January 21, 1970 (12 pages)

2 The Nevada County Nugost — Wednesday, January 21, 1970 . "s ~~ 100 years. of Nevada County “ae . notable energy (Continued from page 1) ranch, crawled out of bed just in time to escape, ie Tom Fairweather, a ditch tender for the company, and his bride, lived six milesbelow the dam. They escaped and managed to save some of their household furniture. Twelve miles downstream, opposite Graniteville the river flows through the precipitous cliffs of Box Canyon No, 3, Chinese miners in the vicinity escaped by climbing the north bank, Of two Reesé brothers, mining in the area, the elder drowned despite brave efforts by his brother to save him. Four miles further down at McKilli‘con's mine opposite Snow Point a tunnel starts in from. the northern bank of the river. The water quickly filled the drift, . but the men inside were saved from drowning like rats by escaping through a © -.Mewly completed air shaft that.came to the surface above the highest point the water reached, a, The .Eureka Lake mile above the present Foote's Crossing bridge, was carried away, The dam was > about 30 feet high and raised water into the San Juan ditch that supplied the American mine at Sweetland, A flume a short distance from the dam carried water -along a sheer clifff for about two-thirds of a mile and the flood took out most ofthe spectacular flume. The ditch crossed Bloody Run canyon on a trestle 80 feet high. The flood waters rushed up the side canyon and took out about 200 feet of flume, At Horseshoe Bend, four Chinese and an Italian were drowned. At Emory's Crossing, three miles above Freeman's Crossing, 12 Chinese cabins were carried away. Bc Freeman's Crossing was the first bridge in the path of the flood, Emory's Crossing was’ a ford as were crossings of the Henness Pass road two miles below the dam. The Foote's Crossing road con‘struction was 24 years into the future. Freeman's Crossing was and-is on the main road connecting Nevada City and Downieville. Just north of the crossing the Alleghany road branches to the east and in the heyday of mining carried heavy traffic. Two covered bridges stood less than half a mile apart, one over the Middle Yuba, the other over Oregon Creek, which empties into the Yuba a short distance above Freeman's, Thomas Freeman was a pioneer of and initiative, and at the crossing he developed a little industrial Telephone 265-2471 Second class postage paid at Nevada City, California. Adjudicated a legal newspaper of general circulation by the Nevada County Juce 3,.1960. Decree No, 12, 406. Subscription Rates: one year, $3.00; two years, $5, 00. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY NEVADA COUNTY PUBLISHING CO, 301 Broad Street, Nevada City, Ca. 95959 Superior Court , 19S7 of the A, eo Company dam, a Th center, His two-story hotel with large verandas stood at the-left of the bridge after one crossed it toward Downieville, ~~ To the right was a two-story broom fac“tory. A blacksmith shop and barn were further to the right. South of the river on the Nevada county side were the garden and orchard, surrounded by a rock fence. ; Matthew Sparks established a ferry there in 1850, and on Feb, 17, 1851; he was granted a license to build a bridge and. collect tolls. Thomas Hess built the first bridge in 1851 but it was carried away by flood the following winter He ; built another in 1852 and sold it to Freeman in 1854, ;The following year Freeman replaced the Hess bridge with another structure and it lasted until a flood in 1861 swept it away. He then moved a little ~ further. down stream and built a four-span covered bridge, 240 feet long, resting on piers 15 feet above water. The center pier -Of this bridge still stands. 4 * Miller, at his home in French Corral, réceived Davis' warning at 7:30 a.m., and immediately dispatched a horseman .to Freeman's. The bridge owner's first \eare was to guide his blind wife to higher ground. me An hour later a wave of trees, timber, brush and boulders came around the bend, -A short distance above the bridge the debris chanced to form a temporary dam, that Freeman momentarily thought might save his buildings. ' . The Downieville stage to Nevada City . crossed the bridge and had moved a hundred yards beyond it when the debris gave way and in a moment the quadruple covered Span was swept away.The Nevada Daily Transcript of June 19, 1883, reported "Of.the fine bridge, there is no vestige left to tell where it once was. The water ran through the hotel three feet deep. A log crashing through the ‘office door lodged in the dining rooms, the sand and debris left on the floors broke them down and the house is otherwise badly damaged. Of the blacksmith shop and carpenter shop not a trace is left, Even the 200-pound anvil is nowhere