USA > California > Placer County > History of Placer county, California > Part 46
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94
ART. 11. All former laws regulating gold, silver. or copper mining within this district are hereby repealed: Provided, however, that no rights hereto- fore acquired under the same shall be in any wise affected by said repeal, but such rights shall be deter- minable by the terms of the laws under which they were acquired; Provided, however, that in all cases where right to a claim or claims less than a vested right thereto only have been acquired according to the terms of said former laws, then the owner or owners thereof shall cause affidavits to be filed and recorded as required by these laws, of the perform- ance of the remaining labor, etc., necessary (accord- ing to said former laws) to be done to perfect and vested right; and the period or periods, within which such affidavits shall be filed and recorded, shall be the same within which (according to said former laws) said labor, etc., are required to be per- formed.
ART. 12. All elections for Recorder shall be hy ballot.
ART. 13. No person shall be entitled to take part in the deliberations of any Quartz Miners' Conven- tion, or meeting, called by virtue of these Laws, unless he be an owner of a claim or an interest therein, and has signed the Laws of the District.
RECOMMENDATION.
It is hereby earnestly recommended by the Con- vention of miners, adopting the foregoing Laws in view of the loss of a part of the old record of claims, and the imperfections of many others, and to the end that the mining public may be enlightened to the nature and extent of existing claims, and for the avoidance of disputes and litigation that in all cases whatever old claims should be, by the owner thereof cansed to be recorded in conformity with these Laws. And in case of claim by them of having acquired vested rights, by full compliance with the requirements of pre-existing laws for that purpose, then that affidavits should be filed and recorded as provided in the foregoing Laws, setting forth the facts constituting such complete compliance. And with a view to the successful development of mining claims in this District, it is further recommended that all companies of two or more persons locating claims therein, should organize the same in con- formity with the provisions of an Act of the Legis- lature of this State, Approved April 4, 1864, entitled " An Act Concerning Partnership for Mining Pur- poses."
PLACER MINING LAWS.
In April, 1867, another Miners' Convention was called, which changed the boundaries of the Auburn District to comprise all and only Township No. 3,
and made further changes fixing the dimensions of claims at 300 feet to each individual locator, and ordering all old claims re located or deemed aban- doned unless then occupied or having $1,000 worth of work done on them. Similar laws were passed in other districts, and continued in force until the passage of the Act of Congress, in 1872, which fixed the dimensions of claims at 1.500 feet for each indi- vidnal or company, with a width of 600 feet. At. this meeting Mr. Win. E. Miller was elected Recorder, and the fees for Recording were fixed at fifty cents for each claim and twenty-five cents for each transfer.
LAWS OF CONCERT 11ILL DISTRICT.
From the earliest days of American gold mining in California, the miners were under the necessity of making laws and regulations for the allotment of ground and the tenure of mining claims. For these purposes no statute laws existed within the United States, or State of California, nor were there any eustoms or precedents to guide. From the necessi- ties of the case rules were informally adopted which grew into a system that has been the basis of judicial decisions and statutes. Every mining locality was made a district, sometimes a small river bar, or hill, or flat, and at other times embracing a section including different classes of mining. The miners of these districts, in public meetings, would organize. define their boundaries, and resolve upon a code of laws, which were authority until changed by a reg- ularly called meeting, or in conflict with some statute law. The following is a sample of the usual mining district laws :-
At a meeting of the miners of Concert Hill Dis- trict. held at Auburn on the 14th of June, 1856. Mr. C. E. Carpenter was called to the Chair and I. S. Tichenor, appointed Secretary. The following laws were presented to the meeting and unanimously adopted :-
Resolved 1, That this mining district shall be known by the name of Concert Hill District.
J
Resolved ?, That the boundaries of this district shall be upon the eastern side of the flume of the North Fork and American River Water and Mining Com- pany, extending from Oregon Bar Ferry, on the south to Tamaroo Bar on the north; extending from Tamaroo Bar west to Ogden's Diggings on the Ophir road; thence south in a direct line to a point west of Oregon Bar Ferry; thence east to the place of begin- ning.
