Collection: Books and Periodicals

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Title: A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California (1891) Collection Type: Books and Periodicals Publisher: Lewis Publishing Company Published: 1891 Copyright: In the public domain or published before 1925 Source(s): Google Books # of Pages: 713 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-07-22 00:25:09 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:11:29 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 06:30:36

Original Held At: Searls Historical Library Location: 161 Nevada City Hwy, Nevada City, CA 95959

Page: of 713  

HISTORY OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA. 239 and gardens in the county are not enough to supply the wants of the people even in vegetables and fruits, not counting the flour, grain and other cereals that are needed to supply the wants of about 4,000 people,—which is about the population of Sierra County. Downieville has a population of about 700, and their main support are the mines around, both gravel and quartz. The gravel mines are the most extensive and are carried on in as scientific manner as that clase of mines are in any part of the world. This class of mining —by tunnels—has been in operation for forty years, and some of these mines are thoroughly worked out, especially those around Forest City, seven miles distant; where the Bald Mountain Company on the east of Oregon Creek worked the old river channel for over a mile under ground, and ran their gravel out that distance by a steam locomotive. On the west side the claims were very rich in gold: $2,000,000 was about the amount taken out, but the claiins were exhausted some years before the Bald Mountain Company had found the lead on the north end of the channel. The county on that side has gold-bearing gravel underlying the surface in almost every direction, and has been prospected at great expense; but still there are rich paying channels yet to be found. The Bald Mountain Extension Company, adjoining the furmer company, has heen working and prospecting their ground for seventeen years, and are now in the slate rock with their new tunnel, a distance of over 4,000 feet. The new tunnel is some distance ahead of’ the old one, and that tunnel was worked for a distance underground of nearly two miles. Their expenses have been enormons, but the gold they have taken out has nearly paid for all the work done. There are several old mining grounds that have been worked out on the same lead further south, and others in the vicinity that are worked from the surface down by hydraulic pressure, with banks from‘one to 200 feet deep before the slate rock is found. At the northern side of the county immense work has been done,—first by hydraulic mining where the gravel caine to the surface and where the gravel disappeared under the lava-capped mountains. The tunnels have followed the channels under, and millions of dollars in gold dust have been extracted from those ancient river beds. There are a number of rich-paying hydraulic mines in the northern part of the county, but they are now lying idle on account of the injunctions brought by the farmers who say that the debris is filling up the rivers. There are miles and miles of gold-bearing ground in various parts of the county, yet un broken, that will at some future time be of great account to the mineral wealth of the State. Numbers of quartz mines are scattered all over the county, some that have been very rich, bu‘ now abandoned; others are in operation ana paying good dividends; and perhaps thousands to be discovered, for from east to west and miles in length the mountains are often ribbed by seains of gold-bearing quartz. Of course, they will not every one pay, but where gold crops out on the surface no man can know what is below until it has been tried; and often that takes a great deal of time, capital and labor. To supply the mining industry, especially quartz, there is one foundry in Downieville, that is in operation about eight months in the year, owned by R. Forbes and J. Taylor, who turn out a superior quality of castings and machinery. Within the range of the several branches of the North Yuba rivers there is a water-power which, if thoroughly utilized, would run the most of the machinery in the State, but it, or nearly all of it, is not in harness, seeking its way down uncontrolled to the Pacitic Ocean. SISKIYOU COUNTY. THE NAME. This county was named after the high range of mountains that pours the waters of ita northern slope into Rogue River, and those that fall on the sonth into the rushing Klamath. TOPOGRAPHY. Extending from the ridge that lies between the Salmon and Trinity rivers on the west to