J 
 
 Physical! 
 
 ^CI.LlBi 
 
 NO. 141 
 
 STATE OF CALIFORNIA 
 DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK 
 ALONG HIGHWAY 49— SIERRAN GOLD BELT 
 
 BULLETIN 141 
 
 THE MOTHER LODE COUNTRY 
 
 (CENTENNIAL EDITION) 
 
 1948 
 
 DIVISION OF MINES 
 
 FERRY BUILDING, SAN FRANCISCO 
 
EX LIBRIS 
 
 C Osborne Htitton 
 
 -eU 
 
DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES 
 WARREN T. HANNUM, Dirmlor 
 
 STATE OF CALIFORNIA 
 EARL WARREN, Govgrnor 
 
 DIVISION OF MINES 
 
 Ferry Building, San Froncisco 11 
 
 OLAF r. JENKINS, CW.f 
 
 San Francisco] 
 
 BULLETIN 141 
 
 [September, 1948 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK 
 ALONG HIGHWAY 49—SIERRAN GOLD BELT 
 
 THE MOTHER LODE COUNTRY 
 
 (CENTENNIAL EDITION) 
 
 Prepared under the direction of 
 OLAF P. JENKINS 
 
 CHARLES V.AVERILL 
 OLIVER E. BOWEN, JR. 
 JOHN A. BURGESS 
 
 Confribufing Authors 
 RICHARD A. CRIPPEN, JR. 
 DONALD C.CUnER 
 FRANKLIN FENENGA 
 ROBERT F. HEIZER 
 
 DOROTHY G. JENKINS 
 OLAF P. JENKINS 
 CLARENCE A. LOGAN 
 
^ 
 
l>lVISln\ (IF MIXKS 
 
 l'.ri.I.i:-l'IX 141. I'l.ATK 1 
 
 A, LOOKING NORTHEAST TOWARD HARRY L. EXGLEBRIGHT HAM 
 
 Structure wns tU'dicated to the memory of Harry Ij. Englebright. menther of 
 Cougri'ss, lD2li-43, by the California Hydraulic iliuers Association and approved 
 by act of Conjrress in November 194"!. This (him is one of several constructed for 
 the dual purpose of catching debris from upstream hydraulic oi)eratious and 
 imijounding water for irrigation. Photo hy courtesy of George TT. JlaUock, Stale 
 Aliiiiiuj Boiiiil. 
 
 It, LOOKING NORTHEAST TOWARD MALAKOFF HrDRAULIC PIT 
 AT NORTH BLOOJIFIELD. NEVADA COUNTY. 
 
 Photo hy courtesy of Geortje W. Ilallock 
 
l>IVISI(i\ OF MIXKS 
 
 BUIJ.ETIX 141. I'LATI-] '2 
 
 A. I'A\<H£AMI(' VIEW TOWARD 
 
 THK EAST 
 
 From iliyuliit' ifninniit mii rcsmifcti^d Eoceue 
 
 surfneo nin' mile fiist of Aiij^pIs Camp. Other 
 
 reimmnts nf rhxnliri" tuff may lie seen in tlie mid- 
 
 tllc .listaiic.', Plioli, hi, Ohif P. .rriikiiis. 
 
 B, THE ■MOTIIKK lJ.)l>i:" 
 Prominent qmirtz outcrojis of the Mother 
 Lode system a.s seen nt the Harvard mine near 
 .lamest. iwn. Phufo hi/ Ohif P. Jenkins. 
 
 V, ■TU.MUSTOXK RUCK- ( H" \'()L('A\IC 
 AOiiLOMERATE 
 
 Occurs one mile west of ( 'oii(iero]nilis on the 
 Farraington mad. Pholo In, Ohif P. Jrnkins. 
 
 D, SilALL AXTK.'EINE IX KLATE ALOXG 
 MARirOSA CREEK 
 Folds are along actual slate beds and not 
 alons slnly cleavage lines. Photo hij Oluf P. 
 Jenldns. 
 
 E, TYPICAL VIEW OF THE SIERRAX 
 FOOTHILLS 
 Xear Mount Gaines mine. Hornitos district, 
 ^Iariin>sa Counly. Phoio hy coKriesi/ of Francis 
 Frvdcrick. 
 
 F, rXDERGROFXD VIEW 
 
 In Alhambra mine near Garden Valley, El 
 l>orado County. Xote the free gold showing in 
 jialches in white quartz. Photo hy courteitij of 
 Francis Frederick. 
 
 - --^JJi^^gjJlM K W^iMidJ-- - 
 
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 
 
 To His Excellencxi 
 
 The Honorable Earl Warren 
 
 Governor of the State of California 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I have the honor to transmit herewith Bulletin 141, "Geologic Guidebook 
 Along Highway 49— Sierran Gold Belt", prepared under the direction of Olaf P. 
 Jenkins, Chief of the Division of Mines. The volume contains a series of geologic 
 maps covering the entire highway, a strip of country 277 miles in length. Numerous 
 photographs and other illustrations accompany the articles which make up this 
 bulletin. The book represents the Centennial Edition of the Division of Mines, 
 describing The Mother Lode Country. It has been carefully compiled from vari- 
 ous publFshed and unpublished sources of information supplemented by notes 
 taken during field investigations carried on particularly for this volume. Besides 
 the ten different authors who have written the chapters of this bulletin, a score of 
 other mining men and geologists have contributed information. 
 
 Bulletin 141 is a semi-technical treatise prepared to serve as a guide to the 
 traveler who is desirous of information concerning the mines, minerals, and rocks 
 of the region, as well as the old structures erected during the Gold Rush Days. It is 
 not merely intended for use during the Centennial celebrations, but should serve 
 as a basis for future studies and investigations for many years to come. 
 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 Warren T. Hannum 
 
 Director, Department of 
 
 Natural Resources 
 
 August 1, 1948 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 Preface, by Olaf P. Jenkins ^ 
 
 Publications Consulted 8 
 
 Sierran Roads of Today and Yesterday, by Dorothy G. Jenkins 9 
 
 The Discovery of Gold in California, by Donald C. Cutter 13 
 
 History of Placer Mining for Gold in California, by Charles V. Averill 19 
 
 Sierra Nevada Province, by Olaf P. Jenkins 21 
 
 Geologic History of the Sierran Gold Belt, by Olaf P. Jenkins 23 
 
 History of Mining and Milling Methods in California, by C. A. Logan 31 
 
 Geologic Maps and Notes Along Highway 49, by Oliver E. Boicen Jr. and 
 
 Richard A. Crippen Jr 35 
 
 The Formation of Quartz Veins, by John A. Burgess 87 
 
 Mining on Carson Hill, hy John A. Burgess 89 
 
 Survey of Building Structures of the Sierran Gold Belt, 1848-70, by Robert F. 
 Heizer and Franklin Fenenga 91 
 

 
 o 
 i 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The Centennial Celebration of the discovery of jrold at Coloma by 
 James W. Marshall on January 24, 1848, has stimulated renewed interest 
 in the Mother Lode of California and has brought forth a number of 
 new books, pamphlets and stories of the early pioneer days. Most of 
 this literature has to do with the historj-. life, and romance of the Gold 
 Rush period which vividly stamped upon the new western state a per- 
 sonality which has by no means been erased durin<r the past century 
 of industrial development. Few persons who enter the Sierran Gold 
 Belt, however, appreciate the full sijrnificanee of its mineral wealth, 
 gain a clear picture of its extent and importance, or understand why 
 this district is credited with havinjr built the very foundation of the 
 State's civilization even as it still contributes to the firmness of its 
 industry and character. 
 
 The position of the mines and quarries, the importance of the 
 mineral deposits, and the geoloprie reasons for their being are all features 
 whicli this Guidebook has endeavored to present. The traveler who is 
 desirous of information rather than speed can get a better understand- 
 ing of the region if he follows a map prepared with an accompanying 
 description logged carefully as to mileage. 
 
 The charm of the old mining towns, which harmonize so perfectly 
 with the natural loveliness of the Sierran foothills, is due largely to the 
 surviving stone and brick structures of pioneer days. These old build- 
 ings, many of which are now in ruins, stand as mute evidence of the 
 early development of what is now called industrial minerals. Treat- 
 ment of this subject shows how the value of natural resources of the 
 country were immediately realized by the earliest settlers. 
 
 In order to orient the reader as to the nature of the Sierra Nevada 
 and the place it occupies in relation to history, civilization, and eco- 
 nomies, several special articles have been contributed by various authors. 
 
 To facilitate the reading of this Guidebook, especially while travel- 
 ing, footnote references and acknowledgments have been largely deleted 
 from the text. The published Geologic Folios. Professional Papers, and 
 other published reports of the I'nited States Geological Survey, together 
 Avith unpublished maps and reports prepared by that agency in coopera- 
 
 tion with the State Division of Mines, have formed the background of 
 the areal geology for the region. This has been very materially supple- 
 mented by the unpublished work and advice of Dr. X. L. Taliaferro of 
 the University of California, who has spent many years mapping the 
 geologj- of the region west of the Mother Lode. For the area between 
 Jacksonville and Angels Camp, unpublished geologic maps were supplied 
 by Federal geoolgists George Heyl, John Eric, Arvid Stromquist, C. M. 
 Swinney. and J. H. Wiese. The mapping between Jackson and Plymouth 
 was supplemented by the field data of T. C. Slater, who also supplied 
 data on the Central Eureka mine. Information concerning the mines 
 was generously provided by the following : W. A. Simpkins of the Empire 
 Star Mines Company, Ltd.; C. C. Cushwa of the Spring Hill mine; 
 Xeil 'Donnell of the Idaho Marj-land Mines Corporation ; C. A. Bennett 
 and H. U. Maxfield of the Sixteen to One mine ; D. C. Peacock of the 
 Eagle-Shawmut mine ; Mark Eudey of the Kennedy mine ; J. A. Burgess 
 of the Carson Hill mine ; P. K. Bradley, Jr. of the Harvard mine ; L. A. 
 Parsons of the Calaveras Cement Company ; T. S. O 'Brien of the Key- 
 stone mine ; C. E. Crandall of the Original Amador mine ; O. E. Schiffner 
 of the Lava Cap mine ; and Francis Frederick. Consulting Geologist and 
 Mining Engineer. 
 
 It was necessary, in the compilation of the strip maps, to adjust 
 all the geologj- to fit the newly acquired base maps. i.e. the L'nited States 
 Forest Service planimetric quadrangles and the new topographic sheets 
 (for the most part in the early stages of preparation) of the Federal 
 Geological Survey. An effort was made to include the names and loca- 
 tions of the older abandoned settlements as well as the existing towns. 
 The principal mines and mineral deposits are shown. The locations of 
 the historic monuments are indicated and mileage is shown for use in 
 location while traveling. In addition. sjTubols have been employed to 
 show the type of early structure described in the text on this subject. 
 
 Ferr>- Building, San Francisco 
 Mav 10, 1948 
 
 Olaf p. Jenkins 
 Chief, Division of Mines 
 
 (7) 
 
GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 PUBLICATIONS CONSULTED 
 
 General Historical Interest 
 
 Bailev, Pai"L D.. Rnm Brannan and the Mormons: Westernlore Press, 187 pp., 
 
 Los Angeles, 1943. 
 B.\XCROFT. Henry H.. History of r'alifornia : A. L. Bancroft and Co. and The History 
 
 Co.. 7 vols., San Francisco, 1884-1800. 
 Clelaxd, Rohert O., A history of California, the American period : The JIacMillan 
 
 Co.. .-|12 pp.. New York, 1922. 
 Dri'RY, Avbrey. California, an intimate guide: Harper and Bros., .">92 pp.. New 
 
 York, 1947. 
 Glasscock, C. B.. A golden highway : The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 313 pp., Indianapolis, 
 
 1934. 
 Hint. Rockwell P., California the golden : Silver, Burdette and Co.. 3G2 pp.. New 
 
 Y'ork and Boston. 1911. 
 Rexsch, H. E., Hoover, Mildred Brooke, and others. Historic spots in California, 
 
 valley and Sierran counties: Stanford Univ. Press and Cambridge Univ. Press, 
 
 368 pp., Palo Alto and Cambridge, 1933. 
 Roberts. Brigham H., The Mormon battalion : Deseret News, 96 pp.. Salt Lake Citv, 
 
 1919. 
 Westox, Otheto, Mother Lode album : Stanford Cniv. Press, 177 pp.. 2 pis., 204 
 
 photos, Palo Alto, 1948. 
 
 The Gold Rush Period 
 
 Lekeart, Phillip B., ,Tanies W. Marshall, discoverer of gold : Soc. California Pioneers 
 Quarterly, vol, 1, no. 3, pp. 3-43, San Francisco, September 1924. 
 
 r.ORTHWicK, ,1. D., Three years in California : W. Blackwood and Sons, 384 pp., Edin- 
 burgh and London, 18,">7. Reprinted 1917 as The Gold Hunters edited by Horace 
 Kephart : i.tuting Pub. Co., Cleveland and New York. 
 
 P.rCKBEE, Ed.\a B., The saga of old Tuolumne : R. R. Wilson, 326 pp,, Xew Y'ork, 1933. 
 
 BfFFfM, E. <!JorLD, Si-\ months in the gold mines: Richard Bentlev, 244 pp., London, 
 18.50, 
 
 California Historical Society, Centennial papers: Spec. Pub. 21. 56 pp., San 
 Francisco, 1947. 
 
 Ce.ndrars, Blaise, Sutters gold : Harper and Bro's,, 179 pp., Xew Y'ork and London, 
 1926. Translated from the French by Henry L. Stuart. 
 
 Coy, Owex C, Gold days: Powell Pub. Co., 381 pp., Los Angeles, 1929 (19,34). 
 
 IJaxa. .TlLiAX, Sutter of California : Halcyon Press (Blue Ribbon Books, Inc.), 413 
 pp., Xew York, 1934. 
 
 HlLBERT. Archer B., Forty-niners: Little. Brown and Co,, 362 pp., Xew York and 
 Boston, 1911. 
 
 .Tacksox. J. H. : Anybody's gold : D. Appleton-Century Co., 443 pp., Xew Y'ork, 1941. 
 
 .lACKSON. .1. H.. Tintypes in gold : The MacMillan Co., 191 pp., Xevi- Y'ork. 19,39. 
 
 JOHXSTOXE. Philip, Lost and living cities of the California gold rush, California cen- 
 tennials guide : Touring Bureau, Automobile Club of Southern California, 61 pp., 
 Los Angeles, 1948. 
 
 I'AUL. RoDMAX W., California gold : Harvard Univ. Press, 380 pp., Cambridge, Mass., 
 1947. 
 
 Ql'lETT, Glexx C. Pay dirt, a panorama of American gold rushes: D. Appleton- 
 Century Co., Inc., ,30() pp., Xew Y'ork and London, 1936. 
 
 Stellman, Lofis J., Mother Lode, the story of California's gold rush days : Harr- 
 Wagner Pub. Co., 304 pp.. San Francisco, 1934. 
 
 White, Stew.\rt EnwAnn, The forty-niners: Yale Uuiv. Press, 273 pp., Xew Haven, 
 1918. 
 
 Mines and Minerals 
 
 AxoxYMOfS, California's debt to the miner: Pacific Gas and Electric Progress, vol. 1, 
 no. 8, p. 2, 1924. 
 
 AvERiLL, Charles V., and others. Placer mining for gold in California : California 
 Div. Mines Bull. I,'i5, 377 pp., 1946. 
 
 AvERILL, Charles V., Strategic minerals of the Sacramento district, California : Cali- 
 fornia Div. Mines Rept. ,39 pp. 71-76, 1943. 
 
 Browxe. ,T. Ross, Mineral resources of the states and territories west of the Rocky 
 
 Mountains for 1.S67 : U. S. Treasury Dept.. ,367 pp., Wa.shington, D. C. 1868. 
 Califorxia Mi.ners Association. California mines and minerals : California Miners 
 
 Association, 443 pp., San Francisco, 1899, 
 Davis, William Morris, The lakes of California : California Div. Mines Rept. 29, 
 
 pp. 73-238, 1!)33. . . . California Jour. Mines and Geologv, vol. 44, pp. 201- 
 
 242, 1948. 
 De Gboot, Henry, EI Dorado County : California Min. Bur. Rept. 10, pp. 169-182, 
 
 1890. 
 Haxks. Hexry G., Cold nuggets : California Min. Bur. Rept. 2, pp. 147-1,30, 1882. 
 HaI'Smann. a., and others. Copper resources of California : California Min. Bur. Bull. 
 
 .30, 273 pp., 1908. 
 .TlLlHX, C. E., and Hohtox. F. W.. Mines of the southern Mother Lode region, pt. 1 : 
 
 r. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 413, l:'.6 pp., 19,38. 
 •It'LlHX, C. E., an<l Horton, F. W.. Mines of the southern Jlother Lode region, pt. 2: 
 
 V. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 424, 173 pp.. 1940. 
 LoGAX, Clarf.xce a.. The Mother Lode gold belt of California : California Div. Mines 
 
 Bull. 108, 240 pp., 1934. 
 Logan. Clarence A., Tuolumne Countv : California Div. Mines Rept. 24, pp. 3-33, 
 
 1928. 
 RiCKARD, Thomas A., A History of American mining: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 
 
 419 pp., Xew Y'ork and Liuidon, 1932. 
 RiCKARD. Thomas A.. The reopening of old mines along the Mother Lode: Min. and 
 
 Sci. Press, vol. 112, pp. 933-939, 1916. 
 Tucker, W. Burling, Amador County : California Min. Bur. Rept. 14, pp. 3,34, 1914. 
 
 Geology and Mining Engineering 
 DuRRELL, CoRDELL, Gecdogy of the (|uartz cryst;il mines near Mokelunuie Hill, Cala- 
 veras County, California : California Div. Mines Rept. 40 pp. 423-433, 1944. 
 HlLIN, Carlton D., A Mother Lode gold ore: Econ. Geology, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. .348- 
 
 333, .Tune 1930. 
 .loHXSTOX, George, Brief history of concentration and description of the Johnston 
 
 concentrator: In California mines and minerals, pp. 439-441. California Sliners 
 
 Association, San Francisco, 1899. 
 Knopf. Adolph, The Motlier Lode system (jf California : V. S. Geol. Survey Prof. 
 
 Paper 157. 83 pp., 1929. 
 Lawson, a. C, The Sierra Xevada : California Univ. Chronicle, vol. 23, pp. 1,'W-149, 
 
 1921. 
 I^INDGRF.N, Waldemar, V . S. Gcol. SuTvev, Colfax folio (no. 66). 12 pp., 4 maps, 1897. 
 I^indgrex. Waldemar. V. S. Geol. Survey Atlas. Sacramento folio (no. 3), 3 pp.. 4 
 
 maps. 1894. 
 Lindgren. Waldemar, The Tertiary gravels of the Sierra Xevada, California : T'. S. 
 
 Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 73. 222 pp.. 1911. 
 Lindgren. Waldemar. and Turner, H. W., Placerville folio (no. 3), 3 pp.. 4 maps, 
 
 1894. 
 Ransome, F, L., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Mother Lode district folio (no. 63), 11 pp., 
 
 8 maps, 1897. 
 
 Tali.vferro, Xicholas L., Manganese deposits of the Sierra Xevada :. their genesis 
 
 and metamorphism : California Div. Mines Bull. 123, pp, 277-332, 1943. 
 Turner, H.-W., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Bidwell Bar folio (no. 43), 8 pp., 3 maps, 
 
 1 pi.. 1898. 
 Turner, H. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas. Di>wnieville folio (no. 37), 10 pp.. 4 maps, 
 
 1 pi., 1897. 
 Turner, H. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, ,Tackson folio (no. 11), 8 pp., 4 maps, 1.894. 
 Turner, H. W., and Lindgren. Waldemar, U, S. Geol, Survey Atlas, Smartsville 
 
 folio (no. 18), 8 pp., 4 maps, 1893. 
 Turner, H. W.. and Rax.so.\ie, F. L., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Big Trees folio (no. 
 
 31), 10 pp.. 3 maps, 1 pi., 1898. 
 Turner. F. W., and Ran.some. F. L., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Sonora fidio (no. 41), 
 
 9 pp.. 4 maps. 1897. 
 
SIERRAN ROADS OF TODAY AND YESTERDAY 
 
 !'•: 
 
 ItoROTllY (J. .TkNKINS 
 
 Hi<rli\vay 40. popularly known as the Motlier Lode Highway, bepins 
 at the eastern e(i<re of the town of Mariposa. tal<in<r off from the point 
 where the nmoli-traveled road from Merced to Yosemite Valley leaves 
 that .southernmost of the old mininjr towns. It winds northward across 
 rolling uplands deeply intersected bv the canyons of swift rivers, through 
 dozens of busy .small cities and villages of today and ghost towns and 
 camps of yesterda.v. following a fairly direct route through the region 
 where the Golden Age of California unfolded its remarkable history. 
 A few miles before reaching the northern terminus — .junction with High- 
 way 89 on its way from Mount Shasta to Lake Tahoe — it climbs over 
 Yuba Pass (elevation 6700 feet ) and drops down into Sierra Valley on 
 the eastern side of the Sierra crest. It is the arterv of the foothill gold 
 belt. Traversing it from end to end the traveler passes through nine 
 counties — Mariposa. Tuohnnne. Calaveras. Amador. El Dorado. Placer. 
 Yuba. Nevada and Sierra — all dotted with historical landmarks and made 
 memorable bv the violent impact of the gold rush, its decade of mushroom 
 growth, its brief florescence and rapid decline. 
 
 Manv lateral roads from the coast and valle.v cities of California as 
 well as from the Xevada side give convenient access to the ^lother Lode 
 Ilighwa.v. Farthest south, the All Year Highwav (140) from Merced to 
 Yosemite Valley, which marks the beginning of Highway 40 at JIariposa. 
 is the easiest means of reaching the world famous wonderland of granite 
 domes, towering clitfs. waterfalls and soaring peaks, hence it is one of 
 the best known of the mountain roads. It enters Yosemite National Park 
 at El Portal and continues its spectacular route through the length of 
 the valley. 
 
 Some fifty miles farther north the Mother Lode Ilighwa.v crosses 
 Highway 120 which comes from Oakdale bv wa.v of Knights Ferry and 
 Chinese Camp. It mav be seen winding up Priests Grade above Moccasin 
 Creek Power Station. At the top of the grade it proceeds through Big 
 Oak Flat and Groveland and continues through some of the most rugged 
 and magnificent scenery in the whole Sierra, one branch of it dropping 
 rapidl.v into Yosemite Valley near the granite wall. El Capitan, the other 
 following the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, crossing Tuolumne 
 Meadows l.ving green and lovel.v at the base of snowy peaks of the High 
 Sierra, and over the crest at Tioga Pa.ss (elevation 9947 feet), the highest 
 of the mountain pas.ses. From the summit it makes a breathtaking drop 
 down Leevining Creek to M<ino Lake 317") feet below. 
 
 Ten miles after crossing Highway 120 our Ilighwa.v 49 reaches 
 Sonera where it meets Highwa.v 108, a popular route into ski countrv in 
 winter and at all times a much-frequented recreational area. Winding 
 up through magnificant forests and around enormous domes and knobs 
 of granite, it reaches Sonora Summit 'elevation 9624 feet) and proceeds 
 down the eastern face of the mountains, meeting I'. S. Highwav 39.5 some 
 .seventeen miles north of Bridgeport. This road is a convenient approach 
 to the gold belt from the east. 
 
 Highway 4. a rather direct road from the San Francisco Bay region. 
 pas.ses through Angels Camp, seventeen miles be.vond Sonora. and con- 
 tinues on through Mnrphys. past the entrance to the Calaveras Big Trees 
 State Park, through Big Meadows and on over the crest at Ebbetts Pass 
 (elevation 8800 feet ) down to Markleeville and on to Lake Tahoe. 
 
 Highway 8 from Stockton connects with roads leading into our 
 Highwa.v 49 at San Andreas, Mokelumne Hill and Jackson, and at 
 Jackson, too, another main road (88) from Stockton comes in b.v wa.v 
 of lone and continues over the mountains at Kit Carson Pas.s. where 
 Fremont entered California in 1S44. 
 
 The next lateral giving access to the Mother Lode Highwa.v is 
 Highwa.v 16 from Sacramento, which comes in between Drytown and 
 Pl.vmouth and goes on to Fiddletown. a short and interesting excursion 
 into the past. 
 
 Somewhat farther north. Highwa.v 49 crosses U. S. Highwa.v 50 
 which carries an enormous volume of traffic from San Francisco, through 
 Oakland. Stockton. Sacramento and Placerville. over Echo Pass (eleva- 
 tion 7394 feet I. around the south end of Lake Tahoe. and on through 
 Cai-son City. Xevada. to the east. 
 
 A second great fnited States Highwa.v (40) which crosses the 
 Sacramento Valley b.v wa.v of Vaeaville and Davis goes through Sacra- 
 mento and crosses our highway at Auburn. Perhaps the chief arterv 
 acro.ss the Sierra Nevada, it goes over the Donner Summit (elevation 
 7113 feet I to Truckee and Reno on its way across Xevada and on to 
 the ea.stern coa.st. 
 
 At Gra.ss Valley the last of the important laterals cros.ses the Mother 
 Lode Highwa.v. This is Highway 20 which begins at Ukiah on the Red- 
 wood Highwa.v. skirts Clear Lake and traverses the Sacramento Valle.v 
 b.v wa.v of the Sutter Buttes and Marvsville, goes on to Grass Valley 
 and X'evada Cit.v whence it proceeds east and joins V. S. 40 somewhat 
 west of the Donner Summit. 
 
 Scores of lesser roads branch from these well traveled highways 
 inviting the traveler to explore one can.von after another of the net- 
 work of rivers, the gentl.v inclined slopes that remain as watersheds 
 between the canyons, the lakes and forests, and the hundreds of hamlets 
 and almost deserted sites where once flourished the feverish activity 
 of the quest for gold. 
 
 X'o region in the L'nited States has accumulated a richer or more 
 extensive tradition than the western slope of the Sierra from Yo.semite 
 to the Yuba River. It was inevitable that a mass migration of adven- 
 turous men, .voung for the most part, and willing to undergo an.v hard- 
 ships that might lead to sudden wealth, should create a romantic tradi- 
 tion. Most of them were Americans, but b.v no means all, for the news 
 of the discoverv traveled fast and from all over the world men con- 
 
 (0) 
 
10 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 verged on the gold fields. Mexicans came early and South Americans 
 followed. Chinese and Australians eros.sed the Pacific. Arfronauts ha.stened 
 westward from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland. Cornishmen and 
 Frenchmen jostled Germans and Italians in the rush for the difrfrinjrs. 
 Each of the.se nationalities left some mark. larp:e or small, on the Mother 
 Lode Country, chiefly in the way of names piven to camps, and river bars 
 as well as larger jreopraphical features. Indeed the very name Mother 
 Lode is a heritage from the Mexican miners who were among the earliest 
 comers. Their native province in Mexico was Sonora, a rich mining 
 district with veins of gold-bearing quartz .similar to the great dominant 
 veins that extend for about seventy miles in a fairly .straight line from 
 Mariposa north to Plymouth. The Sonorian vein was known as the Vefa 
 Madre and the Mexicans applied the name to what they believed to be 
 the source of the rich placers in the new field. These Sonorians were 
 inspired miners. Their uncanny sense of where to look for gold and 
 their skill and experience in unearthing it were responsible for the 
 location of some of the best placers and rjuartz mines of the early days. 
 
 It is strange that these Mexicans left .so few traces in the Mother 
 Lode Country. A few ve.stiges of their buildings, a few place names 
 remain — notably Sonora, originall.v Sonoran Camp, one of their first 
 diggings — but the mark they made is largely obliterated. Eas.v-going 
 people, they vanished before the more vigorous, aggressive and infinitely 
 more numerous Americans, Europeans and Chinese who soon overran 
 the country. But they left as witness of their brief sojourn the name 
 the.v gave the dominant vein — a name that soon came to designate 
 the whole region of the southern mines, and then to embrace the entire 
 gold belt from ilariposa to Downieville. 
 
 The romantic tradition of the gold country was of course enormously 
 augmented by the literary activities of the two popular writers. Bret 
 Ilarte and Mark Twain. As a matter of fact, neither of these builders 
 of the tradition spent a great deal of time at the mines, and Bret Harte, 
 at least, leaned very heavily on the chronicles of others, but they both 
 posses.sed in large measure the gift of painting vivid word pictures and 
 creating convincing and appealing characters. Consecjuently Mark 
 Twain's Jitmping Fro<j of Calaveras County and Bret Ilarte 's Outcasts 
 of Poker Flat, Tennessee's Pardner. and dozens of others are known 
 all over the world. As surely as England has its Hardy country, Cali- 
 fornia has its well defined, if somewhat mythical, Mark Twain-Bret Harte 
 country. Literary pilgrimages are made to the Mark Twain Cabin on 
 Jackass Hill near Angels Camp. This is a replica of the original cabin, 
 destroyed by fire except for the still usable chimneyplace. in which 
 Mark Twain spent .some five months with the Gillis brothers and prob- 
 ably wrote part at least of The Jumpiny Froej. And the pilgrimage goes 
 on to Second Garotte, a village near Groveland on Highway 20, to 
 
 another small frame house which Tennessee and his Pardner are .said 
 to have inhabited before Bret Harte immortalized them. 
 
 The foothill gold belt, however, was not in want of any amplifica- 
 tion of its charm. It is so bountifully endowed with natural beauty and 
 with pleasantness of climate as to be one of the most fortunate regions 
 of California. The whole effect of the country is comfortable and pleas- 
 ing. It is none the less interesting for the fact that throughout its two- 
 hundred-mile length it is repeatedly scarred as a result of all the diverse 
 methods of gold mining ever devised — naked rocks exposed b.v surface 
 placers, miles of gravel hills left behind by dredges, mountains of tailings 
 from the quartz mines, and the monstrous cavities gouged out by the 
 giant force of hydraulic mining. 
 
 A century ago this virgin western slope of the Sierra must have 
 appeared a paradi.se to the exhausted travelers who had braved the 
 hazards of the journey overland. The long gentle decline from the crest 
 to the level floor of the wide valley below promised ea.sy progress com- 
 pared with the perilous eastern front they had surmounted. And though 
 the promise was not always fulfilled and the descent was obstructed 
 with terrific difficulties — lakes, cliffs, granite domes and cruelly deep 
 canyons — the pine forests with their carpets of needles, the sheltered 
 coves and flowery meadows nuist have seemed, as they do today, unequaled 
 places in which to find rest. 
 
 Evidences that many of the pioneers did settle into homes in this 
 favored region remain in the numerous dwellings which date back to 
 the earliest days. Many of them are in ruins, but a surprising number 
 are actually still in use. Here and there an old house stands in an old- 
 fashioned garden, overhung by ancient rosebushes grown, perhaps, from 
 slips brought from di.stant eastern homes to grace the new dwelling. 
 These decrepit homesteads with their enormous old fruit trees create 
 an appearance of settled human occupation, adding notably to the charm 
 of the mining region which in so many places is marked by melancholy 
 evidences of a life that was born, flourished and declined in a few brief 
 decades. 
 
 Fur trappers who had been working through the Rocky Mountains 
 were the first Americans to look westward toward the desert and moun- 
 tain barriers that shut California away from the eastern LInited States. 
 They blazed all the trails across the continent which were later followed 
 by explorers, settlers, and forty-niners and later by railroad builders 
 and even the makers of modern highways. 
 
 Jedediah Strong Smith, greatest of the pathfinders, was the first 
 American to discover, the beauties of the western slope of the Sierra. 
 This was in 1827, and it is a curious fact that the first epochmaking 
 crossing of the range, which revealed the beauties as well as the desperate 
 perils involved in the undertaking, was from west to east. 
 
SIERRAX ROADS OP TODAY AND YESTERDAY— JEXKIXS 
 
 11 
 
 Startinpr in Aujrust of 1826 Smith ami a small party of adventurers 
 had succeeded in crossing the southwestern wilderness that lay between 
 Salt Lake and the Pacific Coast. From Indians in the upper reaches of 
 the Columbia River among: whom they had spent the previous winter. 
 they had heard fascinating whispers of a <rreat expanse of valley land 
 behind mountain barriers. These rumors had created an ambition in the 
 minds of Smith and certain of his comrades to open this territory to 
 -Vmerican expansion. Accordinjrly tliey had set out over a difficult route 
 from Salt Lake to the Colorado River, probably by way of St. Geor<re 
 and the Virp-iu River. From the Colorado they made their perilous way 
 throuprh the Jlojave Desert, crossed the San Bernardino Mountains and 
 arrived on Xovember 27th at San Gabriel, where the monks of that rich 
 comfortable mission welcomed them and entertained them for some weeks. 
 
 Without pa.ssports. the pioneers realized they were subject by 
 Mexican law to arrest if they remained without authorization in Cali- 
 fornia, and accordinp:ly they went to San Diegro to request official per- 
 mission to do a bit of trappingr in the lakes and streams. Governor 
 Eeheandia. however, summarily refused their plea. To him they appeared 
 a hazard to the .security of Mexico, which in the lifrht of later history 
 they and their successors proved to be. The Yankee captains of trading: 
 vessels had been welcome for years at the sea coast towns and nobody had 
 considered them a hazard. They came, traded and sailed away. In fact. 
 as Americans have been regarded in the ports of all the world, they were 
 considered a desirable economic asset. But the purposeful .strangrers who 
 had struggled on weary feet across the deserts and sealed the mountain 
 wall were a different problem, and Governor Eeheandia gave them only 
 time to get away. 
 
 On January 18. 1827, they left the friendly monks of San Gabriel 
 and withdrew hastily, returning to the desert via Cajon Pass, and made 
 their way into the San Joaquin Valley through one of the pa.sses in the 
 Tehachapi Mountains. Beyond the observation of the Californians they 
 slowed their pace, trapping as they progressed along the eastern foot- 
 hills, and finally established a camp, probably somewhere on the lower 
 course of the Stanislaus River. From there they made scouting forays up 
 the valley, perhaps as far as the American River. 
 
 In the spring Captain Smith and two companions undertook the 
 formidable task of crossing the Sierra Xevada. It required eight days of 
 bitter struggle, but they did succeed in ascending tlie western slope and 
 conquering the summit, probably somewhat south of Sonora Pass, 
 whence they descended and followed the "West "Walker River to the 
 Xevada desert and on to their headquarters near Salt Lake. 
 
 In 183-3 Joseph Reddeford "Walker led a party westward over the 
 Sierra and down to the valley, in all likelihood, along the divide between 
 the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers. The records indicate that .some of the 
 men of this party may have come upon Yosemite as well as one or another 
 or the groves of giant sequoias. 
 
 The explorations of these first of the Mountain Men were followed by 
 those of the fur traders, notably the Patties and Ewing Young. And 
 in the wake of the traders came settlers, inspired by the reports of the 
 pioneers to seek new homes in the West. The Swiss empire-builder John 
 August Sutter, wlio had come to San Francisco in 1839 full of dreams 
 wliich were to come true in the heart of the Sacramento Valley, was 
 completely established before 1843 in his Xew Helvetia, the 49.000 acres 
 of land granted to him by the Mexican government. His men were 
 ranging around in the valleys on the western slope of the Sierra con- 
 siderably before the golden chapter of California history opened on the 
 American River in 1848. 
 
 The first settlers to enter California by crossing the Sierra were 
 those who made up the Bidwell-Bartleson party in 1841. These adven- 
 turers were made of stern stuff to survive the perils of the route they 
 followed up the eastern escarpment and over the summit at a point some- 
 where near Sonora Pass. Their last ox had been killed and eaten and 
 they were almost at the end of their strength when they finally found 
 themselves over the crest. And the descent at this point was if possible 
 more difficult than the climb up the eastern face. Exhausted and almost 
 starving, they made their way over masses of granite, around lakes, and 
 up and down canyons of apalling depth and steepness. Probably they 
 followed the watershed between the South Fork of the Stanislaus and 
 the Xorth Fork of the Tuolumne, and the temporary camp they set up 
 at the end of the ordeal was not far from Knights Ferry on the Middle 
 Fork of the Stanislaus. 
 
 Fortunately the difficulties surmounted by these earliest explorers 
 did not discourage new attemps to overcome the barriers. In 1843-44 
 John C. Fremont was leading a party authorized by the American gov- 
 ernment on an exploration of the far west. Late in 1843 he left Oregon and 
 set out to the southeast with the purpose of returning to St. Louis. Some- 
 where along the Carson River he made a sudden change in his plan and 
 decided to make a winter crossing of the Sierra into California. Early in 
 February he stopped near Jlarkleeville and from there made his way up 
 the mountains reaching the summit at Kit Carson Pass, later so named 
 in honor of the invincible guide who led Fremont's party through the 
 pass. This route, known by the name Kit Car.son Emigrant Trail, was 
 one of the most commonly traveled of the roads of the pioneers. 
 
 Later in 1844 a group of thirty-sis persons, led by Andrew Kelsey 
 who had been a member of the Bidwell-Bartleson party, crossed the 
 Sierra, and a still larger group known as the Stephens-Murphy party 
 had the distinction of being the finst emigrants to bring wagons all the 
 way from Mis.souri to California. These parties entered over much the 
 same route as that followed over the Donner .Summit today by I'. S. 
 Highway 40. That route, known then as the California Trail was com- 
 monly followed by later settlers. It was the one chosen by the ill-starred 
 Donner Partv which met disaster in the winter of 1846-47. 
 
12 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG IHGinVAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Accounts of that terrible mountain tragredy did iiothinfi to turn 
 aside the flood of western expansion which was now praininfr rapidly in 
 volume. And so it was that considerably before the hordes of Argonauts 
 arrived to spread over the foothills like a swarm of locusts, scattered 
 Americans were at home in the region. Americans had looked with 
 wonder into the great canyon.s of mo.st of the Sierran rivers and had 
 discovered many of the distinctive features that set the western slope 
 of the Sierra Nevada apart from all the rest of the world. 
 
