BIG INDIAN CREEK: Sizable dredging and drift operations between 1850 – 1950 produced about 100,000 ounces of placer gold near Fiddletown along Indian Gulch which goes into Big Indian Creek. Big Indian Creek is said to contain placer gold in large quantities. Around the Plymouth area is said to be rich.

DRY CREEK: Off of the beaten path is Dry Creek. It might be worth the hike in. Dry Creek is known for pickers and chunky sized gold.

COSUMNES RIVER :Close to the town of Plymouth, in the west central part of the county there were many placer operations that produced tens of thousands of ounces of placer gold. The Loafer Hill mine, near Oleta, had several small gravel deposits that produced well.

JACKSON CREEK: Near the town of Jackson, you will find the Gwin Mine, it produced lode gold in masses of crystallized arsenopyrite. These are great specimens. Jackson Creek reportedly contains placer gold.

MIDDLE FORK OF THE MOKELUMNE RIVER: Hydraulic operations were located on this river that produced considerable placer gold.

NORTH FORK OF THE MOKELUMNE RIVER: Hydraulic operations were located on this river that produced considerable placer gold. Near Volcano in the west central part of the county around Jackson Gulch and Ranchero Gulch there were some very rich placer deposits.

SOUTH FORK OF THE MOKELUMNE RIVER: Hydraulic operations were located on this river that produced considerable placer gold.

Over the years a lot of gold has been recovered in Plumas County California. At the time of the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill, Plumas County was largely a unexplored area by most white men, but Peter Lassen (whom Lassen County is named after ) had pioneered the Lassen Trail across northern Plumas in 1847.

In 1849, immigrant Thomas Stoddard arrived at a mining camp injured, exhausted, and starving. Thomas Stoddard caught everybody’s attention when he showed the men what he had. He had gold. He had gone out a year earlier with a group that used the Lassen Trail to explore the wilderness like many early explorers, beginning in west-central Nevada and ranging northwest toward Good Lake, Oregon until reaching the Pit River.

They followed the Pit River’s southwestern course toward Mt. Lassen and the Feather River region to Lassen’s Rancho near present-day Red Bluff. While in Big Meadows (Chester/Lake Almanor area), Stoddard and a partner left their party to hunt for deer. While they were hunting, their party moved on and Stoddard and his partner were unable to locate it. For several days, Stoddard and his companion wandered lost somewhere between Sierra Valley and Downieville. At some point, the pair stumbled upon a lake with large gold nuggets gleaming in the moss at the water’s edge. After gathering as much gold as their pockets could hold, the two exhausted men fell asleep.

The next morning, Native Americans attacked the two men. Stoddard was injured, and his companion was never heard from again. Stoddard worked his way through the mountains until he at last reached the North Fork of the Yuba River and the gold camps in the Downieville-Nevada City region. Stoddard told his tale to the miners and the search was on for Gold Lake. A multitude of anxious miners swarmed into the mountains seeking Gold Lake, in what would become Plumas and Sierra Counties.

The Plumas County gold rush of 1850 was a direct result of Tom Stoddard’s Gold Lake story. However, Stoddard would never again locate the lake and neither would the thousands of other hopeful prospectors that went in search of it. For the majority of miners who searched for Gold Lake, disappointment dominated. For others, their perseverance paid off with discoveries at Nelson Creek, Poorman’s Creek, Hopkins Creek, Onion Valley, Rich Bar, and Butte Bar. All provided rich diggings. Equally rewarding was a series of five mining bars on the East Branch of the North Fork of the Feather River: Rich Bar, Indian Bar, Smith Bar, French Bar, and Junction Bar. A group known as the Wisconsin Company was among those seeking paydirt on Nelson Creek. Calling their site Meeker Flat after one of their members, they took out 93-pounds of precious metal in one period of three weeks.

Discoveries of rich gold deposits continued in Plumas County through at least 1852. Gold mining now is carried on as a recreational pursuit, but gold was the original Plumas County cornerstone. Most geologists concur that there is twice as much gold still remaining in the Plumas County area than was ever taken out of it.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Plumas County was Number One in state copper production. Engle Mine on Lights Creek in northern Indian Valley produced $25 million over its lifetime. Walker Mine, 15-miles south, produced $23 million. Jack and James Ford discovered copper outcroppings above the North Arm of Indian Valley during the Civil War, while others found similar deposits along Genesee Valley’s Ward Creek. The Chapman brothers, at their primitive smelter in Genesee Valley, further processed the rich, naturally concentrated metal. During more than 15 years of operation, Engle Mine yielded 117 million pounds of copper, along with substantial amounts in gold and silver.

