springs and timber, together with a full and particular record of the Mexican Grants, also separate histories of all the townships and biographical sketches > Part 20
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-NAPA.
liberate volatile ammonia from the sal-ammoniac salts, and as a resultant we find that the air is laden with the fumes of ammonia. There is no doubt but this is the true source of the ammonia found in this soot. The fumes of ammonia are readily driven off by heat, and their presence is dis- covered about the furnaces as well as at the soot-pan ; but quicklime is a better re-agent than heat, hence they are the rankest during the process of treating the soot.
There are two distinct mines here so closely connected that they may, for all practical purposes of working, be considered as one. They are known as the " Manzanita," and the "Mercury." One shaft reaches them both, going out on different levels. The dip of both is the same, being about thirty-five or forty degrees to the north-east. There is a tunnel which taps the ore-body at about the 90-foot level, which opens on the side of the hill; and in the shaft there are three levels : the 200-foot, 400-foot, and the 500-foot. The next level will be 650-foot. From the 400-foot level there is a tunnel or drift of seven hundred feet. Leading from the shaft are main tunnels, which are very large and roomy. The mine is kept well timbered, and only one man has been killed in the mine, and that was from his own carelessness. The ventilation of the mine is excellent, and the temperature never gets excessively warm, and is often below what it is at the surface in the summer season. The 200-foot level is warmer than the 500-foot. There is so little water in the mine that no pump is necessary at all. Railroad tracks are laid in the main tunnels, and stoops are carried up through the ore body from one level to another, and winzes and chutes are carried up with them the same as in other mines. To a stranger, the spec- tacle presented in the deep recesses of a mine is wierd. The dim and flick- ering light of the miner's candle throws an indistinct glimmer upon every- thing; and the hollow ringing sounds caused by the miner's pick as it cleaves the rocks sounds like the echoes from another world in regions far more subterranean than where we are. Clambering .over debris along the stoops, or up the long and narrow winzes, and gliding through the low pas- sages in a stooping position, makes one feel that truly it is a precarious place to be in ; but the miners say not, and that they would not exchange their work underground for any vocation on the surface. To us the novelty was pleasant, and we enjoyed the prowling around in the very bowels of the earth.
The furnace is some distance from the shaft, and the ore is taken thence in horse-cars. It being of the soft and friable nature which we have de- scribed, it cannot be burned as ordinary ore is, but has to be passed through a mill similar to that used in grinding clay for brick-making purposes. Adobe or sun-dried brick are then formed, and these are passed into the furnace. There is only one furnace at this mine, but it is an excellent one,
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Mines and Mining.
being a "Stack," a combination of the Knox & Osborn and the Green, and having the good qualities of both incorporated in it. Its capacity is twenty- four to twenty-eight tons a day, and the slag is drawn every one and a half hours. The yield of metal at this mine for 1879 was 1.98 per cent., and for 1880 it was 2.01 per cent. The yield of the mine since 1876 has been kindly furnished us by Mr. M. G. Rhodes, the superintendent, and is as follows:
Year.
Flasks.
Pounds.
1876
963
73,669
1877
1,348
103,122
1878
2,872
219,788
1879
3,784
289,476
1880.
3,837
293,530
1881 (first seven months)
3,248
248,472
Total.
16,052
1,227,978
About fifty men are employed, and the average weekly product is one hundred and fifteen flasks. Mr. Rhodes has tried an experiment, in putting glass sides to a couple of his condensers, and he finds that it works well. The condensers of the large chamber pattern comprise three made of brick and two of glass, to which is added two small iron ones. The workings of the condensers are as perfect as it is possible, and close experiments reveal the fact that only a trace of mercury escape through the chimney.
Hitherto the freighting has been done via Middletown to Calistoga, but the Company is now constructing a road from the mine to the Mountain Mill House at the north-eastern base of St. Helena Mountain, lessening the distance many miles.
Mr. M. G. Rhodes is the superintendent and is a very proficient man. The underground affairs are in charge of Mr. W. P. Cook, the gentleman who first discovered the mine. It is ever thus-locators seldom reap the harvest which the mines they have discovered yields, but others get the golden benefit of their " finds."