 They had discovered some of the groups of giant sequoias, the most 
 massive as well as the most magnificent trees in existence. Oldest of all 
 living things, they have gro\ni in their isolated groups for as many as 
 three thousand years. Some of them have attained a height of three 
 hundred feet, and the trunk.s of the biggest specimens are as much as 
 thirty-five feet in diameter. Thirty-two .separate groves of these forest 
 giants are .scattereil between Tulare and Placer Counties. Although fossil 
 remains indicate that in long past ages they inhabited much, of the 
 northern hemisphere, this western flank of the Sierra is the only place 
 in the world that they exist today. 
 
 A century ago the di.scoverer of a group of these survivors of a 
 
 vanished age could not know how rare a find he had made. He had seen 
 that many of the natural features of California were on a huge scale — 
 and here was another. But today's traveler in the ^lother Lode Country, 
 knowing the extreme antiquit.v of the Sequoia gif/antea, which is even 
 more astonishing than its size and beauty, will certainly wish to visit 
 one or another of the groves. Calaveras Big Trees State Park, northern- 
 most of the larger groves, is easily accessible from the Mother Lode High- 
 way. At Angels Camp, Highway 4 oflfers a direct route through Murphys, 
 one of the best preserved of the old mining towns. Twenty miles northeast 
 of Murphys the grove lies south of the road close to the North Fork of 
 the Stanislaus River. At any season it is a memorable sight. In spring 
 when tlie sturdy lo\ver growth of dogwood is in blossom it is incredibly 
 beautiful. 
 
 And this is only one of the dozens of byways that tempt the traveler 
 to turn aside for a time from the pleasant winding artery of the Sierran 
 Gold Belt and explore more deeply into the foothill and mountain coun- 
 try. Every branching road and trail offers .some scene of natural beauty, 
 some landmark of historical significance, some relic of the colorful past 
 or evidence of the manifold activitv of todav. 
 
 t. Olrl ccivi-n.il liriil;;f 
 the YiiIp:i Kiver. Slil 
 
 II liridu*-!"'!'! sii:iimiiiy rhf .Viirlh I'mk 
 iji lisp. J'hoto hi/ Olnf P. ./enk'ins. 
 
 \\'iiiOT \ iew from Siprr;l Cit.v tin Hifiliwa.v 41t t<i\v:ir(l the prf 
 tfrtiiir.v (lividp. Photo hy Olaf /*. Jcnkinft. 
 
 jojiM.cosc.yjt.oqooiwMMBnocooa^w*'^ 
 
THE DISCOVERY OF 
 
 r.y IliiN 
 
 When James Wilson Marshall found {rold in the tailrace of Sutter's 
 Mill on January 24. 1848. he was not the first to come across this much 
 sou-rht mineral in California. As early as 1816. there were reports of 
 gold in the Spanish province of California. Reports and rumors of ?old 
 persisted, but it was not until 1842 that there was a real <rold rush in 
 the future Golden State. Either late in 1841 or early in 1842. Francisco 
 Lopez, majordomo of the San Fernando Rancho. and a companion were 
 in search of some .stray cattle in the mountains near the ranch. Becom- 
 ing tired they dismounted to rest in San Feliciano Canyon. Here Lopez 
 whipped out his knife to difr some wild onions to eat and in the earth 
 din^iufr to them he found particles of what appeared to him to be gold. 
 I'sinp; his knife he continued to mine in the vicinity and found addi- 
 tional alluvial gold deposits. Following this gold find came the first rush 
 in California history. Californians left the monotony of their daily life 
 and went to this canyon located thirty-five miles northeast of the Pueblo 
 of Los Angeles. Although they used the crudest of methods and were 
 without nearby water to pan their gold, some of the miners succeeded 
 in making their operations profitable. The first gold-seekers at the Los 
 Angeles placers were the local residents, but within the year men of 
 greater mining experience were imported from Sonora. These miners 
 introduced into California the method which became known as dry 
 washing to extract the gold. As a method of mining it was simple, crude 
 and inefficient, but it had the advantage of being inexpensive. After the 
 pay dirt was dug. it was sun dried on a large canvas and then pulverized 
 into dust. The next operation was to throw the dirt by the panful into 
 the air in order to allow the wind to blow away the lighter elements and 
 to let the gold dust fall back into the pan. Thus the old agricultural 
 procedure of winnowing was the first method used extensively in Cali- 
 fornia mining ; for not only was it u.sed in the Los Angeles area, but 
 also it was introduced b.v many of these same Sonorans into the mines 
 of the Sierra Xevada after 1848. 
 
 One wonders why this gold find was not more generally known, 
 especially since the estimates of the productiveness of the placers were 
 considerable. AVilliam Heath Davis, an early pioneer, estimated that 
 $80,000 to .$100,000 in gold was taken from the mines in the first two 
 years. Abel Stearns, a resident of Los Angeles, estimated that $6000 
 to ,$8000 a year was extracted prior to 1847. Hubert Howe Bancroft, 
 the historian of California, states that by December 1843, 2000 ounces 
 had been taken, valued at $38,000. These however are merely estimates 
 of production. As a matter of record, the first California gold dust sent 
 to a I'nited States Mint belonged to the aforementioned Don Abel 
 Stearns. On July 8. 1843 his package of 18.34 ounces of placer gold was 
 deposited in the Philadelphia mint by Alfred Robinson. The gold had 
 been transported around the Horn and at the mint brought somewhat 
 
 GOLD IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 1.1) (_'. d-TlUR 
 
 over $19 an ounce. It cannot be said that the United States Government 
 was not officially informed of the existence of gold in California, for 
 Thomas O. Larkin as vice-consul at Monterey notified Secretary of State 
 James Buchanan of the fact in an official communication of March 1846. 
 In view of these circumstances, what were the reasons for the lack of 
 publicity of this early uncovering of gold .' Doubtless they are a combi- 
 nation of the following : the small amount of gold was soon exhausted ; 
 inadequate mining processes and difficulty of extraction made gold min- 
 ing economically profitable in the long run only to those with previous 
 mining experience ; the Mexicans had inherited the Spanish ideas of 
 mercantilism in pursuit of which policy trade and communication with 
 foreign nations were discouraged and conseiiuently the possibility of 
 publicity was les.sened ; and in general, the Mexican authorities were not 
 favorably inclined to increased immigration into California. 
 
 It is obvious that James Marshall was not the first to find gold in 
 California, and in .iustiee to Francisco Lopez. Marshall ought not to be 
 so credited. Nevertheless it was this New Jersey carpenter, in the employ 
 of John Sutter, who made the effective discovery which electrified the 
 world, altered the course of western history, greatly accelerated the devel- 
 opment iif California, and had national and international ramification.s. 
 
 Kk;. 1. Siitt<-r'-*i mill :is ir sIimkI simui nfltr its ;ili:iii<li>iiint>iit. Tlii.-* iiiflurt' \v;t.s 
 IiroliMlilv tjikeu in ls-"i:l. Tin- iimii in III.- Inri-Kniuiicl i.'* siii.|">--^"<l to lit- ,I:imr5< .Miir- 
 sh:lll. 
 
 1 IZ I 
 
14 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 2. Air photo of Coloma Valley looking north. Town of Coloma is west of the 
 bridge in the center of the panorama. Photo by courtesy of National Park Service. 
 
 mm 
 
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD I\ CALIFORNIA— CUTTER 
 
 15 
 
 For years. John Sutter, grrantee anil almost feudal baron of a lar<re 
 Mexican "rrant in the A-ieinity of present clay Sacramento, desired to pro- 
 vide a suppl.v of lumber for his own nse and for .sale. Consequently he 
 provided for the establishment of two mills, a sawmill at Coloma and a 
 •rristmill at Xatoma. The latter mill was to use the products of the former 
 in its construction. In Aujrust 1847. Sutter si<rned a contract with Marshall 
 which provided that .Marshall should erect and operate the mill and that 
 Sutter should suppl.v the labor, tools, supplies and equipment. After 
 they had determined the location for the proposed mill on the South Fork 
 of the American River, in a small vallev which was later to be called 
 Coloma. the.v built two cabins, one to house the workers and the other the 
 boss — Marshall. The work of construction of the mill advanced quite 
 i-apidly after its commencement in September. Laborers. Indians. Mor- 
 mons and others were emploved and the work on tlie mill was almost 
 finished bv .lanuarv of the foUowinp- year (1848). This early completion 
 was due in considerable measure to the industr.v and abilities of the 
 Jlormon workers who had been recently dischar<ied from the Jlormon 
 Battalion. 
 
 The storv of this <rroup of soldiers and their part in the discovery of 
 jrold in California is of considerable interest. The battalion, about 500 
 .strong, vohuiteered for service in the United States Army for the Mexican 
 War. Besides desirinjx to aid their countrv, the Saints enlisted in order 
 to become the advance guard of the Jlormon westward migration. The 
 termination of their one year enlistments found a considerable portion of 
 the original group in Southern California, after having opened a wagon 
 road to the "West. Some of the group, about 81 in number. re-enli.sted for 
 an additional .vear of service. The remainder, some 240, were released 
 after exemplary service. By this time the Battalion had been informed 
 that the new headquarters for the faith was to be in Utah, and thev began 
 to head for that destination. The soldiers were not, however, the onl.v 
 Mormons in the Golden State at the time, for on July 31. 1846. a group 
 of homeseekers had arrived aboard the sailing ship Brooklyn led by Sam 
 Brannan as presiding elder. Late in 1847. this same Brannan met the 
 homeward bound group of ex-soldiers at Tahoe Basin. There he urged 
 the men to remain in California until the following spring since it was 
 alread.v September. Brannan "s entreaties were of no avail but a bundle of 
 letters and an epistle from Brigham Young, which arrived the following 
 da.v. changed the minds of many. In the epistle the.v were advised b.v 
 their leader to remain in California until the.v had outfitted themselves. 
 unless their presence in Utah was es.sential. Thereupon most of the group 
 turned back and sought employment in California. About 40 of the 
 young ex-soldiers found work with John Sutter, some being sent to 
 Xatoma. some to Coloma. and others remaining to work at Sutter's Fort 
 at Xew Helvetia. Probably about nine of the Mormons were a.s.signed to 
 Marshall at Coloma. this group entering into a contract with Sutter 
 wherebv they agreed to remain in his emplo.v until the completion of 
 
 work on the sawmill. One of the Jlormons. Heury Bigler. kept a diar.v 
 from which historians have drawn heavily in determining the details of 
 the discover.v and the actual date thereof as January 24. 1848. In spite of 
 the discovery of gold the Mormons completed the provisions of tlieir 
 contract with Sutter and engaged in mining only when they were off 
 dutv at the mill. By March 11th. the work on the sawmill was finished 
 and it was in operation. Presentl.v the Mormons terminated their contract 
 with Sutter, were paid off at about ^1..50 per day for work at the mill, and 
 set about digging gold on a full time basis at Mormon Island near the 
 confluence of the South and JIain Forks of the American River. Here 
 many of the Saints joined in the enterprise, working the area until June 
 of the same year, at which time the members of the Battalion decided to 
 leave for the home in I'tah which the.A' had not yet seen. In Jul.v. fortv-five 
 of thera united and left the easy mone.v of California for the alkaline 
 plains of Salt Lake Valle.v. because of their attachment to the faith. This 
 marked the first return of miners from the gold fields, and was a preview 
 of the role that California would pla.v in the filling in of the \Vest. 
 
 Just as the date of the discovery has been a subject of discus.sion. the 
 accounts of the events leading up to Marshall's find and his actions there- 
 after conflict in different narratives. The main facts however are in 
 accord. The sawmill constructed b.v Marshall was operated by diverting 
 the water of the river through a headrace into tlie forebav of the mill. 
 whence it was directed to the waterwheel. flowed under the length of the 
 mill and escaped back into the river through a tailrace. It was determined 
 b.v test in December 1847. that the mill foundations had been set too low 
 and therefore the water did not escape sufficiently into the tailrace. This 
 necessitated the deepening and widening of the race to expedite the 
 run-off of the water. 
 
 Leaving the mill in the same month. Marshall ordered that this work 
 should be accomplished in his absence. Upon his return to the mill, ilar- 
 shall found that his orders had been carried out. but the race was still 
 not suffieientl.v deep. Additional excavation was done during the daytime. 
 and at night the gates of the forebay were opened and the running water 
 assisted the work b.v clearing awa.v the loose dirt. Boulders were blasted 
 out and the decomposed granite was being dug out manuall.v by both the 
 Indian laborers and the Mormons. On the morning of Januarv 24th. when 
 Marshall was making one of his frequent inspections of the tailrace. some- 
 thing glittering caught his eye. There, resting in a shallow depth of water, 
 was a yellow flake of what appeared to be metal. Testing its malleability, 
 he became hopeful ; he picked up some more flakes, placed them in the 
 crown of his hat and made his way to where the men were working. The 
 ilormons shared Marshall 's interest and several elementary tests were 
 made, by which the group could not disprove the possibilit.v that the 
 metal was gold. Work on the mill was halted temporaril.v while all went 
 to the tailrace to pick up the.se available flakes of metal. Use of the fingei-s 
 alone was found to be exceedinglv difficult, but the assistance of a knife 
 
16 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Rull. 141 
 
 in fratlieriu"- p-okl was discovered to be efficient ; thus the knife was the 
 first implement used in mining: at Coloma as well as at the Los Angeles 
 placers. By this knife method several ounces of gold were collected. 
 Further test.s were given the metal, all of which were favorable ; but in 
 order to make certain, Jlar.shall decided to depart for Sutter's Port for 
 a conference with his partner-boss. More scientific tests were applied 
 tliere. j)roving beyond a reasonable doubt the authenticity of the find. 
 
 Tlie plans of Sutter and Marshall to keep the discovery quiet came 
 to naught, for the secret of gold could not be kept. The ex-soldiers at the 
 Coloma millsite confided the secret to their associates at Xatonia. Charles 
 Bennett, sent by Sutter to Monterey to secure a grant of the Coloma area 
 from Governin- Mason, could not restrain himself from showing the gold 
 in Beni<-ia and San Francisco. Upon hearing of gold, Sam Rrannan, the 
 Jlormon elder, could not curb his curiosity and visited Sacramento. 
 Upon his return to San Francisco he did not hesitate to proclaim the 
 discovery. Even Sutter, who most wanted the secret maintained, confided 
 the news to General Valle.io. The first published announcement of the 
 discovery of gold was made on March 1.5, 1848, in the San Franei.sco 
 weekly newspaper The California)!, and no longer could the discovery be 
 withheld from the wliole world. 
 
 While in San Francisco, Sutter's agent, Charles Bennett, sought 
 the advice of an ex-Georgia miner, Isaac Humphrey, and showed him 
 the gold. The miner lost very little time in getting to the location of the 
 discovery and became the first of many professional miners in the gold 
 fields. Among other things he is credited with having introduced 
 machinery when, on March 9, 1848, two days after his arrival, he made 
 use of the rocker for the first time in California. He had the distinction 
 of being the first professional only by the space of a few days, for a 
 French Canadian backwoodsman soon arrived who had had previous 
 mining experience in Sonora. He was Jean Baptiste Ruelle, called by all 
 simply Baptiste. He and Humphre.v were a great help to the many green- 
 horns, who were arriving in increasing numbers. Tliese mining men, 
 augmented by the arrival of some Sonorans from the Los Angeles placers, 
 were the authorities on gold mining, the Sonoran miners being the van- 
 guard of thousands of foreigners to be lured by California's wealth. 
 
 The crude method of pen-knife and butcher-knife mining soon gave 
 way to more adequate metliods of placer mining. The baleii, or dish 
 shaped Indian basket, the iron gold pan, and the cradle, which were 
 used to expedite the process of separation of gold and sediment, were 
 soon in evidence. Tlie cradle (or rocker as it was often called) proved 
 to be inefficient becau.se of the loss of many of the small particles, and 
 was soon improved. The new development was the Long Tom, an elongated 
 cradle in which transverse cleats arrested these small gold particles. Soon, 
 however, the Long Tom was superseded by sluices of various types. 
 
 Booming or gouging was the next innovation in mining technique. 
 This i-onsisted of merelv letting water do the work of clearing awav the 
 
 sediment. A dam was built, and the water diverted through the area 
 which was being mined ; the water carried the lighter elements down- 
 stream, leaving the gold-bearing ore easily accessible to be worked b.v 
 one of the other methods of placer mining. The success of this procedure 
 soon brought about the introduction of hydraulic mining — the use of 
 water under pressure. It is claimed that water was used in this manner 
 at Yankee Jim's in 1852. Perhaps more definite is the assertion tliat in 
 the same year Anthony Chabot used the hydraulic method without a 
 nozzle at Buckeye Hill, near Nevada City. Hydraulic mining seems to 
 have been a California innovation, and was first employed, complete with 
 the nozzle which is generally associated with this type of mining, in 185.3. 
 
 The idea of dredging gold was common, but early attempts resulted 
 in failure. Characteristic is the example of an operation on the Yuba 
 River in 185.3 in which the dredge sank almost immediately. Despite 
 many sub.sequent dredging endeavors, it was not until 1898 that the 
 first real success was achieved. This was accomplished with a bucket ele- 
 vator dredge used on the Feather River near Oroville. 
 
 The easily worked alluvial deposits of gold extracted by the early 
 miners made mining look simple, and this fact added to the many stories 
 of fabulous wealth lured thousands of men to the gold fields of California. 
 Nevertheless the discovery of new placers did not await their coming. 
 Not long after Marshall's discovery, John Bid well, grantee of Rancho 
 Chico, visited the Coloma site. Returning home to his rancho, he found 
 gold at what became known as Bidwell's Bar on the Feather River. 
 P. B. Reading also visited the di.scovery site, became convinced tliat there 
 were similar indications on his land, and on his return to his home found 
 some deposits on Clear Creek, which he worked with Indian labor. 
 Success on Clear Creek led Reading to further finds on Trinity River, 
 just as .success on the Feather River stimulated discoveries on the Yuba. 
 Before the end of 1848, finds of gold had become numerous and the gold 
 area extended from the Tuolumne on the .south to tlie Trinity on the 
 north. 
 
 Men of mining experience sought the source vein or veins from 
 which the alluvial deposits originated. The first such vein, which was of 
 gold quartz, was discovered on Colonel John C. Fremont 's Mariposa grant 
 in August 1849. It was probably not until 1850 or 1851, that the term 
 Jlother Lode was first applied. At that time it was used to designate a 
 vein worked at Nashville, twelve miles south of Placerville, 
 
 In the years following '48 and '49, more and more areas were opened 
 and worked; and the gold production of California was immense. The 
 significance of these discoveries, of the resulting" rushes, and of the 
 partial abandonment of the area is enormous. Thousands of men came 
 by wagon, by ship and even by foot to become rich in the Golden State. 
 Most of them desired to return home after striking it rich. Some did, but 
 many remained in California to populate the new American acquisition. 
 As a result of the gold rush. Califcn-nia became a state without going 
 
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IX CALIFORNIA— (TTTER 
 
 17 
 
 throufrh the usual territorial status, since its population was suffitieiit 
 for its entry into the union on equal terms with the other states. The 
 nature of prospeetinpr made exploration of the state complete and rapid, 
 most portions bein<; inspected in the hope of findinpr jrold. The results of 
 the influx of forty-niners caused the State to <ro throufrh a turbulent, and 
 oftentimes lawless, period of prowiiifr pains, but a period from which it 
 emerjred the most important western state. 
 
 The California frokl rush stimulated strikes in all parts of the world, 
 ilarshall 's discovery was the direct stimulus for the important Xew South 
 AVales find of IS.jl and the resultinfr rush. In the freneral .search for prold. 
 a strike was made on the Eraser River in western Canada. This rush 
 drew many fortune hunters. In 18.39-60. the silver bonanza of the Com- 
 stock Lode was made b.v prospectors seeking frold. Additional g'old fields 
 were discovered in Colorado in 1859, and many of the miners were 
 Californians. The.se frold rushes and subsequent strikes drew men awa.v 
 from California in considerable numbers, but betran the process of fillinrr 
 the ^'aps of settlement between the Midille and Far West. Thus the dis- 
 covery of trold not only hastened the development of one state, but also 
 that of the whole We.st, either directly or indirectly. 
 
 The economic consequences and significance of the discovery of 
 •rold are equally n;reat but harder to determine. Increased production 
 in the United States, followed by increased foreig:n production resulting 
 from the California gold rush, caused an increase of money in circula- 
 tion. By 186.5 in California alone $7.50,000,000 in gold had been mined, 
 and this figure is considered a conservative estimate. In spite of the 
 heavy increase of circulating gold, the much-feared serious inflation, 
 which was predicted by economists, failed to materialize. True, in Cali- 
 fornia, at the source of gold and where commodities were scarce, initial 
 inflation was tremendous; but world inflation as a result of the Cali- 
 fornia gold rush, and its succes.sors, was slight. Estimates of inflation 
 range from 5 percent to 15 percent. This low figure is explained b.v an 
 existing world scarcity of money caused in part by increasing world 
 population. 
 
 Other important results of the gold rush were that it opened the 
 era of modern mining ; hastened the colonization of the West and the 
 suppres.sion and partial elimination of the Indian ; accelerated the expan- 
 sion of the agricultural frontier by the need for a food supply in the 
 
 gold area ; and speeded the linking of the East and West. The California 
 rush has the distinction of being the first modern international gold 
 rush, since all previous gold rushes in modern times were exclusive, 
 under the theory of mercantilism. Since .subsequent rushes were, for the 
 most part, international in character, a fresh distribution of population 
 was produced not only in the L'nited States but also in many portions 
 of the world. This redistribution of population with its resulting prob- 
 lems together with the general increase of money put into circulation, 
 is the primary significance to the world of Marshall's discoverv. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 ri-\ILEY. P.\l'L r>.. Sam nrjiniiiin ami the .Mnrni'ms : \Ve^ti.rtiltu.«' I'res^. \s~ i.p.. Los 
 
 Ansele.^i. 194.3. 
 l'..^XCBOFT. He\ry H.. Ilistor.v rit California : A. L. Baiur.ift an>l <'•.. anil Tllf Hi^^tcir.l' 
 
 Co., T vol.s.. San Francisco. 1X84-1890. 
 FiEKE-VRT, Phillip B.. .lames AV. Marshall, discoverer of ;:oI(l ; Sue. California I'ioneers 
 
 Quarterly, vol. 1. no. .S. pii. .^-4.'^. .San Francisco. Se[iienilier llni4. 
 
 K^"FFl"^r. E. (Jocld. .six months in the gold mines: Richard Rentlev. 244 pp.. London. 
 
 1.«.-jO. 
 Cknkrars. Iil..\lSE. Sutters ;;old ; Harper and Bros.. 179 i>p.. Xew York and London, 
 
 192tJ. Translated from the French li.v Henry L. Stuart. 
 Clel.\xd. Robert (I.. A historv of California, the American jieriod ; The MacMillan 
 
 Co., 512 pp., Xew York, 1922. 
 Cov. Owex C, Gold days: PoweU Pub. Co.. .3.S1 pp.. Los Anceles. 1929 (19.-i4l. 
 It.\X-\. JVLl.^x, Sutter of California: Halcvon Press (Blue Rihiton B'loks. Inc. I. 
 
 41.3 pp., Xew York. 19S4. 
 HfLBERT. Archer B.. Forty-niners; Little. Brown an<l Co.. .340 pp.. Boston. 19.31. 
 
 Hi XT. Rockwell D., California the golden : Silver. Burdett an<l ('••.. .302 pp.. Xew 
 
 York and Boston. 1911. 
 l'-\i'L. RoDM.xN W.. California gold : Harvard l'ni\ . Press. 3.S0 pp.. Caniliridge. JLiss., 
 
 1947. 
 Ql'lETT. flLEXX C, Pay dirt, a panorama of .\merican gold rushes: l>. .\ppleton- 
 
 Centnry Co.. Inc.. .~i06 pp.. Xew Y'ork and London. 19:-lti. 
 RiCK.VRI). Thom.\s a.. The discovery of gold in California: T"niversity <if Californi:t 
 
 Chronicle, vol. .30, no. 2. pp. 141-169. Berkeley, 192.S. 
 RlCK.\RD, Thom.xs a., a history of American mining: D. Appletou-Century Co.. Inc.. 
 
 Xew Y'ork and London. VSi-. 
 Roberts. Brigh.^.m H.. The Mormon battalion : Deseret Xe>vs. 90 pp.. Salt Ijike Citv. 
 
 1919. 
 ^VHITE. StEW.\rt Kdw.\ri). The fortv-niners : Vale Cniv. Pre.ss. 27.3 pp.. Xew Haven. 
 
 1918. 
 
18 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 :.^2>,i?dfr:L' 
 
 Fig. 1. Omega hydraulic mine; the large water pipe supplied the "giants" or hose Fio. 3. View southwest toward Hlue Tent ditch, a typical (.ariier of waler supplying 
 
 nozzles. Photo by Olaf P. Jenkins. the hydraulic diggings. Photo htj Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 -^'■>>-- 
 
 Fig. 2. Ifepot Hill liydruulie mine near Ciiniptonviile. 
 
 Fig. 4. View southwest toward placer mine half a mile east of Downieville. 
 
HISTORY OF PLACER MINING 
 
 By Charles V 
 
 Methods for the recovery of gold even today depend largely on the 
 high specific gravity of that metal. A particle of gold of a certain size 
 is so much heavier than a particle of associated rock of the same or even 
 larger size, that a current of water washes the particles of dirt and 
 rock away and leaves the gold behind. At Sutter's sawmill, water turned 
 through the ditch to operate the water wheel washed away the dirt and 
 gravel and left the bright flakes of gold. These were caught on the rough 
 bottom of one of the ditches where Marshall found them. 
 
 The earliest efforts to recover gold, after Marshall's discovery, were 
 directed toward those places where flakes and nuggets of gold had been 
 concentrated on rough bedrock and in crevices by the natural flow of 
 the streams. Small tools were used to dig in the crevices and to pick up 
 the flakes of gold. Soon the miner's pan came into u.se. An ordinary 
 frying pan can be used to concentrate gold providing it is free of grease, 
 but the familiar miner 's pan with gently sloping sides is more efficient. 
 It is a simple device for washing away the lighter dirt and fine gravel, 
 and concentrating the heavy gold in the bottom of the pan. The capacity 
 of the pan is so limited that gravel very rich in gold is needed to pay 
 by this method. A skilled operator is able to pan less than one cubic 
 yard of gravel during a day's work. The batea is a wooden version of 
 the miner's pan that was introduced into California at a very early date 
 by Mexican miners. 
 
 Rockers or cradles and sluice boxes were the next devices used by 
 the early -day miners. The rocker is a crude concentrating machine made 
 of wood that combines the shaking motion of the pan with some of the 
 features of the sluice. Riffles or obstructions are placed across the bottom 
 to catch the heavy flakes of gold. The dirt and gravel are washed over 
 the tops of the riffles. With the rocker, both the gravel and the water are 
 introduced by hand. With the sluice, the water flows by gravity, but 
 the gravel is shoveled in by hand. The miner is able to wash several cubic 
 yards per day — still a small amount of gravel. By 1860, gravel that would 
 pay to work by these methods was getting hard to find, and production 
 of gold declined. 
 
 In the meantime the hydraulic method of mining was developed. 
 Great jets of water were directed against banks of gravel hundreds of 
 feet in height. Some of the jets of water were 9 inches in diameter as they 
 left the nozzles. After the proper ditches and pipe lines had been installed, 
 thousands of cubic yards of gravel could be washed without hand labor. 
 The gold was recovered in riffle-sluices, and quicksilver was usually 
 added to aid in its recovery. The debris deposited in streams by hydraulic 
 miners became so objectionable to agricultural interests that the method 
 was stopped by injunction in 1884, and placer production dropped to a 
 very low level. 
 
 Evidence of hydraulic mining in the form of old gravel banks may 
 be seen on Highway 49 at Mokelumne Hill in Calaveras County and 
 
 (19) 
 
 FOR GOLD IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 . .\VERILL 
 
 near Camptonville in Yuba County near the Sierra County line. The 
 Depot Hill mine near Camptonville has been worked quite recently. 
 The Bullard Bar dam of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company is avail- 
 able for the .storage of tailings; hence this mine can be operated legally 
 at the present time. Other dams that were constructed primarily for the 
 purpose of restraining such tailings are located on the North Fork 
 American River about two miles above its confluence with Middle Fork 
 American River near Auburn, and on the Yuba River about li miles 
 above its confluence with Deer Creek near Smartsville. 
 
 Some of the largest hydraulic mines ever operated are a few miles 
 east of Xorth San Juan. Leaving Highway 49 at this point, one may travel 
 for 1.3 miles practically along the course of an ancient river channel in 
 which gold-bearing gravel was deposited many millions of years ago to 
 a depth of about .300 feet. The climate was semi-tropical at that time, and 
 the elevation was much lower. The region has been raised by tilting so 
 that the bed of the ancient river now occupies the top of a high ridge. The 
 largest mine was the ilalakoff at Xorth Bloomfield, and it was the injunc- 
 tion against this mine in 1884 that practically put a stop to hydraulic 
 mining in this region. 
 
 The lode mines with their ipiartz veins and stamp mills took over the 
 major output of gold, and the prodiu-tion curve rises gradually until 
 about 1!)()0 when connected-bucket dredges were introduced and made the 
 curve rise a little faster. These great niacliiues contain a continuous chain 
 of buckets for digging the gravel and taking it aboard the floating barge. 
 Such a chain of buckets and tlie support for it (the ladder) may weigh 
 1.000 tons. The entire outfit including the digging machinery and the 
 equipment for washing out the gold may weigh 8.750 tons. Riffle sluices 
 and quicksilver are still used to rei-over the gold on the dredges, but 
 sluices are gradually being replaced by jigs, which are mechanical devices 
 for concentrating the gold. The dragline t.vpe of dredge is a later develop- 
 ment that was introduced in the 19;!0's. The heavy iligging equipment is 
 an ordinary dragline excavator tliat travels on the bank. The floating 
 barge carries only the screen, equipment for concentrating the gold, and 
 the tailing-stacker. Placer gravel is haiidled so cheaply on these dredges 
 that gravel running 10 cents to 20 cents per cubic yard can be mined at 
 a profit. 
 
 Inflation foMowing World War I stopped the rising trend of gold 
 production, and it declined until the early 1930 "s, when the increase in 
 price from $20.67 to .tS.] per fine ounce caused production to rise initil 
 1940. In October 1942 Limitation Order L-208 of the War Production 
 Board stopped all gold mining with few exceptions. This caused great 
 damage to California mines in the form of flooded and caved workings, 
 and gold production is now at a very low level. It cannot be expected to 
 rise very fast under present conditions of high costs of labor and supplies, 
 unless a way can be found so that the miner will receive more than !|C55 
 per fine ounce for his gold. The price is higher than this in many countries 
 today. 
 
20 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 GEOLOGIC MAP 
 
 OF 
 
 CALIFORNIA 
 
 AJOR ROCK UNITS 
 
 nozoic volcanici 
 noioic sedimertH 
 f+aceoui ledtmentj 
 rossic Francijcan qroup 
 soioic - Poleoioic 
 tqmorphic - qranidc rocks 
 iin~Ranqes and Mo]Ow« Ocierl 
 :k-co'npleK 
 
 Syncltne 
 Pleij*ocer« fauH- 
 
 
 
 Fig. 5. Geologic map of California showing major rock units. Reprinted from 
 California Div. Mines Repi. J/O, pi. 8. 
 
 Fig. 6. .4, Block diagram illustrating Cretaceous Sierra Nevada topography. The 
 upturned edges of bedrock controlled the drainage pattern, which was later 
 inherited by streams of the early Eocene period. After Matthes, U. S. Oeol. 
 Survey, Prof. Paper 160. J930. 
 B, Block diagram to show tilting of the Sierra Nevada and its effect on stream 
 cutting. P>osion, prior to the tilting, planed down the surface and exposed 
 the granite, leaving only occasional fragments of the intruded metamorphic 
 rock-bodies as roof pendants. The streams, at the point where they leave 
 th.eir mountain canyons and enter the Great Valley, form alluvial fans. 
 After Matthes. V. <S'. Oeol. Survey Prof. Paper 160, 3930. 
 
 '^^Bom 
 
 2 
 
SIERRA NEVADA PROVINCE 
 
 By Olaf p. Jexkixs 
 
 The dominant mountain ranp:e of California, the Sierra Nevada, 
 stands as a single and ma<rnifieent natural province, over 350 miles lon» 
 by 60 miles wide. Its eastern rug<;ed wall was a challen<re to early e.xplor- 
 ers; its western wooded slope, a revelation to immiprrants who could see 
 from its heights the fertile flat lands of the Great Valley and the Coast 
 Ranges beyond. The deep canyons, waterfalls, and Big Trees from the 
 earliest da.vs were an invitation to tourists from all over the world. Fine 
 timber and water power, summer pasture for stock, playgrounds in both 
 summer and winter — all have made the Sierra Xevada a huge natural 
 resort and at the same time a u.seful garden spot unsurpas.sed in the world. 
 All these features and resources have nearly overshadowed its vast min- 
 eral wealth, which was by no means exhausted by the excited efforts of the 
 early gold miners. 
 
 To describe this fine mountain province or to appreciate its character- 
 istic features, an understanding must be gained of how it was formed and 
 of what it is composed. Some knowledge of the geologic features involved 
 will also be found usefid in understanding how the mineral wealth became 
 unlocked to mining ventures. 
 
 The sliape and form of the Sierra Xevada is the result of stupendous 
 geologic processes. The mountain range has a definite ea.stern escarpment, 
 formed bv comparatively recent faults or displacements in the earth's 
 crust, which took place after the Sierra was raised to tremendous heights, 
 now over 14.000 feet. This eastern front towers as a saw-toothed, snow- 
 capped wall in sharp contrast with the depressed desert valleys lying 
 10,000 feet below at its eastern foot. The watershed of the range hugs 
 close to this eastern wall, while the western slope is a gradual descent 
 to the Great Valley of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers. This 
 gradual western slope, however, is dis.sected and broken laterally by rock- 
 walled canyons of exceeding depth, cut by mountain rivers flowing west- 
 ward to the Great Valley. The uptilting of the Sierra Xevada was the 
 cause of the enormousl.v accelerated flow of its streams, which resulted 
 in the cutting of canyons to the very core of the mountains. The mineral 
 deposits which lay hidden many thousands of feet in depth were thus 
 e.xpo.sed to view and to exploitation. 
 
 The southern end of the Sierra Xevada bends westward where the 
 Tehaehapi Mountains and San Emigdio Range form the terminus of 
 the Great Valley. The .southwestern point of the Sierra ends abruptly 
 against the junction of the famous San Andreas and Garlock faults. The 
 
 southern slope gives way to the Mojave Desert on the south as the eastern 
 escarpment faces desert troughs of the Great Basin. 
 
 The northern mountain surface of the Sierra Xevada disappears 
 abruptly under the Modoc lava fields and volcanic Cascade Range which 
 completely cover the older relief and separate it from the Klamath 
 Mountains of the northwest. 
 
 The Sierran Gold Belt, traversed by Highway 49, starts on the south 
 at Mariposa which is located well back in the foothills and halfway between 
 the northern and southern limits of the Sierra X'evada province. The 
 highwa.v. like the Mother Lode, runs northwestward to Plymouth, cross- 
 ing the Merced, Tuolumne, Stanislaus. Mokelumne. and Cosumnes Rivers. 
 From Plymouth, the course of the Mother Lode quartz veins is northward 
 to Plaeerville and beyond, terminating in the vicinity of Georgetown, 
 a distance of 162 miles from Mariposa by highway. 
 
 Highway 49 leaves the Mother Lode at Plaeerville and continues 
 northwestward to Auburn, first crossing the South Fork, then the X'orth 
 Fork of the American River. It continues northward to the famous 
 mining district of Grass Valley and Xevada City. From there it wanders 
 northeastward through the old hydraulic mining region of the gold- 
 bearing gravels of ancient Tertiary streams, the deposits of which now 
 lie near the tops of ridges, where they and their covering of volcanic 
 flows have been lifted by the uptilt of the Sierra. After crossing the deep 
 canyon of the Middle Fork of the Yuba River, Highway 49 reaches 
 Downieville, an important gold-mining district lying on a direct northern 
 trend of the gold-bearing quartz veins of the rich Alleghany district. 
 These in turn may be a continuation of the Mother Lode from George- 
 town. Highway 49 continues from Downieville eastward over the Yuba 
 Summit, ending at the edge of Sierra Valley. 
 
 The entire course of Highway 49 and its side roads will take the 
 traveler through many of the principal mines of the Sierran Gold Belt, 
 a total distance of 277 miles. Lying to the west of the Mother Lode is the 
 Foothill Copper-Zinc Belt ; west of that is the belt of clays, lignite, and 
 quartz sands of the lone formation. Limestone deposits occur in places 
 throughout this region ; a cement plant at San Andreas boasts of one of 
 the largest kilns in the world. The productive resources of this highly 
 mineralized region include gold, silver, some platinum and even a few 
 diamonds, tungsten, copper, lead, zinc, manganese, chromite, iron, lime- 
 stone, dolomite, clay, lignite, sand, gravel, slate, and building stone. 
 
 (21 ) 
 
22 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 1. Aerial view of Tiiulumiie Table JIuuntuin, a lava flow which occupied a channel cut in an e.\tensi\e flat .surface of andesitic awh. The ash was eroded away leaving the harder 
 lava in relief as a Ions, sinuou.s, fiat-topped ridge. Occasional remnants of the andesite ash ma.v be seen at the base of Table Mountain in numerous places. The Eocene bed- 
 rock surface surrounding Table Jlountain was largely exhumed by this erosion. Photo by Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT 
 
 The long chronicle of time recorded on this earth by its rocks and 
 pieced to<rether by freolotrists to form a standard column of sequences, 
 is well represented in California. Indeed, tlie rocks of the Sierran Gold 
 Belt, which now have our attention. ?o a lonpr way toward demonstrating 
 the entire historical section. 
 
