USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 53
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LITTLE HUMBUG.
Fabricius & Co., John Shedron & Co., J. C. Clim- per & Co., Dusel & Wiley, and John Pearson, placer claims.
COTTONWOOD.
S. W. Clary, patented claim in Rocky gulch, two miles west of the town.
Brickhouse & Hilt, one-half mile southeast of town.
Several small claims, and a few Chinamen on the creek and flats.
A few idle quartz ledges and a small mill.
BARKHOUSE CREEK.
Lange & Bros., hydraulic claim, 250 feet pressure.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
M'KINNEY CREEK.
John Spinner and H. H. C. Jensen, Polly & Price, Jackson & Co.
BEAVER, HUNGRY, AND GROUSE CREEKS.
About forty Chinamen at work.
Cinnabar ledges not worked.
KLAMATH RIVER.
Two miles above Virginia Bar is the Lime Gulch company, composed of A. Smith, B. Smith, A. E. Raynes, and J. C. Burgess.
On Virginia Bar, William Gibson, Francis Riley, William Pullen, and some Kanakas.
Centennial claim on Virginia Bar, wing dam, A. Smith, J. A. Sharp, Christopher Aaroe, August Glatt, and William N. Gott.
Fort Jones company, Frank Shadduck and others. P. Mott & Co., on Manzanita Bar.
A Portuguese company below Rocky point.
Empire Quartz mine on Empire creek, owned by Charles Iunker, Charles Peters, and other German citizens of Yreka.
George Raymond & Co., at Oak Bar.
Poverty Point Drift mine, below Oak Bar, by Parker & Barton.
Between Oak Bar and mouth of Scott river, T. D. Austin & Co., William Kittlewood & Co., Weekly, Everill & Co., and several others have wing dams. At Junction Bar is a Chinese company.
At Hamburg Bar, McCreary, Martin & Co., and McCreary Brothers, each have drift claims.
At Walker Bar are two Chinese companies, and one on the opposite bank.
At Sciad, Wood & Bailey are opening a large hydraulic claim. John C. Wood has a hydraulic mine at the mouth of the creek.
At Cottage Grove, William Elliott & Bro. have a hydraulic claim.
E. C. Goodwin on Milliken Bar.
Chinese claim on Sandy Bar.
Thomas Dobbins, below Sandy Bar.
(. Rood, hydraulic, eight miles below Cottage Grove.
Several small claims below Rood, and then a large one by E. Stenshaw.
Brundine & Halberson, hydraulic, on Horseshoe bend.
George Teneyck, hydraulic, two miles above the mouth of Salmon river.
SCOTT RIVER.
At Simonville, Andrews, Baxter & Co., and Joseph Ramus.
At Whiting Hill, Peter Whiting.
M. K. Thomas is working a good claim in the river; also several others on a small scale.
At Scott Bar, Hancock claim by Smith & Leduc; Mountain View claim by George Smith; both hydraulic.
On the opposite side are the hydraulic claims of Marfield & Co., Green & Holmes, Williams & Ryan, Walter Borland, and Reynolds & Jacobs.
ORO FINO.
John Young, and Wright & Fletcher; both hydraulic.
Lindsay quartz ledge.
R. A. Wright & Co., quartz mill. Considerable quartz prospecting.
QUARTZ VALLEY.
A. M. Johnson owns a quartz ledge and mill, several ditches, and large hydraulie claims.
Allen Brothers, and George Tompkins, quartz ledges.
F. Turk, quartz ledge and mill.
Pioneer placer claim, by Chinese.
Considerable quartz prospecting.
PATTERSON CREEK.
Two sluice claims by Crawford & Co., and a Por- tuguese company.
RATTLESNAKE CREEK.
Three Chinese companies.
Jesse Franklin, quartz ledge.
INDIAN CREEK.
John Vincent, quartz mill.
Adam Sell and Charles Owen.
John Stewart & Co., in White's gulch; hydraulic.
Starr hydraulic claim in French gulch.