The Ivanhoe Mine .- This mine is located about one mile north-east of the Phoenix Mine, but over the ridge from it and hence not in the same lead. It is in the same kind of formation as the Oat Hill, viz .: sandstone, and in the same body of it, although on the opposite side of the cañon. It has been but recently opened and work in the way of further opening is being now pushed ahead. Mr. M. G. Rhodes, superintendent of the Oat Hill, and some San Francisco parties are the owners.
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-NAPA.
OTHER QUICKSILVER MINES .- There have been from time to time several other companies formed for the prosecution of quicksilver mining, but none of them have been very successful. Of these we find the following on record :
Hamilton Quicksilver Mine .- Mention has already been made of the fact that J. M. Hamilton leased the Phoenix Mine in 1862. This company was formed to work that mine under that lease, and the certificate of incor- poration was filed June 30th of that year. The capital stock was $288,000 held in one hundred and forty-four shares of $200 each. The original Trustees were J. M. Hamilton, I. N. Larimer, T. B. McClure, H. H. Coster and W. P. Hammond. These names also comprise the locators of the mine. Insufficient works and a lack of experience brought the affairs of this Company to a termination within a year after its organization.
New Burlington Quicksilver Mine .- This mine was located near Oak- ville, and the certificate of incorporation was filed May 17, 1871. The capital stock was $300,000, held in three thousand shares of $100 each. The original trustees were David Dank, Win. Baldridge, Wm. A. Lewis, Henry H. Harris and John Stecker. The locators were John Philpot, H. H. Harris, John White, Wm. A. Lewis, Wm. Baldridge, B. F. White, David Dank and John Stecker. No work was ever done on this mine to amount to anything.
The Red Hill Quicksilver Mine .- This mine was located in Pope Valley, and the certificate of incorporation was filed March 2, 1871. The capital stock was $480,000, held in four thousand eight hundred shares at $100 each. The original trustees were W. W. Stillwagon, A. Y. Esterby, Daniel Patten, J. H. Howland and R. Burnell. The same parties were also locators. Nothing was ever done at this mine.
The Silver Bow Mine .- The claim of this company was also located in Pope Valley. The certificate of incorporation was filed October 2, 1871. The capital stock was $180,000, held in one thousand eight hun- dred shares of $100 each. The original trustees were J. H. Kester, P. Van Bever, A. W. Norton, Joseph N. Reynolds and C. E. Comstock. The locators were Jesse Barnett, Henry Mygatt, J. N. Reynolds, J. Israelsky, P. E. Perl, A. W. Norton, P. Van Bever, D. B. Parks, J. H. Kester and C. E. Comstock. A considerable work was done on this mine, and its ores were reduced at one time at the works of the Valley Mine. It is all a thing of the past now, however.
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Mines and Mining.
The Overland Quicksilver Mine .- The location of this mine was in the Summit Mining District, and adjacent to the Summit Mine, and probably on the same lead. The certificate of incorporation was filed Octo- ber 6, 1871. The capital stock was $300,000, held in three thousand shares of $100 each. The original trustees were George N. Cornwell, E. J. Smith, E. N. Boynton, and the locators were E. N. Boynton, W. W. Pendegast, John T. Smith and H. H. Clark. No work to amount to anything was ever done on this mine.
The Mutual Quicksilver Mine .- The location of this mine was in the Napa Mining District and adjoining the Oakville Mine. The certifi- cate of incorporation was filed March 1, 1872, with a capital stock of $300,000, held in three thousand shares of $100 each. The original trustees were R. H. Sterling, T. H. Thompson, Henry Fowler, W. W. Thompson, and J. F. Lambdin. The locators were R. H. Sterling, Henry Fowler, W. C. Watson, W. W. Thompson, and J. F. Lambdin.
Mammoth Mining Company .- The certificate of incorporation of this company was filed September 22, 1871, with the following original trustees : John Lawley, John Pershbaker, T. P. Stoney, M. B. Pond, and Sylvester E. Smith. The capital stock was put at $4,000,000, held in forty thousand shares at $100 each. The object set forth in the certificate of this company is to own, occupy, and work mines of cinnabar, and to extract quicksilver and other metals from the ores of said mines, and to carry on the business of quicksilver mining generally in Napa and Lake Counties.