 Although the very early events of pre-Paleozoic and lower Paleozoic 
 time are indefinite in this part of the State, it is quite possible that durinjr 
 this time of veiled antiquity a mountain ranpe stood where the Sierra 
 Nevada now is located. Presence of such a ranfre would have left little 
 chance for sediments to be deposited and therefore nothing in the way of 
 testimony, since geolofrical testimony of history lies in the deposits which 
 are left behind. 
 
 JIarine deposited sediments with upper Paleozoic fossil corals and 
 other tropical orjianic life extend over a wide rejrion in the northern 
 Sierra Nevada and prove the existence of an inland sea durin<r that time. 
 Possibly it was only tlie western marfrin of the sea, but its waters cer- 
 tainly swept eastward acro.ss the present Great Basin area because more 
 complete .sections of these sediments are found to the east in the interior 
 of Nevada and southeastern California. Rocks of Silurian. Devonian. 
 Carboniferous, and Permian periods — representing all of the late portion 
 of the Paleozoic era, permit us to start out definitely with an epi- 
 continental sea as the beginning of our history of the rocks we may 
 encounter along Ilighwa.v 49. 
 
 The soft sands, nnuls. and marls of this early sea are now changed 
 to the form of very hard quartzites, slates, schists, cherts, limestones, and 
 marble. They are so old and have undergone so many episodes of loading, 
 compression, heating, crumpling, crushing, induration, recrystallization. 
 and infiltration of mineral bearing solutions that it is oidy by the most 
 skillful field and microscopic .study that the origin of these rocks may 
 be interpreted. 
 
 There is much evidence that volcanism was present during the broad 
 expanse of the 200 million years which elapsed while these Paleozoic 
 rocks were being laid down in the sea basin. The volcanic rocks which 
 are most in evidence are found in the upper Paleozoic. They are now 
 metamorphosed to greenstones and are so difficult to differentiate from 
 those of the later Mcsozoic as to present one of the major problems to 
 geologic stud.v. Fluctuations and movements of the earth's crust caused 
 the .sediments of tliis sea basin to be lifted and submerged several times 
 during its span of existence. 
 
 The Mesozoic era which came after the Paleozoic is divided into an 
 early part, the Triassic, followed by the Jura,ssic, and finally the 
 Cretaceous. In the northern Sierra Nevada the Triassic is well repre- 
 sented by marine sediments, but there is not much to be seen of them 
 along Highway 4!). The period of tremendous importance in this region 
 
 is the Jurassic, and especially the latter part of this period. Volcanic 
 activity was widespread throughout the entire province during upper 
 Jura.ssic. It may have been an ominous warning of the stupendous 
 mountain-making epoch that concluded the Jurassic and resulted in a 
 folded mountain range, the rocks of which were intruded throughout by 
 a molten granitic magma, Jliucralized quartz veins, formed by the 
 filling and enlargement of cracks in the rocks with siliceous material, 
 followed the granitic intrusion represent the end product of this major 
 epoch of disturbance in California. All this took place over 100 million 
 years aso and the rocks of that period which we see exposed today were 
 probably buried then at a depth of at least two miles. 
 
 Not all the rocks of the Upper Jurassic, however, are of eruptive 
 origin. There are the Mariposa slates, for example; these are marine 
 in origin. Some non-marine sediments were also deposited during the 
 Jurassic and there are man.v kinds of igneous intrusions associated with 
 the Upper Jura.ssic. Into the muds and other rocks of this period (also 
 of the Paleozoic) , serpentine rocks bearing chromite were injected. These 
 ultra-basic intrasives antedate the granitic rock intrusions and may 
 have been introduced prior to folding of the sediments. 
 
 The episode or episodes of folding present most interesting problems. 
 The whole scheme of affairs on this part of the earth was changed in 
 Upper Jurassic time, because the sea basin of long standing (hundreds of 
 millions of .vears) was destroyed. The strata were raised above sea level 
 and compres.sed into a complicated series of folds trending for the mo.st 
 part northwest-southeast. As the granitic magma was intruded, large 
 .sections of the earlier rocks disappeared. Perhaps they were assimilated 
 bv the granite or pu.shed aside, or maybe the granite itself was manufac- 
 tured fnmi the earlier rocks by melting. All we actually know, however, 
 is that where the granite is present now the earlier rocks are gone. In 
 man.v places the granitic rocks (largely granodiorite) include fragments 
 of earlier rocks as if floating within their firm crystalline structure. At 
 the southern end of the Mother Lode, at Mormon Bar. the earlier rocks 
 give way to granite, and thus the belt of Mother Lode quartz veins is 
 terminated. 
 
 The time interval required for the folding of all the sediments of 
 the Paleozoic. Trias.sic and Jurassic plus the intrusion of granite was 
 geologically not very long. It was a mountain-making epoch of a com- 
 parativel.v ,short span, all within the upper part of the Upper Jurassic, 
 The cooling, contracting, and releasing of mineral-bearing solutions bv 
 the granitic rocks permitted quartz veins to fill the resulting fractures in 
 the rocks and the fractures previously formed by faulting during the 
 folding episode. 
 
 All these rocks — Paleozoic sediments. Triassic and Jurassic sedi- 
 ments and volcanics, intrusive basic and ultra-ba.sic rocks, intrusive or 
 
 (23) 
 
24 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG mGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 SUMMARY OF GEOLOGIC NISIOIY OF SIEtRAN GOLD BELT 
 HISTORY OF THE SOFTER ROCKS ("SUPERJACENT SERIES" WHICH CONTAINS THE PUCERS AND OVERLIES THE "BEDROCK SERIES") 
 
 Geologic 
 era 
 
 Geologic period 
 
 Geologic event 
 
 Geologic record 
 
 Duration in 
 millions 
 of years 
 
 
 Quaternary 
 
 Recent 
 
 History of man 
 
 Quartz mining 
 
 Placer mining 
 Dredging 
 Hydraulic mining 
 Shallow, hand placering 
 
 Historical record 
 
 2?4 billion dollars gold produced 
 
 Age 
 
 1 
 
 1-2 
 
 Cenozoic 
 
 Pleistocene 
 
 Resurrection of ancient channels and old Tertiary surfaces 
 
 Continued faulting 
 
 Glaciation 
 
 Canyon cutting, robbing gold from earlier Eocene channels 
 
 Uplift and faulting 
 
 Physiographic features 
 
 Rock exposures 
 Gravel deposits 
 
 Tertiary 
 
 Pliocene 
 
 Continued basic volcanic activity 
 
 Uplift and faulting 
 
 Intervolcanic streams 
 
 Andesitic flows, concealing old surface 
 
 Mehrten formation (andesite) 
 
 Valley Springs formation 
 (rhyolite) 
 
 7 
 
 8 
 
 
 Miocene 
 
 Andesitic lavas, breccias, ash, mud flows, covering all but the 
 
 higher peaks and ranges 
 Ash falls, covering surfaces 
 
 Rhyolitic ash falls dam streams, covering channels 
 
 12 
 
 20 
 
 
 Oligocene 
 
 16 36 
 
 
 Eocene 
 Paleocene 
 
 Deposition of large stream deposits of white quartz gravel {angular 
 
 and subangular) and placer gold 
 Deposition of lone clay, lignite, and sand (in part marine) 
 Release of gold from rocks and veins 
 Decay of rocks, formation of deep red soil 
 Semi-tropical weathering 
 
 Ancient channels 
 lone formation 
 Ancient channels 
 Old surfaces 
 Deep red soil 
 
 23 
 
 60 
 
 Mesozoic 
 
 Upper Cretaceous 
 
 Pirate streams rob east-flowing streams, cutting the Pre-Tertiary 
 
 Divide and Great Western Divide 
 Tops of gold-bearing veins reached by erosion 
 Deposition of sand and gravel in basin west of Sierra Nevada 
 Erosion and removal of rocks 2 miles thick from top of Sierra 
 
 Chico formation 
 
 Conglomerates, sandstones, and shales many 
 miles in thickness (Great ValleyJ 
 
 35 
 
 95 
 
 
 
 
 Profound unconformity 
 
 
 
 i4H 
 
 Ji 
 
GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT— JEXKIXS 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 HISTORY OF THE "BEDROa SERIES" WHICH (OHTtlNS THE VEINS 
 
 
 Geologic era 
 
 Geologic period 
 
 Geologic event 
 
 Geologic record 
 
 Duration in 
 millions of years 
 
 Mesozoic 
 
 Upper 
 Jurassic 
 
 Lower Jurassic 
 
 Profound unconformity 
 
 _, finfiltration of mineral-bearing quartz veins into fractured rocks 
 J ^'IMetamorphism of older rocks on contact with granitic rocks 
 
 g g.^' Intrusion of granitic batholith 
 ^ £ ' Folding, crushing and faulting 
 
 - 1 Uprise of sediments from inland sea basin 
 Intrusions of serpentine rocks 
 Interbedding of basalt with sediments 
 Marine deposition 
 Volcanism 
 Marine deposition 
 
 Quartz veins 
 
 Granodiorite and related rocks 
 
 Dike rocks 
 
 Serpentine 
 
 Mariposa slate 
 
 Amador volcanic group 
 Agua Fria formation 
 
 Logtown Ridge and Penon Blanco formation 
 Cosumnes and Hunter Valley formations 
 
 Age 
 40 
 
 155 
 
 
 Triassic 
 
 Marine deposition, including coral reefs 
 \"olcanism 
 
 Sailor Canyon formation 
 Brock shale 
 Hosseleus limestone 
 Volcanic rocks 
 
 35 
 
 190 
 
 Paleozoic 
 
 Carboniferous 
 and Permian 
 
 Marine deposition, including coral reefs 
 
 Extensive sedimentation throughout Sierra Nevada province 
 
 fClipper Gap formation 
 2 :: t£ g Delhi formation 
 1 .§ .S g Cape Horn slate 
 g S "= « < Relief quartzite 
 "3 ^ - i Kanaka conglomerate formation 
 ^ ■^ ■= — Tightner volcanic formation 
 
 [Blue Canyon marine formation 
 
 300 
 
 Devonian 1 Marine deposition 
 
 Taylorsville formation 
 
 
 
 Silurian 
 
 Marine dep>osition, including coral reefs 
 
 Montgomery limestone 
 Grizzly formation 
 
 
 
 Ordovician 
 Cambrian 
 
 Not known in Sierra Nevada 
 
 
 500 
 
 Pre-Cambrian 
 
 
 Not known in Sierra Nevada 
 
 
 Indefinite 
 1300 
 
 2 billion 
 (age of earth) 
 
26 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG mOHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 -55.= '? 
 
GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF THE SIERRAX GOLD BELT— JEXKIXS 
 
 27 
 
 batholithic <rranites — form ivhat is commonly known as the "Bedrock 
 series" of the Sierra Nevada and all of the grold-bearing quartz veins 
 are enclosed in these hard rocks of the early geologic periods. 
 
 The only definite rock record of Cretaceous (which followed the 
 Jurassic) in the Sierra Nevada is a series of sandstones and shales (not 
 metamorphosed) of Upper Cretaceous ajre that lie well down on the west- 
 ern flanks and on the deeply eroded surface of the Bedrock series. This 
 means that there is a break in geologic evidence representing the unre- 
 corded time of the early Cretaceous period ; a break caused by a long ero- 
 sion period. Even the tops of the quartz veins were reached. The rocks of 
 this early mountainous surface were torn do\ni and rolled into boulders 
 and sands and deposited in a Cretaceous sea that spread out and filled a 
 basin where the Great Valley and Coast Ranges now are located. The 
 mountain range of the ancestral Sierra even extended as far as the center 
 of the present Great Valley during early Cretaceous, but erosional 
 removal of the mountains' western front had the surface effect of moving 
 the range eastward. 
 
 This brings the geologic history to another most interesting epoch of 
 events which have had a profound effect upon the entire civilization 
 of California. 
 
 The erosion period of the Cretaceous laid bare the upper, richer 
 parts of the gold-bearing quartz veins, and the episode which followed 
 resulted in releasing, removing, depositing and concentrating the gold 
 from the upper portions of the veins into placer deposits of unbelievable 
 richness. The gold-releasing episode was a period of geologic quiet, not 
 mountain-making nor destructive erosion. It occurred during the Eocene 
 period and particularly during its beginning or Paleocene time when the 
 climate was semi-tropical and humid. The effect of this environment on 
 a land surface which had already been eroded partly to base level and 
 partly to rolling hills, bordering a lagoon-margined sea, was to cause 
 deep decay and weathering resulting in the formation of deep red lateritic 
 soil such as one finds in the tropics. The rocks were so badly decayed that 
 clay was formed and floated into the lagoons where it was deposited along 
 with decayed vegetation to form lignite. Quartz particles did not decay 
 with the feldspar but remained as quartz fragments, pebbles, and quartz 
 sand. In places they were cemented together by iron oxide, weathered 
 from the rock. The gold in the veins was thus separated from its matrix 
 and released. It then found its way, because of its high specific gravity, to 
 the lower parts of crevices and into the beds of swift streams, where it was 
 caught in the natural rock-riffles of slate and schist. These Eocene 
 streams, however, were streams of .50 million years ago and they were 
 destined to undergo entrapment and to be preserved until a much later 
 time. 
 
 The entrapment of streams, or rather of the boulders, gravels, and 
 sand deposited in their channels and along their banks, was effected in the 
 following manner: A fall of finely divided, light -colored, volcanic ash 
 
 (rhyolitic in composition) initiated a period of volcanism as the epoch of 
 Eocene time closed. This period of volcanism continued in Oligocene and 
 Jliocene time. The volcanic ash was washed into the streams where it 
 dammed them, formed lakes, covered them, and diverted the drainage. 
 The volcanism did not wane, but increased in vigor. It was accompanied 
 by earth movements and severe earthquakes. The low hills of the area 
 started to rise with the result that the flow of the newly diverted streams 
 was accelerated. Darker colored lavas (andesite).. mud flows, volcanic tuff 
 and ash spread far and wide, filling all depressions, and finally leaving 
 only the higher mountains and peaks standing as islands above this steam- 
 ing sea of volcanic mud. 
 
 This extreme activity of volcanism was extended far to the north, 
 even to the Columbia lava plateau of eastern Oregon and "Washington, 
 and there were outbursts in many other parts of California and the West 
 in general. All these events took place largely in the Miocene and Pliocene 
 epochs of the Tertiary. 
 
 Finally toward the close of the Pliocene, as this period of volcani.sm 
 came to an end. a new epoch of disturbance came into being. Volcanoes 
 broke out at the Dardanelles and elsewhere high on the Sierra, and one 
 molten flow of basic lava followed the canyon of a stream cut largely in 
 ash as far as Knights Ferry. Later erosion of the softer ash left the hard 
 black lava stream, sinuous as a river in form, high and drj- as we see 
 Tuolumne Table Mountain today. 
 
 Earth(|uakes must have been of tremendous intensity, resulting from 
 great earth movements and faulting which prevailed during late Pliocene 
 and early Pleistocene. The Sierra Nevada province moved largely as a 
 unit, tilting westward and breaking along the eastern escarpment. Accu- 
 mulated fault displacements on this eastern front amounted to many 
 thousands of feet. The streams were accelerated manyfold, and torrents 
 swept down the western slope of the Sierra, cutting deep and rugged 
 cannons. The high Sierras became enveloped and packed in snow ; then 
 glaciers crept down from cirques, their places of origin near the highest 
 peaks. 
 
 In many places, especially in the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada 
 where the foothills begin to merge into the Great Valley, the volcanic 
 cover of soft ash has been largely stripped by erosion from the harder 
 surface of bedrock. Thus were exhumed parts of the old Eocene surface, 
 which was formed -50 million years ago, with its weathered mantle and 
 deep red soil, its cover of white quartz gravel, and its rich concentrations 
 of gold lying in the beds of thousands of ancient stream channels. 
 
 This old rolling surface now remains between the newly formed can- 
 yons. To the east it rises gradually in elevation while the canyons increase 
 in depth. It is easily understandable why these Eocene channels, 
 originally controlled in direction by bedrock structure over which the 
 water flowed, have no parallelism to the new streams born on the west- 
 ward sloping surface of the widespread volcanic cover, and destine<l later 
 
28 
 
 GEOLOGIC OriDEROOK ALONG HIGIIAVAY 49 
 
 I Bull. 141 
 
 til cut ilci'ply into a rising siirfai-e and to become entremOicil even ti' the 
 ■iranite core of tlie nionntain ran^e. Tlioush born on tlie volcanic cover, 
 tlie present streams have tims cut much deeper into the bedrock than 
 did tlie ancient channels. The new streams often cut and robbed frat;inents 
 of the older Eocene channels and washed their j;ravels and their <;-old into 
 the I'ecent river beds. 
 
 This the forty-niners soon found ont and followed the ;;old to its 
 source, often by drift miiiinjr under the volcanic cover where it had not 
 yet been removed by erosion. They found that the richest placers were 
 tho.se of white (piartz <rravels not intermixed with the softer volcanic ash. 
 They found that the richer ancient channels generally followed the trend 
 of the preolofiic structure of the bedrock, which once t;uided their course. 
 
 while the later streams in the volcanic ash lay athwart the direction of the 
 buried hills and valleys. They fouiul that the rhyolite ash or "pipe-elay," 
 fxenerally lay directly upon the earlie.st quartz f;ravels and in places these 
 fjravels and their gold had been robbed by intervolcanic water courses 
 wliich were also buried alonpr with the Eocene pravels. 
 
 The comple.xity of the structure of all these inter-related gravel chan- 
 nels is extreme, aiul for that reason the distribution of the -iiM within 
 them is variable. The whole story is closely interwoven with the earlier 
 history of the bedrock, the position of gold-beariu"- veins in the bedrock, 
 and their removal and redeposition bv erosi<m. We are still far from hav- 
 intr solved the complete history of these intricate events which resulted in 
 the uni(pie and interesting' features of the Sierran Gold Belt. 
 
 
 Kk;. *J. r:irtl.\ (-.■nii-iitcil ;in( ii-iir ;;i-:i\m| cli.-nincl dt'iiosits cNposril l)y Indr.iii- 
 
 lickiii;: in tin- Hnif;;.-! inim-. \',fh>\\ \\w y;r:ivpl is tlii' liiMlnK-k scIiLvt :iimI .it Hit- (-.iiitiict 
 
 is lIiH cniici'iilrat iini of pl.-ici-r ^'old. AIhivp tlie ;cr;i\"c|s ;ire fiiiHr-;;r;iiuH(I deposits of 
 s.iikI ;iiu1 cIiiv wliirli li.-nc lifi-ii p:irtl> washed away. 
 
 
 i-'k;. :',. ciii.v i.ii ill iiio I r..riiiiiii"ii I i:...iii.i 
 
 Line. .Vniiidor C.iiiiil.v. 
 
 Il, .il 111.' I..UI1 ..f 
 
GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF THE SIEREAN GOLD BELT— JENKINS 
 
 29 
 
 Fig. 4. View ni)rthwest across the covered bridfie at Burns Ferry on the road to 
 Copperopolis. Tuolumne Table Mountain has been eroded through by the Tuc^umne 
 River. 
 
 t iG, li. The very rough lava surface of the top of Tuolumne Table Mountain 
 as seen west of Jamestown. 
 
 
 Fig. ."». Old railroad cut through Table Mountain northwest of Jamestown. 
 I.iatite lava columns are exposed on the left. To the right is the schist rim of the old 
 channel which the lava occupies. The railroad has been dismantled since the picture 
 was taken. 
 
 s::$s3SPf"^ 
 
 Fig. 7. Detail of lava clumns exposed in railroad cut through Table Mountain 
 northwest of Jamestown. 
 
30 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 8. Syndiiie iu Lum^v-n w.l. .u.ie.-. ou .S.julh l'..rk ol llif CiikniT.i.s River 
 one mile south of lone. 
 
 
 Fig. 10. Sharply foliled anticline in Mariposa slate on Ganns Creek, 
 Mariposa County. 
 
 Fig. 9. Outcrop of "tombstone rocks" in the schistose bedrock near Campo Seco. 
 
 Fig. 11. Stream-worn quartz boulders of ancient gold-bearing channel near the 
 Si.\teen-to-One mine at Alleghany. Sierra County. Photo by Wm. O. Jenkins. 
 
HISTORY OF MINING AND MILLING METHODS IN CALIFORNIA 
 
 By C. A. Logan 
 
 PLACER MINING 
 
 Simple Early Day Mining Methods 
 
 The action of water had been chiefly responsible for the formation of 
 the rich placer deposits of gold sought by the pioneers, and it was the 
 principal agent used by them in winning the gold. The richness of the 
 most accessible deposits found by the earliest miners along the stream 
 courses permitted them to make a profit from working small quantities 
 of auriferous gravel in the miner's pan. batea or horn. Soon it was found 
 that the miner's cradle or rocker would permit a man to work many 
 times as much gravel in a day as with a pan. so that he could make a good 
 profit from poorer gravel. As the number of miners increased, the richer 
 diggings were exhausted and it became necessary to work more gravel for 
 a given amount of gold. The long tom was next introduced by men from 
 Georgia. This was a trough of boards 12 feet long. 8 inches deep, 1"2 to 15 
 inches wide at the head and widening to 2 or 2i feet at the lower end. 
 which terminated in a sheet of iron with upturned edges. This iron was 
 punched with small holes that permitted the gold and finer sand to fall 
 into a box below while the coarsest rock could be cast aside. The long tom 
 required a steady stream of water. For this purpose the first mining ditch 
 in California is claimed to have been dug at Coyote Hill, Kevada City, in 
 March, 1850, to supply miners' long toms. It was about two miles long. 
 The first miner's sluice box is also said to have been originated in Nevada 
 County. It was a V-fiume of two boards, a type which later came into wide 
 use for transporting lumber. The miners soon changed to a sluice box 
 made of three boards, which at first had a bottom board 12 inches wide 
 with sides 10 inches high. A number of these boxes, fitted end to end. 
 made a string of sluices of greater capacity than the long tom. Later, as 
 developed for use in river mining, flumes 18 to 40 feet wide, with sides 
 6 feet high, were used to carry the entire low-water flow of one or more 
 branches of the American, Yuba and other rivers in the gold belt, so that 
 the beds of these streams could be worked. 
 
 As the placer miners thus exhausted the gravel that could be profit- 
 ably worked by their methods on the banks, bars, and even from the beds 
 cf the rivers, they began to follow "prospects" higher in the hills among 
 the tributary streams. There they noticed deposits of gravel on the canyon 
 sides and on benches of land sometimes hundreds of feet above the present 
 rivers. These were ancient buried river channels. The gravel was similar 
 in appearance to that of the modern rivers and some experimental work 
 ]iroved it also carried gold. It was not long after these hillside deposits 
 were found that some miner, whose name is not known, conceived the idea 
 for a new and cheaper wa.v to work them. B.%" this method, which came to 
 be called ground sluicing, a stream of water was brought to the top of a 
 bank of gravel and allowed to flow down over the face. It softened the 
 gravel and with a little help from the miner, carried it along to a natural 
 .sluice prepared on the bedrock below. A man was thus able to handle in 
 
 a day with very little shoveling much more than he had previously been 
 able to lift into his sluice box or long tom. By a later adaptation of this 
 method, the gravel in the bed of a stream with sufficient grade could be 
 worked by damming the stream and releasing the flow of water at regular 
 intervals by means of an automatic gate. The large volume of water 
 released carried gravel and boulders down stream until the volume of 
 material to be shoveled into sluices for the final cleanup was reduced to 
 a minimum. This was called "booming" or "hushing." Other variations 
 of ground sluicing were practiced. 
 
 Hydraulic Mining 
 
 Edward E. Mattison, working at American Hill, just north of Nevada 
 City in 1853, is credited with first making use of water under pressure to 
 undermine and wash gravel into sluice boxes. In this pioneer plant for 
 h.vdraulic mining, water was brought in a ditch to a point on the hillside 
 40 to 60 feet above a bank of gravel and thence taken from a penstock 
 or intake reservoir through canvas hose four or five inches in diameter to 
 a point in front of the gravel. There the water was directed through a 
 sheet iron nozzle against the base of the gravel bank, undermining it and 
 causing it to fall, whence it could be easily washed into sluice boxes laid 
 in a trench cut in the bedrock to receive it. Only 25 to 50 miners' inches 
 of water was used in this project. The method was introduced at Yankee 
 Jims, Placer County, in 1853 by Colonel William McClure, who had 
 visited Mattison 's mine that year. Canvas hose was soon in great demand, 
 and a number of inventors began to make "gadgets" for use in this new 
 process, which Mattison made no effort to patent. Thus began the great 
 system of reservoirs and canals needed to supply water for dozens of large 
 mining ventures in all the counties from Plumas southward to Tuolumne. 
 Hydraulic mining flourished in the region for about 25 years until 1880. 
 In 1867, there were 5328 miles of main canals, with probably 800 miles 
 more of branch ditches built at a cost of $15,575,400. Some of the water 
 systems extended into the higher portions of the Sierra Nevada. JIain 
 ciitches were usually 8 to 15 feet wide at the top. 4 to 6 feet wide at the 
 bottom and three feet or more in depth. Water was carried across valleys 
 and around rocky points first in wooden flumes, which were later largely 
 replaced by heavy iron pipes from 20 to 40 inches in diameter. These 
 systems were often owned by companies that sold the water to miners. 
 In later years, after hydraulic mining was enjoined, many of the canals 
 and reservoirs became part of the Pacific Gas & Electric Company 's hydro- 
 electric system, and the Nevada Irrigation Di.strict 's system draws water 
 from reservoirs and ditches of one of these systems which once supplied 
 immense hydraulic mines. 
 
 As h.vdraulic mining began to be applied to larger deposits the 
 equipment used and the method of operation underwent rapid change, 
 all in the direction of greater working capacity and lower unit cost. 
 
 (31) 
 
32 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Canvas hose was soon replaced by iron pipe. Special heavy iron or steel 
 spout.s and nozzles, such as the Monitor, Giant or Dictator were invented 
 and put in use. Their modern versions have double joints to give hori- 
 zontal and vertical movement, and deflectors to utilize the reactive force 
 of the water to permit easy turning. The largest sizes, under a head of 
 400 feet will liandle a flow of over 4500 cubic feet of water a minute. 
 In ordinary practice, however, in California, in 1867, a flow of 500 miner's 
 inches (abovit 750 cubic feet per minute) was considered a satisfactory 
 amount. This was increased with the opening of large mines with banks 
 several hundred feet high, and the u.se of 1000 to 1500 miner's inches 
 of water per giant became common, with heads as high as 450 feet. The 
 water was often assisted by "bank blasting", where T-shaped adits were 
 run into the gravel bank, or a shaft with short drifts at the bottom was 
 sunk, the arms of the T being loaded with .several thousand pounds of 
 black powder or low-strength dynamite which was fired to break down 
 the bank. Long tunnels also had to be run in many cases to give drainage 
 through the rim of the old channel. In spite of these heavv' expenses, 
 hydraulic mining was cheap, and permitted working large bodies of 
 gravel at a profit even when their gold content was 10 cents a cubic 
 yard or less. 
 
 Fk;. 1. A \iew of the Mother Loile in .Vnuulor Cotmt.v showinK the Bunker Hill 
 niinc ill f()re;,'r(niiul. the Trensure mine in the center, ;in(l the hendframe of Fremont 
 mine in tlie left li;icK-;.'ronn(l. 
 
 Drift Mining 
 
 Although the mining of buried ancient river channels by means of 
 shafts and adits was started very .soon after the outcrops of gravel were 
 noticed on the hillsides, and at about the same time as hydraulic mining, 
 it has not suffered from the restrictions laid upon h.vdraulicking. The 
 hundreds of miles of such channels, the oldest of which were flowing 
 streams as early as Cretaceous time on what is now the western slope 
 of the Sierra Nevada, were buried and preserved under volcanic mini 
 and coar.ser rock ejected by eruptions in the higher Sierra Nevada. The 
 ideal method of mining these channels is to determine if possible the 
 lowest available point in the trough of the channel and to open it by 
 running an adit from an outlet or through one rim to give drainage 
 and permit following the channel upstream, with the adit either on the 
 bedrock or in bedrock far enough below the gravel to give a solid roof, 
 through which raises are put up and working faces opened across the 
 payable width of gravel. Some channels have been followed and mined 
 for several miles. The Forest Hill Divide in Placer County was the most 
 celebrated of the drift mining districts. The mining method resembles 
 that used in coal mining. Much of the gravel was found to be cemented 
 and had to be milled or washed several times after lying in the open 
 air to aid disintegration. Stamp mills with coarse screens were found 
 to be most suitable for milling cemented gravel. 
 
 Dredging 
 
 The pioneers made a number of abortive attempts to dredge gold 
 from the river beds. In 1897, gold dredging with a single-lift elevator 
 type of bucket dredge was attempted on Yuba River, but the first suc- 
 cessful operation was started in March 1808 at Oroville by W. P. Hammon 
 and Thomas Couch. This dredge had open-link buckets of three cubic 
 feet capacity and a tailing stacker. Close-connected buckets, belt con- 
 veyor stackers for tailing, and electric power were introduced in 1901. 
 On the American River near Polsom, dredging was started early in 1899 
 by Colorado Pacific Gold Dredging Company. The.se earliest dredges 
 used steam for power and worked 30,000 to 35,000 cubic yards of gravel 
 a month. The American genius for large scale operatioii can be seen in 
 the steady increase in yardage and depth capacity. W. P. Hammon and 
 R. D. Evans started in the Yuba River field in 1903 with a dredge having 
 buckets of six cubic feet capacity and a shaking screen. It could dig 60 
 feet below w'ater level. Revolving screens appear to have become standard 
 in 1905. Since then, this type of dredge has been put on practically every 
 gold-bearing river in northern California, but the most important fields 
 have been Yuba River near Hammonton, American River near Folsom, 
 and Feather River near Oroville. Gold production of over $100,000,000 
 from Yuba County, over $95,000,000 from Sacramento County and 
 about $60,000,000 from Butte County since dredging started has been 
 
HISTORY OF JIIXIXG AND MILLING METHODS IX CALIFORNIA— LOGAX 
 
 33 
 
 made principally by bucket dredges. They have been increased in size 
 and capacity until the largest, now operating in the Yuba River field, 
 all have 18-cubie foot buckets and dig more than 100 feet below the level 
 of the ponds on which they float. The weekly capacity of a large modern 
 dredge may reach 125.000 cubic yards. The largest and latest. Yuba X'o. 
 20, weighs 3700 tons, has a total length of 540 feet ; carries 135 buckets 
 of 18 cubic feet capacity each, and digs 124 feet below water level. Most 
 of the gold recovered in dredging is saved on Hungarian t.\-pe riffles 
 arranged in rows crosswise of the dredge. These receive the fine material, 
 under ^ inch, which passes through the perforations in the large trommel 
 or screen into which the digging buckets dump the gravel. The average 
 gold content of gravel (lOf to 15f a cubic yard) handled by dredgers 
 and the cost of operation (5f to 10^ a cubic yard) are quite close to those 
 realized years ago in hydraulic mining. But because of the small crew 
 (three or four men per shift) required to handle a large yardage, the 
 dredge operator is nearly independent of the cost of labor, which now 
 hampers other forms of gold mining. 
 
 The dragline dredge, which generally is operated to supply gravel 
 to a barge carrying a gravel washing plant, was widely used in Cali- 
 fornia in the decade prior to the la.st war to work shallow gravel deposits 
 too small to justify a bucket dredge. About 200 such outfits, each employ- 
 ing about 10 men and digging about 2000 to 2500 cubic yards of gravel 
 a day, were in operation on small streams in this state in 1940-41. Their 
 operating cost is about double that of a bucket dredge and they are 
 limited usually to gravel not over 20 feet deep. The dragline is of the 
 type in wide use by earth-moving contractors, using Diesel power and 
 having a bucket preferably of two cubic yards capacity or more. The 
 washing plant, floating on a pond dug by the dragline, is a lighter, 
 cheaper and simpler version of those used on bucket dredges. 
 
 QUARTZ MINING 
 First Gold-Quartz Discoveries 
 
 The Mariposa mine, at the south side of the town of Mariposa, was 
 discovered in the spring of 1849 by Kit Carson, the famous scout, and two 
 associates. In July 1849, a stamp mill, probably the first in the State, 
 was crushing ore from this mine. The outcrop of the vein yielded rich 
 specimen ore, and the first mining was nothing more than the digging of 
 shallow holes to remove this ore, which was broken by hand before crush- 
 ing in the mill. The latter had no means of amalgamating the gold, which 
 had to be saved by washing the pulp in a rocker. Soon after, an arrastre 
 was built to handle the stamp miU pulp. 
 
 Gold-bearing quartz was found on Gold Hill at Grass Valley in June 
 1850 and was so rich and plentiful for a time that the miners feared 
 gold would lose its value. The first gold quartz claims, limited to 60 feet 
 by 120 feet, were located on the Mother Lode in Amador County in 1850, 
 
 and probably during the same year in the other mining counties. At the 
 time there were many Mexican placer miners in the region from El 
 Dorado County southward, and they introduced the arrastre for crush- 
 ing the ore and amalgamating the gold. Soon there were hundreds of 
 these slow but efficient machines in operation, notably at Xashville, El 
 Dorado County and Carson Hill, Calaveras Countj-, crushing selected ore 
 taken from the surface or shallow holes that required only hand tools. 
 
 The Stamp Mill Replaces the Arrastre 
 
 The arrastre was too slow for the Americans. The stamp mill, pre- 
 viously used in Europe, had been introduced into the southern Appa- 
 lachian gold mines years before the California discoverj-, and men who 
 had seen it there before coming west are credited with designing the 
 first crude mills of the kind. These mills had square wooden stems and 
 square iron shoes. There was no p^o^•ision for rotation, a point which 
 the travellers had forgotten, as rotation had been provided in the 
 Appalachian mill. Ore had to be broken by hand and shoveled into 
 the mill. 
 
 Early Struggles of the Quartz Miners 
 
 The quartz mining industry had many ups and downs in the first 
 15 years after these early discoveries. In a private report made in 1864, 
 Professor WiUiam Ashburner stated that "in 1858 there were upwards 
 of 280 quartz mills in California, each one of which was supplied with 
 quartz from one or more veins. The number of stamps in these mills was 
 2610 and the total cost of the whole mill property of this nature in the 
 state exceeded .$3,000,000. In the summer of 1861 ... I made a careful 
 and thorough examination of all the quartz mills and mines of the state, 
 and could only find between 40 and 50 in successful operation, several 
 of which were at that time leading a very precarious existence." The 
 discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859 had attracted great 
 numbers of California miners. Actual progress in sinking on the veins 
 was slow. The Ha\-ward. now the Old Eureka mine, being worked by 
 Central Eureka Mining Company at Sutter Creek, had reached an 
 inclined depth of 1230 feet, and was the deepest mine in the state in 
 1867, having been in continuous operation since 1852. The Eureka mine, 
 now part of the Idaho-Maryland at Grass Valley, was only 100 feet deep 
 in 1863. The North Star mine shaft at Grass Valley, probably the 
 deepest in that district at that time, had reached an inclined depth of 750 
 feet in 1867, and the vein had been explored underground for a length 
 of 1000 feet. At last, quartz mining was becoming firmly established. 
 
 Innovations and Improvements 
 
 The early -day shafts were siink as inclines following the veins on 
 the dip. Steam engines were used mostly for power. Hand drills and 
 black powder were u.sed entirely until 1868, when the first air drills and 
 dj-namite were introduced, although the widespread use of air drills for 
 
34 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG IHGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull, 141 
 
 stopinfr ore did not come for 30 years. These last two innovations did 
 much to increase the speed of underground development, resulting in 
 lower gold content per ton, and called for more mill capacity. The gravity 
 stamp was gradually increased in weight from 250 pounds to 1250 or 
 1500 pounds each. Self-feeders, actuated by one stamp in each battery of 
 five, were provided. Before 1870, the foundries of San Francisco, par- 
 ticularly the Union Iron Works, had become recognized as makers of 
 stamp mills and it was in this state that these mills were brought to the 
 high standards that made them the principal means for reducing gold 
 ore for 50 years. Square wooden stems were supplanted in the middle 
 sixties by cylindrical stamp stems of iron fitted with tappets which, when 
 engaged with cams on the horizontal power shaft, lifted and rotated the 
 stamp. Outside amalgamation was provided by long plates of copper, 
 which were first silver plated, then coated with a thin layer of liquid 
 mercury. Rock breakers, such as the Blake crusher, were introduced in 
 California in 1861 to prepare ore for the stamps. The self-feeder, the 
 rock breaker, heavier stamps and increased running speed gave the 
 stamps greatly increased capacity. 
 
 Treatment of Concentrate 
 
 The concentration of the sulphide, which makes up 1 percent to 2 
 percent of most of our gold ores and nearly always carries enough gold 
 to be worth saving, was first made in sluices with riffles, similar to those of 
 the placer miner. In the sixties, Cornish buddies and other European 
 devices were used, and new types of concentrators were invented. In July 
 1867, George Johnston and E. G. Smith patented an endless belt vanner 
 of rubber, .set on a slight incline between rollers 8 or 12 feet apart. It was 
 driven slowly toward the upper roller and also had a short, rapid motion 
 sideways. It proved so efi'ective in saving concentrate that it and the 
 similar Frue vanner, perfected in 1878, became standard equipment 
 where stamp mills w'ere used. The ehlorination process, previou.sly 
 known in Europe as the Plattner process, for recovering gold from con- 
 centrate, was brought to California and improved to the point where it 
 was widely used until cyanidation was introduced in 1896. 
 
 It will be seen from these side lights that California quartz mining 
 and milling practice drew freely from European methods, which were 
 usually improved and modernized here. The mining engineers and metal- 
 lurgists of this .state became so well known for their work that their 
 advice and services were sought when new districts were opened in foreign 
 countries. 
 
