USA > California > Nevada County > History of Nevada County, California; with illustrations descriptive of its scenery, residences, public buildings, fine blocks, and manufactories > Part 51
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"During the year 1851 a great excitement grew up in this neighborhood in reference to discoveries of gold in quartz. The hills upon Decr Creek, especially, were tunneled, and expensive machinery erected to realize upon the hidden treas- ures. Some of the schemes were remunerative; but the great majority were miserable failures. Pretended assayers convinced gullible stockholders in quartz veins that their roek yielded · from ten to fifty cents per pound, when the real value was perhaps nothing, receiving of course good pay from their grato- ful customers. Under the spur of such welcome information, hundreds made themselves poor by misapplied capital. The "Bunker Hill Co." is an illustrious instance. They. erected a eustly mill upon Deer Creek, to use a certain roasting process that a favorite savant (Dr. Rogers) had recommended, by which they smelted the quartz in an immense furnace, expecting the goll to drop in a receiving chamber below. It is perhaps need- less to say that they poked in vain in the ashes below for the oro. Believing the experiment had failed through intrinsie defects in its philosophy, and not that their ledge was destitute of Gold, (for had it not been assayed with brilliant results?) the Company next erected stamps to pound up the quartz in a more approved way. But, unluckily, the tailings were found to be very pure quartz, and the affair was a failure. Perhaps the inventor of the grand roasting process is to this day in loubt whether his bold experiment might not have succeeded, had there only been gold in the quartz to fall into the receiver. The loss by the Company is computed at $85,000. The immense over-shot wheel of the " Bunker Hill Co." at this day still adorns the Creek, a huge monument of the fortunes buried there. requiescat in puce! Many other expensive establish- ments for quartz working were erected upon the creek, with 110 better result. At the palmy time of quartz investments, doubts 'of great profits were deemed almost heretieal; but in one short year, the delusion was over. However our enterpris- ing neighbors of Grass Valley may have profited by such investments, they will have an uninterrupted enjoyment of them from the people of Nevada. In the midst of the quartz xeitement, in October, 1851, some skeptical wits exhibited their wickedness by an amusing burlesque upon quartz operations in the columns of the Journal. The production vecasioned inex- tinguishable laughter at the time, even in the victims them-
selves, and we need not ask pardon for here introducing it, as its merits are too deeply ingrained to suffer materially from the lapse of time. Some of the personages who tignre in the seheme will be recognized by old residents, and we premise that "Mt. Olympus " signified Coyoteville :
MUNCHAUSEN QUARTZ ROCK MINING AND CRUSHING CO.
Incorporated by special Legislative enactments of 1849 anıl 50. (See page 1103 of Journal of Legislature of 1001 drinks.)
Capital Stock, . $2,000,000.
PRESIDENT-Gen. Napoleon B. Gulliver.
TRUSTEES-Dr. G. Washington Crum, P. T. Barnum, Esq., George R. Glidden, Esq., Professor Espy, Don Quixotte Craw- ley, old Dr. Jacob Townsend. Moses Y. Beach, Magnus Rex Wemeh.
SECRETARY-Junius Quien Sabe.
TREASURER-J. Squander Swartwout.
FINANCIAL AGENT-N. Biddle Jones.
PROSPECTING AND AMALGAMATING COMMITTEE-Guy Fawkes, Robinson Crusoe, Abby Kelly Folsom.
This Company claim 405 elaims of sixty feet each, beginning at a blazed dogwood tree on the right bank of the river Styx, adjacent to the residenee of Charon the ferryman, extending to a large bee-gum on the left shore of the river Lethe, one-half mile from the lake Avernus, beyond which no auriferous quartz has ever yet been discovered; with all the courses, dips, angles, sinuosities, variations and contortions, thus distinetly embracing its. perpendicular elongation and linear expansion. The eom- pany have been thus explicit in defining their lead, in all its labyrinthine ramifications, owing to the vague uncertainty and transcendental obscurity which have involved individual rights, sacrificing wealth and enterprise upon the shrine of enpidity, and furnishing material for the willest legal vagaries. The company deem it necessary to prevent any infringement, invasion or eneroachinent on the part of the public, to give notice of the fact that a large Bohan Upas stands at the mouth of their tunnel, bearing this signifieant inseription-" Fugite cunem, verbum sapienti est !"
N. B .- No shares for sale in this tunnel. The lead has already been traeed to a depth-
" Nine times the space that measures night and day, Where gravitation shifting, turns the other way."