One cannot help reflecting as he glances over the foregoing pages, how easy it is to get grand fortunes figured out on paper, and how hard it is to get them realized. Here we see companies with capital stocks ranging from a few thousand dollars to the enormous and incomprehensible sum of four millions, and yet not a dollar of actual value is represented by many of them. The subject furnishes food for reflection, and having thus called the reader's attention to it we will leave it for his cogitation.
SILVER MINES .- That there are paying silver mines in Napa County there can be no doubt, but they need capital to develop them, and just now capitalists are inclined to be a little shy of mining claims. The amount that a mine can be sold for is always a matter of more moment than the actual yield of metal. It is a very safe assertion to say that far more money has been put into silver mines on the Pacific Coast than has ever been taken out of them, and then if we include all that has been worse than sunk in stock speculations, we will have an amount that exceeds their yield perhaps one hundred per cent. The only silver mine in Napa County that has been
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-NAPA.
worked to any extent is the Silverado, which was located in the south-eastern slope of Mount St. Helena. Work was prosecuted at this place quite exten- sively in 1874-5. The ledge extended north and south across a spur of the mountain, and was worked from the surface downwards. The dip of the ledge was about twenty degrees, and the quartz was very beautiful, being porous, or full of cavities which were lined with crystals, which sparkled like diamonds. These crystals were colored frequently with oxide of iron, and ranged from a dull yellow to a bright carmine. The silver appeared here in the form of chlorides, and the ore was sometimes quite rich. The mine was situated just to the left of the toll-road leading over St. Helena, and was near the toll house. About a mile further down the mountain, towards Calistoga, a mill was constructed which had eight stamps in it. The ore was drawn from the mine to the mill with heavy teams. The pro- cess of gathering the silver here was similar to that practiced at any of the silver mines, and consisted of large pans, holding several barrels, called " settlers," into which the crushed and powdered ore passed from the stamp. In these quicksilver, common salt, etc., were placed, and the whole mass set to revolving by means of a fan-wheel inside. After being taken up by the quicksilver, it was roasted, the mercury going over and leaving a residuum of gold and silver. The mine was abandoned about 1877, and the works are now fast going to decay.
The Calistoga Quartz Mill .- The people of Calistoga and vicinity have an abiding faith in the richness of the section about there in mineral wealth, and from time to time the stillness of the place is ruffled by a breeze of excitement emanating from some reported good "find." Of these many claims the Ida Easley seems to be considered the best-at least, it shows the best prospects. During the fall and winter of 1880-1 a company was organized for the purpose of erecting a small custom quartz mill at Calis- toga, and they proceeded as far as the erection of the building, but since then nothing has been done, and rumors are rife that nothing further will be done. As to the relative merits of the various mines, we can state no estimate, and only time will tell whether or not the fond hopes of the good people of Calistoga are to be realized. Should paying mines ever be dis- covered here and successfully worked it would add a new impetus to the whole business interests of the upper valley, and, indeed, to the whole of Napa County.
CALISTOGA MINING DISTRICT .- The principal mines in this district are to be found in what is known as Kings Canon. We are sorry indeed that these mines are not in a more advanced stage of work, for as it is now, for one to say that there is that or this to be found in these mines in paying
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Mines and Mining.
quantities is only a matter of conjecture. We have examined ore rock from various mines in this section, and while there are strong evidences of great mineral wealth in many of them, yet we do not care to venture the asser- tion, in a work of this character, that this or that mine is a bonanza, or to set any approximate figures upon its value or probable yield. We will name a few of the most prominent of the mines in this district, or at least such as have been named to us as the most likely to prove successful. Of course, we understand that every claimant hopes that he has the best pay- ing thing on the whole ledge, and also that each one thinks he has, hence we expect somne fault to be found with the following :
The Elephant .- This mine is situated on the south side of Kings Canon, and is the property of Messrs. Getleson, Smith and Brown. When we were there they had just struck the cap rock of the ledge, hence no definite esti- mate could be made of the value of the ore. It was sulphuret of silver.
The Hellen .- Owned by Messrs. Gardiner, Smith and Brown, and is located on the west side of Kings Canon. They have been drifting into the side of the hill, having gone upwards of forty feet, hoping to strike a ledge whose outcroppings appear further up the hill.