 Development of Water Power 
 
 For a long time after quartz mining started, steam engines using 
 wood fuel obtained locally were the principal source of power for mines 
 and mills. The development of large water systems for hydraulic raining, 
 and the increasing cost and scarcity of wood for fuel, led to the use of 
 water power, under high pressure, to operate tangential or impulse 
 wheels. By the middle eighties, nearly all of the principal quartz mines 
 were using Knight, Pelton or Donnelly wheels of the impulse type to 
 supply their power needs. Of the three makes, the Pelton wheel has been 
 most successful, and the Pelton Water Wheel Company is still a going 
 concern in San Francisco, their product being used in later years for 
 generating hydroelectric power. This Pelton wheel is highly efficient, and 
 made possible the introduction of electric power in the mining regions of 
 the West before public utilities had entered the field. 
 
 Development and Use of Hydroelectric Power 
 
 The first recorded use of electric power for the operation of mining 
 or quartz milling machinery in California was at the Dalmatia mine in 
 El Dorado County in February 1890. Water under 112A feet pressure 
 was delivered to a Pelton wheel 7 feet in diameter, which operated an 
 electric generator of 126 horsepower, and current was transmitted over 
 a line about one mile long to the plant. Pacific Gas and Electric Company 
 has acknowledged its debt to the California miners and the tangential 
 water wheel. It is not too much to say that the company owed its origin 
 to the hydraulic miners and the Pelton wheel. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 Anonymous, California's debt to the miner : Pacific Gas and Electric Progress, vol. 1, 
 no. 8, p. 2, 1924. 
 
 Brown, J. Ross, Mineral re.sources of the states and territories west of the Rocky 
 Mountains for 1867 : U. S. Treasury Dept., 367 pp., Washington, D. C, 1868. 
 
 De Groot, Henry, El Dorado County : California Min. Bur. Kept. 10, pp. 160182. 
 1890. 
 
 Logan. C. A.. Mother Lode gold belt of California : California Div. Mines Bull. 108. 
 240 pp., 1934. 
 
 Johnston, George, Brief history of concentration and description of the Johnston con- 
 centrator: In .California mines and minerals, pp. 439-441, California Miners 
 Association, San Francisco, 1899. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 By (JLIVEB E. BowKx Jii. an<i Richard A. Cbippejx Jr. 
 
 OUTLINE OF REPORT 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction 35 
 
 ^lariiMisa to Coulterville — Map 1 35 
 
 Coulterville to Chinose Camp — Map 2 47 
 
 Chinese Camp to Altaviile — Map 3 48 
 
 Altai ille to Mokelumne Hill — Map 4 36 
 
 Mokelumne Hill to Plymouth — Map 5 62 
 
 riymouth to Placerville — Map 6 63 
 
 Placerville to Auburn — Map 7 68 
 
 Auburn to North San Juan — Map S 73 
 
 North San Juan to Pow-nieville — Map 9 78 
 
 Downieville to Satiley — Map 10 84 
 
 Introduction 
 
 California State Highway 49. variously known as the Mother Lode 
 Highway or the Golden Highway, traverses 277 miles of the Sierra 
 Nevada, beginning at Mariposa on the south and ending at Sattley on the 
 north. It pas-ses through nine counties, each of which represents an 
 important part of the Sierran Gold Belt. 
 
 This entire region has come to be known generally as the Mother 
 Lode Country, but more technically speaking, the Mother Lode is a belt 
 of gold-bearing quartz veins which appears to start at Mariposa and to 
 terminate at Georgetown in Placer County. It forms a more or less con- 
 tinuous belt of quartz veins that occupy a fault zone approximately one 
 mile ^vide and 120 airline miles long. The 10-mile segment of this belt 
 between Jackson and Plymouth is its richest section and was the source of 
 one-half the gold produced in the entire 120-mile extent, which has 
 amounted to a quarter of a billion dollars. It is noteworthy that this 10- 
 mile segment lies at the bend in the belt where its trend changes from 
 northwest to nearly due north. The fault structure with which the Mother 
 Lode quartz veins are associated may possibly extend 50 miles farther 
 northward to Downieville. but Highway 49 leaves the Mother Lode at 
 Placerville and swings 10 or 15 miles to the west, traversing the even more 
 productive Grass Valley-Xevada City district and other gold-bearing 
 areas of the northern Sierra Nevada. 
 
 The veins range from great white quartz masses 150 feet wide, down 
 to stringers less than the thickness of one's little finger. The thickness of 
 a vein is no criterion as to its potential value. Rich pocket mines such as 
 those of Jackass Hill were found largely in narrow veinlets, whereas the 
 massive silica-carbonate rock of the Pefion Blanco is practically barren 
 of gold. 
 
 Mining methods and techniques developed in the California gold belt 
 have spread to the far corners of the earth and have become standard 
 practice everywhere. Many famous technicians and financiers had their 
 training in the Mother Lode Country before attaining even greater dis- 
 tinction and achievement in other fields. Bret Harte and Mark Twain owe 
 
 much of their reputation to the gold country, and through their stories 
 the romance of the region has become familiar to all the world. 
 
 Although so much has been written of the historj-, romance, and 
 folklore of the Sierran Gold Belt, little of general geologic interest has 
 been published for the use of the traveler. The following notes on geology 
 along Highway 49 attempt to correlate the geologic, mining, historic, 
 scenic, and cultural features encountered as one travels north along the 
 route from JIariposa to Yuba Pass and Sierra Valley. 
 
 The geologic maps, which these notes accompany, form a continuous 
 strip through the Sierran Gold Belt, and cover an area a few miles wide 
 on either side of Highway 49. In the preparation of the maps and the 
 descriptions, material was assembled from various sources of information, 
 published and unpublished, supplemented by field notes. To facilitate the 
 reading of these notes while traveling, footnote references have been 
 omitted, but sources of information are acknowledged in the preface ta 
 this volume. 
 
 MARIPOSA TO COULTERVILLE— MAP 1 
 
 The junction of Highways 140 and 49. one-half mile north of the 
 town of Mariposa, marks the southern terminus of Highway 49. Mariposa, 
 the county seat of ilariposa County, is on the tourist route to Yosemite 
 Valley, and its fine old County Courthouse, a white frame structure 
 erected in 1854, has been in use continuously since that date. The town 
 lies at an elevation slightly above 2000 feet in a northwesterly trending 
 valle.v bordered to east and west by ridges of moderate height. Vegetation 
 in this region is sparce and is composed largely of digger pines, small 
 oak trees, and patches of chaparral. There are a few small stands of 
 yellow pine on protected north slopes southwest of Mariposa. Early day 
 logging operations removed much of the timber in this region. 
 
 A mile south of Mariposa, in the vicinity of the County Fair Grounds, 
 are the dumps and partly caved workings of the Mariposa mine, which 
 was discovered in 1849 by Kit Carson and two associates. As early as 
 July 1849. Palmer. Cook, and Company were running a stamp mill on 
 ere from the Mariposa mine. In 1859 John C. Fremont wrested the title 
 to the mine from its original owners when accorded title to the Las Mari- 
 posas grant of 44.000 acres. Mines of the Las Mariposas grant also included 
 the Pine Tree. Josephine, Princeton, and many minor workings such as 
 the Penon Blanco claim. The latter is one of the longest claims on record, 
 title having been recorded before length limitations on mining claims 
 became law. The Mariposa mine had its heyday between 1900 and 1915. 
 1901 being the peak year. Estimated total production for the mine is 
 $2,19.3,205. Workings reached a depth of about 1550 feet along a 60° to 
 70° incline or about 1.350 feet vertically. The veins lie in meta-augite 
 andesite of the Penon Blanco formation, locallj- called greenstone. 
 
 (35) 
 
36 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 1. Map of the northern Sierra Xevada showing the highways, in black; the topographic quadrangles which were used in compilation of the accompanying strip 
 maps, in hrown ; the position of each strip map section in relation to these quadrangles, in red ; and, as shown in the map index, the sources of geologic data used in making 
 the strip maps. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 37 
 
 Fig. 
 
 Map of the nortbera Sierra Nevada showins the highways, principally Highway 49. and the mileages between towns. The position of the strip maps in relation to 
 Highway 49 and the Mother Lode, and the approximate position of the Mother Lode zone (shaded) are also shown. 
 
38 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Highway 49 begins in meta-volcanic* rocks of Jurassic age of the 
 Peiion Blanco or Logtown Ridge formation and passes successively 
 through meta-sedimentary rocks of the Calaveras formation, a serpentine 
 intrusive body, more meta-sediments of doubtful age, and finally into the 
 black slates and sandstones of the Mariposa formation. The narrow belt 
 of rocks to the west of the serpentine near Mount Bullion was originally 
 mapped as Calaveras but probably belongs to the Amador group and is 
 Jurassic rather than Paleozoic in age. From Mount Bullion to the divide 
 where the highway begins its drop into Merced River canyon, the rocks 
 on both sides of the road belong to the Mariposa formation. 
 
 Mount Bullion, 4.7 miles northwest of Mariposa, was once a flourish- 
 ing mining center being the site of the Princeton mine and tKe supply 
 center for placer diggings close by. Evidences of hand placering are 
 manifest along every stream bed and gravel exposure. The Princeton 
 mine was opened in 1852 and up to 1933 was the largest producer in 
 Mariposa County. Gold in excess of .$4,228,000 was recovered up to 1915 
 since when very little work has been done. The shaft is inclined at angles 
 varying between 45° and 60° and falls to an inclined depth of 1660 feet. 
 The vertical depth is slightly greater than 1350 feet. The Carlo Marre 
 store, Mariposa Chamber of Commerce Historical Marker, and the more 
 recent Frank Trabucco store, across the street, mark the center of present 
 day Mount Bullion. 
 
 Four-tenths of a mile north of Mount Bullion a road from Hornitos 
 and Merced Falls joins Highway 49. Hornitos is the hub of a very old 
 mining district, the town having been founded by Spanish Californians 
 before gold rush days. The Mount BuUion-Hornitos road cuts successively 
 across the strike of Mariposa and Amador group rocks and then enters 
 exposures of Guadeloupe granodiorite near the town of Hornitos. The 
 Ruth Pierce mine is at the contact of the uppermost member of the 
 Amador group, the Agua Fria formation, and the Guadeloupe grano- 
 diorite. The Agua Fria formation consists of thin-bedded, hard, platy 
 sediments and interbedded volcanics. It lies, in different areas, both 
 iniconformably and gradationally on the Penon Blanco or Logtow^l Ridge 
 member of the Amador group and may be a nonvolcanic member of that 
 formation. The latter formation is, t.vpieally, a green meta-andesite 
 agglomerate having prominent augite phenocrysts. This formation per- 
 sists in more or less parallel alignment to the Mariposa slate from Mari- 
 posa County well into El Dorado County. 
 
 The Washington or Jenny Lind mine, li miles northeast of Hornitos 
 has been one of the best in the Hornitos district. It was located in 1850 
 and installed the first milling machinery of note in the district in 1851. 
 The stamp mill which operated in the 50 's is reputed to have turned out 
 $1,000 in gold per day. The vertical Jenny Lind shaft is 1540 feet deep. 
 The recorded production is $1,099,000 and the estimated production, 
 $2,247,000. 
 
 • The prefix nietci means metnmoyphosrd. implying that the rocks so designated 
 have undergone profound change due to heat and pressure. 
 
 The Mount Gaines mine, located five miles northeast of Hornitos on 
 the Hornitos-Bear Valley road, is the only major gold producer in Mari- 
 posa County. It has an inclined .shaft with an average dip of 30° having 
 a total inclined depth of 1322 feet. The ore is of sulfide type and the 
 veins dip at 30° to 35° from horizontal. Steeply dipping veins are more 
 common along the Mother Lode, in this respect, therefore, the Mount 
 Gaine-s veins are unusual. The wall rock is meta-andesite and vein minerals 
 include pyrite, quartz, chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite as well as 
 disseminated gold. Bornite, proustite, arsenop.vrite, and argentite have 
 been found in small quantities. Early production of the Mount Gaines 
 totaled $1,250,000 to 1911. No recent figures are available. 
 
 Two and two-tenths miles south of the town of Bear Valley, prominent 
 outcrops of quartz can be seen to the west of the highway. These stand up 
 like white walls on the gently rolling land surface and mark the trace of 
 one branch of the Mother Lode. 
 
 Bear Valley, originally called Simpsonville, was promoted by J. C. 
 Fremont during his administration of the Las Mariposas grant. The to^vn 
 is now largely a ruin of small stone, adobe, and frame buildings marked 
 by Division of Highways Historical Marker 331. Another road from 
 Hornitos joins Highway 49 just north of Bear Valley. 
 
 Two miles north of Bear Valley and one-tenth of a mile past the 
 divide marking the drop into Merced River canyon, a broad shoulder 
 in the highwa.v affords a good parking place from which to observe the 
 panorama to the northwest. The river has cut a gorge which is over 
 1200 feet below the level of Bear Valley and more than 2000 feet 
 below the ridge tops on either side. Remnants of the old rolling land 
 surface can be seen on the ridge to the east of the river. Hell Hollow, 
 which is a narrow gorge tributary to the Merced, lies immediately below 
 the road to the northwest. The first fossils by which the age of the Mari- 
 posa slates were determined came from outcrops in Hell Hollow. To the 
 east of the Merced River and more or less parallelling its course, the 
 white outcrops of the main branch of the Mother Lode can be followed 
 for miles. In the vicinity of Whites Gulch, the quartz outcrops take an 
 abrupt turn and strike almost due north. It is possible that the Mother 
 Lode, at that point, is offset b.v a cross fault, but work on that area has 
 been insufficient to establish the fact conclusively. The abrupt change in 
 strike of the Mother Lode outcrops is very noticeable from several points 
 along Highwa.v 49 as it drops from Bear Valley into the canyon of the 
 Merced. The Mother Lode thrust fault system has displaced many thou- 
 sands of feet of beds. More than 15,000 feet of strata may have been 
 cut out in some places. Steeply dipping linear outcrops of meta-volcanics 
 of the Peiion Blanco or Logtown Ridge formation can be seen in the 
 hillside to the west of the Merced River. 
 
 The mine buildings, cyanide tanks, and adits of the Pine Tree and 
 Josephine mines lie in a gulch between the two major switchbacks 
 between Bear Vallev and the Merced River bridge. These mines were 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 39 
 
 Ta couifefife 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 Qal AlluvM 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS 
 Lode and dnft mines 
 Placer ond hydroulic {hyd} 
 
 (Mine names in red) 
 Highway 49 
 
 1113 
 
 Historical markers 
 
 « 
 
 f^ 
 
 Town buildings and roods 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS FOR 
 BUILDING STONE 
 
 
 ra 
 
 Adobe 
 
 
 iiJ 
 
 Granite, gronodiorite 
 
 
 ua] 
 
 Greenstone {meta-andesite} 
 
 
 bJ 
 
 Limestone 
 
 
 LiJ 
 
 Rtlyolite tuft 
 
 
 l»cj 
 
 Sctiist 
 
 
 M 
 
 Serpentine ond tolc schist 
 
 
 Ui] 
 
 Slote 
 
 
 liiJ 
 
 Tufoceous sandstone 
 
 
 Ifi 
 
 Soopstone 
 
 
 bLi 
 
 Unclassified rock 
 
 
 ® 
 
 Ouorry site 
 
 
 
 1 I 
 
 2N 
 
 'o Merera 
 
40 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG mGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 opened about 1850 and were amonfr the earliest of the lode mines. As the 
 veins outcrop on the flanks of a ridge of considerable heifrht, they have 
 been worked largely by tunnels and winzes rather than deep shafts. None 
 of the workings extend lower than 800 feet from the tunnel levels. 
 Some of the veins have been traced for 1200 feet along their strike. 
 Production records on these mines are incomplete, but the total figure 
 for both mines is in excess of $2,679,000. Prominent exposures of veins 
 of the Mother Lode system can be seen in roadeuts in the vicinity of the 
 Pine Tree and Josephine mines. A narrow belt of serpentine discon- 
 tinuously parallels the Mother Lode fault east of the vein system. Between 
 the Pine Tree and Josephine mines and the bed of the Merced River, 
 the highway drops down rather abruptly across a typical section of the 
 Mariposa formation. The rocks are mainly black slate with interbedded 
 lenses of black, arkosic sandstone. The sandstone contains fragments of 
 slate which are probably re-worked Mariposa material. The slates weather 
 to a tan or grayish buff as they approach the soil mantle. Just before the 
 road crosses the Merced River, the Mariposa is exposed in fault contact 
 with serpentine. Serpentine has been sheared into the Mariposa at some 
 points along this contact. Calaveras meta-sediments lie to the east of 
 the serpentine belt. 
 
 The site of the hamlet of Benton Mills, now known as Bagby, lies 
 just across the Merced River. A stamp mill which processed gold ore 
 from Fremont's mines above was situated there. None of the old build- 
 ings remain although foundations of some can still be located. The 
 Yosemite Valley Railroad once passed through Bagby but only the road- 
 bed now remains. The tracks were removed during World War II. 
 
 North from Bagby for a distance of over six miles. Highway 49 
 winds up a steep slope through a barren area of serpentine and related 
 basic and ultra-basic rocks. Serpentine ordinarily is not a favorable 
 medium for supporting plant life although some species grow luxuriantly 
 on it. Vegetation here is exceedingly sparse and consists principally of 
 California holly and chemise with an occasional digger pine. The ser- 
 pentine series of rocks invaded the basement sedimentary series in late 
 Jurassic time intruding Paleozoic and Mesozoic rocks alike. The body of 
 serpentine north of Bagby is one of the largest areas of this type of rock 
 to be found along Highway 49. 
 
 Slightly less than two miles beyond the summit of the Bagby grade, 
 the highway crosses the eastern border of serpentine and continues along 
 the contact of serpentine and Calaveras rocks for a distance of about 
 a mile. The first good exposures of the Calaveras to be seen northbound 
 along Highway 49 are exposed there. These outcrops consist mainly of 
 weathered tan mica schist and phyllite both of which somewhat resemble 
 weathered Mariposa slate. They have, however, suffered a much greater 
 degree of metamorphism, being schistose rather than slaty. 
 
 A short distance north of the summit of the Bagby grade, .3.8 miles 
 from Bagby, a narrow dirt road from the Virginia mine leads off to the 
 west. The Virginia mine was one of the earliest patented claims in 
 Mariposa County and has been worked on a small scale over a very long 
 period. The mine is 1300 feet deep on the incline and the wall rocks are 
 Calaveras schist, Logtown Ridge greenstone, and serpentine. Records 
 are incomplete but known production is in excess of $660,000. 
 
 A distance of 1.7 miles north of the Bagby summit, the highway 
 crosses several dikes of an unusual grayish white rock known variously 
 as albitite, soda syenite, and albite granophyre. Intrusive bodies of this 
 rock are also found in many places to the east of Moccasin Creek. The 
 rock is medium to fine grained with aplitic and porphyritic phases. It is 
 composed mainly of the soda feldspar albite plus variable amounts of 
 soda-rich minerals such as riebeckite and aegirite. The latter two are not 
 present in the dikes crossing Highway 49 but are present in some of the 
 Moccasin Creek outcrops. 
 
 A red brick furnace and chimney and a concrete foundation are all 
 that remain of the boiler house and other buildings of tbe Mary Harrison 
 mine. These are located on a knoll to the west of Highway 49, 1.8 miles 
 south of Coulterville. The Mary Harrison was discovered sometime before 
 1867 and was operated for a considerable period prior to 1895 by the 
 Cook Estate. In 1895, the mines of the Cook Estate passed into the 
 ownership of the Merced Gold Mining Company which is responsible 
 for most of the recorded production. This was well in excess of $330,000. 
 The mine was worked to a depth of 1200 feet by shaft and winze. Most 
 of the workings were in the dolomite-ankerite-mariposite-quartz rock 
 which forms a very broad zone along this part of the Mother Lode. The 
 mine has not been operated since 1903. 
 
 Immediately north of the ruins of the Mary Harrison, the highway 
 has been cut through the main part of the Mother Lode vein system. 
 This locality is easily accessible and is an excellent place to observe the 
 minerals which are associated with gold ores. Beautifully banded rocks 
 composed of mariposite (chrome mica), white quartz, and carbonate 
 minerals, such as dolomite, ankerite, and calcite, can be collected there. 
 Talc schist is present in some places — probably derived by the shearing 
 of serpentine. The gold ore itself consists of gold bearing iron pyrites, 
 usually somewhat oxidized. 
 
 Another excellent exposure of the veins of the Mother Lode is in the 
 vicinity of Maxwell Creek bridge two tenths of a mile south of Coulter- 
 ville. Many invasions of vein material along the same line of weakness 
 can readily be seen in these exposures. The white silica-carbonate vein 
 rocks are accentuated, in many places by rust-colored zones which mark 
 the positions of sulfide-bearing gold horizons. Other yellowish-brown 
 zones are made up of a leached, pulverized vein material which represents 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 41 
 
 Fig. ?>. Momaii ^lupe on Carson Ilill, Calaveras County ; looking south across the town of Carson Hill. 
 
42 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 4. Jackson Butte, a volcanic neck of andesite risins above the dissected P>i»cene surface. A'iew from 
 the western outskirts of the town of Mokelumne Hill. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN ANT* CRIPPEX 
 
 43 
 
 Fig. o. An Md etching depicting an arrastre. a crude rocker (right center), and gold pan in operation. Gold was 
 freed from its ore by placing the ore on the floor of the flat-bottomed arrastre and dragging the large muller stones over 
 it by horse or mule power. The muller stones were chained to a bar which revolved about a central pivot, power being 
 applied from the end of the bar. From an original etching loaned by ^Valter W. Bradley. 
 
44 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG fflGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 6. I^iokinf; northeast toward mine buildings of Sixteen-to-One mine at 
 Alleghany. Photo hy C. V. Ai'eriU. 
 
 Fig. 8. Drill cores of serpentine taken during the sinking of the 1000-foot Idaho No. 2 
 shaft of the Idaho-Maryland mine at Grass Valley. Photo hy ^V. O. Jenkins. 
 
 ■>^' i 
 
 Doodlebug dredge in operation near the Calaveras Cement Company plant 
 south of San Andreas. Photo hy Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 9. Abaiuloned wheels at Jackson Gate which were once used t(f lift tailings 
 from the Kennedy mine over the hill to a tailings disposal area. These are 68 feet in 
 diameter and were equipped with 176 buckets each. 
 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 45 
 
 
 P'IG. 10. Volcanic bombs weathering from tuff on Klack Creek near Copperopolis 
 Calaveras County. Photo by Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 J >>i 
 
 3 
 
 ^ * 
 
 V i^^" 
 
 .^. 
 
 Fig. 1'2. Lit-par-lit or injection gneiss in Agua Fria meta-sediments along Owens 
 Creek. Calaveras County. Photo by Oinf P. Jenkins. 
 
 f* 
 
 Fig. 11. Aplite dikes cutting Jurassic meta-sediments in Owens Creek canyon, 
 Mariposa County. Photo by Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 13. Lit-par-lit 't iiij^(ii"n i;iipis-; in meta-sediments along Owens Creek, 
 Calaveras County. Photo by Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
46 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 ■^^ .^^*^jHF 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 
 *. ^."f^^lm^ 
 
 Viv,. ITt, "Xaluriil liridfjf," a linu'stone cave, situated between C\)lunil)ia and Vallecito, 
 throiiKli which Coyote Creek runs. Photo by Olaf /*. Jenkins. 
 
 
 Fu;. 14. Marhle <iuiiri> north of Columbia. Tuolumne County, located on a side road Flc. 1(>. Mine builcliii;rs of the I'nited States Lime Products Company lime plant at 
 
 to the east of the Cohnnlna-Parmt Ferry road. Photo hy Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Kl l>oradn. I'hoto by Olaf P. Jenkins 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 47 
 
 intra-mineral or post-mineral moveiiipnt aloiif; tlie Mother Lode fault 
 system. 
 
 The town of Coulterville is situated in a small valley which is at 
 about the same elevation as Bear Valley. Coulterville was founded about 
 1850 and was the center of a placer and nold (|uartz mining district which 
 embraced the Malvina, Louisa. Potosi. Champion, and Tyro mines as well 
 as the Mary Harrison. Many fine oUl buildinfrs still remain including one 
 built and operated by Chinese. An old mine locomotive and other pieces 
 of early day mininfr equipment are on exhibit directly across the highway 
 from Division of Highways Historical Monument 332. 
 
 COULTERVILLE TO CHINESE CAMP— MAP 2 
 
 Between Coulterville and Moccasin Creek canyon, Highway 49 
 passes over a rough region of serpentine and greenstone resembling the 
 terrain north of Bagby. The principal features of scenic and geologic 
 interest along this part of the route are the many white-tipped comb- 
 ridges which mark the surface trace of the Mother Lode quartz veins. 
 This .series of quartz exposures was named the Peiioii Blanco or white 
 cliff by Spanish Californians. Although the long white walls are hardly 
 tall enough to be considered cliffs, the name has persisted through the 
 years. The weather-resistant quartz has kept the softer country rock, 
 which forms the flanks of the ridges, from being obliterated by erosion. 
 The best views of the Pcfioii Blanco may be had at a sharp bend in the 
 highway 3.2 miles north of Co\ilterville, and again at the divide which 
 marks the boundary between Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties, about 
 five miles northwest of Coulterville. 
 
 Two-tenths of a mile below the horseshoe bend where Highway 49 
 drops to the level of Moccasin Creek, the serpentines end against the 
 Mariposa slate. The latter lies in a deep synclinal trough which is dis- 
 rupted on both eastern and western sides by faults. The Mother Lode 
 thrust-fault system, which lies to the east of the syncline is a broad 
 mineralized zone which in places reaches a width of more than 180 feet. 
 Along the western fault contract, the I'efion Blanco or Logtown Ridge 
 andesite agglomerate has been sheared into the Mariposa slate in many 
 places. 
 
 . At the Moccasin Creek dam and powerhouse of the city of San 
 Prani'isco, an unpaved road joins Highway 49 which connects with the 
 old i)lacer iiiining district of Big Oak Flat. Big Oak Plat can also be 
 reached via Highway 120 which crosses Highway 49 2.2 miles farther 
 north. The placers of liig Oak Flat together with the adjoining Deer Flat 
 and Groveland districts are credited with production in excess of $25,- 
 OOO.OOO. A few miles northea.st of Big Oak Flat in the vicinity of 
 Soul.sbyville, several highly productive mines are located in what is 
 known as the East Belt. The Bast Belt roughly parallels the main Mother 
 
 Lode about five miles to the east of it. Veins of this belt tend to be dis- 
 continuous and much narrower than the main Mother Lode .system and 
 cut granodiorite or rocks close to it rather than meta-sediments and meta- 
 volcanics. The most productive mines in the Soulsbyville vicinity were the 
 Soulsby, with a production of $5,500,000, and the Black Oak with a 
 production of $3,500,000. 
 
 A short distance beyond the inter.seetion of Highways 49 and 120, 
 the former crosses the Tuolumne River and continues into Jacksonville 
 along the northwest bank of the river. This is the most scenic part of the 
 southern third of Highway 49. There are good picnic spots along the 
 river, several areas suitable for water sports, and the only eating places 
 between Coulterville and Jacksonville. 
 
 Good exposures of greenstone and schists of the Calaveras formation 
 can be seen in road cuts at the south abutment of the Tuolumne River 
 bridge and westward along the roadbed of the Hetch-Hetchy Valley 
 Railroad to the serpentine contact. Calaveras rocks are also exposed in 
 roadcuts along Highway 49 from the bridge to the Harriman mine. The 
 latter is located close to the highway 1.8 miles southeast of Jacksonville, 
 and the headframe, sheet metal buildings, and mine dumps are very con- 
 spicuous at the roadside. Considerable capital was invested in this mine 
 but no great production was ever recorded. With the exception of the 
 Eagle-Shawmut, few mines in the Jacksonville district contained ore of 
 sufficient grade to warrant major development. The gold values are dis- 
 .seminated through the wall rock in association with pyrite in what is 
 locally called gray ore. 
 
 Le.ss than half a mile southwest of Jacksonville and a sh<irt distance 
 west of the junction of Woods Creek with the Tuolumne River, the 
 abutments of old Moffats bridge can be seen jutting out into the Tuolumne 
 River. The vicinity of Moffats bridge and the adjacent Hetch-Hetchy 
 Valley Railroad cuts present good exposures of the Mariposa formation 
 in which fossils are found. These occur in a conglomerate and were first 
 described by II. W. Turner in the 1880's. The fossils include cephalopod 
 and pelecypod molluscs of upper Jurassic age which correspond to 
 Oxfordian stage fossils of Europe. Fossil leaves are also present. West 
 from Moffats bridge, the Tuolumne River has cut directly across a 2500 
 foot ridge of agglomerate and .serpentine. This represents a vertical 
 downcutting at the edge of the gorge of more than 1800 feet. 
 
 Jack.sonville, founded in 1848 and named for Colonel Alden Jack- 
 son, was a supply and amusement center for the mines along Moccasin 
 and Woods Creeks. There is little or no mining activity there now. A 
 Iiaved road from Jacksonville connects with Jamestown via Stent and 
 Quartz. 
 
 The extensive dumps and large mine buildings of the Eagle-Shaw.- 
 mut mine are located less than two miles northwest of Jacksonville at 
 the foot of the Shawmut grade. This is one of many major gold mines 
 
48 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 aloiifr the Mother Lode which have been forced to shut down because of 
 wartime limitations on gold mining and postwar high operating costs. 
 The Eagle-Shawmut has many miles of workings and has produced huge 
 tonnages of low grade ore. The total vertical depth of the mine via shaft 
 and w^inze is about 3550 feet from the surface outcrop. The main shaft 
 dips at an angle which averages 65° and has been entered for many 
 years from adit number two. Ores in the mine consist of auriferous 
 quartz, gold bearing massive iron sulfides, and gold bearing ankeritized 
 country rock. The mine was opened at a very early date, being a con- 
 solidation of the old Eagle and Shawmut claims. However, most of the 
 extensive workings were driven since the turn of the century. The Eagle- 
 Shawniut has a recorded production of approximately $7,500,000. After 
 passing the Eagle-Shawmut mine. Highway 49 winds up the narrow 
 Shawmut grade to Chinese Camp. The summit of the grade aflfords an 
 excellent northwesterly view of the flat surface of Table Mountain lava 
 flow. The road-cuts along the Shawmut grade expose Mariposa slates 
 and green Logtown Ridge agglomerates. After passing the divide, the 
 highway crosses gently rolling country in which there are few exposures 
 
 of basement rocks. 
 « 
 Chinese Camp was a placer-mining center first settled by Chinese 
 laborers in 1849. Ruins of structures built in the fifties still remain 
 together with a few more modern dwellings. Piles of soil and gravel 
 which were turned over in frantic search for gold can still be seen in 
 every gulch. These gravels are reworked remnants of pre-existing Eocene 
 and later Tertiary deposits most of which have since been stripped off 
 by erosion. 
 
 The prominent flat surface of Tuolumne Table Mountain lies 2i miles 
 northwest of Chinese Camp. Though appearing as a table when viewed 
 from the road, it looks more like a sinuous river when seen from the air; 
 and that is what it is— a fossil river— an ancient stream canyon cut in a 
 broad flat sheet of volcanic ash but filled to the brim by a viscous flow 
 of dark colored lava extending for 60 miles from the high Sierra Nevada 
 to its terminus against a bluft' of sedimentary andesitic beds near Knights 
 Ferry. As the Sierra Nevada mass was raised and tilted slightly westward, 
 the softer ash beds were largely washed away by erosion, leaving the very 
 resistant lava flow high and dry as a dominating table. In places the 
 stream which originally cut the channel later occupied by the lava, cut 
 clear through the ash beds and even into the tops of some underlying 
 buried hill tops of bed rock. In other places where the ash beds lay deep 
 beneath the lava stream, the pre-volcanic topographic surface was pre- 
 served. It is in the pre-volcanie stream courses under this older ash cover 
 that the older gold placers were discovered and mined, as in the old New 
 York tunnel. The younger channel of Table Mountain was largely barren 
 of gold. 
 
 The resistant latite lava flow of Table Mountain, which is probably 
 of late Pliocene age, has thus protected some of the earlier softer Tertiary 
 deposits from obliteration by erosion. The latite lava capping is flat- 
 topped, with vertical cliffs along the edge, showing columnar joining of 
 the rock. Tuffs and mudflows are exposed under or close to the base of the 
 cliffs. The latite closely resembles a porphyritic olivine basalt, the potash 
 feldspars being entirely confined to the groundmass. Some plagioclase 
 crystals, however, are more than an inch long. 
 
 Andesitic tuffs, gravels and boulders can be seen lying directly 
 beneath the latite at Mountain Pass, where the ancient stream channel, 
 now occupied by the lava, cut a V-shaped gorge in the andesite cobble 
 deposit. At this point is a watering place known as Mountain Springs, 
 located less than half a mile from the junction of Highways 49 and 108 
 or 4J miles from Chinese Camp. An area suitable for picnicking adjoins 
 the spring and water fountain. The water flows from the ancient ash- 
 covered bed of the Tertiary channel. 
 
 The bouldery andesite is known as the Mehrten formation and is 
 well exposed on the road southeast of Mountain Pass. It lies strati- 
 graphically above the Eocene quartz gravels which are present lying on 
 bedrock. Some of the earlier quartz gravels, however, a mile northeast 
 of Mountain Pass occur intermixed with the andesite cobble. These 
 deposits represent post-Eocene channels which cut through the earlier 
 Eocene deposits and robbed them of their gravels and also their gold. " 
 
 The earliest gold-bearing stream channels. Eocene in age, often 
 followed the strike of bedrock, cutting gutters and depositing gold 
 nuggets. The andesite cobble was spread far and wide, covering both 
 the bedrock and the Eocene channels. The much later latite lava flow 
 took the course of a prominent post-andesite stream gorge and filled it 
 to the brim. "Where drift mining discovered the deep Eocene quartz 
 gravel channels, rich placers were found ; but where the mines 
 encountered post-Eocene channels cut only through the barren volcanic 
 ash, disappointment was the result. For this reason only a few of the drift 
 mines which pass under Table Mountain were successful ; many others 
 were a disappointment. 
 
 CHINESE CAMP TO ALTAVILLE— M AP 3 
 
 The highway, from Mountain Springs and on into Jamestown, more 
 or less parallels the trend of Table Mountain. Bedrock exposures are 
 poor because of the low relief, there being few good outcrops until Woods 
 Crossing is reached. The Mariposa slates appear briefly from beneath the 
 Tertiary gravel and andesite series, and then are faulted off against a 
 thin belt of Logtown Ridge raetavolcanics. This contact is close to the 
 junction of the Montezuma cutoff and Highway 49 about 2J miles north- 
 east of Mountain Springs. From that point to Woods Crossing the base- 
 ment rocks are principally serpentine and related gabbro-diorite. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 49 
 
 < 
 Z 
 
 
 
 ft 
 
 
 5 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 
 t^ 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 S 
 1, 
 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ®-1 
 
 
 
 o 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 JmnssK 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 -1 
 
 2 
 
 
 sy Sjenite 
 9rd 
 
 Groniiic 'ochs-qroflite 
 ro diorite 
 
 Uitro-basic rocfcs- 
 cftiefij serpentine 
 
 qp Porphjnlic rochs — quorti 
 
 ond hornblende pO'phynes 
 
 Me'o-sedimenfs Ch.efi» 
 Monposo fofmoiioo — stole, 
 grojaoche. etc 
 
 Melo-¥Olcon,cs Chietln Log- 
 loan Ridge meiQ-ondesiie 
 
 Mitton tOffratiOn-IuM. red 
 
 J'fcm sic'e, quortme. i.mestone, 
 and conglomerote 
 
 Meto-iotcomcs of 
 uncerio'H oqe 
 
 Caia«eras hmes'one 
 
 Note-Blank pattern box indicates 
 rock type is not shofn on map 
 
50 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Woods Crossing, now a cross roads rather than a ford, has several 
 interestinfr features. It is marked by a sign commemorating the passing 
 of Bret Harte and Mark Twain through the gold country which was 
 placed tliere by the Tuolumne County Chamber of Commerce in honor 
 of two authors who did much to bring the color of the "Days of 49" 
 before the public. A short distance to the west of the crossing, the build- 
 ings of the Harvard mine can be seen on the slope of Whiskey Hill. This 
 mine was discovered in 1850 and was worked continuously until 1916. 
 The prominent quartz-ankerite outcrops close to which the ore lay also 
 outcrop conspicuously in the long roadcut between Woods Crossing and 
 Woods Creek. The multiple nature of the vein system can readily be seen 
 there and some minerals, such as the attractive mica raariposite, can be 
 obtained. The veins lie along the contact of Calaveras schist and the 
 serpentine body mentioned in preceding paragraphs. The Harvard has 
 two shafts but only one was used to any great extent. The main shaft 
 has a 700 foot vertical drop and then turns at an angle of 58° to a depth 
 of 1850 feet. The veins have been worked for 1500 feet along the strike 
 of the Mother Lode. Post-mineral faulting has displaced the ore shoots 
 from 8 to 20 feet in some places. A 60 stamp mill employing 1200 pound 
 stamps is on the property. Some recent development work has been done, 
 but no attempt at major production has taken place in recent years. 
 The Harvard has a known production of $2,036,697 but no records were 
 kept prior to 1897, and a much larger figure is probable. 
 
 To the east of Highway 49, a road leads off to the old mining camps 
 of Stent and Quartz. Both can also be reached from roads out of Jack- 
 sonville and Jamestown, being about 2i miles south of the latter. In 
 addition to local placering. Stent and Quartz are famous for a group of 
 hardrock mines the best known of which are the App, Dutch, Sweeney, 
 Heslep, and Jumper. The Jumper has recently been rehabilitated but no 
 recent production has yet been reported. It is a consolidation of the old 
 Jumper, New Era, and Golden Rule claims, the combined production of 
 which is more than $3,000,000. The presence of the gold tellurides petzite 
 and hessite has been reported from the Jumper. Combined production of 
 the App and Heslep has been placed at more than $1,742,000 and that 
 of the Dutch and Sweeney at approximately $2,118,000. These were fairly 
 deep mines, the Dutch having a vertical depth of about 2070 feet. 
 