Resolved 3, That the size of each claim in this dis- trict for hill diggings shall be (60) sixty feet front, and shall extend back (600) six hundred feet in a direct line with the tunnel.
Resolved 4, That there shall be a Recorder for this district, whose duty it shall be to keep a record of all claims located. His compensation therefor shall be for cach claim (25 twenty five cents.
Resolved 5. That no claim shall be considered located until they are duly recorded by the person appointed by this meeting for that purpose, except such claims as are now being worked.
200
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Resolved 6, That no claim shall be held for a longer time than (10) ten days without work, and at least one day's work in ten must be done upon cach and every claim, otherwise it shall be considered aban- doned.
Resolved 7. That no person shall hold more than one claim in each company, except by purchase, and in such cases a fair equivalent shall be rendered for the same.
Resolved 8, That after this date. each and every member of the company shall appear before the Recorder, in person, and have his claim recorded.
Resolved 9, That all disputes arising in regard to mining claims in this district. shall be left to a min- er's meeting, composed of those only who may be engaged in mining in this district, and this decision shall be considered final.
Resolved 10, That all surface and ravine diggings shall consist of 200 feet square to each claim.
Resolved 11, That Wm. MeDaniel act as Recorder of this district.
Resolved 12, That should the Recorder be called upon to settle any disputes in regard to claims, he shall receive as a compensation for his time so spent the sum of one dollar per hour, to be paid by the person who shall make application to him.
--
Resolved 13, That every claim in this district shall be recorded within ten days from date.
Resolved 14, That a copy of these resolutions shall be published in the Placer Press and Placer Herald of this village.
I. S. TICHENOR, C. E CARPENTER, Chairman.
Secretary.
STATE CONVENTION OF MINERS.
In 1865 several bills were introduced in Congress for the regulation, taxation and disposal of mining claims and the mineral lands of the United States. The mining interest had then grown beyond the lim- its of the State of California. Nevada had become a State, producing a large amount of bullion, and was ably represented in both houses of Congress. Mining was a great industry in the State of Oregon. and the Territories of Idaho. Montana, Utah and Colorado were attracting the attention of the world by their mineral wealth, and the subject of mining for the precious metals had grown to one of national importance. The people of the East looked upon the public lands of the United States as a part of their estate, which should be administered upon as that of an individual or corporation. for their cent per cent. interest therein, and, as a soulless corporation. would exact the utmost tribute that could be squeezed from tenants or purchasers. To this the people of the Pacific Coast responded, that the United States interest was only that of agent in allotting the prop- erty to the occupants and giving a title thereto under equitable regulations, with such fees as would cover the cost of the service, and no more.
The leader of the Eastern policy was John Sher- man, and this was a revival of the old Whig pol- icy of 1819-50, which had been so opposed by the Californians of that time, and subsequently aban doned. In opposition to the measures proposed by Sherman, the subject of a convention of miners was agitated by the press of California and Nevada,
which resulted in the calling of a State Convention in California, at which several representatives from Nevada and other mining States and Territories were present. Placer County was represented in this Con- vention by the following-named delegates, selected from the several districts in which they resided :-
Benjamin Smith, William McClure, William Duck, D. E. Hirstead. S. W. Bowman, Charles Tratton, M. B. Tubbs, L. Adams, James Dods, W. L. Lawrence, P. Bumpus, L. B. Arnold, J. S. Colgrove, James Teog, E. II. Gaylard, A. K. Benton, S. Palmer, J. Moody, C. Wicks, T. Thompson, E. C. Buzzell, A. Hinckley, R. A. Clark, C. J. Clark, E. L. Watson, A. A. Pond, John Bosquit, Daniel Choate. Charles Marsac, James Moore, B. F. Moore, G. W. Reamer, P. B. Fagan, A. B. Scott, A. J. Angel, Thomas Campbell, John Yule, C. S. Swenson, William E. Miller, Horace Baldwin, J. H. Mallett. Benjamin Smith, C. A. Tuttle, E. M. Hall, M. MeGonegal, William Liston, C. E. Carpenter, P. J. Largre, Isaac Small, J. W. Neff, John Knee- land, A. J. Ewalt, A. MI. Sisson, W. D. Lawrence.