Brown, Bailey & Bowles, quartz ledge.
T. B. Howell, above Grizzly gulch.
Along the creek are a large number of Chinamen at work.
M'ADAMS CREEK.
Drift claims on this creek are owned by George Smith & Co. (Steamboat claim), Lincoln & Co., Adam Sell, Hart & Co. (Oak Grove claim), Thomas Thomas, H. B. Mathewson (Hardscrabble claim), Duncan Cameron and B. Aldrich, and a large num- ber of Chinese.
On Cherry creek are two Portuguese companies.
On Deadwood creek there is one Chinese claim, and some quartz prospecting.
SOUTH FORK OF SCOTT RIVER.
Montezuma, hydraulic, by Alexander Parker, patented, large flumes.
Last Chance, hydraulic, by Alexander Parker and others.
Mitchell & Co., drifting.
Two Chinese claims near the mouth of Boulder creek.
John Foche, sluicing.
Kangaroo gulch, on east fork, R. C. Crawford, sluicing.
Above Foche, several Chinese companies.
Above French flat, Pierson & Prindeville, and Horn & Co.
Old Chaingang claim, by F. Helmith.
At mouth of Fox creek, A B C company, hy- draulic.
Up Fox creek, M. Messner, and Lowering & Co., drift claims. Above these, Chinese companies. Quartz prospecting near the creek.
Above mouth of Fox creek are a Chinese com- pany, and Green & Co .; at Gasburg Daniel Bickford & Co.
On Jackson creek, Charles Ross.
SALMON RIVER.
Two Chinese claims near the mouth.
James Danielson, below Butler's flat.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
Louis Williams, below Oliver's flat.
George Hammil and Henry Bloomer, at Oliver's flat, hydraulic.
Several Chinese claims at the flat, one of them hydraulic.
George McNeal, hydraulic, above the flat.
Timothy Haley, small claim.
Two Chinese companies, one of them at the forks with hydraulic.
NORTH FORK OF SALMON.
E. L. Shumway & Brother, on Smashpipe Bar, and at the mouth of Murderers' gulch.
S. L. Finley, at Clapboard Bar, above Sawyer's Bar, derrick claim.
Kuchenbach & Meyers, drift claim, below Saw- yer's Bar, on Paradise flat.
Thomas Hickey, two miles below Sawyer's Bar. Henry Geichen, below Hickey.
G. Mohr, at Red Hill, four miles below Sawyer's Bar.
A. Ahlgren & Co., hydraulic, below Little North Fork.
Several small companies to Shumway's, near the mouth.
G. W. Bigelow, sluicing, above Eddy's gulch.
Several small claims on Russian creek.
SOUTH FORK OF SALMON.
Three China companies up to Nicholas Kasch's, below the mouth of Know-Nothing ereek. Plenty of ground here, but a scareity of water.
J. P. Fifield, hydraulic, at Red Hill.
On Know-Nothing creek several Chinese.
At mouth of Methodist creek, A. S. Orcutt, hydraulic.
Cash quartz ledge, owned by the Black Bear Company, and a small mill.
On Matthews creek, one China company, hydraulic. At Cecilville, George Sightman, Thomas & Gillis, and several Chinese.
Up the east fork are .W. H. George, sluice, Brown & George, hydraulic, George Wahlford, sluice, and a number of Chinese claims.
Above the east fork are several Chinese com- panies near Petersburg; Bennett & Miller, hydraulic, and a China claim on Big bend.
Between Coffee creek and Salmon river, Abram Brothers have two claims.
BETWEEN FORKS OF SALMON.
Klamath mill and mine, by John Daggett, at head of Eddy's gulch, five miles east of Sawyer's Bar.
Black Bear mill and mine, on Black Bear creek, seven miles northeast of Sawyer's Bar. Owned in San Francisco.
Last Chance quartz mine and mill, east of Saw- yer's Bar, owned by John English, Patrick Doran, and John Grant.
Uncle Sam mill and mine, southeast of Sawyer's Bar, owned by S. R. and Edmund Sheffield.