Skillful Siberian miners have been obtained at an immense expense, through the ageney of one of our distinguished Board of Trustees, P. T. Barnum, Esq.
The laborers are enabled to carry on their work by the light of diamonds, which brilliantly illumine their vast excavations.
A new patent, with an Zolian attachment, has been intro- dueed into the machinery, which is found to surpass any inven- tion yet in use. The steam necessary to propol the machinery
is obtained from a eistern placed upon lake Avernus; all expense of fuel is thus avoided.
Specimens of the lead may be seen at the office of Dr. Diabo- lus Pillgarlick, on Expansion street, where the obliging agent, Triptolemus Middlefunk, late of Mount Olympus, will give the most definite information in reference to auriferous quartz formations, and the most approved mode of pulverization.
By order of the Board of Trustees,
JUNIUS QUIEN SABE, Secretary.
N. B .- An assessment of three per eentum on the capital stoek of the company has been this day levied, to be expended in the purchase of a new gasometer.
So high ran the excitement upon which this eapital burlesque was founded, that for a time it seemed to monopolize the inter- est of the community. Quartz stock, printedl on flimsy paper, was quite current, as representing unknown wealth; wherever a quartz ledge peeped ont of the ground, however innocent of gold, it was staked off by striving competitors; the advertising columns of the Journal were studded with advertisement, of new companies, new assessments, new reports. But Mr. Junius Quien Sabe's effort was ahead of the times, as the almost general failures of a few months later proved. The first crash was the " Bunker Hill," with its " Eolian attachment," and the rest " eame tumbling after."
Gradually, however, the interest in quartz became strony again, and guided by eaution and moderation the miners began to develop the ledges, and demonstrate their richness, and the practieability of working them profitably. Improvements in the methods of mining and of working the ores also assisted to render these ledges valuable, and the result is that Nevada now holds a prominent position in the front rank of quartz mining districts. In 1839 and for two or three years succeeding the great silver discoveries on the Comstock, quartz mining was at a low ebb in Nevada. Hundreds of miners departed for the new field, and thousands of dollars were withdrawn from the capital invested here to aid in the development of the Washve ledges. The tide began to turn in 1863, and once more tle quartz leges of Nevada found favor in the eyes of those who had rushed away from them to invest in the silver mines of the Comstock. From that time until the present the quartz mining interests of Nevada have continued steadily to improve. and never was there more faith in their richness and stability, never were there more ledges being worked on a dividend basis, and never was there so much foreign capital seeking investiert here, as there is at present. A number of mines during the past season have been sold to capitalists who intend to kvem and work them in a legitimate manner, and still others wel known to be valuable, will no doubt be resurrected from the r long sleep, to which they have been consigned for want of capital.
199
HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
The primitive rock of the distriet is a sol't granite, encircled by a slate formation on the east, south and west. Numerous quartz lodes, both in the granite and surrounding slate, have been opened and worked, some of them to a considerable depth. It has been demonstrated here that the theory that the value of quartz decreases with the depth is a fallacions one, for a number of mines have found the reverse to be the case. The general course of the veins is a little east of south and west of north, most of them having an easterly depth at various augles. Some of them are nearly perpendicular, while others descend at a low angle, the most usual dip being about thirty- five to forty degrees. At the southwesterly end of the granite formation are a number of parallel veins, having the same general course, but dipping westerly, of which are the Sneath & Clay and the Mohawk.
The following is a brief statement of the history and pres- ent condition of the more prominent of the Nevada ledges:
GOLD TUNNEL .- As has been stated, this was located in October, 1850, being the first location made in Nevada, and was worked constantly until 1865, having at that time yielded the most gold of any mine in the district. At first the deeon- posed quartz at the surface was washed in a rocker and paid well. A tunnel was commeneed on the ledge in 1851 and a nill erected in 1852. Up to 1855 the mine had yielded $300,- 000, at which time it was purchased by some Cornishmen who worked it for eight years, the amount of yiekl not being known. The mill was carried off by the breaking of Laird's dam in 1857, and another with six stamps was erected. In 1563, Kidd, Ralston & Tevis purchased the mine, and in 1865 erected steam hoisting works, but soon after ecased work on the ledge. A tunnel commencing at high water mark on Deer creek has been run in a distance of 1,400 feet, and a shaft incline fifty below this level. The Gold Tunnel is now owned by a New York company, who also own the ('alifornia on the same ledge. But little work has been done here for two years past.