The Ida Easley .- This mine is the property of Judge Hartwell, of Napa City, and is located about three miles from the town of Calistoga, on the west side of Kings Cañon. Quite an amount of drifting and tunneling has been done here, and much ore that assayed very well indeed has been gotten out of it. Indeed, it is considered by all to be one of the best, if not the best mine in the whole district. Work was suspended here, however, when the quartz mill at Calistoga was found to be a failure.
There are other mines which deserve mention, but still we must pass them by, and say, in general terms, that the prospects are good, and there is good grounds for thinking that the future mining interests of this section will be something grand and rich.
COAL MINES .- As stated above, there is no probability of there being any coal measures in Napa County which can be worked to advantage, although there are here and there outcroppings that look very favorable indeed. On the strength of these a few coal companies have been formed, but nothing further than prospecting has been done. A few seams of quite good coal have been found in Capelle Valley, but they are inconsiderable.
Pacific Coal Mining Company .- The certificate of incorporation of this company was filed May 17, 1871. The objects set forth in their cer- tificate was " to mine for coal beds or strata." The capital stock, $2,000,000
12
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-NAPA.
in twenty thousand shares of $100 each. Original corporators and trustees, E. Huguenin, Henry Mygatt, W. W. Stillwagon, J. H. Kester and W. & S. Holt.
Napa Coal Company .- The certificate of incorporation was filed by this company February 1, 1871. The object as set forth in their certificate was to " purchase and own coal lands in the State of California, and open coal beds and veins thereon, and remove the coal for the purpose of com- merce." The capital stock was set at $3,000,000, held in thirty thousand shares of $100 each. The original trustees and incorporators of this com- pany were: W. C. S. Smith, George N. Cornwell, W. R. Brown, E. N. Boynton and John Mudgett.
Clark Coal Mining Company .- The certificate of incorporation was filed by this company March 7, 1871. The object being " to mine coal on the land owned by George W. Clark in Napa County, and to purchase and sell coal lands." The capital stock was placed at $2,000,000, held in twenty thousand shares at $100 per share. The trustees and incorporators were W. W. Stillwagon, Henry Mygatt, Ralph Ellis, E. Huguenin and Robert Crouch.
Atlantic Coal Company .- The certificate of incorporation of this com- pany was filed May 17, 1871. The object being to work coal beds or shale. The capital stock was $2,000,000, held in twenty thousand shares at $100 each. The original trustees and incorporators were Henry Mygatt, John H. Kester, E. Huguenin, W. W. Stillwagon and C. E. Comstock.
There have been other corporations formed for mining in this county, but as they accomplished nothing, mention of them is omitted here. The above are inserted to give the reader an idea of the kinds and extent of mining that has been attempted in times gone by. As to the future of the mining interests of Napa County, it is hard now to determine what will be its status, say ten years from now. Should the price of quicksilver advance to one dollar per pound, which is not improbable, then would we see the mountains of Napa full of prospectors, and the hum and whir of machinery would be heard all through them, for there are many mines in the county which would pay well at that rate. As to sil- ver, time alone can tell what that will develop into. Let us hope for the best while the prospecting goes bravely on. As to gold, the indications are that there is none, and so of coal. There are better fields for capital, to say the least.
Prl Wallace
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Viticulture in Napa County.
VITICULTURE IN NAPA COUNTY.
From the days that immediately succeeded the flood we have accounts of vineyards and wine using. In the Book of Genesis ix, 20, we read : " And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard and drank of the wine." It is reasonable to suppose that if Noah knew how to manu- facture wine after the flood, he also knew how to do it before that event occurred, and so did his fathers before him. To make and drink some kind of fermented and intoxicating beverage seems to be the common impulse of humanity, wheresoever dispersed around the globe. No nation was ever yet so highly civilized that it outgrew that taste, and no tribe is so primitive but that it has attained it. Almost everything that grows has been brought into requisition for the manufacture of spirits. Grapes make wine and brandy ; wheat, barley, rye and maize produce whiskey ; sugar cane, rum ; apples, cider ; palm trees, atole ; cacti, aguadienta; barley and hops, beer and ale; the leaves and bark of the spruce tree are often brought into requisition for the same purpose; and then there is blackberry, raspberry, elderberry, currant, rhubarb and et id omne genus kinds of wine. Whether or not this natural desire for these beverages is one of the taints that came upon the race through Adam, is not our province here to speculate. In all things we must deal with mankind as we find it, letting the mooted ques- tions stand aside for the consideration of others.
