USA > California > Lassen County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 69
USA > California > Plumas County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 69
USA > California > Sierra County > Illustrated history of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra counties, with California from 1513 to 1850 > Part 69
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FOREST CITY LODGE No. 32, I. O. O. F., was chartered November 1, 1854, with thirteen members. The first officers were : Warren Heaton, N. G .; J. H. Hickox, V. G .; C. J. Houghtaling, R. S .; Theodore Winters, P. S .; Adolph Levy, treas. The new hall was dedicated October 7, 1876. The lodge officers at present are: S. Blackmore, N. G .; C. D. Akers, V. G .; G. H. Shepherd, R. S .; Walter Lowery, treasurer. The membership is sixty-four, and the value of lodge property $2,500.
BALD MOUNTAIN LODGE NO. 44, K. OF P., was instituted July 28, 1877, with sixteen charter members. The present officers are : S. A. Scullin, P. C .; J. O. Jones, C. C .; B. F. Derrickson, V. C .; R. W. Patrick, K. of R. & S .; W. Bradbury, M. of E .; J. McNaughton, M. of F .; R. S. Weston, P .; R. P. Mott, M. A .; W. McHenry, I. G .; J. Uren, O. G.
FOREST LODGE No. 124, A. O. U. W., was organized August 25, 1879, with a membership of nineteen. The membership now is fifty, and the officers are: S. R. Stephenson, P. M. W .; P. Rader, M. W .; James O'Connor, F .; D. Finane, O .; G. H. Shepherd, R. ; F. H. Campbell, financier.
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A lodge of Good Templars was begun at Forest City May 23, 1867, with twelve members, George Fields being the first W. C. T. This lodge has had a steady growth, until now the mem- bership reaches one hundred and fifty. Dr. McCrimmon is W. C. T .; Miss Katie Finane, W. V. T. ; J. W. Haskins, W. S .; Josie Gregg, W. F. S .; T. Rolands, W. T .; John Jenkins, W. M.
NORTHERN SIERRA.
ST. LOUIS .- Early in the spring of 1850 P. A. Haven and Harvey Wilcox prospected the country where were afterwards located Sears' Diggings, Cedar Grove, and Pine Grove, but not con- sidering it better than they already had, they made no location. On returning in a couple of weeks they found Sears there with his company. Sears' Diggings were the first on the north side of the county, being at the outlet of a flat containing six hundred acres of shallow mining ground, and were very easily worked. In the fall of 1852 a town was laid out by several Missourians, who con- ferred upon it the title it now bears. The place soon became a lively camp. A. L. and B. O. Williams, William Meyers, and one Stewart built a ditch in 1852, which took water from the south fork of Slate creek, the water right having been purchased from other parties who had made the first location on this branch. E. M. Purinton and Benjamin Taylor located it before the ditch was built and claimed the right to it, proceeding to construct a ditch of their own. Considerable dissen- sion followed, but the matter was finally settled by the arbitration of a miners' court. In August, 1853, both companies united, and became the Sears' Union Water company. The Williams ditch extended four miles in length, and the Purinton ditch seven miles. A very substantial stone build- ing was put up at this time, which was occupied below by Everts & Wilson as an express office, and above by the Odd Fellows and Masons. It is now used for hotel purposes by Mr. Schwartz. Charles Gerichten and Mendelsohn & Co. erected two fire-proof buildings also in 1853. Upon the first day of September, 1854, St. Louis was entirely destroyed by fire, with the exception of the three structures mentioned. The town continued to grow, and at the presidential election in 1856 cast a vote 398. At daylight Sunday morning, July 26, 1857, a fire broke out in the stable of Gal- latin & Standish, which rapidly communicated to the buildings on both sides. Property to the value of $200,000 was destroyed before the progress of the flames could be stayed. The heaviest losers were Fuller & Co., hardware merchants, $15,000; Burbank & Babb, hotel, $10,000; De Pew & Tell, $5,000; Madame Touvounties, $5,000; Gumbert & Sheffield, $5,000 ; Caster & Rigby, town hall, $5,000; McFarland, $4,000; L. Heffron, $3,500; G. Seavy & Co., $3,500 ; S. Wary, $3,500; J. Gibson, Gallatin & Standish, Critcher & Johnson, S. McCrary, and Trainor & Gordon, $3,000 each ; while many others lost lesser amounts. The town gradually declined after this fire, and now has .only one hotel, a saloon, and a livery stable. The first school at St. Louis was taught by Acanthus Hinchman in the fall of 1853, having twenty pupils, whose tuition was paid for by subscription. The present school-building was erected in 1855, to which numerous additions were made in 1862. A Jew peddler lost his life at St. Louis in 1854, while exposing his wares to some women in a saloon. The proprietor asked a man who entered to pay his bill, but was told that he didn't owe him anything. Pistols were drawn, and during the friendly exchange of shots the Jew was acci- dentally killed.