PROVIDENCE .- One of the leading quartz mines of North- ern California is the Providence, located on the south bank of Deer creek, about one mile west of Nevada City. The ledge was discoveral ant located in 1852 by David McKeon, who son abandoned it. It was then relocated by a German, who soll it to T. F. Dingley in 1856. In 1863 it was sold to parties who incorporatel under the name of the Providence Gold and User Mining Company. This company erected an eight taip mil, and obtained their ore by tunneling. After run- n'ng in this way four or five years with small profits, work was topped till 1870, when the mine was sold to Walrath Brothers, J V Hinter and the Smith Brothers. The Smith Brothers sold their interest two years later to the other partners, who
are the present owners. Immediately after the purchase of the mine by this company Joseph Thomas, who is the present superintendent, commenced sinking a shaft, which is now down 1,023 fcet. A new ineline, 1;700 feet south of the old one, is down to the 600-foot level. The mill has a capacity of forty tons per day with its twenty stamps, and it is the intention of the company to soon increase the mill to sixty or eighty stamps. Over $1,000,000 have been expended in developing the mine, running levels and opening up the ore body, without taking out much quartz, so that now enough ore is in sight to keep thic mill busy for years, and can be taken out at little expense. The company has experimented largely and at great expense to test various methods of milling and reduetion, over eighty thousand dollars having been expended in one effort. Chlorin- ation works for extracting gold from the sulphurcts are located at the mine. The ore is very rich in frec gold and sulphnrets, and has always paid well for working by the present manage- ment.
THOMAS .- This is a consolidation of the New England and Brunswick, and is owned by J. Thomas, Walrath Bros., C. E. Hatch, C. H. Crosby and Mrs. M. A. Sterling. The old New England was the fourth location made on Gold Flat in 1851, and has been located and abandoned several times. In 1877 hoisting and pumping machinery and a ten stamp mill were erected, and the sinking of a shaft commenced, which is now down 650 feet. Over one-half muile of drifts has been run, all in good pay ore. The company is still sinking the shaft, and it is expected to develop a mine that will be worth many hun- dred thousand dollars.
EL CAPITAN .- This mine is situated at the head of Gold Flat, near the Town Talk, one aud a quarter miles from Nevada City. It was located by A. C. Gillespie in 1854, and was little worked until, in the fall of 1879, the New York Gold Mining Company relocated the mine and erceted hoistiug and pumpiug works. The incline is now down 150 feet, and 450 feet of north and south levels have been run. The claim is 1,000 feet long by 300 feet wide, and there are two ledges vary- ing from twenty inches to four feet in width. The company has expended about $15,000, and has twenty-eight men at work. A tramway 1,200 feet long connects the mine with the V flume, by which hunber aud wood are received. The mine was formerly known as the Cunningham, and the rock taken out, several hundred tons, averaged about $15 to the ton.
MURCILIE .- An eight stamp mill was erected on the Mur- chic Mine, two and one-half miles cast of Nevada City, in 1861, but as the rock near the surface yieldled but a small amount, work was for a long time discontinued, but is now being vigor- ously proscented, under the superintendence of W. S. Schuyler. The incline is down 660 feet, and four levels have been run to a
total length with cross cuts of about 2,000 feet. A mill with eight Fruc concentrators and other modern improvements, is on the minc. The total yield of 1879 was $124,420, of which a little more than half was in sulphurets and the balance in free gold.
LIVE YANKEE AND PERSEVERANCE .- These ledges are now being opened by a three-compartment shaft on the Perseverance location, by the Fortuna Gold Mining Co., a recent incorporation. They are situated on Gold Flat, one mile south of Nevada City. Each ledge is located 1,500 feet in length and 300 feet on each side, being in the same mineral belt as the Providence, Thomas, Merrifield and others. These ledges were located several times, the last location of the Live Yankee being March 14, 1877, and of the Perseverance January 3, 1878. The Live Yankee was worked to the depth of thirty feet and about forty tons of ore taken ont, averaging $35 to the ton. The Perseverance was worked to the depth of forty- two feet, and one hundred tons of ore taken out, yielding an average af $15 per ton. Fred Jones, of Grass Valley, bonded the mines in 1878, and formed the Live Yankee Mining Co. Machinery was ereeted, a shaft sunk on the Perseverance ledge to the deptli of 134 feet and 239 tons of ore taken ont averag- ! ing $34 to the ton. The property was sold in 1879 to John T. Bradley and Charles F. MeDermott, of Oakland. This mine is considered oue of the most promising in the district.