 Beyond the Mother Lode vein exposures at Woods Crossing, a very 
 thick section of Calaveras rocks begins. The Calaveras formation can be 
 seen on both sides of Highwa.v 49 from Jamestown to well beyond the 
 Calaveras Eiver bridge. The rocks are mica schi.sts, phyllites, limestones, 
 and green metavoleanics. Several more or less parallel branches of the 
 Mother Lode traverse the Jamestown-San Andreas strip, and the vein 
 systems tend to finger out into the wall rocks in many places, forming 
 networks of veinlets or stringers. Some of the stringer lodes were 
 extremely auriferous and were responsible for the famous pocket mines 
 of Rawhide and Jackass Hill. Some of the ore bodies on Carson Hill 
 
 •were of this type. It is probable that a great deal of high grade ore of 
 this nature was eroded off during Cretaceous and Eocene time to form 
 the fabulously rich placers of Columbia and Shaws Flat. 
 
 Jamestown or Jimtown, as it is familiarly called, is a still thriving 
 community with a history dating from 1848. It long has been the supply 
 center for a great many small mining camps, and the major workings 
 at Stent and Quartz lie nearby to the south. A veritable network of roads 
 branch off from Highway 49 in the vicinity of Jamestown all of which 
 traverse areas of mining and geological interest. The road to Stent and 
 Quartz has been mentioned in previous paragraphs. Another one leading 
 off northwesterly from the center of town crosses Table Mountain, goes 
 through the ghost town of Rawhide, and rejoins Highway 49 about a 
 mile east of Tuttletown. This route crosses Table Mountain close to the 
 old Tuttletown-Jamestown segment of the abandoned Sierra Railroad. 
 A eloseup view of the latite lava cap and underlying tuffaceous sediments 
 can be seen in the railroad cut jlose to the road. The columnar structure 
 of the latite is particularly conspicuous. The rim, or contact with bedrock 
 along the old slope of the fossil stream bank, shows in the old weathered 
 surface of the covered schist, a cross section of surface hillside creep 
 which has been preserved since the lava covered it. Close by this spot 
 to the north is the location of the old New York Tunnel which drifted into 
 gold bearing gravels following a channel which led the miners beneath 
 Table Mountain. The gravels lie beneath rhyolitic lake beds, covered by 
 andesite cobble, all of which the lava of Table Mountain spanned like a 
 bridge. The New York tunnel was one of the few drift mines under 
 Table Mountain which could boast anj' considerable profit. Its heyday 
 was prior to 1868. 
 
 West of the Table Mountain crossing, a distance of seven-tenths of 
 a mile, the Rawhide road joins one from the old Omega mining district. 
 Southeast of this road junction the red sheet metal stamp mill of the 
 Omega mine can be seen. Although the Omega mine has never been very 
 successful, the mill has been in operation for much of the time and is 
 one of the few stamp mills still in operation along the Mother Lode. 
 The mill site is of further geologic interest because a post-latite normal 
 fault. Pleistocene in age, passes almost under it and then cuts through 
 Table Mountain, displacing the lava cap a vertical distance of 60 feet, 
 the western side being higher than the eastern. 
 
 The site of the old mining camp of Rawhide lies a short distance 
 north of the Omega-Rawhide road junction almost due west from the 
 railroad cut on Table Mountain. A body of pure antigorite serpentine 
 lies to the south and west of the town of Rawhide. This was extensively 
 prospected during the war as a possible source of magnesium. The Raw- 
 hide mine, also located close to the town of Rawhide, was one of the most 
 successful early day mines. It was verj- active up to 1867 ; was idle until 
 1891 ; and had a very productive period up to 1905. Since then only 
 pocket mining in the old workings has been done. The veins are typically 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG mGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 51 
 
 Fig. 17. Hummocky limestone bedrock at Columbia. View is northeast toward 
 St. Anne's Church. More than $17,000,000 in Bold was taken from this surface during 
 the '50's 
 
 i 'A Vv. . 
 
 
 #♦ 
 
 Fig. 19. Looking northeast toward eroded face of old hydraulic pit at North 
 Columbia. Crossbedding can be seen in the upper left band part of the picture. Photo by 
 Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 18. Rolling exhumed Eocene land surface as seen to the northwest of Kelsey. 
 El Dorado Countj*. 
 
 Fig. 20. Hummocky limestone bedrock at Shaws Flat, a rich placer camp much like 
 Columbia, which lies a few miles to the northeast. 
 
52 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 Fio. 21. View south down the North Fork of the American River from the High- 
 way, 49 bridge at the EI Dorado-Placer County line. The abandoned Pacific Porthuid 
 Cement Company railroad bridge may be seen in the background. The beveled bedrock in 
 the right foreground is a green meta-\oIcanic uf doubtful age. 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 Adit and buildings of the Pacific Minerals Company slate mine on the North 
 Fork of the American River two miles north of Placerville. 
 
 Potholes worn in granodiorite bedrock in the strearabed of the South Fork 
 of the Yuba River immediately east of the Highway 4!> bridge. 
 
 Fig. 24. Looking northwest toward Tuolumne Table Mountain from the vicinity 
 of the Omega and Rawhide mines. Dumps and buildings of the Rawhide mine may be 
 seen in the upper left part of the picture. Photo by Olnf P. Jenkins. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 CHINESE CAMP-ALTAVILLE 
 
 53 
 
 V to San andreas 
 
 MAP 3 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 2 i.' 
 
 Andesile breccio ond congloi 
 Tv cote Includes basolt ond 
 Toble Min lotite 
 
 Tvr Rhyoi'te lu'f ond osh 
 
 Old river deposits Chiefly 
 Tq Eocene quartz grovels, 
 gold-bearinq 
 
 Gronttic rocKs- gromte 
 10 diorite 
 
 UMra-basic rocks — 
 
 o 
 
 y 
 
 
 
 UJ 
 
 
 
 
 ? 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jurassic 
 
 to 
 f^ltOiolc 
 
 i^'s 
 
 .-.-—_. _ 
 
 
 
 
 °,« 
 
 
 o-^ S 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 
 ---: " 
 
 U56S 
 
 1947 
 
 fU/tpuDJ 
 
 USGS 
 1896 
 (PubJ 
 
 UNIV CALIF 
 
 N.LT 
 
 1946 
 
 {UnpobJ 
 
 USGS 
 
 1947 
 
 fUnpubi 
 
 GEOLOGY SOURCE 
 
 i to Chinese Camp 
 
T-t 
 
 GTWEBgMM. MJOiSlG HieHWAT ■»)• 
 
 IBaJllLl-U 
 
 (^jnartr-ania^EiCK- mii!& cHirteiiiLmir both friw ir 
 
 af.b--.. .1.1. .1.1... 
 
 Famr-teitfls- otf ai miHfe marti&i ntf JlaamssCffliwui : 
 
 CoBnnftraiLlai). iniifto^wii wa.«Loniiiiei .-- 
 af nfije Siia."ws- FLut-Siiiorai (iJanHirfi wkes .i^w^^.v: 
 Ig*^.. J^ M iLfi&nn&ci. w&ii&: is Brrt a fffw mxl:'^ ''■^ ' 
 EimislMnK' ninxi>*rfu» must Qf tte 'ilBi<ETiEis- i 
 B i i ii ii i i iin i'far (oriwaasai. purftuJai. snzfaiw. '!:i • 
 gjnjtnni wacer anil pcn6a&£?" a»i'.i3inipiisfee<i ' 
 
 (tllBr(jf - 
 
 gjrSTislii ^ - - - 
 
 arnf mspis btsassms tt'- 
 
 (HmHiira; [amr ftefone ti&R - - - 
 
 atf t&e gfiti 1-'" -"'.>>^- - ■ ■ 
 
 ffifflrity piw!&gT. i^a^'Ttr. ... »v...,i_-»r.rt ; ■ - ■ 
 ffHaE, WBimlo'wii!, anmi «<*«■ dfifi- . 
 XTaoI^dlg^ bad; it b jpinifeaEd? lAa: 
 CsSmmbrai earae Snsas nlJB'giiiigs ite ~ - 
 
 IS 
 
 imiBil wftiuAi Iliads to 
 
 
 i ". knee fte 
 
 - rt tfeey 
 
 - - i-5>s 
 ' r aouiree 
 
 ■":'■* 
 : .^ i.^5S 
 
 :«?" are 
 ::ted to 
 . •)£ this 
 
 -•_-_, it 
 
 Here ar^ " ■ ?pots 
 
 fc^^ftiwajr amd several mice -~ ^^s 
 
 • u6* ^a-T arff CaJWreEa* sdtisis ^i.- _ . ' - . ^ -^r 
 
 S$«iu>r2.i»iiie(sif SfiDellaiiser&<i«MIlt(!wiisandeoinitT:»at of Twdnmite 
 CommtlT; was figomded in 1$1S bjr Sfamx^ AB^fncans. It is a flonridiing 
 
 icd St, James CknrclL SooiBra bca^«^ - 
 HsIdiniL Cfc»pa ani^et vUdi «-<:. . 
 *^T??'^"'^5r* viis&SBi the ptlCKXKt citT 
 spetJmeiH iBiajr be ssem at MeKSc-.' 
 of bmn. Hkt«sri«al Slaifcer 139, pl^ 
 JlgMxeiation and State DiriaMi 
 Cfcnrdt, and llie TBofamme Conr. 
 a MeatoHenit to the esuijr ^ooMr^ 
 ivftibe Bain sIzcettlniM^ town. - 
 resorts and Sooora Pass in th« H.^.. -^ 
 
 CoaTthoase and rastie 
 : .-r as earij- as 1850. The 
 2^ pounds was taken from 
 
 ^x—''^'^^ .'. 'i^--tioa of gold 
 
 ^ main street 
 
 ^ Automobile 
 
 •^ St. James 
 
 - erected 
 
 led part 
 
 -e gateway to the Pine Crest 
 
 imiwiiiiigr taaasp •£ Ctdnaahaa k bealted. Tte dbnt sm« tsip tw C^nBonfena is 
 
 w«n wantih ihe tianreler'^ tonie. lie tigniim has not heen miedlemiBHl aad 
 
 fe im a £ur s&itie «>f firesemAiBn. Tfts' TDsgailijr ^ CrihiwiMn lias i«i«gi)dt!r 
 
 heem BUMie a sfiaAe psik. St. Jtaot's C&mEich. a led Ihriek ^lumrt i Mg 1liMniit«d 
 
 tc &e «!ailb«f taiwm.hasan«f ilBaM«ftaaniLTk«S8ai<dhf^»!«Ufesa^ 
 
 - sSeiqped atk idfae ekairek gxwBB^ and leBBMBits «f t^ gjeilld >!nn«ls 
 
 . ..^.~T ]fje qoatiiiiDDdbed baneath 1A» ekm^ l&e loa^ 1lisn«t<Niie hedt- 
 
 js Hweh 1S» dMtt at ^aws Hade, is eTCdfiRd with taxing 
 
 . r.7 >^.iM t» the fttakiie sam ef $S7.00aW<K Fifw iff aatjr $!eM 
 
 - iova hanre yirided so irwh a harrvsS !! S^Tinn&l Texv bi^ 
 
 ...^^c:.- -t.- — ^ •^T'Tai the CehmlMii di«$ni@s. A ^ah-sha|wd Ma^ 
 
 Amdii wwi^hed over 30) pwamd^ ai!v«irdiipgii& and 
 
 -rTc^d firau it. AmoAhn' firaat G«U HiU wet^Awd 
 
 liC 5^5001 Two «>«h«9s weve xalwd at |33S» and 
 
 r.-ataiiiis iniaQ^ inteie^tiiaigr huildiii^s. a 
 
 ' shop iMr«xe«ll«n««. State Drrfeiein «f 
 '^'ii. j>x£r£e:r l:i^i Burts the tiuni omto OtaMibca's vaia 
 
 3G3 tiiajjr ovr 
 
 kcal-eelor r:: - 
 Hi^wajrs Bc>ti 
 street- 
 After kavin^ the neinitr oi Cofaiasl^ Hi^way -19 hends amwuid 
 the ccrt!i?m end of Table Staontain and fellows ahsn^ its wvsjeni basr 
 f'. r > miles befoie tnrnin* west into Tuttletowa. Sane of 4ie 
 
 «rj. - - ' ' •.TifiA beds of this Tteinitr are b«n? woriked tor g«ild br 
 small ti- . ^'i^es. Tnttletown. hwated seren miles fkom Sooon Tia 
 
 Hi^w-d. - Irsc settled br Momtoos in I$4$. and was origmaltr 
 
 eaUed Mcnoi 'ames M. Tattle, wluxse name the town now beoots. 
 
 arrived eons •■-- rban the first Mi<>moi^ A fairly w^ pre- 
 
 senedstsme-- ^ tnom lSo<2 is ^xie of the few rriivs: remaining 
 
 in eld Tott : Ilighw«\-s Ht^toriinil jlarkw 1*4 is 
 
 located near ' - frame and red sheet iron buildia^ of 
 
 the Arbona. - ■ L ^tvse to the hi^waiy near the eenter of 
 
 Tnttletown. - -. WD-foot in<rlin#d shaft iu sehisi vooutry 
 
 roek. Produc'.i.ii :n.a- .cls mine has not been extensive and there has 
 bem no major exploitation sinee 1909. Some poehet «old wws rtvovered 
 fnnn it during the eai^ thirties. 
 
 State Division of Highways Uistoriiral Marker 13S, one mite from 
 Tuttletown. is eloee to the turuoff to Jaektss HiU. Jaekass Hill was onee 
 famoBS for its "poeket" gold mines and has sintre been made a shrine to 
 to the memory of Mark Twain who stayetl there with the tatllts Brothers 
 for an indefinite period. The present Mark Twain eabin is a reeonstrueted 
 replica of old cabins iu the area auil is not the ordinal Oillis cabin. Xo 
 production figure is available tV>r the mines pn Jackass Hill.known gejjer- 
 ally as the Chileno group, but some of the pockets were esceeiliagly rich. 
 The gold occurs in quartz and carbonate stringers cutting Calaveras 
 schist. The Jackass Hill mines produced beautifully cr\-slalliie«l speci- 
 mens of gold as well as the gold tellurides petiite and calavcrite. 
 
QEOLOOIC MAPS AN'I) XO'I'KS Al,(t\(i lIKillWAY HI IIOWKN AND CHIITKN 
 
 M 
 
 A mile and ii liiilf iKirt Invest of the Mark Twain liistorical niiirkors. 
 the mine dumps and biiildinj; foniulation of the Norwegian mine enii 
 be seen to the norfli of the highway. The Norwejiian is really on the 
 northwest slope of Jackass Hill allhoofrh it is some distanee from the 
 pocket mines near the Mark Twain cabin. This mine has been worked 
 dis<'onlinuonsly in a small way since 1851. hnl is now idle. The ore was 
 in pockets and ore minerals ini'hidcil trold. pyrile, chalcopyrite. ^'alenn, 
 petzite. and small (piantilies of other tcllnri<les. The total rcc(iril<'<l pro- 
 dnetion is only $li!1.000 lint considerably more was nnd(inhl<Mlly pro- 
 duced of which there is no record. The Niirwe^'ian mine is of interest 
 principally bccau.se the not(n'ions out law HIack Bart was canttbt as a 
 resnit of a fracas involvinj; a stajre (•arryinfr Norwegian mine irold. Hart 
 is supposed to have drop|)ed dnrintr the holdup the bandki-rchicr by 
 which he was traced to his lair in San Francisco. 
 
 Beyond the Norwejiian mine, lliphway 40 drops into the lanyon of 
 the Stanislaus Hiver. and cros.ses the latter at Robinsons Ferry, imme- 
 diately south of the town of Melones. Dnrinc hi(rh water, the canyon 
 bottom is flooded by the lake which backs up behind the Melones Dam. 
 located more than seven miles downstream. The most ri'cerd hiu'hwatcr 
 mark can be seen on the canyon walls as a line of dirt and debris. The 
 bridjre at Robinsons Ferrv is at the TuohnnneCalavcras Countv line, 
 a line which follows the course of the Stanislaus in this area. Mehnies, 
 situated on the north bank of the river, would bi- a vi'ry scenic Kl)ot wi're 
 it not for the shambles of shacks and worn out miTiirin eipiipmerjt which 
 clutter the hillside behind the town. The lartre 100 stamp mill and some 
 other bnildincs burned in 1!I42 and the mine premises have badly deterio- 
 rated since then. The Mclones-( 'arson Hill niinins.' distrii't has oni' of 
 the most colorful histories of an.v alonjr the Mother Kode and mining 
 on Carson Hill has for the njost part been a ver.v lucrative enterpriMe. 
 Althoufrh earl.v records are incomplete. f'«rso]i Mill mines are credited 
 with a production of more than $:i(l.()00.()l)(l. Spanish Amei'ican miners 
 found placer frold alone the Stanislaus and its tributaries earl.v in 1H4H, 
 They are responsible for the name Melones, which was applierl to the urea 
 because of the placer (.'old which resembled melon Heeds. In 1850, two 
 years after the Spanish Americans located the town of MeloiieM, JameH 
 Carson and John Hance were dicirint' [ilacer (fold from Carson Creek. 
 Hance is credited with the initial lode-j/old discovery on Carson Hill 
 when he followed placer (.'old sliowiri>.'s uphill to their source near the 
 ma.ssive quartz outcropi)iii(.'s. The Hilly Mulli(.'an ti'»iV jnmpeil the 
 claims and held them for nine months before beintr thrown off the [irop- 
 erty by court order in 1853. Little more than a year later, the larjfest 
 mass of gold ever produced in California and one of the lariteMt on record 
 was taken from Carson Hill. It wei(.'hed lf(5 pounds tro.v which, calcu- 
 lated at present prices and 'MX) fineness, would be worth ♦7.'j.710, At the 
 time of discoverj- it was worth iM'<.5-'J4. Presence of thitt hnire mawi of tioM 
 
 brought business to Robinsons Kerry to lln' tunc (if !|(|l).(ll)(l in lolhi In 
 less than six weeks! 
 
 The miiu>H of Carson Hill ■.i\r rumous fur llic Icllmidc niineralu pro- 
 duceil in (|nantity dnrinii the early decades of operation. Calaverite, 
 bessilc. pct/.ili'. and sylvanili- wi're common miimrals in Cnrwui Hill. 
 Melonile, a tclluridc of nicki-l. is a very rare mineral named nl'lci' the 
 town of Mi'hnu's anil is found in but few other parts of the world. 
 
 Two lariri- surface workin|{N or (flory holes eiin he neen on Carnon 
 Hill. Oiu' is im the southwest Hank of the hill 15 miles from MeliuicM. 
 This is the Calaveras cut lui tlu' Santa Cruz claim. Tlw larijer id' llm 
 two is located on the north side of the hill idioul n mile houIIi of the town 
 of Carson Hill. This is the Morirun slope loi the Morijan idaini. The 
 Morgan slope was exploited partly by sli'nin shovels from the surface 
 but most of the ore was taken out throutrh tunnels from below. The 
 Melones tuiniel, the adit of whii'h is close to Hi|ihHa.\- HI .just north of 
 Melones, was the main ore icmovnl way from the Mortniu claim, Some 
 idea iif the ma(fnilude of the Carson Hill workings nui.i- be drawn from 
 the IrcmciidiiMS si/.e of the tailili(rs dump In the east of iMcloiien, 
 
 North from Melones, IliKliway l!l rises abrnpll,\' a|nM[r llo' llnnloi of 
 Carson Hill. There are 3.5 miles of narrow Kwilchbacks nud uliiuoim 
 mountain drivini; between Melones and the town of Carson Hill The 
 roail cuts on Carson Hill ex|ioHe a (treat many ipiMrlz-carbonale strlni»er« 
 or veiidets which are typical of the Mother l.ode miiiernll/.al ion on Itx 
 eastern spur from >Iackass Hill to Aii|.'e|s Camp The inaiii thrust fault 
 of the Mother Lode syMteni lies couMidcrably to llic weul and wau not 
 mineralized i\\«uu this sector, .North fi'om Carson Hill the route lies In 
 rollin(f coiMil ry which has been ex|)loitei| bolli b.v placeriui/ and lode 
 niinini;. Kvidences of lurlh are to he seen everywhere, Carson Kbit. Kro(f- 
 town, and Albany Klal were earl.v day (/old camps tlioui/|i little now 
 remains at llie nld sites which lav I'lose to present day lli(?liway VI The 
 Mother Lode Central. Marble Sprin(;, Harris, and Waterman mines are 
 all located close to the hi(ihway i»ii its west nide between Carson Hill 
 and An(;els Camp. iNone of lliein bus been parllcidarly productive as 
 compared with Carson Hill or the mines at Aiufejs Camp. Hee the uiii\> 
 which aecDinpanies tliisehajiter Cor more pi jse locations on these iniiieq 
 
 Anifclit Camp, 3.H iiiih>)i north of Carson Hill lo»n. wim f> ded in 
 
 1848 by Henry Aniiel. It is a niodern, nptodate (own with few bndillri(/s 
 of historical interest reinainin(f. Althon(fli its stream (ilacers were rich, 
 the lodes [u'oveil richer and more [lermaiieiit. Some were exploited hn 
 late as l!t'<!0. The Ctica mine, which was a eonsolldalioii of llie I'tlen, 
 Stickles, l(as)d;erry, and six other claims. Is by far the mont famous mine 
 between Carson Hill and Jackson, Alllioii(.'h (Ires and cave ins hampered 
 production from time \i, (iuje, (he Ctica produced (>old to the amaxin(; 
 total of nearly $17,t)<)0,')')0 Tlie vejns and hence the shafts are nearly 
 vertieiil mid the dei'iiesl (larl of the mine is ;)(),'»() feel below the surfflee 
 
56 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 via shaft and winze. The veins are faulted off on the south side of town 
 and attempts to relocate the ore shoots south of the cross-fault have 
 failed. The working shaft and ad.iaeent stopes are located on the north 
 side of town in an area now set aside as a city park. The depressed portion 
 of the park is the result of the caving of the stopes beneath. 
 
 A half mile west of the Ttiea is the Gold Cliff mine, which was oper- 
 ated by the Utiea Mining Company for about five years after the Utica 
 closed down. The Gold Cliff is also a consolidation of half a dozen early- 
 day claims. It is on the main Mother Lode fault system whereas the Utiea 
 is probably on the same east spur as are the Carson Hill oi-e bodies. The 
 Gold Cliff was prospected to a depth of 2700 feet along an incline which 
 averaged 45° in dip. but most of the ore came from above the 1900 foot 
 level. Between the 1600 and 1700 foot levels, the ore bodies are offset 
 to the north by a nearly horizontal fault of .several hundred feet displace- 
 ment. The Utica Mining Company announced a total production for the 
 Gold Cliff of $2,834,000. 
 
 ALTAVILLE TO MOKELUMNE HILL— MAP 4 
 
 Altaville, located at the junction of Highways 49 and 4 one mile 
 north of Angels Camp is, like its larger neighbor a modern town with but 
 few remaining historical spots. Originally known as Cherokee Flat, Alta- 
 ville was a crossroads point of supply for adjacent placer mines. A group 
 of drift mines which has produced much placer gold is located to the 
 east of Altaville and Angels Camp. The term drift mines is here applied 
 to underground placer mines which reach the old buried river gravels by 
 shafts and tunnels. The Calaveras Central, Slab Ranch, Golden River, 
 and Vallecito Western are some of the mines located in this region, all 
 of which entered the Central Hill gravel channel at different places on 
 its course. This fossil stream chainiel lies buried about three hundred 
 feet beneath the surface and is filled with gravel and volcanic ash. The 
 Calaveras Central mine was being rehabilitated early in 1948, but is now 
 closed. Its workings are very extensive and reach the buried channel on 
 a bend in its course from west to north. Coarse gold nuggets were found 
 directly on bedrock slate riffles where the Eocene gutters cut across and 
 followed the structure. Huge boulders lie on the upturned edges of the 
 slate. Rhyolitic lake bed ash containing fossil leaves lies upon this coarse 
 gravel. Above this and filled to the surface is volcanic ash and stream 
 gravel of all sorts. 
 
 These mines are located between Highway 4, running east from 
 Angels Camp, and the Murphys Grade road which runs east from Alta- 
 ville. The sidetrip from Altaville to Murphys and back to Angels Camp 
 is one which no visitor to this part of the gold country should miss. 
 
 Traveling east from Altaville the quarried outcrops of grayish-tan 
 rhyolite tutf of the Valley Springs formation can be seen in rounded 
 hills above a surface of lesser relief. The tuff overlies the gravel channels 
 
 in many planes and it is beneath this material that the drift mines have 
 been driven. The tuff has been extensively quarried for use as a building 
 stone becau.se of its accessibility, durability, and workable properties. 
 The Calaveras Central mine is located on the north side of Bald Hill the 
 turnoff to which is six-tenths of a mile east of Altaville. As seen from the 
 south, the name Bald Hill is a misnomer, that side of the hill being 
 brushed over. Bald Hill is the site of the famous "Calaveras Skull" 
 hoax, perpetrated on geologist J. C. Whitney and others in the 1860 's, 
 in which an Indian .skull was placed as a pi-aetieal joke at the bottojn of 
 a shaft which was sunk in the Tertiary .stream gravels. A few miles 
 beyond Bald Hill the road locally known as ilurphys Grade begins a 
 gradual ascent up the park-like canyon of Angels Creek to Murphys, 
 probably the best preserved and most beautiful of the old towns which 
 date from the gold rush. Very little modernization has been done there. 
 Looking down its main street with its fine old buildings and overhanging 
 trees is like turning back the pages of history nearly a hundred years. 
 Murphys is the starting place for Mercers Cave, a limestone cavern 
 privately owned but open to the public, the Sheep Ranch mining district, 
 Murphys mining district, and the High Sierra of Ebbetts Pass. 
 
 The lode mines of the Murphys district, located on Highway 4 a few 
 miles northeast of the town of Murphys, differ from most other gold 
 deposits in the vicinity of the Mother Lode in that the veinlets or 
 stringers are in limestone country rock instead of in meta-volcanics or 
 meta-clastics. The mines were discovered in 1848 but were never sensa- 
 tional producers. 
 
 Doubling back on Highway 4 toward Angels Camp, the hydraulic 
 diggings of Douglas Flat are evident to the northwest of the road. This 
 is one of the most southerly of a great series of immense hydraulic 
 diggings which are .scattered from Calaveras to southern Plumas County. 
 Above the face of the Douglas Plat pit is a black lava-breccia cap the 
 edges of which are fluted by weathering, but have the false appearance 
 of columns, jointing which is characteristic of the solid lava of Table 
 Mountain latite. The latite flow is located to the east. 
 
 Vallecito is two and a half miles southwest of Douglas Plat. At the 
 town of Vallecito a road from Columbia joins Highway 4. This road starts 
 north from Columbia, following the Eocene Columbia River channel, 
 passing close to a large marble quarry in Calaveras limestone to the 
 east, and then descending the deep and spectacular canyon of the Stanis- 
 laus River. On the way one may look up this magnificant canyon and 
 see clearly where the river has cut through a wide belt of Calaveras 
 limestone. Table Mountain latite shows up prominently on the horth side 
 of the canyon as well as the south, and as the road winds down through 
 granite rock various fine scenes come into view until finally it crosses 
 the river at Parrott Perry. Here one should examine the outcrop of 
 granitic rock with inclusions of earlier intruded rock bodies and then 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGffWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 57 
 
 [ID 
 
 [13 
 
 [3 
 
 m 
 
 [13 
 lis] 
 
 [m 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS 
 Lode and drift mines 
 Placer and hydroulic (hyd) 
 (Mine names m red) 
 Hfghwoy 49 
 Historical markers 
 Town buildings ond roads 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS FOR 
 BUILDING STONE 
 Adobe 
 
 Gronite, granodiorite 
 Greenstone [meta-andesite) 
 Limestone 
 Rhyolite tuff 
 Schist 
 
 Serpentine and tolc schist 
 Slate 
 
 Tuffaceous sandstone 
 Soapstone 
 Unclassified rock 
 Quarry site 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 Andesite breccia ond conglom 
 Tv eroie includes bosoit and 
 Toble MIn lodte 
 
 Tvr Rhyoiiie lulf ond oih 
 
 Old nvfr deposits Chiefty 
 Tg Eocene quartz grovels, 
 gold-bearing 
 
 ord GromtiC fochs- gromfe 
 * 10 dionte 
 
 Oiiro-bosic rocks — 
 chiefly serpentine 
 
 qp Porphyrttic rocks — quorti 
 and hornblende porphyries 
 
 Meto-sedJmcn's Chielly 
 Jl" Moriposo formolion — slote, 
 groywocke, etc 
 
 I Melo-voicontcs Chiefly Log- 
 
 toon Ridge meto-ondesite 
 
 Milton formotion,— luff, red 
 
 J Rm stole, quoriide. limestone, 
 and conglomerate 
 
 MeiQ-volcanics of 
 
 Colaveros lormation — mico- 
 Cc schist, phyllile. quortzite, 
 cloy slate, orgillite, etc 
 
 Coioweros limestone 
 
 Note-Bfank pattern box indicates 
 rock type IS not stiown on map 
 
 MAP 4 
 ALTAVILLE-MOKELUMNE HILL 
 
58 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 look upward 1000 feet hijrher to the two stubs of the severed Table 
 Mountain latite. On the north side may be seen high up on the canyon 
 wall the V-shaped cross-section of the lava-filled channel, cut in granitic 
 rock. Before the uptilting of the Sierra Nevada, this lava occup.ying the 
 sinuous course of what may have been the ancestral Stanislaus River, 
 flowed across this place, then at a much lower elevation. As the Sierra 
 Nevada block was raised and tilted slightly westward, the present newly 
 born Stanislaus River, flowing down the Sierran slope cut and carved 
 a canyoji through the lava and underlying rocks, keeping its course as 
 the Sierran surface rose, and cutting deeply into the granite. Not only 
 is this lava-filled channel cut in two, but also the earlier Columbia 
 channel is bisected. A continuation of this channel which was left just 
 north of Columbia is again encountered on the road as it reaches the old 
 surface after the climb out of the canyon. The road follows along this 
 ancient channel and the edge of the present Coyote Creek canyon at the 
 bottom of which, .300 feet lower in elevation, is a Natural Bridge or 
 remnant of a limestone cave through which the creek now flows. 
 
 Moaning Cave, a limestone cavern privately owned but open to the 
 public, is located on tlie opposite side of Coyote Creek canyon and may 
 be .seen from the road. It is al.so two miles from the junction in Vallecito. 
 
 As one travels west into Angels on Highway 4, the head frames of 
 the Golden River, Vallecito "Western, and Slab Ranch mines are seen to 
 the north of Highway 4. The.se drift mines are now all idle and filled 
 with water. Though the geology of the Tertiary channels is not very well 
 known, it is possible that this Central Hill Channel may be part of the 
 same stream system as the Columbia River Channel which was bisected 
 b}' the Stanislaus River. 
 
 Two-tenths of a mile from the junction of Highways 4 and 49 in 
 Angels Camp the site of the old chlorination plant is located. Chlori- 
 nation was an early day method for recovering gold from concentrates 
 before the process of cyanidation was discovered. 
 
 Two mining districts of considerable interest lie to the west of Alta- 
 ville along Highway 4. Dumps and prospect holes of the Gold Hill pocket 
 mining district can be seen a .short distance to the north of the road. The 
 Wagon Rut mine was the best known of the Gold Hill mines. The head- 
 frame of the Belmont-O.sborne mine is situated half a mile southwest of 
 the Gold Hill group and can also be seen from the road. 
 
 Several interesting sidelights on the wildlife of the vicinity may be 
 observed along the Copperopolis route. Telephone poles and fence posts 
 are riddled by the acorn studded holes of California woodpeckers. The 
 fence posts are further burdened by the carcasses of dozens of predatory 
 animals -tvhich the ranchers have trapped or otherwise disposed of. It 
 seems to be a custom of the country to exhibit "varmints "in this fashion. 
 No less than 34 coyotes and three bobcats were strung on consecutive 
 
 fence posts within a two-mile stretch on the authors' last trip through 
 that country ! 
 
 The Copperopolis copper mining district 12 miles southwest of Alta- 
 ville was a major producer through both World Wars but has been idle 
 much of the time between war periods. The North Keystone, Empire, and 
 Keystone-Union are the principal mines of the district and are all located 
 in town within a short di.stance of each other. The Copperopolis mines 
 were discovered in 1861 and for several years thereafter were the prin- 
 cipal producers of California copper. The upper parts of the ore bodies 
 were very rich and the T'nion and Keystone mines paid huge dividends. 
 The Copperopolis mines are on a fault .system as are the Mother Lode gold 
 mines, but the Copperopolis mines carry little gold and lack the cpiartz- 
 carbonate gangue of the Mother Lode veins. The ore is of simple sulfide 
 type, principally pyrite and chalcopyrite and is exceptionally free of base 
 metallic elements other than copper. The ma.ssive sulfides pass into 
 pyritic or chalcopyritic slate at peripheries of the ore .slioots. The ore 
 bodies lie in a narrow belt of hydrothermally-altered black .slate of the 
 Mariposa formation with Logtown Ridge meta-andesite agglomerate on 
 either side. Dikes of diorite cut the Logtown Ridge in many places near 
 Copperopolis paralleling the strike of the bedded rocks. 
 
 The town of Copperopolis, located in the center of Salt Springs 
 Valley, has but few buildings remaining. The red brick 1. 0.0. P. Hall, 
 originally built in 1862 as a church, is one of the few still in a good state 
 of preservation. A Mr. McCarty had mined and farmed in Salt Springs 
 Valley as early as 18.52 and had prospected the copper veins for gold. 
 Finding no gold, he paid no further attention to the copper deposits 
 until he returned with two others in 1861 and helped to found Copper- 
 opolis. The history of Copperopolis has been one of periods of great 
 activity interspersed with periods of virtual abandonment. The copper 
 district is currently idle because of high operating costs. 
 
 North from Altaville there is little of geologic interest along the 
 highway until Calaveritas Creek is reached. The gently rolling grazing 
 land is probably much like the ancestral Eocene land surface. Remnants 
 of auriferous gravels can be seen to the east of the road particularly 
 between Calaveritas Creek and San Andreas. The bedrock is schist and 
 greenstone of the Calaveras formation. In several places along Calaveritas 
 Creek, both southeast.and southwest of San Andreas, limestone lenses 
 occur in the Calaveras which are suitable for use in making Portland 
 cement. Although parts of the leases are dolomitie and carry too high a 
 magnesia content for cement, excellent bodies of cement-grade limestone 
 occur in them and are being exploited at the present time. The Calaveras 
 Cement Company has a large plant situated a short distance west of 
 Highway 49, 2i miles south of San Andreas. The company allows visitors 
 at its plant which is well worth going through. Historic Kentucky House 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AXD NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 59 
 
 Fig. 2o. Aerial view uf part of the Calaveras Cement Company plant southwest of San 
 Andreas. Photo by courtesy of A. B. Parsons. Calaveras Cement Co. 
 
60 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 26. Quarrying operation in one of the limestone pits of the Calaveras 
 Cement Company near San Andreas. Photo by courtesy of A. B. Parnons, Calaveras 
 Cement Co. 
 
GEOLOGIC ilAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGITSVAY 49— BOWEX AND CRIPPEX 
 
 61 
 
 is located near by. The plant can be reached by two different roads 
 eonnectinfr with Highway 49 close to San Andreas. A private road and 
 overpass which connects the plant to its eastern limestone quarries crosses 
 Highway 49 at the Calaveritas Creek bridge. 
 
 San Andreas, as the name implies, was first settled by Spanish Cali- 
 fornian miners prior to the advent of the Yankee. As usual they were 
 persecuted and driven out of town whereas other minority groups such 
 as the Chinese were allowed to remain. Present day San Andreas is an 
 attractive town, more or less t.vpical of the Mother Lode, and full of old 
 buildings dating from as early as 1851. Division of Highwa.vs Historical 
 Marker 222 stands at the corner of Highways 49 and 12, Highway 12 con- 
 nects with the old towns of Railroad Flat and Westpoint to the northeast 
 of San Andreas. As county seat of Calaveras County. San Andreas 
 boasts both the County Courthouse and Count.v iluseum. The museum 
 occupies one of the best preserved, oldest buildings in town and contains 
 rocks, minerals, artifacts. Indian handcraft, and miscellaneous objects 
 and manuscripts of historical interest. 
 
 Proceeding northward from San Andreas, Highway 49 traverses four 
 miles of rolling grazing land of no particular geologic interest. The head- 
 frame and buildings of the Kate Hageman mine are located near the 
 bridge which crosses the North Fork of the Calaveras River, 2.2 miles 
 northwest of San Andreas. The Kate Hageman was developed during the 
 1930 's and considerable modern mill e<juipment was installed. Both 
 opencut and underground mining has been attempted there. The mine 
 has been idle for some time. Wall rocks are greenstone and slate; a 
 serpentine contact is close b,v to the west. The creek bottoms near the 
 Kate Hageman have been worked for placer gold. 
 