HOWLAND FLAT .- This place, situated two miles and a half from St. Louis, has for many years been an important mining camp. Settlements were made here in a very early day. In the fall of
RESIDENCE OF GEO. W. HUMPHREY. SIERRA VALLEY, SIERRA CO., CAL.
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1862 the town was partially destroyed by fire, about twenty buildings being burned, but was soon rebuilt in much better shape than before, and vacant lots were sold at high figures. Potosi, a half- mile east, grew up in 1863, and in that year both camps together had a population of nearly 1800. Mining was carried on extensively on the ledges, the Union Water company's location being the principal one, with a ledge a half-mile one way and 2,000 feet the other. The owners at the time were E. A. Strob and the Moyle brothers. The place rose to the distinction of possessing a fire department, of which A. McMillan, E. A. Strob, Conrad Schotte, David Gaby, and Thomas Eve were trustees, and Charles D. Nichols chief engineer. At Potosi the Pittsburg company's tunnel was then being run. Howland has for a number of years been a favorite place for the practice of snow-shoeing, many an exciting tournament having occurred there. The speed that has been attained in this strange mode of travel is indeed wonderful, rivaling that of the swiftest railway train. In 1869 the astonishing feat was performed of running six hundred yards in thirteen seconds, or at the rate of a mile and a half a minute. The principal mines in this neighborhood are the Empire, from which has been cleaned up as high as $30,000 in a month, the Bonanza, the Last Chance, and the Sears Union Water company's claims.
PINE GROVE is situated two miles from St. Louis and a half a mile from Howland flat. Its growth and development has kept pace with the rest of this region, being a place of considerable importance. It was near this place that Richardson was killed, in 1863, by a man named Chandler, who drove a pick through his companion's body, penetrating his right lung. No arrests were made. The unfortunate killing of Fred Willet happened in Pine Grove, on the first day of January, 1855. A fallen tree having broken in Kavanaugh's house, a large number of Irishmen congregated to assist in setting the place to rights. Opposite to Kavanaugh's was Peter Glenn's hotel, where a man named Mullen lived. Glenn went over, and in the course of the conversation said that his man Mullen could whip Willet, who was among the crowd that had assembled. Willet, being under the influence of liquor, went at once to Glenn's hotel to try his prowess on Mullen, who, being a timid man, refused to fight, and started to go out of the room. Willet intercepted him before he reached the door, when he received a fearful wound in the abdomen from a knife in the hand of Mullen, from which he died on the fourth day afterward. Mullen gave himself up to 'Squire Hill, at St. Louis, but no one appearing against him, he went away. For his hand in the affair Glenn was arrested soon after, with his wife as an accessory. They were kept in prison at Downieville for nearly a year, when they were liberated by the verdict of a jury exonerating themn.