to*be found, One side of the large broom factory was torn out. fortunately not carrying off the large quantity of brooms stored in the upper story. The storehouse, in which was stored 140 sacks of barley and other goods, was moved from its foundation and badly damaged." One of the Chinese returned to his cabin for his clothes, despite warning, and drowned. — What the English dam flood did to the Oregon Creek bridge is a story by itself. Oregon Creek has its source near Forest in. Sierra county and empties into the Middle Yuba less than a half mile above Freeman's, The main road from highway 49 to Alleghany and Forest crosses about 200 yards above the mouth of the creek, . ‘The bridge, which still stands, was made of Douglas fir and the frame was designed. and cut by Hugh Thomas, the marks of his adze yet visible on the stout timbers, Built in 1871, the span is 100 pein tt and has a slight curve at each aThere was every reason to believe the English dam flood would not affect the bridge, but the same natural dam of debris that Freeman though might save his buildings caused the water to back up and lift the span from its, piers and deposit it 150 feet. below its original place on the bank. Freeman needed the tolls from the bridge and the Alleghany-bound teamsters needed the bridge. Freeman debated on building a new bridge or trying to haul the old bridge back to its piers, 18 feet above the creek bed, Solon Chatfield, a logging contractor, _who owned his own oxen, thought he could replace the-bridge, and in July, 1883, started the work with his son, Nels, Andrew Jackson Grimes, William Sponknabel and Ed Lydik, Nels Chatfield now lives in Pike, and was a lad of 17 at the time of the project. ee Hosphely ® Heavy planks were laid on the roadway and huge rollers were prepared, Six yokes of oxen were necessary and three sets of block and tackle used to increase powér. The flood. had turned the bridge and manifestly it could not be turned by the oxen power in the narrow road and bridge was replaced on the piers wrong end to, A false bridge was constructed over the creek: and the oxen pulled the bridge into place over it, after which the false bridging was removed, ~ : In the the spring.of 1947 Yuba county repaired the bridge structure. Freemen lived at the crossing until his death in 1892. Ben Derickson, a nephew, acquired — the property, and he sold it to Theodore Wayman, In 1919, a new highway bridge was constructed near the location ofF reeman's 1855 span, the 1883 structure was removed and the barn torn down, . : Gold amalgam at the American mine dump at Sweetland was swept away by the flood for a loss estimated at $5,000, Opposite Smartville at 11 a.m., the flood Swept away 40 head of cattle. Marysville was warned the would arrive at 2 p.m., and many persons assembled on. the Yuba bridge to witness the arrival-of the wall of water. Bets were placed upon the probable height of the water. But before the wall of water reached the Yuba county seat, a levee at Linda broke ,, flooding the Beeney ranch seven miles “ Of Marysville. pak About -$ o'clock the-Yuba at Marys-— ville became turbulent and muddy, and rose about two feet, eight inches, and carried a mass of mining debris, brush, _ trees, logs and other debris, Alarm turned _. to disappointment and the crowd went home not seeing the roaring wall of water they expected, and not knowing that the Lindalevee break had saved the city. : The flood carried an enormous quantity of debris into Feather river, and brought into focus the long controversy _ between valley farmers. and hydraulic miners, Valley papers, the Sacramento Bee and the Marysville Appeal. and other antimining journals capitalized upon the breaking of the dam in their editorials against the miners, The Nevada Daily Transcript, champion of the hydraulickers, sneered back with the claim that the damage was greater to the mining towns than to the valley. "if French Corral, Sweetland, Birchville and Cherokee had been wiped out by fire, the towns would have been . Tebuilt immediately the enterprising citizens, Must families be made homeless and houseless and must millions of dollars worth of property in-the mountains be destroyed to save a few sections of bugeaten soil in the lower country?"On Jan. 7, 1884, Judge Alonzo Sawyer of the U. S. circuitcourt handed down a decision by which miners were enjoined from dumping debris into rivers, The injunction was upheld and the whole character of mining communities changed, and aay ghost towns dot the great San Juan ridge. The Milton Mining and Water Company estimated its losses at $150,000 in value of the dam, $75,000 in losses of water revenue and an indeterminate amount in damage suits, It is an undocumented statement that the water company paid all CLASSIFIED ADS