In Plumas County during the 1900’s, gold was the lure for miners and copper was the bread and butter of the mineral industry. Now, little is left to be seen of these massive efforts. Secluded rock piles and overgrown hillside scars are pretty much all that remains. This goes to show that mother nature has a way of healing herself of any scars or traces from people and their activities.

Early Hydraulic Mines in Plumas County

From 1855 to approximately 1859 there was extensive hydraulic mining activity in Plumas County. About four and a half millions ounces of California Gold was recovered using this method. Some of the sites worth mentioning are Nelson Point, Sawpit Flat, Gopher Hill, and the Upper Spanish Creek mines.

Copper Mining

Plumas County is also known for extensive copper mining. The Engles Copper mine and Superior Copper Mines produced gold as a by-product.

Crescent Mills District

The Crescent Mills District, located in township 26N, and Range 9E, at last report has about 40,000 ounces taken from that area. In area streams, in Quaternary gravels you will find placer gold.

Johnsville District & La Porte District

At the Green Mountain Mine they produced of 100,000 ounces of lode gold by 1890. In the Johnsville district, in the south-central part of county, in east l/2 of township 22N. range 11E, they had a total production, 393,000 gold ounces. All regional stream and bench gravels contain placer gold. The Plumas-Eureka Mine, was a major producer of lode gold. At the La Porte district, in southwest part of the county, in township 21N and range 9E, was the hydraulic mining center since 1850s, with total production, 1855-1959, of 2,910,000 gold ounces. At Mumfords Mill the area copper mines had a by product of gold. At Spring Garden go northeast 9 mile and you will find the Walker Mine, primarily copper mine with a by product of gold.

Plumas Eureka Mine work crew, Plumas County, circa 1889.

Plumas County Gold Producing Waterways

There are many gold producing streams and rivers in Plumas County, and some areas are likely unexplored, but here are some waterways that are widely known for past gold production.

A very nice find from a lucky person prospecting the Feather River.

Feather River Along the North Fork of the Feather River, near Belden are placer deposits.

Yuba River The Ancient Yuba River channel traced northeast of La Porte for 10 miles 500 to 1,500 feet wide and 10-130 feet deep, with placer gold concentrated in lower part 2 ft. above bedrock, it is a very rich placer deposit.

Indian Creek At Rich Bar, the area gravels along Indian Creek, a tributary of the Feather River, has very rich placers.

Area Attractions

The Plumas-Eureka State Park offers a supervised gold panning program during the summer. Call (530) 836-2380 for more information.

The Golden Caribou Mining Association offers gold panning lessons and equipment usage for first time gold panners. It operates out of Caribou Crossroads Campground and Cafe, located on Caribou Road just off Highway 70, 27 miles west of Quincy. The club has more than 1,800  acres of gold mining claims in the Plumas National Forest, and offers memberships for vacationers, as well as one-year trial and lifetime memberships.

The Advanced Geologic Gold Prospector’s Club based in Chester offers members access to claims throughout the county, along with equipment usage.  Call (530) 258-4228 for more information.

Plumas County Map

There is gold throughout the county, not just the areas mentioned. All you have to do is go find it. Good luck finding some of the California Gold!

The Diamond Mountain Mine is located 7 miles south of Susanville. At first placer gold was discovered and worked. Later quartz veins were worked out of granite. At least half of the production came from placer deposits in the area. The Diamond Mountain area is located in T. 29 N., Rs. 11 and 12 E. Another nearby mine that was mostly low grade was known as the Gold Belt Mine.

Gold in Shasta County – Other area’s in the county that a producers of gold include Harrison Gulch, near Platina and was/is a lode mine. About five miles north of Redding, near Walker Mine Road, is Iron Mountain also known as Old Diggings. Also check Shasta Creek, Squaw Creek, west of Whiskeytown. Placer deposits have been found in the Sacramento River and many tributaries. Some of which include Cottonwood Creek, and Rock Creek.