PROCEEDINGS OF MINERS' CONVENTION.
The delegates to the Miners' State Convention met in the Sixth-street Methodist Church in Sacramento on the 17th of January. 1866, and continued in session two days.
A. A. Sargent, of Nevada, as Chairman, and M. D. Boruck, of San Francisco, as Secretary, were elected as permanent officers of the Convention.
The Committee on Credentials reported some 300 delegates.
A Committee of Nine was appointed to draft reso- lutions expressive of the views of the Convention. to which all resolutions were committed without debate. On the second day of the Convention the committee reported the following preamble and res- olutions as an expression of the sentiments of the miners of California. They were unanimously adopted :-
WHEREAS, Since the discovery of gold mines in California it has been the policy of the General Gov- ernment to allow all those who desired to mine for the precious metals in this State a free and unre- stricted right to search for and discover the same. and, when found. to hold and develop their claims, subject ouly to such restrictions and rules as inight be adopted by Conventions held by those who were engaged in actual mining enterprises in the several mining districts of the State; and whereas, we believe by the adoption of that policy the mining interests of the State have been developed more thoroughly and to a much greater extent than they could have been under any other policy that could have been adopted; and whereas, legislation for the survey and sale of the mineral lands is threatened in the Congress of the United States, and it is seri- ously proposed to destroy the property interests which have been created in this State under the license of the General Government for seventeen years past, and to revolutionize the whole system of mining business and tenures under which the mines have been so far developed, the State has prospered, the Government has been supplied with the sinews
RES OF J.G.GOULD. DRY CREEK PLACER CO.CAL
ent
RESIDENCE OF W. H.HILLHOUSE DUTCH FLAT, PLACER CÓ CAL.
201
MINING LAWS.
of war, trade with advantageous markets, and the revenue a valuable and increasing resource; there- fore, be it
Resolved, By the miners of California in general con- vention assembled, That we are opposed to any sur- vey, lease or sale of the mineral lands of this State, as injurious to the best interests of the General Gov- ernment and of this State, and utterly ruinous to the mining communities.
-
Resolved, That any increase of the tax upon the proceeds of the mines would be onerous and inju- rions to the mining interests of this coast.
Resolved, That the bill introduced into the Senate of the United States by John Sherman, of Ohio, is singularly calculated to work the utmost confusion and loss to the present holders of mining property, who have invested their labor and capital in devel- oping the mines; to destroy the vast canal interests of the State, the existence of which is necessary to the prosecution of mining, and to expel the great bulk of the population of the mining districts from their homes, their business, and possessions.
Resolved, That the miners of California respect- fully petition the Congress of the United States to respect the rights and property interests which the policy of the Government long continued has ere- ated and fostered.
Resolved, That we indorse the action of the Legis- lature of this State, requesting delay in the issuance of patents to the Central Pacific Railroad Company, or any other railroad company, until the Govern- ment bas employed effective measures to segregate the mineral from agricultural lands lying within the lines of the grant to the railroad company, and, while willing and anxious to aid and encourage in the construction of said road-the great national highway -- we must emphatically protest against the cession of a vast section of mineral and timber land for that purpose, involving the sacrifice and the destruction of private rights already vested.
-
Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed by the President of this Convention, the said Presi- dent to act as Chairman thereof, to prepare a memo- rial to Congress embodying the sentiments contained in these resolutions, and to cause the same to be presented. through our delegation in Congress, to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, and Commissioner of the General Land Office.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forth- with forwarded, by the officers of the Convention, to each of our Senators and Members of Congress, with the request of the Convention that the same be laid before the respective houses of Congress.
UNITED STATES MINING LAWS.