GIBSONVILLE .- This thriving village was at one time a very large mining camp, with a number of hotels, stores, and saloons. Though at present bereft of much of its former glory, it is still a lively place of more than two hundred population. The Gibsonville Union Water company con- trols nearly all the water in this vicinity, having two ditches from Slate creek and two from springs in the ravines. The principal mines in the neighborhood are the Chalcedonia Consolidated, the Union Consolidated, the Gravel Hill, and the Michigan.
NEWARK, formerly known as Whisky Diggings, is situated a mile and a half above Gibson- ville. It has been a place of some note, but has long since suffered the fate of most mining towns, and retrograded.
HEPSIDAM, nearly a mile from the latter place, is the location of the great North American mine, a very rich drift claim. In 1877 one hundred and fifty men were being employed in the tunnel, which had penetrated the hill a distance of 4,500 feet. Work is not now being carried on on so extensive a scale.
PORT WINE .- This place is four miles west of St. Louis, and four south of La Porte. It has
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greatly deteriorated from what it was formerly, though there is considerable mining still in progress in the vicinity.
. EUREKA CITY was, in 1856, another of the flourishing camps. In December of that year a fire started in the New Orleans hotel, burning also the Pacific hotel and the stores of H. S. Beck, Brazelton & Reis, J. B. Frankell, together with Moore's, Reynolds', and Hubbard's butcher-shops, and Robinson & Ward's saloon. Of late years Eureka has again risen to some prominence, in consequence of the opening and developing of mines.
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MINING OF SIERRA COUNTY.
Since 1849 Sierra county has never ceased to yield from year to year an abundant harvest of gold ; indeed, the precious metal has been almost the only harvest she could produce, so very little of her soil being suitable for agriculture. Thousands have made fortunes in all the mining districts, enriching the world by almost fabulous amounts; yet Sierra county to-day presents more induce- ments for the investment of mining capital than any other county in the state. Drift and quartz mining are the most extensively carried on, though considerable ranges of auriferous gravel are being worked by the hydraulic process in the southern and western portions, and to some extent in every distriet.
Sierra county has produced a large number of nuggets, several of them being perfeet bonanzas in themselves. The first chunk of the large order was found at the mouth of Sailor ravine, two miles above Downieville, on the banks of the Yuba, in the summer of 1851, by Tom Hall, Jack Hinch- man, Red Dick, and several other sailors. It was in the shape of a foot, with a small quantity of quartz in the heel, and weighed twenty-six pounds and a half, avoirdupois, netting the lucky finders about eight thousand dollars. In 1853 another piece was found by the Frenchmen in French ravine, which is said to have weighed fifty-one pounds. But the most remarkable mass of ore produced by this county was that taken from the Monumental mine at Sierra City, in September, 1869. The celebrated Monumental nugget, when taken out, weighed one hundred and six pounds, avoirdupois, or one hundred forty-one pounds, four ounces, Troy, being the fourth largest piece ever found in the world, and the second in size of the California nuggets. At the time this magnificent specimen was discovered the Monumental was being operated by W. A. Farish, A. Wood, Harry Warner, J. Winstead, and F. N. L. Creveling. The piece was exhibited as a curiosity for some time, at Woodward's Gardens, San Francisco; when smelted it brought the owners something like $30,000. On the same day of its discovery the hole from which it was taken yielded, in small pieces, several thousand dollars.
