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Collection: Directories and Documents > Historical Clippings
Historical Clippings Book - Placer Mining (HC-08) (354 pages)
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Page: of 354
Malakoft
By Jean Truscott
A.Most one hundred
years ago California’s first major conservation laws abruptly halted the
rape of parts of the Mother Lode. But
not until the state’s “Little Bryce Canyon” had been created, speedily and
artificially, by the devastating erosion
of hydraulic mining.
“As the crow flies” fifteen miles
northeast of Nevada City lies Malakoff
Diggins State Historic Park, among the
largest of the old water-blasted scars
and the only state park to commemorate hydraulicking. Miles are longer by
car, eleven on State Route 49 north
H-14
from Nevada City, eleven or twelve
more on a marked secondary road to
the park just out of North Bloomfield.
The area of the diggins, as these
eroded remnants are still called, was
originally placer mined, as was most of
the Mother Lode. But in the heyday
of hydraulic mining between 1866 and
1884 operations grossed three and a
half million dollars from thirty million
yards of gold-bearing gravel.
In spite of rapidly filling debris dams
downstream, too much silt and other
deposits caused flooding and siltation
in the Central Valley, and the Legislature properly passed laws to prohibit
hydraulicking. Years of litigation followed, to no avail.
During these years Malakoff Diggins, named, presumably, by French
miners for a Napoleonic hero, the Duc
de Malakoff, and the area around it
became so “ghostly” that population
dwindled from eighteen hundred in
1880 to nine in 1964.
Also during this time natural erosion
continued to chisel the hillsides into
great fluted columns and palisades.
Minerals in many layers of exposed
earth painted the cliffs all the shades
of red and orange, pink and violet that
are famous in Bryce Canyon, which
Malakoff resembles in miniature. And
it could be that the most striking feature of coloration is the vivid contrast
of the bluffs with the deep green conifer forest that surrounds the mined
surfaces at this thirty-three-hundredfoot elevation.
This is a prime area for natural outdoor recreation, for fishing in creeks
and the nearby South Yuba River,
swimming in the local swimming hole,
riding, and hiking. So in 1965 California acquired twenty-five hundred
and ninety acres outside North Bloomfield. Along with developing a Class C
campground and group camp there,
the state has set up interpretative exhibits and trails for anyone interested
in the hydraulic phase of the gold era.
And that it is fascinating is evident
when one explores Malakoff Diggins
and its surrounding lovely region. An
interest-filled yet relaxing day or weekend can be spent there by the auto
traveler. And, as head of the Yuba
Trail, the park is jump-off spot for some
good backpacking as well.
Malakoff Diggins anyone? You won't
be disappointed in California’s “Little
Bryce Canyon.”.