STILES MINE .- This mine is situated on the north side of Deer creek, and is located 1,200 feet on Roger Williams ravine. Ore from this mine was erushed at the mill erected at the south end of the Suspension bridge by W. C. Stiles and D. A. Rich in 1862. This mill has for a long time been abandoned. At the miue are hoisting works bnt no mill. Quartz from this mine has yielded from five to forty dollars per ton, the last crushing of one thousand tons averaging fourteen dollars. The mine has been worked some by tributors, and is considered good prop- erty, needing capital for its depelopment.
DEADWOOD .- This mine is situated in Willow Valley, two and one-half miles east of Nevada City. It was located in 1856 by Green, Allen & Chandler, who worked it for a year and then sold it for a good sum. The purchasers abandoned it and went to the Washoe mines, and in 1861 it was relocated. In 1877 the mine was reopened by the Deadwood Gold Mining Co., and is being worked by twenty men, under the superintend- ence of J. J. Lyons. The mnie has hoisting works and an eight stamp mill, built iu 1858 and rebuilt by the present company. The mill has crushed 20,000 tous of ore from Willow Valley mines, 5.000 from Deadwood yielding $160,000. The ineline is down 300 feet and several inelines have been run to a con- siderable distance. The claim embraces 1,500 feet on the bulge and sixty acres of placer ground.
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HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
PITTSBURG .- This ledge was located in 1851 by R. S. Wigham for a Pittsburg company. In 1852 he erceted a saw and quartz mill combined. It had ten stamps and was then the only mill on the flat, aud did eustom work. It was bonded by a London company, who worked it for a time and con- demned it as worthless, and it fell again into Wigham's hands, who afterwards lost it on a mortgage. The mill and mine are uow owned by the Pittsburg Company, and the work is being pushed forward. The ineline is down 800 feet, and from the various levels some 15,000 tons of ore have been taken out, yielding sinee first opened about $300,000. The location is 2,000 feet on the ledge.
MERRIFIELD .- This mine is situated on the north side of Deer ereek, one mile cast of Nevada, and was located in 1851 by Charles Marsh, E. E. Mattison and Dr. MeIntyre as the Bunker Hill ledge. It was here that the disastrous experiment of Dr. Rogers was made. After this failure the ledge was eon- sidered valueless and abandoned. Some years later it was relocated farther north by R. R. Craig, P. N. Edwards and J. A. Mattingly, who were unaware that it was the same ledge. D. Van Pelt, Nelson Soggs and S. W. Green became also inter- ested in the mine, and erected an eight stamp mill on the west side of American Hill and worked the mine suecessfully several years. In 1860, having discovered that this was the Bunker Hill ledge, the mill site, water wheel and flume of that eom- pany were purchased, and a new mill was ereeted near where the old furnace stood. At this time the Nevada Quartz Mining Company was incorporated to work the mine, and for some time Nelson Soggs was Superintendent, the mine being known to this day as the old Soggs Mine. The mine was afterwards soll to Mr. Van Winkle, who did little work on it, and in Sep- tember, 1878, it was purchased by E. Merrifield. Sinee Mr. Merrifield has had control work has been pushed forward with vigor, and with good results. The ineline is down nearly 800 fcet, and a new incline of three compartments is being sunk farther up the hill, and a tunnel is being run into the hill from the new incline to eonneet with the old onc. There is a mill of fifteen stamps at the mine, soon to be inereased to twenty-five, supplied with ten Frue concentrators. Chlorination works will also be erected this season to enable the miue to reduce its own sulphurets. More than 40,000 tons of ore have been taken out of this mine, yielding about $500,000.
LECOMPTON .- This mine is three miles above Nevada C'ity, between the Deadwood and Constitution. It was located in 1854 by George Hearst, Jacob and Joseph Clark, and George D. Roberts. A mill was erceted there in 1855 by John Paul, with ten stamps, and called the Oriental mill. The mine was worked successfully for two years, yielding a profit of $60,000. In 1863 J. J. Ott purchased the mine, erected hoisting works
and sank an inclinc, as the mine had been worked too near the water level. But little work has been done on the Leeompton for a number of years, although it has yielded the total of $225,000. Mr. Ott is still the owner.