The Bald Mountain mine at Forest City is the most extensive drift mine in the state. It was located in August, 1864, by Dibble & Spaulding, James A. Cowden, M. Redding, H. C. George, M. Burke, P. Rutledge, H. Holling, C. Redding, J. F. Wenberg, H. Hilgerman, S. Granger, N. H. Meaney, C. Heintzen, F. H. Campbell, O. W. McDonald, and E. P. Meiley. Each had a frontage of two hundred feet. A tunnel was started to reach the pay channel, but after a time several became tired of paying assessments, and allowed their stoek to be forfeited, while others gave it up; all of it eventually falling into the hands of M. Redding at the time the tunnel was in five hundred feet. In 1869 new stock to the amount of $90,000 was issued to the following parties, and work was begun immediately : Edwin and N. H. Stone, C. D. and C. B. Jillson, Milton O'Brien,
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D. H. Raymond, W. C. Killep, George Patterson, James McGregor, James McNaughton, Warner Forbes, James Brandenburgh, J. O. Jones, J. M. Lowell, A. C. Worthley, G. G. Clough, Reuben Stout, F. H. Miller, M. Redding, Abel MeFarland, and W. F. Long. 'The old tunnel was aban- doned, a prospect shaft sunk, which paid well, and then another tunnel run, striking the shaft at two thousand feet. The main tunnel is now a mile and three-quarters into Bald Mountain, at one place being thirteen hundred feet below the surface. Side tunnels from one hundred and fifty to five hundred feet in. length extend on either side, at an average of eighty feet apart, of which there are about two hundred and fifty, the intervening gravel of the channel being excavated as they proceed. The limit of the claim will be reached at a distance of two miles from the mouth, and the coming summer will see its completion, when all the pay gravel will be cleaned up, and the pillars taken out. Tracks are laid in all the tunnels being worked, over which an engine, christened "H. K. Wallis " in honor of the superintendent, makes hourly trips both day and night, carrying cars to and fro in the long interminable corridors. The main tunnel has a total raise of 207 feet from the mouth inward to the locomotive station, as it follows the course of the channel, creating a perfect system of drainage. Four hundred and forty-one acres of mining ground are owned by the company, four miles of creek, two flumes of half a mile each, a mile and a quarter of washing flume, and at the bottom of the latter flume tailing claims 8,000 feet in length. Two dumping yards, double-planked, with a capacity of 25,000 cubic yards each, receive during the summer, when water is scarce, the gravel to be washed. Enormous quantities of heavy timber are required in the tunnels to support the vast masses of loose gravel above. At present the number of men on the pay roll of the company is 140, the number having reached as high as 230. Nearly all the gold found in the great blue lead is very coarse, the largest piece ever taken from this mine weigh- ing over seventy-five ounces. The yield of the mine for the last ten years has been about $2,000,000, of which $795,000 were paid in dividends. The board of directors consists of James McNaughton, James McGregor, and H. C. Perkins. James McNaughton is president of the company, and James McGregor secretary. The superintendent of the mine, H. K. Wallis, has held the position for ten years. His knowledge of mining ground in the vicinity is very extensive and accurate, and to his excellent judgment, it may be said, is due much of the success attained in this work.
The Bald Mountain Extension claim was located in 1874. It embraces 1,600 acres of ground running along the center of the ridge; and the tunnel begun in the fall of 1878, at the east side of Forest City, now has a length of 4,000 feet, costing $35,000 for its construction. In June, 1881, it struck the old channel, since which time $30,000 have been taken out, the largest piece weighing twenty ounces when taken out. In the summer water for washing the gravel is obtained from the Pliocene shaft, on the upper end of the claim, 260 feet in depth. H. T. Briggs is president of the company ; H. W. Orear, secretary ; and Walter Lawry, superintendent of the mine.