On Eddy's gulch, Evening Star and Star of the West quartz mines, both abandoned. Also William Burns, John Anderson, David Casey, some Portu- guese, and several other small placer claims.
Morning Star quartz mine and mill, on Jackass gulch, six miles from Sawyer's Bar, not working.
DITCHES.
Of ditches used for mining and irrigation pur- poses there are in the county 250 miles, assessed at $53,100, an extremely low figure. This embraces only ditches of some magnitude, those carrying only a few inches being omitted. The largest of these is the one used by the Yreka Creek Mining Company, and variously called the Yreka ditch, Big ditch, and Shasta River canal. It was completed in the spring of 1856, and was eighty miles in length, costing $200,000. In the floods of 1861-62 it was damaged to the amount of $16,000, having 174 breaks in it. The location was changed to the east side of Yreka, running to Hawkinsville, in 1880, at great expense. The important ditches of the county are :-
The San Jose ditch at Scott river; the Shasta River canal; a large irrigation ditch from Scott river, owned by McBride, McConaughy, and others; John Stewart & Co's., ditch on Indian creek; Wright & Fletcher's ditch at Oro Fino; Young & Eastlick's ditch at Oro Fino; A. M. Johnson's ditches at Oro Fino and Quartz valley; Greenhorn ditch to Hawk- insville; Sproll ditch to Yreka flats; Henry Egbert's ditch from Yreka creek to Hawkinsville. Besides these there are a great many ditches, a few miles in length and of varied capacity, in both valleys, along Scott river, at Cottonwood, and in all the placer mining localities. The principal ditches in the Salmon River mines are the Bennett & Miller ditch on the south fork, and Boyd's ditch at Oliver's flat.
CHAPTER XXIV. LOCAL HISTORIES.
THE leading events in the history of the county have been already detailed, and it remains now to give a brief history of each prominent locality in the county, embracing what has not already been related. The section that until recently was a por- tion of Klamath county has been omitted from this portion of the work, but all the history of that region which affected directly the early settlement of Siskiyou county proper, has been related in the earlier chapters.
YREKA.
The causes which led to, and the circumstances that attended, the discovery of gold on the Yreka flats, have been fully detailed in Chapter VIII., to which the reader is referred.
A miners' meeting was at once held, and the size of claims made thirty feet, in deference to the superior wisdom of the few who had been in mines before. Thompson, and his partner, Bell, were given an extra claim for the discovery. The dis- coverers at once moved their camp from the creek to the flat, and as there was but one good rocker in the party they were compelled to improvise some. Oak trees, the centers of which were rotted and soft, were split in two and hewn out for rockers. Riddles were made of deer skin, perforated to permit the water to run through. When the miners began to arrive from below, they brought "long toms," the superiority of which was so evident that the rockers were cast aside wherever there was water
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RANCH PREMISES OF JOHN P. MEAMBER. 320 ACHEŞ, ) MILES WEST OF FORT JONES, SISKIYOU CO. CAL.
HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
ALEXANDER PARKER,
A native of Scotland, and the eldest of a family of ten children, sons and daughters of William and Mary (Boyd) Parker, was born January 13, 1828. At an early age Alexander was compelled to labor in the mines and on the farm. At the age of ten his parents emigrated to Nova Scotia, where they resided three and a half years, from there going to Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where his father had come to mine. In three years they again moved to near St. Louis, working at mining; and again, in 1847, this time to Lafayette county, Wisconsin, where they were engaged in farming. In the spring of 1854 the family started overland to California, with ox and mule-teams. When about half way across the plains Alexander separated from the family and took the northern route, entering Shasta valley at Sheep Rock, and going at once to Scott valley, where he located the place on which H. C. Cory now lives, during October, 1854. In 1855 he purchased the claim of Young & Redford, and in 1858 the place where he now resides. This is one of the finest stock ranges in northern California. Mr. Parker has been extensively engaged in cattle raising, carrying as high as 3,000 head at one time. In November, 1872, he sold 2,000 head of stock in Big valley for $40,000. At that time cattle com- manded good prices. The buyers were Withington & Speedy, of White Pine, Nevada. It had been thought he would not sell this stock, but acting upon the advice of his son James, he let them go at the figure offered. One thousand head were left on the home place, where he has since continued to grow stock, turning off from 150 to 200 head of fat cattle annually. In addition to stock he is extensively interested in mining and merchandising, being the owner, in company with his sons James and John, and R. H. Campbell, of the famous Monte- zuma gravel or placer mine, on the south fork of Scott river. He also owns three-tenths of the Last Chance mine; a claim on Wild Cat, which he rents, and another mine known as the Rim Diggings, on the side of a hill near Last Chance. He is also con- nected with the commercial house of Parker, Camp- bell & Co., at Etna, which occupies the spacious brick building erected by Mr. Parker in November, 1880, at an expense of $12,000. When Mr. Parker landed in Scott valley he was not possessed of much of this world's goods. He then had a wife, one child, a few cattle, and $100. Foremost among the pro- gressive and enterprising people who live here, he has by his own efforts raised himself to the front rank in wealth and affluence. He was married at St. Louis, December 3, 1852, to Miss Susanna Durand, daughter of Thomas and Grace Durand, of English birth. His wife died September 24, 1870. There were born to them nine children, as follows: William, born at St. Louis January 3, 1853, died in Plowman valley April 17, 1873; James Boyd, born January 18, 1855; Alexander, born October 24, 1856; John, born June 16, 1858; Jennie, born August 7, 1860; Charles B., born February 23, 1864 ; Brice B., born February 28, 1866; Robert Thomas, born March 7, 1868 ; George S., born Sep- tember 10, 1870, died December 28, 1871. Mr. Parker was again married, to Miss Maggie Taylor, daughter of James and Rebecca Taylor of Calla-
han's ranch. Mrs. Parker is a native of Siskiyou county, being born on the south fork. By this union there is one son, born February 12, 1881. Mr. Parker is a staunch Democrat. His religion is Presbyterian. His father died at the age of sixty- seven. His mother is still living, and at the advanced age of seventy-two is hale and hearty. Mr. Parker has lived to raise a large family of boys, not one of whom drinks, smokes, or plays cards. In the interim between his first wife's death and his second marriage his house was in charge of his daughter and Mrs. Grace Griffin. He is a member of the Eastern Star Lodge, No. 186, Free and Accepted Masons, at Etna.
E. D. BROWN
Was born in Carrollton, Green county, Illinois, in 1842, and while still young went to Texas, where he was reared and educated by his uncle, J. W. Throckmorton, who was afterwards Governor of Texas and a member of Congress. Mr. Brown re- sided with his uncle until the year 1852 when he moved to Mexico and lived about a year. In 1853 he came to California. He immediately engaged in mining, which occupation he has made his life work. His first labors in this direction were performed at Mariposa. In 1858 and 1859 he was engaged in wing-damming on the Klamath river. Afterwards in 1860 and 1861 he was at Jackson- ville, Oregon, carrying on his mining operations. For three years more he was engaged in working both quartz and placer mines on the Humbug. It was here that Mr. Brown discovered the Eliza ledge which he finally sold out. He then went to Oro Fino and worked a claim which did not prove suc- cessful in the end. Leaving Oro Fino in 1865 he worked on McAdams creek during that and the fol- lowing year. He then changed his base of opera- tions to White Pine, Nevada, mining silver quartz for a time. He afterwards returned to McAdams creek, going from thence to Indian creek where he was occupied in placer mining. At this place, in company with Mr. Bailey, they struck the Grizzly Bonanza quartz ledge, in Grizzly gulch. This mine has been developed until it is the leading quartz mine of Siskiyou county. Of Mr. Brown's family there are six children, three boys and three girls. Having made a study of mining for many years, Mr. Brown has acquired great dexterity and skill in searching out nature's hidden mineral treasures and he has acquired great success from this knowledge. He is a man of high intelligence and culture and is universally esteemed.
