Calaveras Gold: The Impact Of Mining On A Mother Lode County

Introduction

viii Illustrations Inside the Royal Company mill, ca.   Gwin mill vanners, ca.   Manuel Company log pond  Sierra Railroad trestle, ca.   Sultana mill  Angels mine, ca.   Lightner mill, s  Maltman mine  Lightner compressor  Charles D. Lane  Utica mill and headframes, s  Unidentified miners  St. Sava’s Church  ‘‘Slavonians’’ on Camp Nine road  Frederick F. Thomas  Gwin mine, ca.   J. C. Kemp van Ee  Royal surface plant  Underground crew at Royal, ca.   Sheep Ranch mine, s  Sheep Ranch mine  Sluicing on Carson Hill  Union-Keystone concentrator  Union shaft house, ca.   Penn smelter at Campo Seco, ca.   Tapping floor, Penn smelter,   D. C. Demarest,William J. Loring, Lawrence Monte Verda, and Percy Wood  Archie Stevenot,   Frank Tower  Lawrence Monte Verda, Charles Segerstrom, Sol Grossbard, and other important financial figures  Carson Hill ball mill, s  Carson Hill mill revamped, s  Open cut on Carson Hill, s  Doodlebug at Coyote Creek  Moundwell doodlebug,   McSorley brothers and others panning for quartz crystals,   Guy Castle  Dismantling the Sheep Ranch mill,   Illustrations ix Calaveras Cement plant,   Environmental requirements  Royal Mountain King open pit,   Calaveras Central hoist house   County map  Mother Lode  Carson Hill  Southern Mines  Sierra Railroad  Angels Camp mine   Gold production  Calaveras minorities, –  Decline of miners in Calaveras  Calaveras gold production, –  Calaveras lode gold mine production, –  Calaveras timber production, –present   . California vs. Calaveras Gold Production, –  . A Century of Mining Tax Revenue, Angels City and Township   Many people were involved in helping the authors select materials for this manuscript and complete its preparation.The staffs of the Calaveras Heritage Council and the Calaveras Museum supported the project in its beginning stages back in the s, and have continued to be helpful over the years.The Segerstrom family of Sonora was particularly helpful in allowing the authors access to family archives that have subsequently been deposited at the HoltAtherton Libraryat the Universityof the Pacific. Daryl Morrison and her staff at the Holt-Atherton Library aided materially in locating and organizing resources . Gene Gressley and Carlo de Ferrari reviewed an early version of the manuscript and provided many helpful suggestions. Special thanks are due to the following individuals and organizations for theircooperation and assistance during the long years of preparation: William B. Clark and the California Division of Mines and Geology, Dale M. Stickney of the California Mines and Geology Library, Mike Kizer and Grandview Resources of Carson Hill, Linda Guerra and the Sonora Mining Company at Jamestown, Bonnie Hardwick and Mary Morganti of the Bancroft Library, Peter Blodgett of the Huntington Library, Mrs. Lorrayne Kennedy of the Calaveras County Archives, the Calaveras County Historical Society, the Tuolumne County Museum, the Calaveras Cement Company, the Conference of California Historical Societies, Ted Bird, Philip R. Bradley, Julia Costello, Richard Dyer, Michael Dell’Orto, Donald Dickey, Anthony Dutil, E. M. Gerick, Ella McCarty Hiatt, John W. James, Robert E. Kendall, Judith Marvin, Glen Nevens, Duane Oneto, Richard Rolleri, Carlos Schwantes, Edgar Smith, Barden Stevenot, Charles Stone and Rhoda Stone, and Howard Tower. Introduction Sam Casoose slung a burlap bag over his shoulder and headed for town. At fifty cents each, his burden of eviscerated salmon commanded a ready market in Murphys, a mile due south of his cabin on the rancheria above the Oro y Plata mine. Caught and dried at Clark’s Flat on the Stanislaus a few weeks before , the spring chinook had been sluggish and easily trapped as they neared the end of their life cycle after spawning. The seasonal run had brought out dozens of Central Sierra Miwok, from rancherias at Six Mile,Vallecito, Sheep Ranch, and others. But fishing had been good, and the rocky beach had been covered with drying fish. As he trekked down the ridge path toward the dusty wagon road leading to town, his thoughts were interrupted by the sight and sound of miners at work.Two hundred yards downslope, a miner had taken an option on the Oro y Plata, sluicing the old tailings and figuring what it would cost to dewater the underground levels. The scene reminded Sam of earlier times, when the noise from the mine’s stamp mill, now quiet, had echoed across the valley. Perhaps that was why Miwok elders had named the rancheria Mol-Pee-So, or ‘‘earplugs.’’ * * * The story of Sam Casoose and the Oro y Plata mine exemplifies the interaction of people and mines along the lower...