A 2 lb. gold nugget was found by Waldo Elmore on his claim in the Flat Creek Mining District in the 1890s. In 1878, a 13 oz. crystallized chunk of gold was taken from the Mad Mule Mine and exhibited at the 1878 Paris Exposition. In 1912. a 19½ oz. nugget and another nugget honeycombed with gold valued at $10,000 was found in Mad Mule Canyon. In 1870, three miners found a 184.5 oz. gold nugget on Spring Creek a short distance below the falls near the Iron Mountain Railway crossing.  In 1880, another even larger than the 1^st was found about 100 ft. away. A 5 lb. 1 oz. nugget was found in Mad Ox Canyon, and a 7 to 8 lb. lump of gold intertwined with quartz was found in Whiskey Creek, years unknown. In 1851, a 56 oz. gold nugget was found in Whiskey Creek.

Shasta County was not only known for gold, but also as being the single most important county for copper production in the United States and was called heavily upon during World War II. While other places ceased mining production and declared as non-essential, Copper Mining was essential and there was an increased effort to recover copper for the United States, because copper was in short supply. Without the vast reserves in the copper belts of  Shasta County, who knows how the war would have turned out. Shasta county’s total copper production is over an astounding seven hundred million pounds of the total amount of copper taken.

A large variety of minerals are found in Shasta County and are a result of many geologic instances going on in the same region. Crammed into this county is part of coastal range, Cascade Range, the Klamath Mountains, the Modoc Plateau, and the Great Valley. Because of this there is a great contrast throughout the county and different minerals. A large coal deposit known as the Mountain Creek Coal Field near Redding, is a good example of the diversity of minerals within the county. Of another note, there are many fossils that can be found in sedimentary deposits in the throughout the county as well. The valley was once covered by water and the valley floor consists of a lot of sand of sedimentary gravels.

When I was a kid, I visited the Shasta City, while visiting famiy, which is located in the Northern Mining District of Shasta County. It was here as a boy that gold mining first sparked my interest. There are many attractions including an old courthouse and mercantile, as well as many other sites. Here is a link to the official site that has directions…..Shasta City There are a lot of things to see such as an old prairie scooner and a lot of exhibits. If my memory serves me well, there was also a place for hanging a noose around a criminals neck.

The following is an excerpt from Free Public information:

French Gulch

Location. This district lies astride the Shasta-Trinity County line in the general vicinity of the town of French Gulch and includes the Deadwood area to the west. It is the most important lode-gold district in the Klamath Mountains.

History. French Gulch was originally prospected in 1849 by French miners, from whom the town received its name in 1856. Clear Creek, which drains the area, yielded large amounts of placer gold at this time. The Washington mine, discovered in 1852, was the first quartz mine worked in Shasta County. From around 1900 to about 1914 the output for the district averaged between $300,000 and $500,000 worth of gold per year. There was some activity during the 1920s and 1930s, and there has been minor prospecting and development work since. The value of the total output of the district is estimated at more than $30 million.

Geology. The district is underlain predominantly by slate, shale, and siltstone of the Bragdon Formation (Mississippian). Copley Greenstone (Devonian) lies to the northeast and south, and, to the southwest, there is quartz diorite of the Shasta Bally batholith. In addition, numerous porphyritic quartz diorite and diorite dikes, locally known as “birdseye porphyry”, occur.

Ore Deposits. The quartz veins usually strike west, with a few northwest exceptions, and range from a few inches to several feet thick. They are predominantly in the rocks of the Bragdon Formation and often occur near or adjacent to the dikes, which apparently have had some effect on the localization of the ore bodies. The latter consist of numerous parallel stringers rather than a single massive vein. Calcite is commonly present in the veins. The ore contains coarse, free gold usually associated with considerable pyrite and smaller amounts of galena, sphalerite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, and occasionally scheelite. Numerous high-grade pockets have been recovered here. A number of large ore bodies occur in the district, several of which were more than 1000 feet long.