The North Fork mining land adjoins the Bald Mountain on the west, has a tunnel a mile in length, which was worked up to the past year, and is now the property of Charles Heintzen. In 1877, from a hidden ledge discovered, twenty-five pounds of rock yielded $4,811. The Wisconsin company, on the north of Bald Mountain, is running a long tunnel, now in 2,000 feet. John L. Slatterly is superintending the work. The Ruby claim, also on the north of Bald Mountain, is being worked by a tunnel 3,000 feet in length, that has just tapped the channel. The Arizona com- pany on the east have very rich ground, frequent break-outs of the auriferous gravel occurring on the side of the hill. Their tunnel has penetrated the earth 1,000 feet. The South Fork, south of the Extension, has run a tunnel 1,800 feet long. The Mammoth force is striking very rich prospects, while the Seventy-Six has a short tunnel south of the Extension. Passing eastward from
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Forest City, we find the Wallis Consolidated claim not yet opened, which covers 1,500 acres; and beyond that the celebrated Monte Christo mine. Diggings were started at Monte Christo hill in 1854, the extraordinary richness of which caused a large settlement to spring up. At one time Monte Christo was as large as Downieville, but the flight of time scattered the inhabitants to the four corners of the earth, and the town is no more. The Monte Christo tunnel reaches 3,000 feet into the hill. A great deal of money was taken out here. The claim is now being worked by hydraulic means. In the Eldorado claim a tunnel is being run by the Woolsey brothers. The Savage placer drift mine, seven miles south-west of Sierra City, is owned by the Savage Mining com- pany, composed of Virginia City men. The tunnel from the Middle Yuba, 1,400 feet through very hard granite rock, cost in the neighborhood of $50,000. N. H. Ball is superintendent.
The Haskell Peak mine, nine miles north-west of Sierra City, is mostly owned by people of that town. The prospect tunnel cost $10,000, and is 1,200 feet in length. The Blue Gravel and the Eureka mining companies have claims six miles south-east of Sierra City, with lengthy prospect tunnels. The One Thousand and One drift claim of 600 acres, three miles east of Sierra City, has a tunnel 1,000 feet in length, with numerous side tunnels and cross-cuts. A ditch six miles long brings water from a small creek. Fifteen thousand dollars have been expended in prospecting. The mine is operated by a board of directors, consisting of J. J. Sawyer, Matt Arata, John Watts, Arthur McGregor, and J. M. Gorham. James T., A. C., and A. F. Smith have a hydraulic claim in Ladies' canon, near Butcher ranch. Water is obtained from the head of Gold Run creek through a ditch two miles and a quarter in length. The mine was opened in the summer of 1880, and pays well. The Lewis Brothers' mine, below the Smith mine, owned by Robert and Samuel Lewis, has been worked by hydraulic means for twelve years. Hutchinson & Mooney have a hydraulic claim on the other side of the ridge, which was opened in 1879.
The Gold Lake mining district was first prospected by Philo Haven, in 1858, and was organ- ized by him and his brother, J. M. Haven. They prospected for quartz until 1863, when the placer claims were discovered. Around and near the lake are a large number of quartz and gravel claims. The Pennsylvania claim is operating an extensive system of tunnels, trying to reach the blue lead. Above it is the Wilhelm Consolidated, a drift claim on which a great deal has been spent in sinking shafts and running tunnels. The New York hydraulic, the Wilson & Davis hydraulic, and the Limperich & Haven hydraulic claims are all on Howard creek. They have about nine miles of ditch. The Gold Lake placer and drift claim was located by Limperich & Haven in 1862, since which time it has been worked. A tunnel 500 feet in length has just been opened. The Woodchuck is a very valuable claim, owned by Lemuel Foss. Below this, Foss & Densmire have two claims, while many others are being prospected. An eight-stamp quartz-mill was erected near the outlet of the lake by Limperich & Haven in 1860.
At Downieville considerable hydraulicking has been done in the past. At present S. D. Hill is running one chief on his claim, and another is being run by W. S. Watson, two miles below the town. The leading hydraulic mine at Howland flat is the Union Hill, owned McChesney & Boyce. In 1857 the Bright Star company began work on this claim, but failed in 1859, and was succeeded by the Union company. The total yield to 1869 was $900,000; at that time eighty men were employed, and Howland flat was the most thrifty camp in the country, shipping during a number of years an average of $600,000 per year. The Fair Play hydraulic mine, owned by the Boyce Brothers, has a bank of auriferous gravel from one to four hundred feet in depth. It has been worked twenty-three years. Sections of petrified trees are often rolled out by the powerful stream of water. The Cleveland and Sierra is the property of a Cleveland company. Chittenden & Co.'s
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RESIDENCE OF DR A.JUMP, DOWNIEVILLE,SIERRA CO., CAL.