2 The Nevada County Nugost — Wednesday, January 21, 1970 . "s ~~ 100 years. of Nevada County “ae . notable energy (Continued from page 1) ranch, crawled out of bed just in time to escape, ie Tom Fairweather, a ditch tender for the company, and his bride, lived six milesbelow the dam. They escaped and managed to save some of their household furniture. Twelve miles downstream, opposite Graniteville the river flows through the precipitous cliffs of Box Canyon No, 3, Chinese miners in the vicinity escaped by climbing the north bank, Of two Reesé brothers, mining in the area, the elder drowned despite brave efforts by his brother to save him. Four miles further down at McKilli‘con's mine opposite Snow Point a tunnel starts in from. the northern bank of the river. The water quickly filled the drift, . but the men inside were saved from drowning like rats by escaping through a © -.Mewly completed air shaft that.came to the surface above the highest point the water reached, a, The .Eureka Lake mile above the present Foote's Crossing bridge, was carried away, The dam was > about 30 feet high and raised water into the San Juan ditch that supplied the American mine at Sweetland, A flume a short distance from the dam carried water -along a sheer clifff for about two-thirds of a mile and the flood took out most ofthe spectacular flume. The ditch crossed Bloody Run canyon on a trestle 80 feet high. The flood waters rushed up the side canyon and took out about 200 feet of flume, At Horseshoe Bend, four Chinese and an Italian were drowned. At Emory's Crossing, three miles above Freeman's Crossing, 12 Chinese cabins were carried away. Bc Freeman's Crossing was the first bridge in the path of the flood, Emory's Crossing was’ a ford as were crossings of the Henness Pass road two miles below the dam. The Foote's Crossing road con‘struction was 24 years into the future. Freeman's Crossing was and-is on the main road connecting Nevada City and Downieville. Just north of the crossing the Alleghany road branches to the east and in the heyday of mining carried heavy traffic. Two covered bridges stood less than half a mile apart, one over the Middle Yuba, the other over Oregon Creek, which empties into the Yuba a short distance above Freeman's, Thomas Freeman was a pioneer of and initiative, and at the crossing he developed a little industrial Telephone 265-2471 Second class postage paid at Nevada City, California. Adjudicated a legal newspaper of general circulation by the Nevada County Juce 3,.1960. Decree No, 12, 406. Subscription Rates: one year, $3.00; two years, $5, 00. PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY BY NEVADA COUNTY PUBLISHING CO, 301 Broad Street, Nevada City, Ca. 95959 Superior Court , 19S7 of the A, eo Company dam, a Th center, His two-story hotel with large verandas stood at the-left of the bridge after one crossed it toward Downieville, ~~ To the right was a two-story broom fac“tory. A blacksmith shop and barn were further to the right. South of the river on the Nevada county side were the garden and orchard, surrounded by a rock fence. ; Matthew Sparks established a ferry there in 1850, and on Feb, 17, 1851; he was granted a license to build a bridge and. collect tolls. Thomas Hess built the first bridge in 1851 but it was carried away by flood the following winter He ; built another in 1852 and sold it to Freeman in 1854, ;The following year Freeman replaced the Hess bridge with another structure and it lasted until a flood in 1861 swept it away. He then moved a little ~ further. down stream and built a four-span covered bridge, 240 feet long, resting on piers 15 feet above water. The center pier -Of this bridge still stands. 4 * Miller, at his home in French Corral, réceived Davis' warning at 7:30 a.m., and immediately dispatched a horseman .to Freeman's. The bridge owner's first \eare was to guide his blind wife to higher ground. me An hour later a wave of trees, timber, brush and boulders came around the bend, -A short distance above the bridge the debris chanced to form a temporary dam, that Freeman momentarily thought might save his buildings. ' . The Downieville stage to Nevada City . crossed the bridge and had moved a hundred yards beyond it when the debris gave way and in a moment the quadruple covered Span was swept away.The Nevada Daily Transcript of June 19, 1883, reported "Of.the fine bridge, there is no vestige left to tell where it once was. The water ran through the