Mines. Accident, American $300,000, Army Batch, Blue Jay, Bright Star, Brown Bear $15 million, Brunswick $100,000, Calmich, Centennial, El Dorado, Fairview $200,000, Gambrinus $125,000, Gladstone $6.9 million, Henry Clay $100,000 to $300,000, Highland $300,000, Honeycomb, Jacoby, J.I.C., Larry, Mad Mule $1 million, Mad Ox $500,000, Milkmaid and Franklin $2.5 million, Montezuma 7,150+ ounces, Mt. Shasta 8,500 ounces, Niagara $1 million, Niagara Summit, Philadelphia, St. Jude $280,000+, Scorpion 7,140 ounces, Summit $200,000, Sybel $600,000, Three Sisters $100,000, Tom Green, Truscott, Venecia $500,000, Vermont and Montezuma, Washington $2.5 million.

Excerpt from: Gold Districts of California, by: W.B. Clark, California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193, 1970.

A recent written letter from the California Department
of Fish & Game clarifies that booming is not subject
to the suction dredging moratorium, providing the activity
is not used to excavate material from the bottom of an
active waterway!

Booming is the term we use to describe when a suction
device is used to feed material into the recovery
system of a high-banker up out of the active waterway.

Read all about this great news, along with a wonderful
video-enhanced story about several of our members who
are finding ounces of gold with their high-banker.

This months Newsletter can be found at:

http://www.goldgold.com/newsletterlatest.htm

For those of you who are not yet members, please consider the
special half-price offer on Associate Membership that we are
extending to our Internet subscribers:

http://www.goldgold.com/associatememberoffer.htm

If you are new to our newsletter, you can read some recent
back issues here:

http://www.goldgold.com/whatsnew.html

All the best,
Dave Mack

The New 49er’s, 27 Davis Road, Happy Camp, California 96039, USA

In a setback for suction dredging rights, Federal Judge Morrison England did not rule on the merits of the Public Lands for the People (PLP) vs. California Senate Bill 670 (SB 670) case on Feb. 26, even though PLP had the 1850 California Admissions to the Union which stated that the State could not interfere with the disposal of Federal lands. PLP felt that the State had relinquished its immunity rights on this particular issue.  This also moots the scheduled injunction on March 25.

There is no reason for us spend the time to attempt to second-guess Judge England’s motives for his decision, but I did feel that he already had his mind made up.

The alternative then, and now, was to file in State Court and file the case as a related case with the case on Hillman Karuk, and that injunction, to prevent the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) from issuing a permit. This case was before Judge Frank Roesch. We already know how much Judge Roesch likes miners.

Now Judge England, in the Federal lawsuit against SB 670 and the State of California, says that we have our remedy in State Court and again we will have to file a related case to the Hillman case going before Judge Roesch. We thought we should be heard in a Federal Court.

We will take a few days and mull over the direction we must go and move in that direction. We will update you as to what is decided but we have no intention of giving up. I apologize for not being successful on this Federal Court issue but no one can second-guess any judge’s reason for an unfair decision.

Thanks for you support and patience!

Klamath River

The popular Klamath River has placer gold found along it’s entire stretch, and is well known for abundant nuggets and flakes. Orleans Bar is an area where many hydraulic operations were performed in the past. The mouth of the Klamath River is a popular place to find good concentrations of beach gold. The Klamath River runs from Klamath County in Oregon into Siskiyou County, California and stretches into both Del Norte and Humboldt Counties.

Trinity River

The Trinity River is the longest tributary of the Klamath River and is a very good gold producing river.  Good placer deposits can be located everywhere along the river. Gold producing tributaries of the the Trinity River include Coffee Creek, New River, Indian Creek, Willow Creek, Hayford Creek and the East Fork. Environmental groups have been targeting the Trinity River and falsely charging that dredging  is having a environmental impact upon water species within the river. It is ironic, that the Trinity River is a very popular gold mining river in California and is also world renown for it’s salmon and steelhead fishing.

Also see Trinity County Section.

Map of the Trinity River and Klamath River watersheds. The Trinity River is shown in dark blue, with its watershed highlighted in dark yellow. The South Fork Trinity River extends southward, while the main Trinity River curves east then north.