FRANCIS CHANCEY ERWIN COOLEY,
The youngest of a family of six children, was the son of Proctor P. and Elizabeth (Erwin) Cooley. His father was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of Mohawk valley, New York. They were married in Amsterdam, New York, and removed to St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, where young Cooley was born June 27, 1847. His mother died when he was but six months old, and he was taken
HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
and adopted by a Miss Holbrook, who kept him till four years of age, when he returned to his father. At the age of thirteen he went to Sycamore, DeKalb county, where he engaged in farming, afterwards going to Chicago and learning the trade of harness- maker. In time he went to Warrenville and learned shoemaking with a Mr. Stafford. After liv- ing in Iowa awhile and making two ocean voyages, he returned to Fulton, Illinois, from which place in 1862 he started for California, crossing the plains. Here he was engaged in mining and shoemaking until 1865, when he returned to New York City by water, coming back to San Francisco the same year. Here he was again engaged in mining and shoe- making and farming. In 1866 he visited White Pine, Nevada, and afterwards Fort Yuma, Arizona, and still later he went to Los Angeles. From there he journeyed to Sacramento, where until 1870 he followed his trade. In the spring of that year he removed to Fort Jones, opened up in the boot and shoe business, and has ever since resided here. Mr. Cooley is strictly temperate in his habits, never hav- ing drank or played cards while on the coast. The year after the completion of the Central Pacific rail- road Mr. Cooley made two trips to Salt Lake and returned to Sacramento. While an invalid he traveled into nearly every part of the United States for his health, his father furnishing the means. Mr Cooley's father located in Du Page county, Illinois, many years ago, and acquired a large property at Winfield. He died in 1879. Mr. Cooley stands high both socially and morally. His religious beliefs are Protestant and his political convictions Repub- lican.
ANDREW A. BEEM
Was born in Covert, Indiana county, Pennsylvania, October 13, 1836. He was the son of Andrew and Margaret Beem. The father was of Scotch ances- try, and born in New England. The mother was of Pennsylvania-German extraction. Andrew remained at home on the farm until 1845, when his parents sold the place and removed to Alton, Illinois. Here he attended school till 1852, when he crossed the plains with an ox-team to Salem, Oregon. In 1854 he removed to Yreka, and from thence to Deadwood, a place which now exists only in history. At this place he mined until 1863, when he journeyed to Idaho and settled at Pioneer City, on Grimes creek. In 1864 Mr. Beem returned to Siskiyou county, and purchased the livery stable, at Fort Jones, where he has since continued to reside. He was married, September 21, 1861, to Miss Catherine Dolan, of Massachusetts. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Beem, viz .: Anna C., born November 30, 1863; Martin Custer, born November 25, 1865, and named after General Cus-
ter, at the solicitation of a brother who was then in the service with him and is now a prominent attorney in Chicago ; William Pitt, born February 13, 1868. In June, 1880, Mr. Beem established a stage line from Fort Jones to Yreka, making three trips per week, passing up McAdams creek. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to North Star Lodge at Fort Jones, and Cyrus Chap- ter at Yreka. He is also a member of Fort Jones Lodge, No. 115, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is politically a Republican, and in religion a Protestant. Mr. Beem is a well-read and thoroughly informed man, and the same habits of study are followed by his boys. He is a public-spirited citi- zen, and awake to the general interests of Fort Jones.