It is the abuse of the good things of life that has led the human family into disaster, and not the use of them. The intemperate use, which is the vilest of abuse of our greatest blessings, entails the greatest of woes upon us. Both sacred and profane history is full of references to both the good and bad results which flow from the use of wine. Babylon, the mighty city, fell into the hands of the enemy while the king and chief officers were in a drunken revel. " Wine is a mocker, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." " Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup; for at last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." " Who hath woe ? who hath contentions ? who hath wounds with- out a cause ? They that tarry long at the wine ; they that go to seek mixed wine." Such and kindred passages can be found in the Bible; yet, when the Divine Master, Jesus, came into the world, his very first miracle was to make wine at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilea. And Paul, the great
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History of Napa and Lake Counties-NAPA.
expounder of Christ's teachings, tells Timothy to take a little wine for his stomach's sake.
The moral phases which this question of wine-making present, are the of the greatest importance, and deserve to be considered first of all. " What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul ?" is a very pertinent question just at this point. Of what avail if the coffers of the world are emptied into Napa Valley, if the succeeding gen- erations grow up to be a race of drunkards ? Then comes at once the ques- tion, "Is there any danger of such being the case ?" To this question we can give no answer, nor can any one of to-day. Only time can demonstrate what the ultimate effect will be on the generations yet unborn. For paral- lels, however, we can go to the wine-producing countries of Europe, where more than ten generations have passed by since the advent of wine-making as an industry, and see what the effect has been there. Mr. T. Hart Hyatt, author of a volume entitled, "Grape Culture," and a man of vast expe- rience and extended observation, having traveled all over the world almost, says in the introduction to his able work :
" To the question, ' Does the production and use of wine necessarily tend to induce or encourage intemperance ?' we answer most emphatically and understandingly, No! In all our experience and observation in the wine districts of Europe, and among all classes of Europeans where cheap, pure wines were abundant and the common beverage of the people, we remarked it then, and have reflected much upon it since, and all these observations and reflections have left upon our mind the full and clear impression and belief, that there was far less intemperance among the people of those vine- growing and wine-making countries than in our own, where all kinds of foul, poisoned, adulterated stuff, under the name of whiskey, brandy, rum, gin, etc., is drunk by our people, for the want of a purer, more nourishing and harmless beverage, like that of the pure juice of the grape, now made by all honest viniculturalists in our own country. * In Spain, where pure, cheap wines are drunk almost as commonly as water, we do not recollect to have scarcely ever met with an intoxicated man.
" Pure cheap wines are, in our opinion, better temperance missionaries, and will do more to expel from our midst the accursed fire-water that has done so much to demoralize and debase its victims in our land, than can all the over-zealous crusaders against wine-growing and wine-drinking that are set forth by our temperance organizations, no doubt from good but mistaken motives of philanthropy.
" It is contended by some that the taste for wine produces a taste for other and stronger kinds of ardent spirits. We do not believe it; it is against our own observation and experience. It might as well be said that the babe should not imbibe the milk from its mother's breast, for fear it
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Viticulture in Napa County.
would give it a hankering after milk punch! For there is quite as much similarity or affinity between these two beverages as between the pure juice of the grape that cheers, enlivens, strengthens and makes healthy its re- cipients, and the vile, drugged, poisoned liquors which make their victims mad, drunk, and their 'steps to take hold on hell.'"
We would state in this connection that the above testimony is corro- borated by all who have traveled in those countries ; and also another fact which we have observed in our visits among the citizens of Napa County who are engaged in the industry of wine-making, namely, the charge of being a drunkard cannot be laid at the door of one of them. They drink wine as a beverage in its fullest sense, and it is used in most of their families, yet not one of them has developed into a confirmed drunkard, nor do they show any tendencies in that direction. Surely the intelligence, good sense and due regard for their own and their families' welfare will keep the citizens of this fair valley from degenerating into drunkards-nor will their children's children. No fears need to be entertained upon that score.
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