In opposition to the legislation proposed by John Sherman, a bill was introduced by Senator John Conness, known as the Act of July 26, 1866, which recognized the right of any citizen, or one who had declared his intention to become such. to enter upon the public lands of the United States and mine for gold, silver, copper, and cinnabar, and recognized the rules, regulations, and tenure of mining property as made by the miners in their respective districts, " so far as the same were not in conflict with the laws of the United States."
This was the great concession demanded by the
miners, and is the most important Act ever passed in their interest. A miner's title to his claim, acquired according to the "rules and customs of miners in the several mining districts," was made perfect, and, although he could proceed, by that Act, and can under subsequent Acts, to obtain a United States patent for his property, he is not compelled to do so, and, while complying with the laws of his district cannot be dispossessed.
ACT OF JULY 26, 1866.
The Act of July 26, 1866, after declaring the min- eral lands upon the public domain, both surveyed and unsurveyed, to be free and open for exploration and occupation, and acknowledging the binding force of the miners' rules and regulations and the titles thereunder obtained, all of which was contained in the first section of the Act, went on to define the manner of surveying and disposing of mineral lands; but the provisions were for quartz or vein mines, giving the owner of a quartz vein the right to follow it downward on its dip under the property of another to an indefinite deptb. The Act also granted the right of way over public lands, not reserved to public uses, for the construction of public roads.
Section 9 of the Act also contains an important concession to the miners, as follows: " That when- ever, by priority of possession, rights to the use of water for mining, agricultural, manufacturing, or other purposes, have vested and accrued, and the same are recognized and acknowledged by the local customs, laws, and the decisions of Courts, the pos- sessors and owners of such vested rights shall be maintained and protected in the same; and the right of way for the construction of ditchesand canals for the purposes aforesaid is hereby acknowledged and confirmed. Provided, however, That whenever, after the passage of this Act, any person or persons shall in the construction of any ditch or canal, injure or damage the possession of any settler on the public domain, the party committing such injury or damage shall be liable to the party injured for such injury or damage."
The former custom had been for the miner to go upon the possessory claim of the agriculturist on the public land-, and mine or run his ditch without being liable for damage. Gross injustice was thus often inflicted.
ACT OF JULY 9, 1870.
July 9, 1970, a supplemental Act was passed, adding several sections to the Act of 1866, providing for the patenting of " placer " claims. The first section of the supplemental Act, being Section 12 of the Stat- ute is as follows :-
SEC. 12. And be it further enacted, That claims, usually called " placers," including all forms of deposit, excepting quartz, or other rock in place, shall be subject to entry and patent under this Act; under like circumstances and conditions, and upon similar proceedings, as are provided for vein or lode
ف9
202
HISTORY OF PLACER COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
claims; Provided, that where the lands have been previously surveyed by the United States, the entry in its exterior limits shall conform to the legal sub- divisions of the public lands, no further survey or plat in such case being required, and the lands may be paid for at the rate of 82.50 per acre. Provided further, That legal subdivisions of forty acres may be subdivided into ten-acre tracts, and that two or more persons, or associations of persons, having contiguous claims of any size, although such claims may be less than ten acres each, may make joint entry thereof; And provided, further, That no location of a placer claim hereafter made shall exceed 160 acres for any one person or association of persons, which location shall conform to the United States surveys, and nothing in this section contained shall defeat or impair any bona fide pre-emption or home- stead claim upon agricultural land, or authorize the sale of the improvements of any bona fide settler to any purchaser.
The subdividing of the land into ten-acre tracts must be done at the expense of the claimant, the lowest United States subdivision being in forty- acre tracts.
This bill was introduced in the House of Represen- tatives by Ilon. Aaron A. Sargent, then Member of Congress from the Second District of California; a prominent pioneer citizen, editor, lawyer, and miner of Nevada County, and conversant with the wants of the miners.
ACT OF MAY 11, 1872.