BANNER .- This mine is situated in the slate formation, about three miles southeast of Nevada City. It was located in 1860 by Jeffery, Rolfe, Withington and others, as the Douglas Company, who sank a shaft seventy-five feet and abandoned it the same year. The mine was then loeated by others and abandoned, and relocated by Pressey Irish & Co., as the Liberty Company. In 1865 it was purchased by Kidd, Stiles, Rieh. Tisdale and Tilton, and work was eommeneed on the ledge in earnest. In 1866 Kidd sold to A. E. Head, R. F. Morrow and C. A. Land, who, with the others, composed the Banner Com- pauy. From May, 1866, until June, 1871, the mine yielded $550,486, of which $48,000 were paid in dividends, and then the company dissolved, since which time the mine has been idle. J. E. Brown has obtained a patent for 1,500 feet adjoining the old mine on the north, and a company was incorporated in New York in 1879, with a capital stock of $2,000,000, for working the minc. A mill with ten stamps was erected in 1867. The total yield of the Banner mine to date is about $775,000.
SNEATH AND CLAY .- This ledge was discovered by Sneath Bros. and G. W. Clay in 1861, while working a plaeer elaim. The first crushing gave $32 and the second $80 to the ton. Hoisting works were ereeted and a mill completed in 1863, and for several months erushed ore that averaged $70. The rich chute of ore gave out in 1865, after yieldiug $200,000 The mine was then sold to a New York and Grass Valley Con- pany for $27,000, and was worked several years by them, yielding $200,000, averaging $20 to the ton. Sinee 1868 no work has been done on the Sneath and Clay. In 1879 Shoe- eraft & Sprague organized a company to resume work on the mine, but to the present time operations have not been eom- menced.
CROSBY AND OLIVE .- This mine is a southern exten- sion of the Providenee, and was originally located by J. L. Williams. In 1878 it was purchased by Crosby & Olive, and is now bonded to San Franeiseo capitalists. Pumping and Hoisting works are on the mine.
CHAMPION .- This mine is one and a quarter miles south- west of Nevada City, on the celebrated Providence belt, and consists of 5,000 feet. The mine is being opened by a tunnel 1,650 fect long, which is nearly completed, from which eross cuts will be run east and west, tapping several ledges that have been prospected, and then drifts will be run on the ledges. Work on the tunnel has been prosecuted steadily the last three years. Some years ago a tunnel was driven on the Champion ledge, but not deep enough for working purposes; another was
driven on the Philip ledge. Quartz froin the Champion near the surface paid $5 per ton, and from the Philip $25. The Twin ledge also runs through the tract, and is supposed to be the same as tlie Providence ledge. The long tunnel runs 1,260 feet on the New Years ledge, which shows good ore. The claim was first prospeeted by Germans in 1870, and in 1876 the Champion Co. was formed. The systematic and practical manner in which this mine is being opened and the well known value of the ore give promise of soon adding another dividend mine to the distriet.
MOHICAN .- The Mohiean was one of the first" locations of 1851, on Gold Flat. The original location did not hold, and in 1852, J. B. Byrne, Green, Walton and others relocated it. The mine has been but little worked, except enough to hold the title, and only 600 tons of quartz have been extracted, yielding an average of $14 to the ton. It is at present leased by J. B. Byrne, the owner, to parties who are working it, at a depth of 140 feet.
POTOSI .- This was the second location on Gold Flat, in 1851, by Shoemaker, Hearst and others. Some 10,000 tons have been taken out of the Potosi, the last 2.000 of which averaged abont $19. The ineline is down 300 feet, and several drifts have been run, one of them 280 feet. For the past ten years only enough work has been done to hold the elaim. The Gold Flat is an extension of the Potosi, and is consolidated with it. J. B. Byrne is the owner of this property.
MANHATTAN .- This ledge was located on Gold Flat in 1854, by George Baldwin and others. Pumping and hoisting works were erected, and considerable good rock was taken out. A few years ago the works were burned, and the mine has since been idle.
MOHAWK .- This ledge was located on Gold Flat in 1552, by Henry Stede, J. Mulsey and others, who worked it a number of years by means of a whim. In 1863 Captain Kidd pur- ehased the mine, ereeted machinery and commenced an incline. but the work was interfered with by water. W. L. Tistale purchased a half interest. and a shaft was sunk and drifts were run. In 1870 the Gold Run Co. built a mill with ten stamps, but removed it in 1874: a two stamp mill. called the Steam Battery, was then erected, but that has also been removed.
NEVADA CITY .- This mine is located on Wood's ravine. and was formerly known as the Schmidt Mine. In Ists the Nevada City Quartz Mining Co. was organized, two-thinis of the stock being in the hands of Shoecraft & Sprague, since which time work has been vigorously proseenterl. Drifts have been run north and south on the 150 and 230 foot levels show- ing a well defined ledge of from two and one-half to three fort
201
HISTORY OF NEVADA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
thick. A ten stamp mill is on the mine. J. W. Sprague is the superintendent.
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