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hydraulic claim is at Howland flat, above which are several large drift mines, such as the Union, Hawkeye, Pittsburgh, Monumental, Bonanza, and the Empire. The last-named mine has enriched its stockholders in an amount exceeding half a million dollars. Near Little Grizzly is the Bunker Hill claim, which comprises 800 acres of mining ground, and has a pay channel 7,000 feet in length by 500 in width. At Brandy City many large hydraulic enterprises have been carried on in the past, the number being too great for enumeration here. On St. Charles hill, near Goodyear's bar, are several gravel companies, with tunnels varying in length.
The quartz-ledges of Sierra county that have been worked and are now in process of working are legion. Locations are made somewhere every day, much more attention being now paid to this branch of mining than at any time previous. The oldest and by far the most extensive quartz-mine in Sierra County is that owned and operated by the Sierra Buttes Gold Mining company, of London. The ledge was located in the summer or fall of 1850, and was being worked by arrastras in 1851, since which time there has been no cessation in the taking out and crushing of ore. The first locators were Italians, whose names are unknown. A few years after Ferdinand and Gustavus Reis became interested in the ledge, together with a large number of others, among them W. A. Parish and Elkan Said. In 1864 a ditch costing $20,000 was built around the Buttes to the mine, a distance of seven miles. In 1870 the present company bought the entire property of the Reis brothers, paying them something over a million dollars. At that time there were five tunnels in the solid rock on what are now the upper levels, which are entirely exhausted; at present there are nine. Tunnel No. 1 runs entirely through the hill; tunnels No. 1 to 5 are from 700 to 2,500 fcet in length; No. 6, 4,500 feet ; No. 7, 5,000 fect; No. 8, 3,000 feet; No. 9, 700 feet. The last tunnel is on a level with Sierra City, and will eventually be run 9,000 feet through the rock. At 6,000 feet it is expected the pay ledge will be struck, which is now being worked one thousand feet below the upper tunnel. The diamond drill is used in boring, being impelled by compressed air forced through pipes into the tunnel. Ninety-six stamps were in operation in the three mills that were running prior to March, 1882; but on the sixteenth of March a snow-slide carried away the 30-stamd mill on the level of No. 6, involving a loss to the company of $40,000. The old Reis mill of sixteen stamps stands too high for ore, and will be removed below. The 50-stamp mill stands between the sixth and seventh tunnels, to which is hoisted, from five hundred feet below, the ore from the lower tunnels. A turbine wheel is run by the tremendous water pressure of six hundred and fifty feet. When all the stamps were running, 5,600 tons of rock were crushed monthly, but now it averages 3,000 tons. Before the snow-slide over two hundred men were employed at the mine, which number is at present reduced to one hundred and eighty. The rock averages from five to six dollars per ton, costing for mining and milling each ton $3.85, being fifteen cents less cost than formerly. The total yield of this mine for the thirty years it has been worked cannot be accurately determined, but it is estimated that no less than $7,000,000 have been taken from it; having always paid dividends without levying a single assessment upon the stock. In the last ten years 800,000 feet of timber have been used in the tunnels, requiring on an average nearly 100,000 feet per year. At the mine all of the employees reside, many of whom have private residences. The most spacious boarding-house in northern California is owned by the company, in which the men are furnished food and lodging. Near this building are a dry-house, with furnace and drying apparatus for wet clothing, wash and bath rooms, storehouse 80x20 feet, hose-house, and other `buildings. Excellent provision is made against fire by the organization of a fire brigade. Thomas Preston has been superintendent of the mine for five years. Dr. J. J. Sawyer of Sierra City is the regular physician and surgeon. In 1876 this company purchased the Independence mine, situated 55
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