The before-mentioned Acts were again amended May 11, 1872, but the first section of the Act of 1866 has never been disturbed. In the revised law of 1872 the second section is as follows :-
That mining claims upon veins or lodes of quartz, or other rock in places bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper or other valuable deposits heretofore located, shall be governed as to length along the vein or lode by the customs, regulations and laws in force at the date of their location. A mining claim located after the passage of this Act, whether located by one or more persons, may equal, but shall not exceed 1,500 feet in length along the vein or lode; but no location of a mining claim shall be made until the discovery of the vein or lode within the limit of the claim located. No elaim shall extend more than 300 feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, nor shall any claim be limited by any mining regulations to less than twenty-five feet on each side of the middle of the vein at the surface, except where adverse rights existing at the time of the passage of this Act shall render such limitation necessary. The end lines of each claim shall be parallel to each other.
SEC. 3. That the locators of all mining locations heretofore made, or which shall hereafter be made, on any mineral vein, lode or ledge, situated on the public domain. their heirs and assigns, where no adverse claim exists at the passage of this Act, so long as they comply with the laws of the United States and with the State, Territorial, and local reg- ulations not in conflict with said laws of the United States, governing their possessory titles, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations, and of all yeins, lodes, and ledges through-
out their entire depth, the top of apex of which lines inside of such surface lines extended down vertically, although such veins, lodes, or ledges may so far depart from a perpendicular in their course down- ward as to extend outside the vertical side lines of said surface locations; provided, that their right of possession to such outside parts of said veins or ledges shall be confined to such portions thereof as lie between vertical planes drawn downward as afore- said, through the end lines of their locations, so con- tinued in their own direction that such planes will intersect such exterior parts of said veins or ledges; und provided, further, that nothing in this section shall authorize the locator or possessor of a vein or lode which extends in its downward course beyond the vertical lines of bis claim to enter upon the surface of a claim owned or possessed by another.
SEC. 4. That where a tunnel is run for the develop- ment of' a vein or lode, or for the discovery of mines, the owners of such tunnel shall have the right of possession of all veins or lodes within 3,000 feet from the face of such tunnel, on the line thereof, not pre- viously known to exist, discovered in such tunnel, to the same extent as if discovered from the surface; and locations on the line of such tunnel of veins or lodes not appearing on the surface, made by other parties after the commencement of the tunnel, and while the same is being prosecuted with reasonable diligence, shall be invalid; but the failure to prose- cute the work on the tunnel for six months shall be considered as an abandonment of the right to all undiscovered veins on the line of said tunnel.
SEC. 5. That the miners of each mining district may make rules and regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States or with the laws of the State or Territory in which the district is situ- ated, governing the location, manner of recording, amount of work necessary to hold possession of a mining elaim, subject to the following requirements: The location must be distinctly marked on the ground, so that its boundaries can be easily traced. All records of mining claims hereafter madeshall contain the name or names of the loeators, the date of the location, and such a description of the claim or claims located, by reference to some natural object or per- manent monument as will identify the claim. On each claim located after the passage of this Aet, and until a patent shall have been issued therefor, not less than $100 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made during each year. On all claims located prior to the passage of this Act, $10.00 worth of labor shall be performed or improvements made for each 100 feet in length of vein until a patent shall have been issued therefor; but where such claims are held in common, such expenditure may be made upon any one claim. And upon a fail- ure to comply with these conditions, the claim or mine upon which auch failure occurred shall be open to re-location in the same manner as if no location of the same had ever been made; provided, that the original locators, their heirs, assigns or legal repre- sentatives, have not resumed work after sneh failure and before such location. Upon the failure of any one of several co-owners to contribute his proportion of the expenditures required by this Aet, the co- owners who have performed the labor or made the improvements may, at the expiration of the year, give such delinquent co-owner personal notice in writing, or notice by publication in the newspaper nearest the claim, for at least once a week for ninety days, and if at the expiration of ninety days after such notice in writing or by publication, such delin-
203
MINING LAWS.
quent should fail or refuse to contribute his propor- tion to the expenditure required according to this Act, his interest in the claim shall become the prop- erty of his co-owners who have made the required expenditures.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.