MARTIN ANDREWS,
Whose father's name was also Martin, was born in England in the year 1835. His father, a native of Cornwall, England, was born in 1795, and his mother, Hannah, in 1797. Martin was the young- est of three, his brother Mathias, having first seen the light in 1827 and his sister Mary in 1833. In May, 1854, young Andrews secured passage on the vessel De Witt Clinton, bound for the United States, being desirous of trying his fortune in America. Upon her arrival in this country he went to Penn- sylvania and engaged in mining for two or three months. On the first of August, 1854, he started for northern Michigan, where for one year he was employed in copper mining. In 1855 he formed the resolution of going to California, and putting his purpose into execution he reached this State in October of that year. He then entered into mining and for two years remained in Weaverville, Trinity county. He came to Scott Bar in July, 1857, and prosecuted mining very successfully, an occupation he has followed up to the present time. Mr. Andrews was united in marriage to Miss Isabella Nentzel, at Simonville, on Scott river, February 5, 1874. Mrs. Andrews was born in New York City November 1, 1847. The children born to this union are Martin, born September 29, 1874 ; Annie, born February 26, 1876 ; Mary born December 2, 1877; and Louise, born November 30, 1879. Mr. Andrews made a visit to Europe in 1864 to see his parents, and returning, passed through Pennsylvania to visit his sister. He completed his trip and got back to Scott river in June, 1865. Mr. Andrews is a man eminently respected and esteemed, standing high in his community. He is at present a member of the Board of Supervisors of Siskiyou county and has a very pretty residence on Scott river, below Whiting Hill, which forms one of the illustrations of this work.
RESIDENCE OF AUGUSTUS MEAMBER 9 MILES WEST OF FORT JONES , CAL
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
enough for a tom. These were also cut from trees until lumber was introduced, when they were made of better material. In this way was mining inaugurated at what was then called Thompson's Dry Diggings.
The second day after the discovery, miners began to pour in from Scott Bar and take up claims on the flat. Theodore F. Rowe and the Burgess Broth- · ers, both of whom had pack-trains at Scott Bar, brought their goods to Yreka, and at once started below to procure a new supply. In this way the news was spread that wonderful diggings had been struck in Shasta valley, and created great excite- ment, or rather increased the excitement that the Trinity and northern mines had been causing for more than a year. It has been the oft-repeated history of mining that the charms of a new discov- ery cannot be resisted. No matter how remote they may be or how difficult and dangerous the road, new mines of fabulous richness-and new mines are always fabulously rich-have but to be announced to create a furore of excitement and a rush of eager gold-seekers.
The last company down from Oregon had an- nounced that the road was lined with men going to California, and these began to pour in a few days after the discovery. Soon the crowds from below made their appearance, some on foot, and some mounted; some without a dollar or a pound of " grub," and some with mules loaded with provisions and tools. The last proceeded at once to business. A pole leaning against a tree and covered with canvas made an excellent store, in which goods were . partially protected from the elements, while the open door gave as free ingress, if not as hearty wel- come, to the mud and rain as to the anxious cus- tomer. Logs made comfortable seats. Brush when artistically arranged by the hand of experience, made a couch so soft and springy as to woo the tired miner to sweet repose and happy dreams. Stones, mud and turf made excellent fire-places, where the culinary preparations were made for the not very elaborate meal of bacon, beans and coffee, varied occasionally by a little fresh game from the mount- ains or valley. This commingling of tents, brush shanties and open camping places probably bore as striking resemblance to Washington's camp at Val- ley Forge as has ever been produced since the " times that tried men's souls."
To a mining camp whisky is essential, and saloons a part of its very being. The fiery liquid headed the list of merchandise. Wherever anything was sold whisky could be obtained, and many places kept nothing else. . Twenty-five cents was the usual price, though in a new camp fifty cents and some- times one dollar was charged for a drink. Gaming tables were an indispensable adjunct of a well- appointed saloon, and many a miner gambled away at night or on Sunday all he had made by hard labor in his claim. `One of these, kept by Sam. Lockhart, boasted of the only attempt at architect- ural embellishment in the settlement. It was made of shakes nailed upon poles and covered with canvas and brush, in fact the only house in town.
The location of the mushroom city was about one- half mile northwest of the corner of Oregon and Miner streets, on a little knoll near some springs of
water. With the men from Scott Bar came D. H. Lowry and wife, who opened a boarding-house under a canopy of brush. A pine log served for a table, on which was spread for one dollar and a half a toothsome meal of bacon, coffee, rice, and biscuits.
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