 Two miles northwest of the Kate Hageman mine, a rather extensive 
 group of Tertiary deposits is exposed on both sides of the highwa.v from 
 the vicinity of Chili Gulch to ilokelumne Hill. The ancient Mokelumne 
 Hill river channel once traversed this region in a southwesterly direction 
 and was joined, in the Chili Gulch vicinity, by a tributary which entered 
 from the direction of San Andreas. Remnants of the old channel gravels 
 have been extensively worked for gold b.v hydraulic and other placer 
 means. The lofty faces of the hydraulic pits are not visible from Highway 
 49 but some of the gravels are exposed in road cuts east of Chili Gulch. 
 The gravels lie nonconformably on schists and greenstones of the Cala- 
 veras formation and are overlain b.v the rhvolite tuff of the Valle.v Springs 
 formation and the andesite and andesite gravels of the Mehrten formation 
 in that order. Unconformities exist between the Valley Springs and 
 Mehrten and even within the Mehrten itself. The Valley Springs is 
 probably Miocene and the Mehrten is probabl.v Pliocene at least in part. 
 Cliffed outcrops of yellowish-gra.v tuff of the Valley Springs forma- 
 tion are prominent in manv places along the Mokelumne grade. Expo- 
 sures of the Mehrten can best be seen a short di.stance west of the town of 
 
 Mokelumne Hill along Highway 8. A quarter of a mile south of the 
 Calaveras Crystal mine, the Calaveras bedrock has been intruded b.v 
 diorite. Dioritic rocks form the basement on which the Tertiary rests 
 over a large area in the vicinity of Mokelumne Hill. 
 
 The Calaveras Crystal is a drift mine driven beneath the Valley 
 Springs rhyolite opposite the Chile Creek placer diggings. It can be 
 reached via dirt road from Highway 49, the road joining Highway 49 
 from the east at a point 6.5 miles from San Andreas or 2.5 miles from 
 Mokelumne Hill. The mine is on a branch of the Mokelumne Hill channel 
 system known as the Tunnel Hill channel. The large quartz crystals which 
 have made the mine famous are partly of optical and electronic grade. 
 Considerable quartz for this purpose was marketed during the recent war 
 emergenc.v. Crvstals weighing as much as 100 pounds each have been 
 taken from the Calaveras Crystal. An adjoining mine on the McSorley 
 Ranch operated by the Rough Diamond Mining Company also produced 
 considerable quantities of optical-grade quartz. Although not so well 
 known as the Calaveras Crystal, reserves of quartz crystals in this mine 
 appear to be greater than those of its more famous neighbor, 
 
 Jlokelumne Hill was founded in 1848 by ex-members of Stevensons 
 Regiment of ilexican war fame. A stone historical monument ei-ected by 
 the Native Daughters of the Golden West is located clo.se to the three 
 story I.O.O.F. building. The latter building was erected in 1854 and 
 added to in 1861 and is the tirst three story building in the Mother Lode 
 country. Jlokelumne Hill and Jackson once engaged in a feud over the 
 problem of which town should get the honor of being count.v seat. Origi- 
 nally, Double Springs, some miles to the west of Mokelumne Hill, had 
 acted as county seat until rapidl.v growing Mokelumne Hill claimed the 
 honor. Jackson finall.v '"seceded" from Calaveras County and formed a 
 count.v and county seat all its own. now Amador County. The present 
 Amador-Calaveras County line follows the course of the Mokelumne 
 River in this area. San Andreas is now the count.v seat of Calaveras 
 County. Highways 5 and 8 cross 49 at Mokelumne Hill, Highwaj- 8 con- 
 tinuing on to the east to mining districts in the vicinity of TVestpoint. 
 
 Near the junction of Highwa.\s 8 and 49, a group of underground 
 rooms and quarries, from which rhyolite tuff building stone was taken, 
 can be observed. Mokelumne Hill was fortunate in having so satisfactory 
 a source of building material so close at hand. 
 
 Roadcuts to the west of Mokelumne Hill along Highway 8 afforded 
 closeup views of the late Tertiary volcanic sequence. Three miles from 
 the junction of 8 and 49, a long cut exposes the trace of a low-angle thrust 
 fault which cuts both the schist bedrock and the overlying Mehrten rocks. 
 This is an unusual type of post-Pliocene faulting for this area, although 
 the fault is probably not of major extent. The trace of this same fault 
 can be seen in the undercut face of one of the volcanic plugs to be seen 
 on the south side of the road three-tenths of a mile farther west. This 
 
62 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 group of plufrs, of which there are three besides the Golden Gate plug 
 considerably farther west, are made up of a rock described as hornblende 
 andesite. These supposedly are the vents from which the Mehrten vol- 
 canics were derived. 
 
 MOKELUMNE HILL TO PLYMOUTH— MAP 5 
 
 Between Mokelumne Hill and the canyon of the Mokelumne River 
 the terrain is hilly. The Tertiary gravel and volcanic series has largely 
 been .stripped off and the tributaries of the Mokelumne have badly dis- 
 sected the old Eocene surface. West from town. Jackson Butte, a lofty 
 volcanic plug, stands out above the other hills. Far beyond and to the 
 northwest the metal water tank of the Argonaut mine can be seen on the 
 ridge top. The bedrock along the highway is diorite and related plutonics 
 until well beyond the Mokelumne River. A few gravel remnants outcrop 
 near the road within sight of Mokelumne Hill. 
 
 One and four-tenths miles north of the Mokelumne River bridge the 
 road passes through a thick series of tuffaceous gravels which are part 
 of the placer ground of the Butte City mining district. The site of Butte 
 City can be located by the ruins of the Butte Store and State Division of 
 Highways Historical Marker 39. Beyond Butte City 1.3 miles, an oiled 
 road turns to the west which connects with the old placer camp of Mid- 
 dle Bar on the Mokelumne River about four miles from Butte City. The 
 bridge which now crosses the Mokelumne is about at the old site. The 
 river bottom is now flooded most of the year by the waters backed up 
 behind Pardee Dam. Little Bar is commemorated by State Division of 
 Highways Historical Marker 36. A mile farther north, a road from 
 Clinton leads off to the east. The Clinton mining district is on the East 
 Belt close to the granodiorite contact. The Clinton Consolidated and 
 Clinton Bar are the best known lode mines of the district. Clinton was 
 a placer district before the lode mines were developed. State Division of 
 Highways Historical Marker 37 marks the turnoff to Clinton. 
 
 The dumps and mine buildings of the Zeila mine are located close 
 to Highway 49, six-tenths of a mile south of Jackson. The Zeila was first 
 opened in the ISHO's, was closed down during the latter half of the 70 's 
 and was a heavy producer from 1880 to 1914. The mine has an inclined 
 shaft w'hich is 1700 feet deep along an incline of 65° average dip. The 
 ore occurs in Cjuartz stringers in a gouge composed of decomposed rocks 
 of several t,vpes. The veins lie on the contact of Calaveras slate and 
 schist and greenstones of uncertain age. One drift is over 3000 feet long. 
 Total production of the Zeila has been more than $5,000,000. 
 
 Northward from the Zeila mine to the vicinity of Plymouth, a dis- 
 tance of about 12 miles, the Mother Lode has produced gold far in excess 
 of $160,000,000. This is by far the richest yield recorded along the Mother 
 Lode for any sector of equal length, and is exceeded in California, in 
 total gold produced, only by the Grass Valley district of Nevada County. 
 
 The geology of this highly productive strip is complicated both in struc- 
 ture and in lithologic similarities, and there are many diverse interpre- 
 tations of the geology by those currently at work there. Most of the pro- 
 ductive mines are on a branch of the Mother Lode thrust fault system 
 known locally as the Gold Thrust. The main Mother Lode fault which lies 
 about a mile to the east of the Gold Thrust is nonproductive along this 
 .sector. The strike of these two faults is roughly N. 30° W. and parallels 
 the regional trend of the structure for the most part. Other faults of 
 similar type and trend occur several miles to the west of Jackson arid 
 are undoubtedly other branches of the Mother Lode system. The Jurassic 
 sediments and metavolcanics in this area are badly deformed into a series 
 of tight, overturned, isoclinal folds which have been further complicated 
 by the several thrust faults mentioned above. 
 
 Jackson, the county seat of Amador County, is a vigorous, modern 
 town combining the old with the new. Many of its old buildings have had 
 their faces lifted so that one would hardly recognize their true vintage. 
 Jackson bears the name of Colonel Alden Jackson who has also been 
 honored by having the Tuolumne County town of Jacksonville named 
 for him. The towai dates from at least 1849 and probabl.v before. Botilleas, 
 the original name for the site, indicates that, like many other gold cajnps, 
 Spanish Californians were the original settlers. Jackson is very proud of 
 its one-time Congressman, benefactor, and native son, Anthony Cami- 
 netti, who did a great deal for Jackson and for Amador County in gen- 
 eral. A monument to his memory has been erected beside Highway 49 
 immediately north of the business district. 
 
 Jackson Gate is a small town located 1.5 miles north of Jackson and 
 reached via paved road from either Jackson or Martell. Although small, 
 Jackson Gate is picturesque and is the possessor of a group of very 
 interesting relics of the past mining ventures. To the north and east of 
 town are several huge wheels which were built in 1902 to raise tailings, 
 or mill wa.ste, from the ground level of the Kennedy mine, situated a half 
 mile to the west, to the summit of a ridge be.vond which la.v the tailings 
 disposal dump. Although partly dismantled, the \v-heels were once 
 equipped with a circle of 176 buckets, a belt drive, and an electric motor 
 each. The.v were 68 feet in diameter and raised the tailings a vertical 
 distance of 48 feet each. The tailings elevators connected gravity flumes 
 in which the tailings flowed from mill to dump. Sheet metal buildings 
 once housed each wheel but these have been removed. 
 
 Two of the greatest mines on the Mother Lode are located slightly 
 more than a mile northwest of Jackson. These were exceedingly large 
 operations both above and below ground and are famous landmarks 
 along Highway 49. The Kennedy, with its loft.v headframe and huge 
 sheet-iron-enclosed mill, lies a short distance to the east of Highway 49. 
 The original Kennedy claim was located in 1856 and has since b^en 
 consolidated with several others. It was a minor working until 1871 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG fflGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEX 
 
 63 
 
 to Placer villi 
 
 MAP 5 
 MOKELUMNE HILL-PLYMOUTH 
 
 (r 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 z 
 
 K 
 
 
 
 
 UJ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 > 
 
 
 
 O' 
 
 
 4 
 
 7! 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LU 
 
 
 
 t- 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 w. 
 
 
 
 
 '■-V •':■'* 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 
 Nv 
 
 
 
 
 
 UJ 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 ^- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 § 
 
 f . ' ' ■ 
 
 '■ 
 
 
 Jurassic 
 
 
 ona/or 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Jurassic 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 t) 
 
 "^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 _-_3r^: 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 «I 
 
 
 
 
 *o 
 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 
 Oal Aiiuvii 
 
 Qm Giociol moraines 
 
 Andesite breccio ond conglom- 
 Tv erale includes bosoM ond 
 Table Min lotMe 
 
 Tvr Rhyoii'e lull ond osh 
 
 Old r.wer deposits Chieflj 
 Tg Eocene quodz growets, 
 qold-beor.nq 
 
 grd 
 
 Gronilic focks-qrontle 
 to diorile 
 
 Ultro-bOSiC rocks — 
 ^ chielly serpentine 
 
 QP Porphyfihc rochs — quartz 
 (^ ond tiornblende porphyries 
 
 Meto-sediments Ctiieliy 
 JTI Moriposo formotion-slole. 
 groywacke, etc 
 
 , Meto-volconics Ct>ielly Log- 
 
 town Ridge mela-ondesite 
 
 Milton formolion— tufi, red 
 J"Rm sloie. quortzite. limestone, 
 and conglomeroie 
 
 Meio-volcamcs of 
 mv 
 
 uncerlom age 
 
 Coloveros formotion— rnico- 
 Cc scfiist. phyiiiie, quartzite, 
 cloy slo'e.ofqiiiite, etc 
 
 Coloveras limestone 
 
 Note- Blank pattern box indicates 
 rock type is not shown on map 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS 
 ■ Lode ond dnft mines 
 A Plocer ond hydroulic (hyd) 
 (Mine nances in red) 
 «*:^ Highwoy 49 
 [TTl Histoncol markers 
 *^ Town buildings ond roods 
 
 -h 
 
 to Mokelumnt Hill 
 
 ^ 
 
64 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 and had an inactive period between 1875 and 1885. From that time until 
 final closing; in 1942, the mine was operated continuously and on a major 
 scale. Tlie Kennedy was worked largrely through vertical shafts to a 
 vertical depth of 5912 feet, making it the deepest gold mine in the United 
 States. There are approximately 150 miles of underground workings 
 as well as extensive surface equipment which once included the Jackson 
 Gate elevator wheels and the miles of flumes connected with them. A 
 fair cross section of the history of gold mining and milling equipment 
 may be gleaned from past reports of the Kennedy operations. The work- 
 ings are in Mariposa slate and Logtown Kidge metavolcanics. Minerals 
 described from the Kennedy include gold, quartz, pyrite, galena, fluor- 
 apatite, strengite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, ankerite, and other car- 
 bonates. The total production of the Kennedy mine calculated on the 
 present price of gold is $45,000,000. Recalculated to fit various price 
 changes in gold, the production figure is approximately $34,280,000. The 
 Kennedy has been idle since 1942. 
 
 The Argonaut mine, across Highway 49 to the northwest of the 
 Kenned.v, can be located for many miles in all directions by its lofty 
 water tank. It was first worked in 1850 but had only been developed to 
 a depth of 150 feet by 1876. Except for two one-year periods, when 
 operations were suspended because of fires, the Argonaut operated con- 
 tinuously from 1893 to 1942. The veins are largely continuations of those 
 on the Kennedy property and the geology is similar. The mine was 
 worked through inclined shafts to a depth of 6300 feet along the dip or 
 5570 feet vertically. There are eight miles of drifts, crosscuts and tun- 
 nels, four miles of raises, and 50 miles of stope floors. The total pro- 
 duction of the Argonaut to the end of 1943 was $25,179,160. The most 
 recent operators of the Argonaut dissolved their organization in Feb- 
 ruary 1948. The mine has been idle since 1943. 
 
 Martell, situated two miles northwest of Jackson, is the terminus 
 of the Amador Central Railroad. In addition to its railroad facilities, 
 Martell boasts a lumber mill and curing yard. The logs are fed to the mill 
 from an artificial pond. Trucks bring the logs to the pond from timber- 
 lands higher in the mountains. 
 
 The old Oneida mine was situated close to the northeast of the 
 present site of Martell. Only the mine dumps mark the site, the Oneida 
 having been idle since 1913. It was one of the richest of the early-day lode 
 mines, ore averaging as high as $40 a ton in the early 1860 's. The Oneida 
 has a 2280 foot vertical shaft and several shallower inclined shafts. An 
 inclined winze sunk 250 feet from the 2280 foot level gives a total vertical 
 depth to the mine of about 2500 feet. The total production of the Oneida 
 is something in excess of $2,500,000. 
 
 Three very productive mines are located near the junction of High- 
 ways 49 and 108 about a mile north of Martell. These are the South 
 Eureka. Central Eureka, and Old Eureka. Headframes of the latter two 
 
 can be seen from Highway 49. The South Eureka located southeast of the 
 Highway 108 intersection, was discovered at an early date but was not 
 developed until 1891. Much of the development and maintenance of this 
 mine has been integrated with operations in the Central Eureka as has 
 the Old Eureka, since 1924. The South Eureka has been worked to a depth 
 of 4100 feet and has produced gold to the amount of $5,300,000. 
 
 The Central Eureka, located north of the South Eureka across 
 Highway 108, was discovered in 1855 and was called the Summit mine 
 in its early da.ys. It had a small production prior to 1865 but major 
 exploitation took place after 1896. The Central Eureka and Old Eureka 
 are among the few Mother Lode mines which have survived wartime 
 limitations on gold mining and the rising cost of operation. A great deal 
 of credit is due the present management for being able to remain in opera- 
 tion when other large workings such as the Argonaut and Kennedy have 
 been forced to close down. The Central Eureka shaft is 4965 feet deep 
 along an average dip of 70° or about 4650 feet deep vertically. The wall 
 rocks are Mariposa slate and graywacke and greenstone of the Cosumnes 
 and Logtown Ridge members of the Amador group, all of Jurassic age. 
 Authorities disagree on the early production of the Central and Old 
 Eureka mines, but the best available production figure for the Central 
 Eureka is $17,000,000. 
 
 The Old Eureka mine is located a half mile north of the Central 
 Eureka headframe in the outskirts of Sutter Creek. It is an early day 
 consolidation of the Eureka and Badger claims and had a very high 
 earh'-da.v production. The Old Eureka was first opened in 1852. Workings 
 have been developed to an inclined depth of 3500 feet. A wide variation 
 in early-day production figures exists in various published reports on 
 the Old Eureka. The most probable compilation of figures indicates a 
 total production of about $17,400,000 for this mine. 
 
 The town of Sutter Creek was named after John A. Sutter who first 
 visited the region in 1846 and mined there in 1848. Sutter Creek is a 
 rather harmonious blend of older frame and recent stucco buildings 
 nestled among low hills. A continuous row of gold quartz claims located 
 along the Gold Thrust passes through the heart of Sutter Creek. Aside 
 from the aforementioned Eureka group south of Sutter Creek, the most 
 productive mines in this vicinity were the Wildman, Mahoney, and 
 Lincoln now grouped together under the name Lincoln Consolidated. 
 These mines were discovered about 1851 and were worked both separately 
 and together at various times throughout their hi.story. The Lincoln 
 .shaft, which was the deepest of the three, was sunk on an average angle 
 of 63° to a depth of 2000 feet, giving a vertical depth of about 1760 feet. 
 Ore bodies of mines between Sutter Creek and Amador City are mainly 
 at the fault contact of Mariposa slate and Logtown Ridge meta-andesite. 
 North of the AVildman, the veins were as wide as 45 feet near the surface. 
 Combined production of the Wildman and Mahoney was slightly less than 
 $5,000,000 ; the Lincoln is credited with $2,200,000 in gold. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AXD NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 65 
 
 An interesting side trip to the old placer and hydraulic mining 
 center of Volcano can be made via good paved road east from Sutter 
 Creek. The Volcano placers were discovered early in the 1850 's and the 
 town soon boasted a population of over 5000. The drive up Sutter Creek 
 canyon is scenic and the town of Volcano, although partly in ruins, 
 retains much of its early-day color. In common with Murphys and Colum- 
 bia, Volcano has not been modernized. There are several limestone caves 
 in the vicinity. 
 
 Amador City. 2.2 miles northwest of Sutter Creek, is the locus of 
 another group of rich mines. The Amador Creek placers were located 
 in 1848 but were never very ricli, and it was not until the first lode gold 
 strike in 1851 that Amador City begin to grow. Amador City has much 
 the same setting and background as Sutter Creek which it resembles in 
 many ways. Strangely enough, a Baptist minister made the initial dis- 
 covery in Amador County, which was first known as the Minister's 
 claim. Later it was developed into the Original Amador mine. 
 
 The Original Amador, now a consolidation of six claims is a very 
 complex working comprising over nine miles of drifts, crosscuts, and 
 raises. These open off from a 1238-foot inclined shaft. Estimated total 
 production for this mine is $3,500,000. The Original Amador is located 
 about a fourth of a mile northeast of town. 
 
 Best kno^vn and most productive of the Amador City mines is the 
 Keystone, located southeast of town. It dates from 1853. being a con- 
 solidation of several pre-existing claims. Ore from these had been milled 
 in arrastres from 1861 to 1863. The main shaft is 2680 feet deep along 
 an average incline of 52°. ilueh of the ore taken from this mine was of 
 sulfarsenide or sulfautimonide t^-pe which is somewhat unusual among 
 Mother Lode ores. The total production of the Keystone is about $24,- 
 500.000. 
 
 Immediately to the east of the Keystone is the South Spring Hill 
 mine, located in 1851. The South Spring Hill shaft is 1200 feet deep along 
 a 60° incline. Before pas.sing into the hands of the Keystone interests in 
 1920, the mine had been credited with a production of $1,092,472. 
 
 Highway 49 turns west at Amador City and follows along Amador 
 Creek for over a mile before turning north toward Drjlown. The road 
 . cuts are all in meta-andesite of the Logtown Ridge formation. A thick 
 section of this formation is exposed along this sector of the highway. 
 
 Dr>-town was founded in the spring of 1848 when rich placer ground 
 was discovered there. Its hej'dey was prior to 1857 before the placer 
 diggings became exhausted. Drj"town claims the distinction of being the 
 discovery point of the first placer gold taken from Amador County. 
 Division of Highways Historical Marker 21 is located near the junction 
 of Highway 49 and the Drytown-New Chieago-Amador City road. The 
 latter is paved and is an alternate route from Amador City to Drytown. 
 
 Along this road are the old mining camps of New Chicago and New 
 Philadelphia and the productive Gover. Bunker Hill, Fremont. Italian, 
 and Treasure mines. The former two are credited with producing over 
 $5,000,000 e^ch. Such picturesque names as Lower Rancheria. Bloody 
 Gulch. Rattlesnake Gulch, and Murderer's Gulch are connected with 
 placering in this vicinity. 
 
 Highway 49 merges with Highway 16. 1.2 miles northwest of Dry- 
 town and bends sharply to the east for half a mile before continuing 
 northward into Plymouth. The historj- of Plymouth is connected with 
 the ups and downs of the lode mines nearby, which same were discovered 
 in 1852. The Ph-mouth Consolidated mine is the most famous one in this 
 vicinity. Like most other large Mother Lode mines, the Ph-mouth Con- 
 solidated is a merger of many old claims. At least 16 claims or parts thereof 
 were consolidated into the one property. Most of the ore is reported to 
 have come from the Simpson. Aden, and Oaks claims. The deepest part 
 of the mine is at least 4450 feet deep along a shaft which is partly 
 vertical and partly inclined. Although the veins are on a continuation 
 of the same Gold Thrust on which the Amador City and Sutter Creek 
 mines are located, the wall rocks in the Plymouth Consolidated are con- 
 fined to Mariposa slate. The total production of the mine has been esti- 
 mated at more than $13,500,000. The Plymouth Consolidated is the 
 most northerly of the major mines of the Mother Lode. Above Pl\-mouth, 
 the veins contain much more limited ore shoots and finally fray out into 
 stringer lodes or veiulet stockworks. The workings in Georgetown. Garden 
 Valley. Greenwood, and Spanish Diggings are of this type. 
 
 The old placer mining camp of Fiddletown can be reached by a 
 paved road leading east from Plymouth. Fiddletown was settled by Mis- 
 sourians in 1849. The somewhat picturesque name was changed to Oleta 
 in 1878 and stiU appears as such on most maps. 
 
 PLYMOUTH TO PLACERViLLE— MAP 6 
 
 Northbound from Plymouth. Highway 49 changes its northwesterly 
 trend and goes almost due north for 12 miles. Over much of this distance 
 the road lies in a narrow valley close to the watercourses of Big Indian 
 Creek and the North Fork of the Cosumnes River. A mile above the old 
 mining camp of Nashville, the highway crosses Logtown Ridge and drops 
 into Logtown Ravine. The latter opens out onto low rolling meadowland 
 in the vicinity of El Dorado. The land surface from Logtown Ravine on 
 to Plaeerville has been resurrected by Quaternary erosion and the present 
 topography is much as it was in late Cretaceous or early Eocene time. 
 Bright red deeply weathered areas of the bedrock series and remnants of 
 Tertiary gravels are evidence of the transformation. 
 
 The Amador Star and Bay State mines are in the vicinity of the 
 Enterprise schoolhouse. four miles north of Plymouth. These are located 
 on the west side of the highway and close to it. They are 40 years younger 
 
66 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 than the mines below Amador City and are much less extensive. Produc- 
 tion has been intermittent and unspectacular. 
 
 A mile farther north, Highway 49 crosses the Cosumnes River and 
 Amador-El Dorado County line. The Cosumnes branches into two forks 
 just above this spot, the South Pork cuttinjr immediately acro.ss the ridge 
 to the east and the North Fork flowing north for several miles parallel 
 to the highway. West of the Cosumnes River bridge, also known as Huse 
 Bridge, the river flows in a deep canyon cut through Logtown Ridge. 
 A hike of a few miles down this canyon is well worth the geologist 's time. 
 Along the stream bed are exposed type sections of two members of the 
 Amador group, the Logtown Ridge meta-andesite agglomerate and the 
 Cosumnes nieta-sediments composed of conglomeratic, sandy, and tutfa- 
 eeous beds. 
 
 Two miles north of the CosumnesRiverbridge is the old mining camp 
 of Nashville or Quartzburg. The site of Nashville was originally an old 
 Indian camping spot or rancheria, and the mining camp was one of the 
 first lode camps in the .state. The Tennes.see-Nashville mine, also known 
 as the Havilah. claims to have operated the first stamp mill in California, 
 and ore from the mine was crushed in arrastres previous to that time. 
 The Tennessee-Nashville was the first lode mine in El Dorado County and 
 one of the first in the state. The stamp mill was manufactured in Cincin- 
 nati and brought around the Horn. Known production for the Tennessee- 
 Nashville is in excess of $231,000 but there are no records for several 
 periods of activity. The mine is about 1000 feet deep. 
 
 North of the Tennessee-Nashville a distance of 1..3 miles are the 
 dumps of the Montezuma mine. The Montezuma had considerable elab- 
 orate etpiipment at the site in the 1930 "s but this has since been removed. 
 The Jlontezuma has a history similar to that of the Tennessee-Nashville 
 with which much of the development work has been connected. Imme- 
 diately north of the Montezuma mine the old and historic Kings Store 
 road leads off to the northeast. This road connects with the Red Bird, 
 Union, Martinez, and Crusader mines which are along Martinez Creek. 
 The Union is credited with being the largest producer in El Dorado 
 County. Incomplete production figures indicate a vield in excess of 
 $2,700,000. 
 
 Two mines, the Pocahontas and the Ophir, are located in Logtown 
 Ravine close to Highway 49 between two and three miles southwest of 
 El Dorado. They are of interest to geologi.sts because the veins are on the 
 contact of Logtown Ridge meta-andesite and a quartz porphyry and may 
 not be related to the Mother Lode. The quartz porphyry is closely asso- 
 ciated with granodiorite in this locality and is either derived from it or 
 intimately intruded by it. The Pocahontas is more than 1000 feet deep 
 along a rather shallow dip of about 45°. 
 
 Two miles south of El Dorado several ruins of old stone buildings 
 can be seen on either side of the highway. The best preserved of these is 
 
 a partly dugout structure half of which is below ground level. A sub- 
 stantial part of the walls are made from granodiorite arrastre stones. 
 Arrastres were used extensively in connection with the mines between 
 Plymouth and Placerville and their partly shaped stones made good 
 building blocks. The arrastre method of grinding ore was borrowed from 
 the Spanish Californians but it is probable that those in the El Dorado 
 district were "Yankee" made. 
 
 El Dorado, originally known as Mud Springs, was a camp on the 
 Carson Emigrant Trail long before gold rush days. The name was 
 changed during the height of the gold rush at the time of the incorpora- 
 tion of the town. Although attractively situated in tlie midst of a lumber- 
 ing, cattle grazing, and gold mining region. El Dorado has never gained 
 the impetus toward growth enjoyed by its near-neighbor Placerville. A 
 sawmill and lime plant are located close to town and many early day 
 buildings, both well preserved and in ruins, can be seen there. 
 
 Diamond Springs is located near one of the richest of the early day 
 placer diggings in the vicinity of Placerville. Like El Dorado, it was an 
 emigrant camp before gold rush days. Both Diamond Springs and 
 El Dorado are to one side of the Highway 50 cross-country route but are 
 served by railroads and are active lumbering towns. 
 
 Placerville was founded in 1848 either by James Marshall or a 
 Cosumnes River rancher named William Daylor. Both were there at 
 different times in the spring of '48. Placerville was known variously as 
 Old Dry Diggin's and Hangtown, but was incorporated as Placerville 
 in 1854. Placerville is probably the largest and most up-to-date town on 
 the Mother Lode, with vast lumber, railroad, and tourist interests. It is 
 served by Highways 49 and 50 and by the Southern Pacific Railroad. 
 The place is filled with old buildings and other spots of historical interest 
 which have been adroitly preserved among the modern structures of the 
 town. Many of the old buildings have been rehabilitated and house many 
 types of business enterprise. Placerville is also ju.stly proud of its new 
 structures such as the County Courthouse building. Pew places in Cali- 
 fornia are as steeped in early-day history as Placerville. Old placer and 
 hydraulic diggings surround the town on all sides and appear within its 
 limits; fine old churches abound; and the pine-covered hills to the east 
 of town form a fitting backdrop. J. M. Studebaker, who later founded an 
 automobile empire, learned his trade in the blacksmith shops of Placer- 
 ville. Although the gold of the vicinity has been largely dissipated, the 
 timber and water resources remain and the county still flourishes. 
 
 In addition to the placer diggings, several lode mines were developed 
 near Placerville. The most successful of these is the Pacific Quartz mine 
 situated on a hill on the south side of town. It ir about 2000 feet deep via 
 vertical and inclined shafts and winzes. The ore is gold-bearing ar.seno- 
 pyrite containing considerable silver. Some ore bodies are in talc schist. 
 The wall rocks are Mariposa slate. There are intrusive bodies of .serpen- 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEX 
 
 67 
 
 MAP 6 
 PLYMOUTH- PLACE RVILLE 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 I Ool ailu.mm 
 
 Qm Giociol mofoioes 
 
 > 
 
 Andesile breccia ond conglo 
 erote Includes basalt and 
 Table Mm latite 
 
 Tvr Rhyoliie tuH and osh 
 
 :%;£«:^ sp 
 
 Ml'. 
 
 Old rtvef deposits Chiefly 
 Eocene quartz qrovels, 
 goid-beorin9 
 
 GroniliC fOChS- qranile 
 lo diorite 
 
 UlUo-bosiC rocks — 
 c^lefl]f serpentine 
 
 Porphynfic rochs — quo'H 
 and hornblende porphyries 
 
 Meta-sed<menis Chiefly 
 Moriposo tormol'On — slate. 
 9roy«oc*e, etc 
 
 Meto-voicar>ics Chietly Loq- 
 tonn Ridge rneto-andestte 
 
 JvnssK [ 
 
 Trios SIC { 
 
 n 
 
 of 3 
 
 ° I 
 o< ?■ 
 
 I Milton (ormolion-tuff, red 
 
 J^m siote, quortme, limesione, 
 J ond conqlomerote 
 
 ]__ Meto-woiconics of 
 
 oncefto>n oqe 
 
 Calaveros formation— mico- 
 Cc schist, phyilite, quartme, 
 cfoy slate, orqiihte. etc 
 
 Is Calaweros limestone 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS FOR 
 BUILDING STONE 
 
 E Adobe 
 
 E Gronite, granodionte 
 
 ^ Greenstone {mefa-andesite} 
 
 E Limestone 
 
 B Rhyohte tuff 
 
 US Schist 
 
 Hlf Serpentine and talc schist 
 
 [ID Slate 
 
 m] Tuffaceous sondstone 
 
 53 Soopstone 
 
 ^ Unclossifred rock 
 
 (S Quorry site 
 
 Note- Blank pattern box indicates 
 rock type is not shown on map 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS 
 ■ Lode ond drift mmes 
 A Placer and hydraulic (hyd) 
 (Mine names in red) 
 2== Highwoy 49 
 U*] Historical markers 
 Jt Town buildings and roads 
 
68 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 tine near by which have been altered to talo-sehist in some places. Such 
 tale and serpentine roeks are exposed near the Safeway Store parking lot 
 on the main street of Plaeerville. The Pacific Quartz mine has a recorded 
 production of $1,486,000. 
 
 PLACERVILLE TO AUBURN— MAP 7 
 
 From Plaeerville. Highway 40 resumes a northwesterly trend and 
 soon leaves the Mother Lode to traverse an area almo.st lacking in lode 
 mines and having but widely scattered placer camps. The relief steadily 
 increases because of the proximity of the many forks and tributaries of 
 the American River. The steeper canyon slopes are heavily wooded and 
 the logged-ofT areas are covered with brush. For about four miles, High- 
 way 49 traverses a bedrock of Mariposa slate. Logtovni Ridge meta- 
 andesite. intrusive quartz porphyry, and Calaveras schist ; beyond that 
 limit the bedrock is granodiorite for a distance of over eleven miles. 
 
 Coloma, site of Marshall's discovery of gold in 1848, lies in a valley 
 traversed by the South Fork of the American River. The gravels from 
 which ilarshall washed the gold which made history are not the old 
 Eocene deposits from which so much placer gold was taken, but rather 
 are reworked Quaternary sands and gravels. The gold found along 
 present day Sierran rivers is derived partly from recent erosion of gold 
 lodes but more generally from recent erosion of pre-existing stream 
 deposits. The timberlands which first interested Marshall have, for the 
 most part, been cut off, the gravels were soon exhausted and Coloma 
 is largely a town of memories. The vicinity of Suffers Mill and the hill 
 which overlooks it to the southwest have been set aside as state parks. 
 On the .south side of town the home of the poet J. Edwin Markham can 
 be seen on the west .side of the main street. Centennial observances have 
 resulted in the erection of many suitable monuments and a local-history 
 museum. 
 
 Downriver a distance of 1.5 miles is the placer camp of Lotus. Lotus 
 was first known as Marshall and then as LTniontown. It once had a 
 population of 2000, but this dwindled to a handful once the placers were 
 cxhau.sted. Two fine old brick structures remain on the site. A paved 
 road connecting Lotus with Shingle Springs and Highway 50 passes 
 through town and at its northern outskirts joins Highway 49. The Stuck- 
 slager mine is located near this road one mile south of Lotus. This pocket 
 mine was unusual in that the gold was associated with the vanadium 
 mica roscoelite. Ro.scoelite is a very rare mineral found in few other 
 places in the United States. It occurred in tine greenish-brown or clove- 
 brown .scales as.sociated with quartz and gold. None has been taken from 
 there for some time. 
 
 Half a mile north of Lotus, a paved road turns northeast from High- 
 way 49 which connects with Garden Vallev. The latter lies in a very 
 
 scenic part of the Mother Lode which will be discussed in later para- 
 graphs. Two and a half miles beyond this junction is the ruin of ileyer's 
 Dance Hall and "Wine Cellar. This local "miners' delight" was built 
 in 1855 and was the scene of many a gay escapade. It has been marked 
 as a historical site by the El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce. 
 
 The Lilyama copper mine is located 5.4 miles northwest of Coloma 
 close to Highway 49 on the north side. The Lilyama is a minor working 
 developed before World War I. It is one of the few contact-metamorphic 
 copper deposits in the Sierran foothills. Copper valiies were in chal- 
 eopyrite a.ssociated with pyrite. magnetite, and a little gold and silver. 
 
 Eight miles beyond Lotus the old landmark Pilot Hill marks the 
 placer diggings and town of that name. Pilot Hill is not on the American 
 River and its diggings were in a remnant of Tertiary gravel which lies 
 on a greenstone bedrock of uncertain age. Fremont and his men were, 
 reputed to be the first "Americanos" to visit the vicinity of Pilot Hill in 
 1844. Mining began there in 1849 but Pilot Hill was principally a 
 jumping-off place for the mines which were higher in tlie mountains. 
 
 Slightly more than four miles north of Pilot Hill is the crossroads 
 known as Cool. This was an earl.y-day placer camp of which almost 
 nothing remains. A garage and gas station are located at the junction of 
 Highway 49 and the Georgetown road. 
 
 The route from Plaeerville to Cool via Garden Valley, Georgetown, 
 and Greenwood is in mo.st respects superior to that traversed by High- 
 way 49 and might well be named an alternate to that highway. The 
 Georgetown turnoff is eight-tenths of a mile from the center of Plaeer- 
 ville and is a well paved, well marked road. The fir.st three miles toward 
 Kelsey and Georgetown lie down a steep side of Big Canyon which is 
 heavily timbered with incense cedar, Douglas spruce, and yellow pine. 
 With the exception of a narrow belt of greenstone and an occasional 
 serpentine intrusion, the basement rocks along this road from Plaeerville 
 to Georgetown are Jurassic meta-sediments, chiefly Maripo.sa slate. The 
 Pacific Minerals Company slate mine is located on the east bank of the 
 American River a short di.stance above the bridge. It is 2.3 miles north 
 of the junction with Highway 49. The slate is mined for roofing granules, 
 the mineral fragments which are used as a wearing surface on asphalt- 
 felt roofing. 
 
 Half a mile from the American River bridge, the road winds up the 
 narrow Kelsey grade which climbs from the bottom of the American 
 River canyOn 1100 feet to the upland around Kelsey. Deeply weathered 
 remnants of the old Eocene surface abound in the Kelsey-Georgetown 
 area. Brilliant red soil and lateritic clays are exposed everywhere and 
 much of the present.land surface is a resurrection of that which existed 
 at the beginning of the Tertiary period. Some of the gravel remnants 
 which lay on this surface proved to be rich in gold. Kelseys Ravine at 
 the present site of Kelsey was one of these. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 69 
 
 Valht 
 
 to Ciamota Spfingi 
 
70 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Kelsey was founded in 1851. Jame.s Marshall's last days were spent 
 there. A building on the property of his Gray Eagle mine once housed a 
 pioneer mu.seum but the exhibits have been moved to Columbia and other 
 places. Only a huge arra.stre-stone remains of the old exhibits once 
 displayed there. The adit of the Gray Eagle lode mine is immediately 
 behind the museum building. It never paid, and Marshall died without 
 ever having a hand in a really successful mining venture. 
 
 North of Kelsey, a distance of 1.4 miles, a road leads off to the east 
 through Spanish Flat and Meadowbrook, ending at Georgetown. Spanish 
 Flat, more recently known as Louisville, was one of a great many placer 
 camps of the vicinity dating from about 1850. The Alhambra and Lost 
 Lode mines are located close to the Louisville road. They are shallow open 
 cut and tunnel workings in stringer lodes. Both are idle. 
 
 Garden Valley, originally named Johntown, is 5.5 miles northwest 
 of Kelsey. Johntown was a placer camp which later became a vegetable 
 growing center, hence the present name. The entire area in which Garden 
 Valley, Spanish Flat, Georgetown, and Greenwood are located is one of 
 the most beautiful landscapes in California and is bound to find increas- 
 ing favor as a recreational region. The broad rolling meadowlands are 
 bordered by flowing streams and beautiful stands of coniferous trees. 
 The primitive area of the Rubicon River northeast of Georgetown is 
 almost untouched by the inroads of man. 
 