Gold Mines

Lode gold mines are found mostly in the northeastern part of the county, but gold can be generally found through out Humboldt County. Some of the gold mines in the County include the Red Cap Mine located on Red Cap Creek just north of Eureka, California consisted of ten or more quartz veins containing gold.  On Willow Creek, tributary of the Trinity River, is where the Bonneyville Quartz Mine was located. Near Orleans, is where you will find the the Little Klondike Mine, and in nearby Pearch Creek, is where other quartz gold deposits were found. Other Humboldt County mines include Big Bar Annex Placer Mine, Croton Bar, Cavanaugh Mine, China Flat Placer Mine (found in Trinity River Area), Bissel Mine (also known as Clover Flat), Coleman Placer Mine, Delaney Group of Mines, Harveston Bar Mine, and the Prospect Hill Mine.

Smith River Forks

Smith River also has placer gold deposits. On the South Fork of the Smith River, which had large scale dredging operations, is Coon Creek, which has been another dredging operation in the past, and gold is found in the cemented gravels of the creek and gravel bars. There were several dredging operations conducted on the South Fork of the Smith River and tributaries. One mile south of Douglas Park is the where the Nels Christensen Mine is located.

Smith River area

On the north side of Preston Peak, is where the Bartlett Mine is located, which was a quartz vein mine.   The Crescent City Mine, which was also a quartz lode mine is also located in Del Norte County near Crescent City. Last Chance Mine was a major producer of gold in the past. 30 miles Northeast of Crescent City is the Low Divide District, which was a primary location for copper deposits, but there are some placer gold to be found here.  There were numerous hydraulic placer claims worked sometime in the past, throughout the county. On Upper Monkey Creek there was a lode deposit, and there is some gold to be found in the creek.

Other mines the county were the Hard Luck Mine, which also produced arsenic. The Monumental Group of mines were major producers of vein gold as well as the  Myrtle Creek Mine. Placers can be found in Myrtle Creek and area, and in the past large dredging operations took place here. The Prudential Mine which is found at Shelly Creek, was a major producer. On Craigs Creek, placer gold has been recovered, along with platinum. French Hill is a producer of placer gold deposits.

Klamath River

The Klamath River is one of the more note-able gold producing rivers in Siskiyou County and flows from Klamath County in Oregon. Placer gold deposits can be found upon the entire length of the river. A lot of the area along the river is claimed, but the mining club, the new 49ers offers use of it’s many claims along the Klamath River with membership. Many of the tributaries that flow into the Klamath offer good California gold.

Scott River

The Scott River is actually a tributary of the Klamath River, and offers good gold all along it’s path. Near Callahan there were numerous gold mines and placer operations. Many of the mines near Callahan had small, but rich pocket gold discoveries. In the area, the Martin McKeen Mine was a note-able producer, as well as the Porphyry Dike Mine. Both produced tens of thousands of ounces of lode gold. Other mines include the Blue Jay Mine, and the Copper King Mine which was a silver mine with gold as a byproduct.

In the Fort Jones area, you will find Cottonwood Creek and Rancheria Creek. Both were major producers of California gold and produced over four million dollars from 1850 to 1859 with industrial large scale dredges . Many lode mines are in the Fort Jones area, including the Golden Eagle Mine which was a large producer.

Salmon River

Another major tributary of the Klamath River is the Salmon River. The lower part of the Salmon River marks the border between Siskiyou County and Humbolt County. The Salmon River is also world famous for it’s steelhead and salmon fishing. There are two forks on the Salmon, the north fork and the south fork. At one point between the two forks is an area known as Sawyers Bar, where over a million ounces of gold was reported to have been recovered.

Yreka

There are many gold mines found around Yreka. Interestingly, it has been reported that gold nuggets have been found within city limits; some weighing as much as four ounces have been found after winter floods of the Shasta River.

In the Modoc National Forest is the High Grade National Recreation Trail. On the trail there are remains of gold mines, old gold mine tailings, ditches and even a few standing buildings from the mining period from around 1912. There is a ghost town here as well, aptly named High Grade, and is privately owned. High Grade is located in a canyon above Fort Bidwell, as seen on the map. This area represents the biggest gold rush of Modoc County, but did not last long.

Rockhounds may want to check out Surprise Valley found in the high northeast corner of Modoc County near the Oregon and Nevada borders. Here at this ancient lake bed you can find fossils, petrified wood and obsidian glass.