hotel three feet deep. A log crashing through the ‘office door lodged in the dining rooms, the sand and debris left on the floors broke them down and the house is otherwise badly damaged. Of the blacksmith shop and carpenter shop not a trace is left, Even the 200-pound anvil is nowhere to*be found, One side of the large broom factory was torn out. fortunately not carrying off the large quantity of brooms stored in the upper story. The storehouse, in which was stored 140 sacks of barley and other goods, was moved from its foundation and badly damaged." One of the Chinese returned to his cabin for his clothes, despite warning, and drowned. — What the English dam flood did to the Oregon Creek bridge is a story by itself. Oregon Creek has its source near Forest in. Sierra county and empties into the Middle Yuba less than a half mile above Freeman's, The main road from highway 49 to Alleghany and Forest crosses about 200 yards above the mouth of the creek, . ‘The bridge, which still stands, was made of Douglas fir and the frame was designed. and cut by Hugh Thomas, the marks of his adze yet visible on the stout timbers, Built in 1871, the span is 100 pein tt and has a slight curve at each aThere was every reason to believe the English dam flood would not affect the bridge, but the same natural dam of debris that Freeman though might save his buildings caused the water to back up and lift the span from its, piers and deposit it 150 feet. below its original place on the bank. Freeman needed the tolls from the bridge and the Alleghany-bound teamsters needed the bridge. Freeman debated on building a new bridge or trying to haul the old bridge back to its piers, 18 feet above the creek bed, Solon Chatfield, a logging contractor, _who owned his own oxen, thought he could replace the-bridge, and in July, 1883, started the work with his son, Nels, Andrew Jackson Grimes, William Sponknabel and Ed Lydik, Nels Chatfield now lives in Pike, and was a lad of 17 at the time of the project. ee Hosphely ® Heavy planks were laid on the roadway and huge rollers were prepared, Six yokes of oxen were necessary and three sets of block and tackle used to increase powér. The flood. had turned the bridge and manifestly it could not be turned by the oxen power in the narrow road and bridge was replaced on the piers wrong end to, A false bridge was constructed over the creek: and the oxen pulled the bridge into place over it, after which the false bridging was removed, ~ : In the the spring.of 1947 Yuba county repaired the bridge structure. Freemen lived at the crossing until his death in 1892. Ben Derickson, a nephew, acquired — the property, and he sold it to Theodore Wayman, In 1919, a new highway bridge was constructed near the location ofF reeman's 1855 span, the 1883 structure was removed and the barn torn down, . : Gold amalgam at the American mine dump at Sweetland was swept away by the flood for a loss estimated at $5,000, Opposite Smartville at 11 a.m., the flood Swept away 40 head of cattle. Marysville was warned the would arrive at 2 p.m., and many persons assembled on. the Yuba bridge to witness the arrival-of the wall of water. Bets were placed upon the probable height of the water. But before the wall of water reached the Yuba county seat, a levee at Linda broke ,, flooding the Beeney ranch seven miles “ Of Marysville. pak About -$ o'clock the-Yuba at Marys-— ville became turbulent and muddy, and rose about two feet, eight inches, and carried a mass of mining debris, brush, _ trees, logs and other debris, Alarm turned _. to disappointment and the crowd went home not seeing the roaring wall of water they expected, and not knowing that the Lindalevee break had saved the city. : The flood carried an enormous quantity of debris into Feather river, and brought into focus the long controversy _ between valley farmers. and hydraulic miners, Valley papers, the Sacramento Bee and the Marysville Appeal. and other antimining journals capitalized upon the breaking of the dam in their editorials against the miners, The Nevada Daily Transcript, champion of the hydraulickers, sneered back with the claim that the damage was greater to the mining towns than to the valley. "if French Corral, Sweetland, Birchville and Cherokee had been wiped out by fire, the towns would have been . Tebuilt immediately the enterprising citizens, Must families be made homeless and houseless and must millions of dollars worth of property in-the mountains be destroyed to save a few sections of bugeaten soil in the lower country?"On Jan. 7, 1884, Judge Alonzo Sawyer of the U. S. circuitcourt handed down a decision by which miners were enjoined from dumping debris into rivers, The injunction was upheld and the whole character of mining communities changed, and aay ghost towns dot the great San Juan ridge. The Milton Mining and Water Company estimated its losses at $150,000 in value of the dam, $75,000 in losses of water revenue and an indeterminate amount in damage suits, It is an undocumented statement that the water company paid all CLASSIFIED ADS