 Half a mile beyond Garden Valley, a road to Meadowbrook leads 
 past the Black Oak mine near the Garden Valley school. The Black Oak 
 has been one of the best mines in El Dorado County, having produced 
 over a million dollars in gold. The veins are on the contact of Mariposa 
 slate and greenstone and are the same series as in the Alpine and Beebe 
 mines to the north in Georgetown. The workings are rather shallow but 
 the drifts and crosscuts are extensive. 
 
 Georgetown, 7.3 miles from Garden Valley, looks much as it did in 
 the '50 's. Mining activity there was initiated in 1849 by a party of placer 
 miners from Oregon, and the site was first known as Growlersburg. 
 Several lode mines helped keep the town active after the placers were 
 exhausted. Lumbering and fruit-growing are now the principal activities. 
 The main street has many well preserved buildings such as the Masonic 
 Hall erected in 1852 and the Balsar House dating from 1859. Edwin 
 Markham taught school in Georgetown in the 1880 's. Like those of many 
 other Mother Lode towns, Georgetown's pioneers rallied to the Union 
 side during the Civil War. An armorj' was built in 1862 which is still 
 standing. The El Dorado County Chamber of Commerce has erected 
 suitable historical markers at sites of special interest. The Alpine at the 
 center of town and the Beebe at the northern edge are the best known 
 of the Georgetown mines. The Alpine was first developed in the 1860 's 
 and was extensively worked during the 1930 's. The Beebe is largely a 
 twentieth-century development. Both produced occasional bonanza pay 
 
 streaks but gold values were spotty. The Alpine shaft is less than 500 feet 
 deep ; the Beebe has a large open cut and a 500-foot shaft. 
 
 Five and one-half miles west of Georgetown is the crossroads hamlet 
 of Greenwood which once boasted several wineries and was a supply 
 center for many adjacent placer di.striets. A large lumber yard is the 
 principal activity there now. Numerous placer and hydraulic diggings 
 can be seen along the road between Georgetown and Greenwood. The 
 bedrock is Mariposa slate and greenstone of uncertain age but there are 
 few good exposures because of the deeply weathered nature of the bedrock 
 and the soil mantle. The road is bordered by rank growths of yellow- 
 flowering Spanish broom, an introduced plant. 
 
 A mile north of Greenwood at the Greens Mill road junction are good 
 exposures of well bedded Mariposa slate. The relation of the bedding to 
 the slaty cleavage can easilj- be seen there. A number of small folds within 
 the Mariposa are evident in the road cuts along the Greens Mill road. 
 
 Less than half a mile from Greens Mill junction, a paved road turns 
 off to the north which leads to Spanish Dry Diggin's and ultimately to 
 other old camps on the North Fork of the American River. Spanish Dry 
 Diggin's was discovered by a group of Spaniards inider General Pico in 
 1848. The placer mines were soon superseded b.v the "seam" or stringer- 
 load mines such as the Grit and the Barr. There has been a resumption of 
 mining activity at the Grit or Littycote mine. The Grit had an early 
 production of over $500,000 and the Barr over $300,000. A mass of gold 
 weighing 101 troy ounces was taken from the Grit mine in August 1865. 
 This was donated to the museum of the State Division of Mines in honor 
 of Jules Fricot by his heir Mrs. Marie Fricot Berton and is now on 
 exhibition in the Ferry Building, San Francisco. 
 
 One mile beyond the Greens Mill road junction is a fault contact 
 between Calaveras rocks and serpentine. The Calaveras there is composed 
 of mica schist, chert and basic intrusives such as basalt. Another small 
 body of .serpentine occurs at the Penobscot farm 1.3 miles farther west. 
 From the Penobscot farm west to Cool the basement rocks are mainly 
 Calaveras schist, chert, and meta-basalt and greenstones of doubtful age. 
 These are intruded locally by small bodies of serpentine. The Penobscot 
 farm is a picturesque, well kept property surrounded by orchards and 
 grazing land and is the principal landmark between Greenwood and Cool. 
 
 Resuming the way ug Highway 49 from Cool, the route is through 
 serpentine and then along a narrow limestone belt bounded on both 
 sides by greenstones of uncertain age. An enormous thickness of green 
 meta-volcanics is exposed between the limestone quarries and Auburn. 
 The North Fork of the American River has cut a tremendous gorge into 
 this rock and the exposures in the river bed and the road cuts leading 
 down to it are excellent. This meta-volcanic series may be a northern 
 facies of the Logtowu Ridge meta-volcanics but accurate correlation has 
 not vet been established. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGmVAY i9— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 71 
 
 
 Fig. 27. Chert reef in Calaveras mera-sediments nn Vw,. 2^. 't ,,. i,,i'-r- ii; a ii.-[H>-ir if nil ,,r ^'iarial Fig. 29. Outcrop of Mariposa slate near the Pacific 
 
 the west side of Highway 40. 2.3 miles north of the South moraine on Highway -49 along Sardine Creek northeast of Minerals Company slate quarry north of Placerville, El 
 Fork of Woods Creek, Placer County. Sierra City. Sierra Count>-. Dorado County. 
 
72 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 30. View southwest down the North Fork of the 
 Yuba River in the vicinity of Indian A'alley Camp in Sierra 
 County. 
 
 Fig. iM. Potholed Rrannriiorite heilrock alojig the 
 Sduth Fork of Yuba River close to the Highway 49 bridge, 
 Nevada County. 
 
 Fig. ;i2. Springs and waterfalls emerKing from glacio- 
 tiuvial deposits along Sardine Creek, Sierra County. The 
 falls are close beside Highway 41). 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEX 
 
 73 
 
 A mile and a half north of Cool, a group of limestone quarries can 
 be seen on the north side of the higrhway. Limestone was first quarried and 
 burned there some 40 or 50 years a<ro by the Cave Valley Lime Company. 
 One of the old kilns can be seen close to Hifrhway 49 near the abandoned 
 quarry, a quarter of a mile south of the road turnoff to the main workings. 
 The kiln walls were made of limestone lined with greenstone. Local wood 
 was used to fire t!ie kilns. The present operators of the quarry-, the Cali- 
 fornia Rock and Gravel Company, quarry and crush the limestone for 
 conversion into lump lime but do not produce either lime or cement 
 themselves. 
 
 A mile beyond the limestone quarries, Highway 49 winds down to 
 the bottom of the canyon of the North Fork of the American River. Both 
 branches of the North Fork are deeply incised and transverse profiles 
 appear youthful. However, an aerial view of the course of the river shows 
 a series of broad intrenched meanders indicating that the pattern has 
 been superimposed from an ancestral land .surface and that the V-shaped 
 transverse profile is produced by rejuvenation. Half a mile from the 
 bridge, the junction of the North and Middle Forks of the American may 
 be seen. 
 
 The American River bridge is at the El Dorado-Placer County line. 
 The river is both wide and deep at this point and the effect of deep green 
 water against green rocks is striking. The massive greenstones strike 
 diagonally across the river and have been planed off and polished below 
 high water mark. The railroad bridge and roadbed of the Pacific Portland 
 Cement Company Railroad can be seen close to the highway bridge. 
 This railroad formerly connected the limestone quarries along the Ameri- 
 can River with the Southern Pacific tracks at Auburn. The rails were 
 removed during the last war. Beyond the bridge, the highway begins the 
 ascent up the opposite canyon wall and continues on into Auburn. A new 
 all-steel-and-concrete bridge has been recently completed to replace the 
 old wood-and-steel structure. 
 
 Auburn, county seat of Placer County, was founded in 1848 as a 
 rich placer mining camp. Present day Auburn consists of Old Auburn, 
 with its "roaring '.50 's" look and numerous historical spots, and New 
 Auburn, a modern up-to-date town. Auburn is one of few towns which 
 have acted as county seat of two counties. Before Placer County was 
 created from a portion of Sutter County in 1851, Auburn acted as county 
 seat of Sutter County. Auburn has always been a transportation center 
 and large lumber and cattle interests have long been connected with it. 
 The De Witt army hospital is located north of town. Highway 40, which 
 connects with Reno and other transcontinental points passes through. 
 Auburn and it is served by the Southern Pacific Railroad. 
 
 Three miles west of Auburn near Highway 40 is the Ophir mining 
 district. Ophir, first known as Spanish Corral, was one of the main placer 
 camps of Auburn ravine and has since been the main gold-quartz mining 
 
 center of Placer County. Although little is left of the town, the orchard 
 and vineyard landscape is attractive. 
 
 Six miles northea.st of Auburn at Hotaling, near Clipper Gap. one 
 of the earliest iron mining operations in California was located. Clipper 
 Gap and Hotaling can be reached via Highway 20 east from Auburn. 
 The Hotaling iron mine was located in 1857 but no ore was shipped until 
 1869. The deposit was in the form of lenses at the contact of granodiorite 
 and a metamorphic .series of probable Paleozoic age. The ore minerals 
 were magnetite and hematite containing from 40 percent to 65 percent 
 iron. A blast furnace was operated on the property between 1880 and 
 1885 using charcoal made localh' and limestone mined near by. It pro- 
 duced thirty to thirty-five tons of pig iron daily. Although red and 
 yellow oeher were shipped from the vicinity in the late 1920 's for mineral 
 paint, no attempt to exploit the lower grade ores for their iron content 
 has been made since the turn of the century. 
 
 AUBURN TO NORTH SAN JUAN— MAP 8 
 
 Between Auburn and the Bear River, Highway 49 traverses rolling 
 open gra.ssland broken here and there by patches of brush and scrub 
 trees. The somewhat monotonous landscape to the north of Auburn gives 
 no inkling of the splendid scenery soon to be in evidence from Grass Val- 
 ley to the end of Highway 49. The bedrock between Auburn and Grass 
 Valley is mainly green meta-volcanics of doubtful age which have been 
 intruded by irregular bodies of serpentine and by basic dikes of several 
 types. Between the forks of Dry Creek a narrow belt of Calaveras meta- 
 sediments begins which rather closely parallels Highway 49. on its west 
 side, as far north as Rattlesnake Creek. The Calaveras rocks are mainly 
 mica schist, chert, and limestone. There are large granodiorite intrusions 
 near Grass Valley and the bedrock from Nevada City to North San Juan 
 is principally of plutonic igneous rock approaching granodiorite in aver- 
 age composition. All the Quaternary- stream and bench gravels have been 
 worked for gold. Tertiary deposits are absent between Auburn and Grass 
 Valley along the route of Highway 49. There are no mines of any conse- 
 quence south of the Grass Valley district of which the Bullion claim of 
 the Idaho-Maryland Mines Company, Ltd., is the southernmost member. 
 
 Highway 49 crosses the Bear River and the Placer-Nevada County 
 line 8.7 miles north of Auburn. The vicinity of the Bear River bridge is 
 of considerable geologic interest and is an attractive spot for fishing 
 enthusiasts and pleasure seekers. A major thrust fault diagonally cro.sses 
 the Highway in a NW-SE direction and the crumpled rocks along its 
 trace are an interesting study. West of the bridge along the eastern bank 
 of the river, the sheared and crumpled meta-volcanics are, in places, a 
 lattice-work of silica-carbonate veinlets. Discontinuous, irregular bodies 
 
74 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 of serpentine appear along the contact, and the crumpled volcanics 
 include frafrments of chert and limestone. East of the bridge a few hun- 
 dred yards, the ma,ssive greenstones contain amygdaloidal horizons and 
 represent quiet lava flows rather than the pyroclastie beds seen to the 
 west. 
 
 Two miles north of Bear River is Higgins Corner. A road connecting 
 with the hamlet of Wolf leads off to the west and another to the east leads 
 to the Combie Dam and Reservoir on Bear River. A prominent outcrop 
 of Calaveras chert forms a reef just west of the highway 2.3 miles north 
 of the south fork of Wolf Creek. This reef is almost vertical in attitude 
 and is associated with greenstones of uncertain age. This is one of the few 
 exposures of chert to be seen close to Highway 49 south of the Yuba River. 
 
 The Lime Kiln or Jones ranch was the site of a series of limestone 
 quarries and kilns where lime for mortar was prepared at a very early 
 date. Traces of the old workings have been almo.st obliterated, but par- 
 tially burned limestone marks the old kiln sites. The limestone bodies are 
 small and are now largely masked by the soil mantle. Chemical analysis 
 of the limestone shows it to be of excellent grade. The Lime Kiln ranch 
 is located three miles west of Highway 49 via dirt road. The turnoff is 
 5.3 miles north of Higgins Corners and is marked by a white sign. 
 
 Three miles beyond the chert reef the greenstone bedrock is invaded 
 by granodiorite. The contact is plainly visible in a roadcut on the west 
 side of the highway. The dark minerals in the granodiorite near the con- 
 tact have been altered to chlorite and green amphiboles, and the grano- 
 diorite is almost as green as the meta-andesite series which it invades. 
 A feldspar porphyry is present clo.se to the contact which does not appear 
 to be related to either the meta-volcanie series or the granodiorite, and 
 may liave been brought up from below by the intrusion. The porphyry is 
 composed of abundant large plagioclase phenocrysts averaging 3 mm. in 
 diameter set in a fine-grained black groundmass. 
 
 The change in bedrock from meta-volcanics to granodiorite is almost 
 immediately reflected by the vegetation. Heavy growths of manzanita 
 cover most of the granodiorite bedrock with a dense gray-green mantle. 
 The manzanita thickets are mast conspicuous in the vicinity of La Barr 
 meadows. 
 
 Grass Valley is probably the most beautiful active mining camp in 
 California. ^lining camps the world over are notoriou.sly ugly and uncom- 
 fortable places to live, but Grass Vallej' is set in a well watered coniferous 
 forest of great beauty. Many stands of large trees have been spared the 
 loggers axe and tower in dark green borders about broad meadowlands. 
 The entire aspect of suburban Grass Valley is parklike. Even the mine 
 dumjjs and buildings are more or less masked by trees so that the scenery 
 suffers little by their presence. Tlie business district of town is much like 
 that of other Sierran towns. 
 
 Grass Valley is connected to the overland route through Reno via 
 Highway 20 which joins Highway 40. A railroad once connected Nevada 
 City and Grass Valley to the transcontinental route of the Southern 
 Pacific but the tracks have been removed. Aside from explorations of 
 Spanish Americans of which there is no record. Grass Valley was first 
 visited by French emigrants in 1846. Gold miners from Oregon spent con- 
 siderable time there in 1848 but the first permanent .settlers who were 
 emigrants from the east arrived in 1849. Historical spots in Grass Valley 
 are numerous. The careers of such famous names as Lola Montez and 
 Lotta Crabtree are closely associated with the history of the town. Its 
 lode mines constitute the most productive eroup of gold properties in 
 California and rank among the richest in the nation. 
 
 The geology of the Grass Valle.v mines differs greatly from that of 
 the Mother Lode mines. Very little large scale faulting is in evidence in 
 the Grass Valley district. The Mariposa slate is largely absent and even 
 Calaveras rocks usually do not contain ore. The main veins dip on an 
 average of 35° whereas most Mother Lode veins are steeply dipping. The 
 minor cross veins are usually not mineralized except at tlieir intersections 
 with main veins. The wall rocks of the Idaho-Maryland and Spring Hill 
 mines are principally gabbro and serpentine ; those of the Empire Star 
 and Golden Center are granodiorite, meta-andesite, diabase, and Cala- 
 veras schist. Vein forming minerals from the Grass Valley district include 
 ankerite, native arsenic, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, chromite, epidote, 
 galena, gold, magnetite, mariposite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, and 
 rarely molybdenite, scheelite, hessite. and altaite. The latter two are tellu- 
 rides of gold and lead respectivel.v. Wall rocks in the district are heavily 
 watered above the 1500 foot level and water flows into the lowermost 
 workings necessitating use of elaborate pumping s.vstems. Pumps which 
 handle 3000 gallons per minute are used in the wettest spots. Although 
 exceedingly humid, Grass Valle.v mines are among the coolest in the 
 world. The temperature increase or geothermal gradient below ground is 
 less than 1° P. per 100 feet of depth. 
 
 The largest mining operation in Grass Valley is that of the Empire- 
 Star Mines Compan.v, Ltd. The Empire-Star is a consolidation of the 
 major North Star, Pennsylvania, and Empire mines and a host of lesser 
 workings. The Empire has been operated coutinuousl.v since 1851. Some 
 of the other shafts have been shut down for short periods at various times 
 since discovery. The workings of the Empire-Star total more than 200 
 miles in length making it one of the most widespread mines in existence. 
 It has been mined to an inclined depth of more than 11.000 feet or a 
 vertical depth of over a mile. The total production of the Empire-Star 
 group has been in excess of $120,000,000. For the locations of the various 
 shafts of the Empire-Star and other Grass Valley mines see the accom- 
 panying map. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AXD NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN ANT) CRIPPEN 
 
 75 
 
 to Oownittfille 
 
 to No Columbia 
 
 EXPLANATION 
 Qol Alluv.t 
 
 + 
 
 % 
 
 Qm GlOCrol morgines 
 
 IAndesi'e brecoa ond congtOT 
 Tv erale includes bosoit ood 
 Table Min igt.ie 
 
 Tvr Rhyohie tuff ond ash 
 
 Old river depostfs Chielly 
 ig Eocene quoriz gravels, 
 gold'beonng 
 
 ■, J Granittc rocks- granite 
 , * la d.onie 
 
 Hl^ 
 
 Jarossic 
 and/or 
 Tfiotsie 
 
 JufassK 
 
 to 
 fb'»oto/e 
 
 of 5 
 
 0< £• 
 
 Ultro-bosic rocks — 
 chiefly serpenlrne 
 
 )flP Porphyrific rochs — quorri 
 j^. ond hofnbtende porphyries 
 
 IMeto-sediTienTs Chiefly 
 J"* Mariposo formation — sloie, 
 qroywoche, etc 
 
 J Melo-volconics Chiefly Log- 
 
 lO"n Ridge mefo-ondes'le 
 
 Milton formotion-futf, red 
 jRm slote. quori/ite, limestone. 
 and conglomerate 
 
 _ Meta-»oicanics of 
 mv 
 
 uncer^toin age 
 
 Colaveros formation— mico- 
 Cc schist, phyllite, quortziie, 
 cloy slote, o'qillife. etc 
 
 Is Colaveros limestone 
 
 Note— Blank pattern box indicates 
 rock type is not shown on map. 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS FOR 
 BUILDING STONE 
 
 CD Adobe 
 
 E Granite, gronodio rite 
 
 ^ Greenstone (meta-andesite) 
 
 CtH Limestone 
 
 ra Rhyolite tuff 
 
 IMi Schist 
 
 EIEI Serpentine and talc schist 
 
 [13 Slote 
 
 EH} Tuffaceous sandstone 
 
 fH) Soopstone 
 
 S Unclassified rock 
 
 X; Quarry site 
 
 + 
 
 MAP 8 
 AUBURN-NORTH SAN JUAN 
 
76 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Another major jrokl-miniii'; operation in Grass Valley is being cEir- 
 ried on by the Idaho-Maryland Mines Corporation. Its holdings include 
 the Old Brunswick, New Brunswick, Idaho, and Eureka mines and many 
 smaller workings. The New Brunswick shaft is .3450 feet deep and the 
 Idaho is 2700 feet deep via shaft and winze. A successful attempt at shaft 
 sinking bv core drilling was made by the Idaho-Maryland. The Idaho 
 No. 2 shaft was sunk 1000 feet into serpentine by this method using a 
 Newsom drilling machine developed at the Idaho-Mar.vland. The drill 
 cores are five feet in diameter and weigh several tons each. Many of these 
 cores are piled about the entrance to the shaft. Although the Idaho-Mary- 
 land is not as large an operation as the Empire-Star, it is still among the 
 si-\ largest gold mines in California, and has a recorded production of 
 .$64,240,543. Very complete, up-to-date ore-treatment plants are con- 
 nected with both Idaho-Mar3dand and Empire-Star mines. 
 
 The Golden Center mine is located in the heart of the business dis- 
 trict of Grass Valley. Although the surface extent of the Golden Center 
 property is not great the mine was rich and ore worth more than $2,500,- 
 000 was taken from it before litigation forced a shut down. The Golden 
 Center is currently idle. The deepest shaft is 1900 feet as measured along 
 the incline. 
 
 The Spring Hill mine northeast of Grass Valley is a small but prom- 
 ising operation which is active at the present time. It is one of the neatest, 
 best maintained properties in the gold country and its headframe and mill 
 have been photographed repeatedly for various publications. The main 
 shaft is about 1900 feet deep in diabase and serpentine wall rocks. The 
 recorded production, most of which has been within the last 20 years, is 
 $300,000. 
 
 Midway between Grass Valley and Nevada City is the old mining 
 eamp of Town Talk. Little remains to mark the site except a modern 
 gasoline station and eating house. Historian Glasscock has it that Town 
 Talk came about partly as an act of God and partly as a practical joke. 
 An old saloon sign bearing the words Town Talk is supposed to have been 
 .stranded in the vicinity of the camp by flood waters of Deer Creek. Some 
 wag fished the sign out and stuck it up on the hill and the camp was 
 thereafter known by that name. 
 
 Nevada City, four miles northeast of Grass Valley, has been a 
 famous lode-gold mining center although the mines there are currently 
 idle. James Marshall passed through there seeking a placer bonanza in 
 the summer of 1848 but mi.ssed making a .strike. The first settlers arrived 
 in 1849 and the placers attracted a large population within a few months. 
 Known originally as Coyoteville, because of the local method of tunnel- 
 ing called coyoteing, the name Nevada City was evolved after a dispute 
 with the state of Nevada over priority rights to that name. A total of 
 $8,000,000 in placer gold is said to have been taken from the vicinity. 
 
 Nevada City is county seat of Nevada Count.v and, like Grass Valley, is 
 full of pioneer landmarks such as the Wells-Fargo Express Office site 
 establi-shed in 1853, fire-hou.ses built in the 1860 's, and a remnant of 
 Chinatown. It is situated on Highway 20, which connects with Reno and, 
 like Grass Valley, was once connected to the tran.scontinentaI rail route 
 of the Southern Pacific. 
 
 The principal lode mines of Nevada Cit.v are the Lava Cap, Murchie, 
 Champion, and Providence. The Nevada City assay office is credited with 
 assaying the first ore taken from the Comstock lode. 
 
 The Lava Cap mine has a recent history dating from 1933. In its ten 
 years of operation it gro,ssed about $12,000,000 in gold and silver! The 
 mine is 2700 feet deep and has over five miles of lateral workings. The 
 Murchie was worked in a small way in the 1890 's but major production 
 took place in the 1930 's. The mine is now owned by the Empire Star 
 Mines Company, Ltd., and is currently idle. It was an exceedingly' pro- 
 ductive mine before the last World War but few figures on it are avail- 
 able. The Champion and Providence mines have been worked discon- 
 tinuously, with indifferent success, since the early day lode-mining 
 period of the 1860 's and 1870 's. The Nevada City mines lie at the fringe 
 of the Grass Valle.v district and the ore shoots have not persisted at 
 depth as have those in the heart of the district. 
 
 West from Nevada City, Highway 49 passes through a thick series 
 of Tertiary gravels which lie at the southern base of a ridge of rhyolite 
 luff and andesite. These deposits have been extensively hydraulicked 
 and placered. Ilydraidic pits and faces of moderate size can be .seen on 
 both sides of the highway. West of the gravels the granodiorite outcrops 
 are full of dark inclusions or enclaves. These vary in size from fractions 
 of an inch to one foot in diameter. Enclaves are common in many granitic 
 batholiths and are formed either by magmatic segregation of various 
 mineral constituents or bv inclusion and partial assimilation of wall 
 rocks caught in the invading magma. In most cases the.v carry a greater 
 proportion of dark minerals than the matrix rock and have a somewhat 
 different texture. The latter may be either finer or coarser than the 
 including rock and may differ in man}- other ways. The enclaves west of 
 Nevada City are unique in that they carry a large p-roportion of the 
 mineral pyrite. Pyrite occurs only in the enclaves, not in the matrix 
 rock, and probably was a constituent of the assimilated rock from which 
 the enclaves formed. The texture is granitic but the crystals are finer 
 than those in the matrix rock, which is essentiallj' a biotite-hornblende 
 granodiorite. Excellent exposures of these rocks may be seen in roadcuts 
 1.2 miles west of Nevada City. 
 
 Immediatel.v west of the enclave locality is the contact between the 
 granodiorite and meta-volcanic greenstones. Lindgren's map shows the.se 
 to be in the Calaveras formation but separate from greenstones lying a 
 quarter of a mile to the west. Two miles farther to the northwest is a 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AXD NOTES ALOXG fflGBTWAY 49— BOWEN AXD CRIPPEX 
 
 77 
 
 narrow belt of serpentine and related basic intrusive rocks which are not 
 particularly well exposed along- the highway except in deeply weathered 
 roadcuts. Deeply weathered areas and dark-red soil mark remnants of 
 the old Eocene surface. The remainder of the route into Xorth San Juan 
 lies on a granitic bedrock ranging in composition from quartz diorite to 
 granodiorite. A small roof pendant or remnant of overlying wall rock 
 of dark green amphibolite can be seen in roadcuts 1.2 miles south of the 
 Tuba River bridge. The greenstone is cut by aplite and pegmatite dikes. 
 A good locality for collecting hornblende crj-stals is to be seen close to 
 the amphibolite contact. 
 
 Close to the south abutment of the Yuba River bridge, a broad road- 
 cut and quarry in granodiorite afford an excellent close-up view of the 
 intruding batholith. The coarse matrix is full of large inclusions or 
 enclaves and several prominent joint systems prevail which have aided 
 in quarrying the rock for fill. The scenic gorge of the South Fork of the 
 Yuba is well worth seeing. The river water is often discolored by tailings 
 from hydraulic workings upstream. 
 
 The road cuts up the grade along the north wall of the Yuba River 
 canyon expose granitic rocks of at least two separate intrusive bodies. 
 Contacts between the intrusions are indistinct, granodiorite grading into 
 darker hornblende diorite which is cut by light-colored dikes of variable 
 texture. 
 
 In the vicinity of Shady Creek bridge extensive deposits of Quater- 
 nary gravels choke the river bed. These are partly the result of placer 
 operations connected with Tertiarj- gravels situated upstream. 
 
 One mile northwest of Shady Creek bridge an unpaved road inter- 
 sects Highway 49 which connects with the hydraulic mines of Cherokee, 
 X'orth Columbia. Xorth Bloomfield. Relief, Omega and many others. The 
 Cherokee diggings are six miles northeast of the above intersection, 
 X'orth Columbia is a little over nine miles, and Xorth Bloomfield is about 
 19 miles. The immensity of the Xorth Bloomfield pits must be seen to be 
 believed. Although excavated entirely by powerful jets of water, the 
 pits compare favorably in size with many of the open pit copper and iron 
 mines of other states which have been excavated by modern mechanical 
 means. The Malakoff pit west of Xorth Bloomfield resembles a miniature 
 Bryce Canyon. The soft clay and gravel walls have been fluted and other- 
 wise sculptured by erosion into "badlands" of great charm. The pastel- 
 colored horizons in the pit gravels contrast strikingly with the deep red 
 soil mantle and the dark-green backdrop of forest trees. Some idea of 
 the achievement of the nineteenth-century hydraulic miners in moving 
 such great quantities of material without modern equipment may be had 
 from the following figures : 20,000,000 cu. yds. were excavated at Xorth 
 Bloomfield ; and 2.5,000.000 cu.yds. from Xorth Columbia. Only 14 percent 
 of the gravel reserves at Xorth Columbia had been removed by the time 
 hydraulic mining was stopped by court injunction in 18S4. The problem 
 
 of the debris from such operations was, of course, a great one. It choked 
 the rivers below and ruined riverbottom lands for farming purposes. 
 In some places the problem has been solved by building debris dams ; in 
 others by selective spreading of waste on already valueless areas. A few 
 hydraulic mines such as Relief and Omega situated southeast of Xorth 
 Bloomfield are currently in operation, but most have been idle since 
 the] 880 's. 
 
 Petersons Corner, 1.2 miles northwest of the Xorth Columbia-High- 
 way 49 intersection is the terminus of a paved road connecting with the 
 hydraulic-mining towns of Sweetland, Birchville, French Corral, and 
 Bridgeport. An interesting and a scenic sidetrip on this road will bring- 
 one out on Highway 20 at Bitney Corner a few miles west of Xevada 
 City. The route lies principally through granitic basement rocks which 
 have been deeply weathered into a lateritic red clay in many places. An 
 occasional belt of black or green meta-volcanics may be seen bordered on 
 either side by granitic rocks. The many Tertiary gravel deposits lying 
 on this surface are the basis for the once thriving hydraulic mines. 
 
 Sweetland, of which Petersons Corner is a part, was originally a 
 placer-mining camp first settled in the early 1850 's. Together with adjoin- 
 ing towns to the southwest, Sweetland was a going and prosperous town 
 until the ban on hydraulicking took away the principal source of income 
 of the region. Sweetland is now a handful of frame dwellings set in a 
 quiet country land-scape. Birchville, 1..5 miles southwest of Sweetland, is 
 located principally by the hydraulic pits to the north of the old town site. 
 Several are filled with water and form small lakes. 
 
 Three miles below Birchville is French Corral which dates from 1849. 
 The town is located in an attractive valley on a tributary to the South 
 Fork of the Yuba River. Several well preserved stone and brick buildings 
 remain along the main street. French Corral was at one end of the first 
 long distance telephone line ever built. It connected with Birchville, 
 Sweetland, Xorth San Juan, Cherokee, Xorth Columbia, Xorth Bloom- 
 field and Bowman or French Lake, a distance of 58 miles. 
 
 Very little remains at the Yuba River site of Bridgeport, three miles 
 southwest of French Corral. A covered wooden bridge spans the river snd 
 red ranch buildings remain inside stone-walled corrals. A partly over- 
 grown graveyard is located beside the road a short distance south of the 
 river. There is little of particular geologic or historical interest between 
 Bridgeport and Bitney Corner on Highway 20, but the landscape is an 
 attractive one and the side route will draw travelers who like to keep off 
 the beaten track. 
 
 Xorth along Highway 49 from Petersons Corner, remnants of the 
 exhumed Eocene surface are evident in several places. This flat surface 
 is particularly noticeable in the vicinity of Xorth San Juan. Large 
 hydraulic diggings can be seen to the west. The granitic basement rocks 
 are a dark or melanistic phase of the ordinarily light-colored granodio- 
 rite, being rich in biotite mica. 
 
78 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 North San Juan is one of the larfrest and best preserved of the 
 northern gold towns. The iron {rrillwork on the old brick buildings resem- 
 bles the grilled balconies of the Vieux Carre or French quarter of New 
 Orleans. North San Juan was founded about 1853 not by Spanish Cali- 
 fornians, as the name suggests, but by Christian Kientz, an immigrant 
 of German ancestry. He thought the hill resembled another known as 
 San Juan and named the new spot accordingly. 
 
 NORTH SAN JUAN TO DOWNI EVI LLE— M AP 9 
 
 The topograpliy along Highway 49 north of North San Juan becomes 
 increasingly rugged and more and more typical of the higher Sierra. The 
 northward trend to the highway changes north of Camptonville and the 
 route follows the bottom of the tremendous canyon of the North Pork of 
 the Yuba in a broad northeasterly arc. Remnants of the Eocene surface 
 become more and more restricted in areal extent and are commonly 
 perched well over a thousand feet above present main-stream gradients. 
 Calaveras meta-.sediments and thick sections of greenstones reappear 
 south of Camptonville and granitic rocks outcrop in only one area 
 between Camptonville and Downieville. Except for logged-oflf areas of 
 limited extent in the vicinity of North San Juan and Camptonville, the 
 entire region is heavily forested with coniferous trees. The fauna and 
 flora are typical of the upper transition and lower Canadian life zones. 
 The dominant forest trees are yellow pines and Douglas firs (Oregon 
 pines) with lesser numbers of white firs, incense cedars, and western 
 hemlocks. Alders and other water-loving trees grow along the water 
 courses. 
 
 Two and eight tenths miles north of North San Juan the highway 
 crosses the Middle Fork of the Yuba at the Yuba County line. The grano- 
 diorite near the bridge is prominently jointed into rectangular blocks. 
 One tenth of a mile beyond the bridge, a dirt road branches off to the 
 ea.st at an acute angle to the highway and recrosses the Yuba over a cov- 
 ered wooden bridge much like the one at Bridgeport. It is covered as a 
 protection against the winter snow paok and the tunnel-like appearance is 
 typical of old mountain bridges in this region. The road connects with the 
 famous mining district of Alleghany, located 24 miles northeast of the 
 turnoff. Alleghan\' can also be reached via dirt road from Goodyears Bar, 
 a few miles west of Downieville. Neither road is readily passable in wet 
 or snowy weather and a visit to Alleghany should only be attempted by 
 those used to back country roads. Lode, drift, and hydraulic mines are 
 located in the vicinity of Alleghany many of which have fine production 
 records. 
 
 The Ruby drift mine is famous for its coarse gold nuggets and its 
 large quartz crystals. It is one of but few mines in the district which are 
 still operating. The workings are principally tunnels in the bedrock from 
 
 which raises are put up to the channel gravels above. There are several 
 miles of tunnels and drifts and several vertical access and escapeway 
 shafts. Ore is hauled out along the main tunnel level and run through 
 sluices. More than 12.3 nuggets valued at over $100.00 each had been 
 removed from the Ruby by 1941. The largest weighed 52.3 ounces and 
 was worth $1,758.00. 
 
 The best known lode mines in the Alleghany district are the Sixteen- 
 to-One, Oriental, Plumbago, Rainbow, and Bu.sh Creek, all of which 
 have recorded productions in the millions of dollars. Dozens of .smaller 
 workings have been profitable from time to time. The Brush Creek and 
 Yellow Jacket mines were operating early in 1948 as well as the major 
 Sixteen-to-One. 
 
 The Sixteen-to-One, located a short distance downhill toward Kanaka 
 Creek from the town of Alleghany, has been the principal producer of 
 the di.strict. It was discovered in 1876 and, as now operated, is a con.soIi- 
 dation of the Twenty-One and Tightner mines and several miscellaneous 
 properties. The main vein system lies along a reverse fault in wall rocks 
 of hornblende schist and other metamorphosed sediments of the Tightner 
 and Kanaka members of the Calaveras formation. Serpentine dikes cut 
 the Calaveras and both are cut by the thrust .system. Vein minerals from 
 the Sixteen-to-One include arsenopyrite, mariposite, sphalerite, gold, 
 graphite, chalcopyrite, quartz, ankerite, tetrahedrite, galena, pyrrhotite, 
 and pyrite. The deepest part of the mine is 3300 feet from the surface as 
 measured along the inclined Tightner shaft. The total recorded produc- 
 tion of the Sixteen-to-One is slightly in excess of $16,100,000. 
 
 Hj'draulicking in the Alleghany district was confined to a few 
 favorable locations where the gravels were not deeply buried under the 
 Tertiary lava cap. Ferguson has estimated that between two and four 
 million dollars were extracted from the district b.v hydraulic means. 
 Something in excess of $10,000,000 was produced from drift mines such 
 as the Ruby and about $28,000,000 from lode mines. Placer gravels, prin- 
 cipally of Quaternary age added over a million dollars to the above 
 totals, giving a grand total of over $38,000,000 for all gold mines in the 
 district. Ferguson and Gannett give another interesting sidelight on 
 the richness of the Alleghany lodes. They compiled, from various author- 
 ities, a table of the probable amounts of gold eroded from the Alleghany 
 lodes and redeposited, in channel gravels below. These estimates ranged 
 from $18,000,000 to $52,000,000. 
 
 The placer and hydraulic town of Camptonville is located half a 
 mile off Highwaj' 49, 8.4 miles northeast of North San Juan. Campton- 
 ville was founded about 1850 as a hostelry on the Nevada City-Downie- 
 ville road. The town boomed as the result of local gold discoveries in 
 1852. Few present-day buildings date back to gold rush days as the 
 town was destroj'ed several times by fire. However, a quasi-colonial type 
 
 im 
 
GEOLOGIC JIAPS A\D NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEX 
 
 79 
 
 r'^**''mw^:^s!m- 
 
 ^^^w 
 
 **!*»* 
 
 
 
 jL. 1 ^ . ^t| , 
 
 ** •' ' t "^ 
 
 ^ ... 
 
 m -^^B^^^u ^ ^K^^H 
 
 ^^C2** 
 
 ||y'*^"i» 
 
 w^_ • •^K'* "..v. ""-'J 
 
 « 
 
 1 ' 
 
 ■ • •" ■■' ' 
 
 Fig. 3H. "N'iew northeast toward ulil <>me;,'a hydraulic mine. Xevada County. 
 Photo by Ohif P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 34. I>K)kinK north toward hydraulic pit at North Bloomfield. The excava- 
 tions which once were thought to be an evesore are now places of great beauty. Photo 
 by Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 35. Another view of the Omega hydraulic pit showing CQarse cobbles in the 
 foreground, the finer parts of the deposit having been washed away by the hose nozzles. 
 Photo by Olnf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 36. Joubert hydraulic pits Id Sierra County. Highway 49 runs directly through 
 these diggings. Photo by Olaf P. Jenkins. 
 
80 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Sierra Buttes, a group of volcanic remnants, as seen from the foot of Yuba 
 Pass, Sierra County, looking southwest. Photo by C. V. AveriU. 
 
 Fig. 39. The California Rock and Gravel Company limestone quarry on the south side 
 of the South Fork of the American River east of Auhvirn. Photo hy Olnf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 38. A group of "tombstone rocks." the eroded tilte'tl edges of meta-volcanics 
 of the Logtown Ridge formation, exposed along the road near Campo Seco. Photo by 
 Olnf P. Jenkins. 
 
 Fig. 4(). Spheroidal weathering in massive granodiocite of Abbotts Pass road 
 west of Calaveras Kig Trees. Spheroids such as this may be seen along Highway 49 in 
 Yuba Pass between Sierra City and Sattley. Photo by Olnf P. Jenkins. 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AKD NOTES ALONG fflGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 (E 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 
 ; \ 
 
 (rt 
 
 - ■ " ■- 
 
 
 
 E 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 
 
 Jurassic 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 Paitotote 
 
 
 
 
 
 PALEOZC 
 
 IC 
 
 
 
 
 
 Co'bOfi'ftroas 
 
 
 
 Andesite brecoa ond conglom 
 Tv erote Includes bosolt ond 
 Table Mtn lodte 
 
 Old fiver deposits Chiefly 
 j Tg Eocene quart; growels, 
 gold-beoring 
 
 J Gromlic rocks- granite 
 ' to diorite 
 
 Ultro-bastc rocks — 
 chiefly serpertline 
 
 Meta-voiconics of 
 unceriom oge 
 
 Calaveras formotion— rmco- 
 Cc schist, phyiliie, quo'tnte, 
 cloy slate, orgillite, etc 
 
 MAP 9 
 NORTH SAN JUAN-DOWNIEVILLE 
 
82 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 of architecture prevails among the older frame buildings and the large 
 frame hotel is a delightful spot shaded by large trees. R«d, pock-marked. 
 Eocene gravels outcrop on the hills to the northeast of town much as the 
 gold diggers left them. 
 
 Half a mile below the Camptonville turnoff, a group of pegmatite 
 and aplite dikes stand out of the deeply weathered bedrock. The light 
 colored minerals of the dikes show little evidence of weathering whereas 
 the biotite-rieh matrix is decomposed. Half a mile above the Campton- 
 ville road deeply weathered cleavable meta-volcanics can be seen lying 
 below the deep red soil mantle and below Tertiary gravel deposits. The 
 meta-voleanics are so decomposed that they disintegrate when tapped 
 with a hammer. Few places so clearly illustrate the relationship between 
 the deeply weathered rocks of the Eocene surface, the Eocene channel 
 gravels, and the present-day land surface. The road cuts are also an 
 excellent study in direct formation of soil mantle from parent bedrock 
 lying immediately below. 
 
 Between Camptonville and the Frog Hollow public camp, several 
 small bodies of deeply weathered granite rock outcrop along the road- 
 side. These approximate a gabbro in composition and were apparently 
 too small to be mapped by the early members of the Geological Survey, 
 They mapped this entire area as amphibolite but this designation covers 
 a wide variet.v of rock types including fine grained basic and inter- 
 mediate intrusives, green meta-volcanics, mica schist, and the afore- 
 mentioned gabbro. 
 
 Frog Hollow, three miles north of Camptonville, is the first of a 
 series of public camps scattered along or near the North Fork of the 
 Yuba River, Frog Hollow is on Willow Creek which is not a tributary 
 to the North Fork of the Yuba but runs into Bullards Bar reservoir to 
 the west of Camptonville. These public camps lie in a naturalist's and 
 fisherman's paradise and are likewise good base camps for the geo- 
 logically minded. The 36 miles between Frog Hollow and Sierra City lies 
 through excellent outcroppings of a wide range of igneous and meta- 
 morphie rocks of great interest to petrologists and rock lovers of all kinds. 
 
 In the vicinity of the Joubert hydraulic diggings, the highway 
 crosses from Yuba to Sierra County. Sierra County is famous for the 
 many large gold nuggets it has produced. One from the Monumental 
 mine at Sierra Buttes weighed 1596 oz. troy, worth $17,654. The placers 
 of French Ravine produced four nuggets which weighed from 93 to 532 
 oz. each. Henry G. Hanks in his compilation of famous gold nuggets 
 published in 1882 lists no less than 13 Sierra County nuggets among 
 the 83 largest produced in the world to that date. The Ruby mine, pre- 
 viou.sly mentioned in connection with Alleghany, is still producing size- 
 able nuggets. 
 
 Highway 49 passes through the heart of the Joubert hydraulic dig- 
 gings and the Eocene gravels and clays can be studied there at close 
 range. The Joubert deposits contain a large percentage of white clay 
 which would be valuable if it could be separated from admixed gravels. 
 Some areas are of almost pure white clay. Other parts of the deposit 
 have off-colored claj's ranging from deep red to lavender. Clay deposits 
 are present in association with many other Eocene gravel deposits of 
 Nevada, Yuba, and Sierra Counties, but to date, the only clays of the 
 Sierran foothills that are being worked are at the edge of the Sacramento 
 Valley, principally in the vicinity of lone, Amador County, 
 
 A splendid panorama up the V-shaped canyon of the Yuba may- 
 be seen 2,6 miles northeast of Joubert just before the highway descends 
 to the level of the river. Youthful stream profiles may be seen at other 
 points along the highway between Joubert and Downieville, 
 
 A thick series of partially metamorphosed volcanic rocks is exposed 
 in the vicinity of the highway bridge over the North Fork of the Yuba, 
 Amygdaloidal flows, agglomerates and tuffs may be seen in various stages 
 of metamorphism some completely reerystallized to schist and others 
 partially altered. Metallic minerals such as magnetite are dis.seminated 
 in the lavas along the dirt road leading off to the north of the bridge. 
 Good parking places may be had along this road and exposures are 
 good along the river and in places along the road, 
 
 Indian Valley public camp, the second of a series of excellent camp- 
 sites beside the river, is located two miles east of the bridge. Half a 
 mile before reaching the camp is the granodiorite-meta-volcanic contact. 
 The granodiorite, which is well exposed in a quarry east of Indian 
 Valley camp, is much like the average granodiorite south of Campton- 
 ville. The belt of serpentine which appears on the map is not evident 
 from the highway. The granodiorite intrusion is 1.7 miles wide along the 
 highway. One mile west of Ramshorn Creek bridge is a good exposure 
 of gray-green chert associated with phyllite and meta-volcanics. Another 
 public camp is located at the junction of Ramshorn Creek with the North 
 Fork of the Yuba. 
 
 Midway between Ramshorn Creek and Goodyears Bar, good views 
 of the columnarly jointed basalt of Bald Top Mountain may be seen to 
 the north. The Bald Top and adjacent lavas represent the latest period 
 of Sierran volcanism with the possible exception of some flows on the 
 east side of the range, 
 
 Goodyears Bar, located near the junction of Woodruff and Good- 
 year Creeks with the Yuba four miles west of Downieville, was settled 
 in the summer of 1849, It prospered during the 1850 's before its rich 
 placers were exhausted, but a fire which virtually destroyed the town 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN ANT) CRIPPEN 
 
 83 
 
 in 1864 culminated a steady decline which had begun some years earlier. 
 A good dirt road from the Alleghany mining district joins Highway 49 
 in the vicinity of Goodyears Bar. 
 
 Three-tenths of a mile east of Goodyears Bar is a prominent out- 
 cropping of serpentine which is associated with tine-grained dark intru- 
 sive rocks. Half a mile east of the serpentine belt is a small area of meta- 
 gabbro. The fine-grained basic rocks are cut by quartz veins. 
 
 A broad zone of faulting and deformation is visible along the high- 
 way 1.4 miles west of Do^vnieville. The meta-volcanics there are much 
 contorted and, in many places, are impregnated with pyrite. In the 
 stream bed below, deep circular depressions known as potholes or kettles 
 may be seen in the exposed bedrock. Potholes are formed by the eddying, 
 spinning action of rapid water over uneven, bare rock. Gravel and 
 pebbles caught in the depressions are spun by the currents and aid in 
 the circular do\\Ticutting effect. They are a common feature along streams 
 of considerable gradient. 
 
 Downieville, county seat of Sierra County, is situated at the junc- 
 tion of the north and east branches of the North Fork of the Yuba River. 
 Lofty tree-covered mountains surround it on all sides and it is a fitting 
 
 location for the center of a well named county. There is very little flat 
 land in the county and this is located either along river bottoms or on 
 upland remnants of the Eocene surface. Like Goodyears Bar, Downie- 
 ville was found in 1849 by a party of gold seekers. Originally known 
 as The Forks, the name was changed to Downieville in honor of William 
 Downiie, one of the initial settlers. More than 5000 people jammed the 
 town in 1851 and some rich strikes were made. So determined were the 
 miners to get the gold from the bed of the Yuba that they flumed and 
 diverted the river from its bed between DoTMiieville and Goodyears Bar. 
 This worked beautifully as long as summer held out, but winter floods 
 quickly wiped out the project. After the placer mines were exhausted, 
 gold mining went on in hydraulic, drift and a few lode mines. The town 
 is now supported by lumber and mining interests and by Forest Service 
 men. Very few historical buildings remain, the County Courthouse and 
 St. Charles Hotel having burned in 1947. The Pioneer Museum, a well- 
 built stone building with iron doors and window shutters, was restored 
 by the heirs of pioneer J. M. B. Meroux and dedicated to the Pioneers 
 of Sierra County by the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West 
 in 1932. Costa's grocerj- store, also of stone, dates from 1852. 
 
 Fig. 41. Penn copper-zinc mine ne.ir Campo Seco, 
 Cala\er!i.s Count.v. Photo hy ('. V. Arerill. 
 
 Fig. 42. Stamp mill near Jamestown. Tuohimue Count.v, 
 used for concentratin;: chrome ore. Photo bi/ ('. V. Arerilt. 
 
84 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 IBiill. 141 
 
 DOWNIEVILLE TO SATTLEY— MAP 10 
 
 The northeastern end of Ilip-hway 49 lies alonfr the headwaters of the 
 North Pork of the North Pork of the Yuba and then climbs out of the 
 Yuba drainage system and over Yuba Pass to the broad upland of Sierra 
 Valley. Yuba Pass does not show the tremendous alpine landscape that is 
 so typical of the passes to the south such as Tiopra and Sonora. The frreat- 
 est relief to be seen on ni?:hway 49 is alonp: the route from Camptonville 
 to Sierra City. However, the end of the route is through heavily forested 
 country full of streams, and the beauty of the woodlands partly compen- 
 sates for the comparative lack of alpine features. 
 
 Immediately east of Downieville the roadeuts are in a belt of black 
 slates which have been quarried for local use as a building stone. The 
 slates are full of quartz veinlets which have invaded the series along 
 the bedding planes. These .slates closely resemble the Mariposa slates 
 of the Mother Lode but have been assigned to the Calaveras formation 
 by H. W. Turner. Quartz veins varying in width from fractions of an 
 inch to two feet cut the country rock in many places along the road from 
 Downieville to Sierra City. Although barren for the most part, some of 
 these veins have been found to carry pocket gold. Several prospect holes 
 close to quartz veins can be seen on the south side of the river. Granodio- 
 rite outcrops in .several places in this vicinity and the quartz veins were 
 undoubtedly derived from adjacent or underlying granitic intrusions. 
 
 Camp Yuba, 5.4 miles east of Downieville, is another of the very fine 
 public camps situated on the banks of the river. This camp is near the old 
 placer camp site of China Plat. Several lode-gold mines are located both 
 to the northeast and southeast of Camp Yuba but none have been very 
 successful. The rocks along the highway between Camp Yuba aiul the 
 Ladies Canyon bridge include a small body of weathered granodiorite 
 which looks a.s if pre-existing wall rocks had been assimilated by it. It is 
 a dark, impure rock resembling a granite in texture only. Excellent exam- 
 ples of hill creep or false folding in platy meta-sediments may be seen 
 along the roadside in several places. Hill creep is produced on steep slopes 
 by gravitational bending of inclined strata in a downhill direction and is 
 usually the result of downhill movement of the soil mantle which lies 
 above the tilted edges of the stratified bedrock. 
 
 Between Ladies Canyon and Sierra City a wide variety of interbed- 
 ded meta-sediraents, meta-voleanics and dike-like intrusives are exposed 
 in the many roadeuts. Slate, phyllite, schist, chert, quartz porphyry, 
 .serpentine, and green meta-voleanics can all be collected at various places 
 along the highway. Terrace alluvium perched high above the present 
 stream channel may be seen in the vicinity of Pournier Ranch and 
 Loganville. 
 
 At the edge of Sierra City, a road leads off to the north which con- 
 nects with the Sierra Buttes mining district. As mentioned in preceding 
 paragraphs, the Sierra Buttes district is noted for the manv large nuggets 
 
 recovered there in early days. There is little or no activity in the district 
 at present. The columnarly jointed lava cap of Sierra Buttes can be seen 
 in many places along the highway in the vicinity of Sierra City. 
 
 Sierra City, located at the foot of towering peaks on a narrow river 
 terrace, was first settled in 850 by gold miners. The vicinity was full of 
 Indian rancherias or camp sites and apparently was one of the most 
 heavily populated Indian districts in California. The new .settlement was 
 destroyed by an avalanche in 1852 and the present buildings date from 
 the 1860 "s or later. The main street of Sierra City resembles tho.se of many 
 other towns of the gold country. The brick-and-frame Busch Building has 
 the same iron doors and shutters that are so typical of fire-conscious towns 
 built in the 60 's and 70 's. Sierra City is famous for being the birthplace 
 of a roisterous soeiet.v known as E. Clampus Vitus. The organization has 
 the reputation of being principally a perpetrator of practical jokes upon 
 the uninitiated. At any rate, name and reputation are colorfull.v con- 
 nected with the history of Sierran gold mining from Sierra City far down 
 the Mother Lode. The society was reorganized several years ago by the 
 California Historical Society, apparently with satisfactory results to all 
 concerned. 
 
 East of Sierra City, Highway 49 pa.sses close beside an east-west con- 
 tact between the quartz-porphyry bedrock and overlying glacial moraine 
 detritus. This is the first ajipearance of glacial debris along Highwa.v 49 
 but morainal deposits can be seen in a great many places between Sierra 
 City and Bassett at the foot of Yuba Pass. The most obvious characteristic 
 of the glacial deposits is their extreme variability or heterogeneity. Clays, 
 gravel, and huge boulders both stratified and unstratified are dumped 
 together in irregularly shaped deposits. Some of the fragments or clasts 
 have been planed off or faceted b,v the ice. Others have been grooved or 
 striated by being ground against resistant bedrock. Jlost of the boulders 
 and smaller stones are merely rounded or subangular and one must exam- 
 ine many of them to find any which have characteristic glacial markings. 
 The quartz porphyry east of Sierra City is a light-buff rock with a very 
 fine-grained groundmass and numerous small, rounded, quartz crystals 
 or phenocry.sts and less numerous rectangular or lath-shaped feldspar 
 phenocrysts. The rock is probably close to a dacite in over-all composition. 
 East of the quartz porphyry belt is a narrower belt of gi-een porphyritic 
 meta-andesite breccia much like the Logtown Ridge formation along the 
 Mother Lode. 
 
 A road connecting with Gold Lake, Sardine Creek public camp and 
 other parts of the Plumas National Forest joins Highway 49 4.3 miles 
 northeast of Sierra Cit.v. Sardine Lake and others in the vicinity are 
 cirque lakes of glacial origin. Except for the moraines to be seen along the 
 North Fork of the Yuba, glacial features ai'c few along Highwa.v 49 and 
 it is neces.sary to take side trips in order to see examples of glacial topog- 
 graphy. A road passable in summer connects with the glacial Packer Lake 
 
 ■^m 
 
GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49— BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 
 
 85 
 
 MAP 10 
 DOWNIEVILLE-SATTLEY 
 
 Andesite breccio and conqiom- 
 I Tv erote includes bosalt ond 
 Table Min lotite 
 
 Tvr Rhyolite luff ond osh 
 grd 
 
 Granitic rocks- qrom'e 
 to dionle 
 
 = 1 
 
 
 
 
 Jurassic 
 ond/or 
 Tnassic 
 
 
 Ultro-bOSiC rochs- 
 chiefly serpentine 
 
 QP Pofptiyntic rocks — quart! 
 and hornblende porphyries 
 
 + 
 
 MAP SYMBOLS 
 B Lode and drift mines 
 ♦ Plocer and hydraulic (hyd) 
 (Mine names in red) 
 ^^ - '^ Highway 49 
 [^ Historical markers 
 *]^ Town buildings and roods 
 
 Jurassic 
 
 to 
 Poltoiolc 
 
 o 5 
 
 f, 1 
 
 
 - -1 
 
 
 
 
 2 5 
 
 
 
 Milton tofmotion.-'u'f, red 
 I J'^m siote, quortjite, limestone. 
 ond conqlomerote 
 
 Meto-volconics of 
 
 mv 
 
 uncertain age 
 
 Coloveros formation — mico- 
 Cc schist, phyllite, quorlzite, 
 cloy slofe.O'qiilite, etc 
 
 Is Coloveros limestone — . — 
 
86 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 and resorts. Sardine Lake must be reached by foot from Sardine Creek 
 public camp. 
 
 Prom the vicinity of Bassett to the summit of the pass, the basement 
 rocks are weathered jiranodiorites of the main pluton or batholith which 
 forms the core of the Sierras. Spheroidal decay boulders can be seen 
 weathering out of the main granitic mass in many places. Preservation 
 of more or less unaltered .spheroids in an almost completely weathered 
 matrix is typical of granitic masses in a great many other places as well 
 as the Sierras, and is a phenomenon which has never been adequately 
 e.xplained. Local differences in grain size and mineral composition some- 
 times account for it. In other instances the effect has no apparent local 
 cSitrol. 
 
 The summit of Yuba Pass, at an elevation of 6701 feet, lies in a broad, 
 upland valley which is slowly being dissected at either end by streams 
 of opposing watersheds. The winding grade from Yuba Pass to Sattley 
 affords fine views of Sierra Valley which opens out to the northeast from 
 the vicinity of Sierraville. Sierra Valley is a graben or depressed fault 
 block part of which has been masked by volcanic mountains extruded 
 since the depression of the block. Subsequent erosion and glaciation has 
 greatly dissected the disrupting lava. William Morris Davis believed 
 Sierra Valley to be a continuation of the graben which is partly occupied 
 by Lake Talioe. The fault which roughly corresponds with the western 
 edge of the valley crosses Highway 49 immediately west of Sattley. 
 Andesitic gravels can be seen faulted against the granodiorite in places 
 where the contact is not masked by alluvium. 
 
 Highway 49 joins Highway 89 at Sattley, Sierra County, thus termi- 
 nating 277 miles of mountain road which began at the Highway 49- 
 Highway 120 road junction at Mariposa in Maripo.sa County. Virtually 
 tlie entire .sti'eaeh lies in gold mining country within the Sierra Nevada. 
 Few routes through California are as replete Avith historical color as this 
 Golden Highway. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 AVERILL, Charles V., and nther.s. Placer mining for gold in California : Californi.T 
 Uiv. Mines Bull. 1.3."). .377 pp., 194G. 
 
 AvERiLL, Ch.\rles V., Str.TteRic mineral.'i of the S.icrnniento district, California : 
 California Div. Mines Kept. X), pp. 71-70, 1!)4H. 
 
 California Mixers As.sociation, California mines and minerals: California Miners 
 Association, 44.") pp., San Francisco, 1899. 
 
 Davis, William JIorris, The lalies of California : California Div. Mines Kept. 29, pp. 
 17.")-2:JS, 1933 . . . California .I.xir.MinesandCeoloR.v, vol.44, pp. 201-242, 1948. 
 
 Durrell, Cordell, fSenlngy of the quartz cr.vstal mines near Mokelumne Hill, Cala- 
 veras Count.v, California ; California Div. .Mines Kept. 40, pp, 423-433, 1944. 
 
 Fergl'SON. Henry G. and Gannett, R. AV., Gold quartz veins of the Allaghany 
 
 district. California : U. S. Geol. Surve.v Prof. Paper 172, 1.36 pp., 1932. 
 Glasscock, C. B., A golden highwav ; The Bobbs-MerriU Co., 313 pp., Indianapolis. 
 
 1934. 
 Hanks, Henry G., Gold nuggets: California Min. Bur. Kept. 2, pp. 147-ir)0, 1882. 
 Hal'Smann, A., and others. Copper resources of California : California Min. Bur. 
 
 Bull. 50. 275 pp., 1908. 
 HuLiN, Carlton D., A Mother Lode gold ore : P>on. Geolog.v, vol. 23, no. 4. pp. 348- 
 
 350, June 1930. 
 Jackson, Joseph H., An\ bodv's gold : D. Appleton-Centurv Co., 445 pp., Xew York, 
 
 1941. 
 Jackson. Joseph H.. Tint.vpes in gold : The MacMillan Co., 191 pp., Xew York. 1930. 
 Jl'LlH.N. C. E., and Horton, F. W., Klines of the southern Mother Lode region, pt. 1 ; 
 
 U. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 413, 1.3G pp., 1938. 
 JuLIHN, C. E. and HoRTON. F. W.. Jlines of the southern Mother Lode region, pt. 2: 
 
 r. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 424, 173 pp., 1940. 
 Knopf, Adolph, The Mother Ix>de system of California : X'. S. Gool. Survey Prof. 
 
 Paper 1,".7, 85 pp., 1929. 
 Lawson, a. C, The Sierra Nevada : California Univ. Chronicle, vcd. 23, pp. 1.30-140, 
 
 1921. 
 Ll.NDGREN, Waldemar, t*. S. Geol Survey, Colfax folio (no. 66), 12 pp., 4 maps, 1897. 
 Lindgren, Waldemar, L'. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Sacramento folio (no. ,5), 5 pp., 
 
 4 maps. 1804. 
 Lindgren, Waldemar, The Tertiary gravels of the Sierra Nevada. California : I'. S. 
 
 Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 73, 222 pp., 1011. 
 Lindgren, Waldemar and Tirner, H. W.. Placerville folio (no. 3), 5 pp., 4 maps, 
 
 1894. 
 Logan, Clarence .\., The Mother Lode gold belt of California : California Div. Jlines 
 
 Bull. 108, 240 pp., 19.34. 
 LoGA.N. Clarence A.. Tuolumne Countv : California Div. Mines Kept. 24, pp. 3-.")3, 
 
 1028. 
 Ransome. F. L., I'. S. Geol. Survey Atlas. Mother Lode district folio (no. 03), 11 pp., 
 
 8 maps, 1897. 
 
 Kensch. H. E., Rensch, E. G., and Hoover. M. B., Historic spots in California. 
 
 A'alley and Sierra Counties: Stanford Univ. Press and Cambridge I'niv. Press, 
 
 .568 pp., Palo Alto and Cambridge, 19.33. 
 Richard. Thomas A., A history of American mining: McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., 
 
 419 pp., Xew York and London, 1932. 
 KiCKARD, Thomas A., The re)>pening of old mines along the Mother I-ode : Min. and 
 
 Sci. Press, vol. 112, pp. 9.35-939, 1910. 
 Taliaferro, Xichol.\8 L.. Manganese deposits of the Sierra Nevada ; their genesis 
 
 and metamorphism : California Div. Mines Bull. 125, pp. 277-.3.32, 1043. 
 Tucker, W. Birling. Amador County : California Min. Bur. Rept. 14. pp. 3-.")4. 1914. 
 Tirner, H. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Bidwell Bar folio (no. 43), 8 pp., 3 maps, 
 
 1 pi., 1808. 
 Turner, H. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas. Dow-nieville folio (no. 37), 10 pp.. 4 maps, 
 
 1 pi., 1807. 
 Turner, H. W., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas. Jackson folio (no. 11), 8 pp., 4 maps, 1894. 
 Turner. H. W.. and Lindgren, Waldemar. I". S. (jeol. S.urvey Atlas. Smartsville 
 
 folio (no. 18), 8 pp., 4 maps, 1895. 
 Turner, H. W.. and Ransome. F. L.. I". S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Big Trees folio 
 
 (no. 51), 10 pp., 3 maps, 1 pi., 1808. 
 Turner, H. W., and Ransome, F. L., U. S. Geol. Survey Atlas, Souora folio ( no. 41 ) , 
 
 9 pp.. 4 maps, 1807. 
 
THE FORMATION OF QUARTZ VEINS 
 
 By John A. Bi'rgess 
 
 IIow are quartz veins formed? This is a question that is frequently 
 asked of geologists, and the answer is not altogether an easy one. Geolo- 
 gists ask it of themselves and in trying to explain it come out with 
 answers that are different in some respects. The differences, however, are 
 of a kind that are of more interest to the geologist than to those not 
 engaged in that profession. The subject is a broad one; books have been 
 written on it ; and in order not to cover too much ground this short dis- 
 cussion will refer especially to veins of the Mother Lode of California. 
 There are other types of veins to which it does not wholly apply. It should 
 be made clear that in this brief essay only the high spots of the subject 
 can be touched upon. 
 
 The things we know about quartz veins are the features that can be 
 seen at the surface and in mines of which only a few are over a mile deep. 
 We know the appearance of the veins, their general form, the materials 
 and minerals of which they are composed, the arrangement of the 
 minerals within them, and to a considerable extent the reactions between 
 the sub.stanees that formed the vein and the rocks on its borders. The 
 parts of the vein that we now see were formed deep below a pre-existing 
 surface from which thousands of feet have been .stripped bj- erosion, and 
 they doubtless extend several miles below the present surface. Veins at 
 the Argonaut and the Kennedy mines at Jackson were worked to more 
 than a mile in depth without showing any change in their character. 
 It is within this range that we have definite knowledge of the veins. 
 
 Among the things of which we have no positive knowledge are the 
 depth to which the fissures extend, and the depth to which quartz con- 
 tinues in the fissures. Nor do we know the character of the rocks where 
 the fissures terminate. These are features of the form and structure of 
 the veins. And among the processes of vein formation, we do not know 
 how the vein fissures were forced open to accommodate veins of the width 
 that are found on the Mother Lode, nor do we know the source of the 
 water that arose in the fissures to form the veins. There is not sufficient 
 evidence from which to deduce with certainty how these things came 
 about ; but, short of certainty, there are reasonable explanations of how 
 they could have happened. 
 
 It is estimated that the veins were formed over a hundred million 
 years ago, and a-t great depths below what was then the surface of the 
 earth. Obviously no one has seen a vein in the process of formation. 
 Nevertheless geologists must face the problem and try to explain the 
 origin of veins. This is done by reasoning from known facts to the unknown 
 factors. The conclusions reached in this way give us all that can be 
 expected under the circumstances ; that is, reasonable explanations of 
 the origin of the veins. 
 
 The deductions on which the leading geologists agree are: The veins 
 are formed in deep fissures that extended to a zone of hot igneous rocks 
 newly solidified, or partly solidified, from a molten condition. The gold 
 
 in the veins is derived from these hot or molten rocks. It is known that 
 molten rock, called magma, has a considerable quantity of water in its 
 composition ; in fact the magma is fluid not only because of its heat but 
 also because of the presence of water. As the magma cools and hardens 
 this water is expelled and carries with it silica and certain other mobile 
 materials such as chlorine, fluorine, boron, sulphur, tellurium, etc., which 
 are called mineralizers. The water also carries with it gold and other 
 metals that are present in some magmas, dissolved with the help of the 
 mineralizers. It is by means of the water from the magma that the metals 
 are carried into the vein fissures. 
 
 Quartz is pure crystallized silica; it is not called quartz until it is 
 deposited as we see it in the veins. The silica is transported upward in 
 the vein fissure by the water in which it is dissolved, the solution of the 
 quartz being aided by other substances in the water, especially by carbonic 
 acid gas, which is the most abundant gas in magmas. The waters are at 
 extremel.y high temperatures and pressures in the depths where they 
 originate, so hot that they would explode into steam at atmospheric 
 pressure. As the water flows upward into cooler rocks, both its temperature 
 and its pressure decrease, and it is this decrea.se in temperature and 
 pressure that causes the deposition of the quartz and metals and leaves 
 the vein as we see it. 
 
 .^a^i 
 
 if^ 
 
 TBfe mL 
 
 W''-^im 
 
 ■■-♦ 
 
 -. * * • 
 . .r ■ 
 
 
 Fio. 1. Quartz vein outcropiiing near Indian Gulch. Mariposa County. Xote 
 the large crystal faces sbowinR i" the quartz to the left of the man. Some are more 
 than four feet in length. 
 
 (87) 
 
88 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 One point on which <;eolo<;ists do not agree concerns the sources of 
 the water and silica. One school of thought believes that all the water and 
 silica came from deep magmas, bringing with them the gold and other 
 metals. A second school believes that most of the water by which the vein 
 materials were carried in solution percolated into the fissures from the 
 rocks of the surrounding country; and that the silica was dissolved from 
 rocks adjacent to the fissure through the agency of carbonic acid gas that 
 was contained in the solutions. Both theories are well reasoned and are 
 based ou close observations, ami either is credible when read by itself. 
 
 Another point on which agreement has not been reached is the way 
 in which the vein fissui-es have been opened wide enough to contain veins 
 of the widths that are found in them. Open unfilled fissures do not 
 and cannot exist in deep rocks. It is thought by some that the walls of 
 the vein-fissures have been forced apart by a pressure and expansive 
 force inherent in the vein-forming material itself, the force being due 
 largely to the expansive force of compressed gases. By others it is thought 
 that faulting, which is the slipping of one wall of a fissure over the other, 
 caused the separation of the walls, each wall riding on the high spots of 
 the other with a wedge-like effect ; and that the open spaces were filled 
 
 with quartz before they could be closed by a later movement. Jlovements 
 of this kind, followed by cementation by quartz, if repeated over and 
 over, could account for the widths in which the veins are found. Whatever 
 is the true explanation, a stupendous force was required to push the 
 walls apart. 
 
 Perhaps these problems will never be fully cleared up because the 
 true explanations depend so much on facts and conditions that are only 
 partly knowii. and on processes that are arrived at only by deduction. 
 The ease is somewhat similar to that known in criminal law as one of 
 circumstantial evidence, a verdict being convincing as far as sufficient, 
 reliable evidence is available. But for general information this much can 
 be said with confidence, and this is my answer to the opening question : 
 The veins were deposited in deep fissures, far below what was then the 
 surface of the earth, from hot, ascending, water solutions containing 
 silica and other mineral substances: that these substances remained in 
 the solution while it was hot and under high pressure: and that the 
 quartz and gold was deposited in the higher parts of the fissures because 
 of a lowering in both temperature and pressure. 
 
 Fig. 2. Mother l.ii^le •)uarl2 vein outcrx>l>|iiu^ in a iuii;; vertical reef ruUDini; 
 from left to right acriws the backsrouuil of the picture. Such reefs are to be seen on 
 many parts of the Mother I.,o<ie. The above outcrop is close to Highwa.v 49 near Carson 
 Hill between Angels Camp and Melones. 
 
 "White Rock" — a quartz vein outcropping- in the vicinity of 
 Indian Gulch. Mariposa County. 
 
MINING ON CARSON HILL 
 
 ]\\ .loirN A. I'.i Kt.l >s 
 
 News of the proUl discovery at C'oUima spread fast. Jim Carson 
 heard it at Monterey. Carson, a veteran of the then recent Mexican war. 
 quickly assembletl a "rroup of fellow veterans and set out for tlie moun- 
 tains. His party reached Carson Creek, in what is now Calaveras County, 
 in Au-rust 1848. They dujr in the <rravel of the creek, they panned, they 
 lived on beans, and then Jim Carson wrote a letter. He reported that, 
 as a result of the first six day's work, they had taken out 186 ounces of 
 gold apiece. He said they were "the happiest men on earth." Just how 
 long Jim Carson duj; and panned and ate beans is not told but appar- 
 ently he made a satisfactory stake and returned home. And then, in 
 185.3. he wrote another letter, this time to his old friends in the Cali- 
 fornia diggings : 
 
 "It is to you, diggers. I speak — you who are enduring the hard- 
 ships of the mountains, and working hard to honestly gain a fortune. 
 Many of you, no doubt, are not making much more than what supports 
 you comfortably, but a majority of yon are getting more money per day 
 for your labor than you could earn per week at any place in the civilized 
 world : and you are happy, independent, and your own masters. A great 
 many are realizing fortunes in a short time Don't any of you despair : 
 there are just as rich diggings as ever have been discovered and as large 
 'chunks' beneath the earth yet as have ever been taken therefrom. It is 
 true you have to work harder now to get it than formerly, yet it is to be 
 had . . . Xever give up or think that the days of making fortunes in 
 the gold mines have pa.s.seil. Thousands will be making fortunes in Cali- 
 fornia a hundred years hence."' 
 
 Jim Carson Rad turnetl prophet. Ilis "hundred years hence" is 
 almost here ttxlay. and thousands are making fortunes in California ; 
 not. as Jim thought, in mining gold — for gold mining today is in a 
 barren zone — but in hundreds of other occupations. AVe can credit Jim 
 Carson with 100 percent efficiency as a gold digger and 99 percent as a 
 prophet. 
 
 The gold in Carson Creek was getting scarcer. John Hance began 
 to use his head and wondered where the placer gold came from. Streaks 
 of gold in the wash at the side of the creek were pointing up the hill. 
 John Ilance saw the great white outcrop of bull quartz on Carson Hill 
 and decided to investigate it. A little digging, a little panning, more 
 eating of beans, and John Hance found rich gold ore in the out'^rops 
 just west of the big vein. He then formed a partnership and began 
 mining in solid ground. Nearly $3,000,000 in gold is reported to have 
 been taken out in less than tlie next two years. The notorious scoundrel, 
 Billy Mulligan and his gang, took forcible possession of the place but 
 after holding it for nine months they were ejected by court order in 
 1853. In 1854, a lump of gold was mined that weighed 2340 troy ounces 
 (160 lb. avoirdupois), valued at $43.-534. 
 
 The hill was covered with mining locations. The site of Ilance 's 
 discovery where the richest ore was foinid was included in the Morgan 
 claim, which finally came into the pos.session of a young miner name<! 
 James G. Fair, and the title continued with Fair and his heirs until 1918. 
 Fair sank a shaft west of the Bull vein and it is said that the gold he 
 took out formed the beginning of his immense fortune. The la.st of his old 
 mine workings were blasted out in the excavation of the footwall glory- 
 hole in 1935. by the Carson Hill Gold Mining Co. under the direction 
 of the writer. 
 
 After the rich ores near the surface had been exhausted mining 
 operations were few and small until about 1898. During this period high- 
 graders worked surreptitiously in the Morgan mines reportedly with good 
 results for themselves; Dona Elisa Martinez (tradition says she was 
 beautiful, and maybe she was) operated a lease profitably on the South 
 Carolina mine; the Stanislaus mine at Melones took out a good bo<l.v of 
 highgrade ore at Melones — it was at this mine that calaverite, a gold 
 telluride. and raelonite. a nickel telluride, were first found and identified ; 
 the "Old English Company " operated a mill on the Calavera.s mine; two 
 newly arrived boys from Missouri asked at the English mine how to put in 
 a blast, and then proceeded to practice their new accomplishment in a 
 place that took their amateur fancy, and scattered gold all over the 
 hillside. 
 
 There are two principal veins on Carson Hill. The Bull vein, the most 
 easterly, is the one exposed in the glory holes high on the mountain, visible 
 from the highway from north of the town of Carson Hill : and the Cala- 
 veras vein, the main representative of the Mother Lode in this locality, is 
 the one seen in excavations west of the highway on the Melones side of the 
 hill. The Bull vein— the name is used here to cover both the wide vein of 
 barren bull quartz and the gold bearing quartz and schi.st along its 
 borders — is the one from which most of the production was made. The 
 early bonanza diggings and the later operations of the big companies 
 were on this vein system. The gold bearing outcrop has now been mined 
 out. Its extent of about 1300 feet is now marked by the Melones gloryhole, 
 farthest to the south ; and by the Footwall gloryhole and the Union pit, 
 separated by the bull quartz vein, on the north. 
 
 Mining on a large scale was started in 1898, when the Melones Mining 
 Co.. headed by Mr. 'VN'. B. Devereaux of New York, began work on the 
 lowgrade ore at the surface along the east side of the Bull vein, south of 
 the Morgan claim. The ore carrie<i $2 to .$3 in gold. It was milletl in a 100- 
 stamp mill and cyanide plant at Melones. It was this company that drove 
 the 4500-foot tunnel from Melones to beneath the ore bodies at Carson 
 Hill, and sunk the Melones shaft to the 3000-foot level. The operation \vas 
 well planned and well managed. Mining and milling costs were low; for 
 1908-10 they were $1.08 per ton. After adding the loss of gold in tailing. 
 
 (80) 
 
90 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 anythins; in excess of the combined figure was operatin<; profit. By 1914 
 the cost had risen to $1.60 per ton, and by 1918 still farther rising costs 
 and the low grade of the ore forced the closing of the mine. It had pro- 
 duced about $4,000,000. 
 
 At one .stage in this operation affairs had reached a crisis. The man- 
 ager reported to the home office in New York that in order to continue 
 operations a big new hoist must be purchased and a deeper shaft sunk. 
 Twenty-five thousand dollars was required for the purpose, and it was 
 questionable whether the money would be forthcoming. Then, before a 
 reply could be received, came one of those astounding turns of fortune of 
 which a gold mine is capable. A raise on the 1.350-foot level, being driven 
 for an orepass, encountered a rich pocket of specimen ore in the footwall 
 of the Bull vein that produced the $25,000 almost overnight. A quick 
 telegram relieved the pressure on the New York office. 
 
 In 1920. The Carson Hill Gold Mines, Incorporated, with Mr. W. J. 
 Loring as manager, consolidated all the old mines on Carson Hill between 
 the villages of Carson Hill and Melones, and took over the property of the 
 Melones mine. This company found a rich oreshoot on the Morgan claim 
 and mined it down to a depth of 4550 feet. Cut samples showed as high as 
 $80 per ton and mill heads assayed over $20 per ton at times, but the 
 average grade of the oreslioot was $12.60 per ton. Increasing costs and a 
 lowering in grade of the ore closed the mine in 1926. The operation had 
 produced about $6,000,000. The bottom of the mine when this company 
 took it over was at 3000 feet. They left it at 4550 feet. The late Olaf 
 Wenstrom, the last manager for the company, told the writer in a letter 
 that there is still ore at the bottom, of good milling grade, some of it 
 showing visible gold. No mining has been done since at that depth. 
 
 After a shutdown of seven years, a new operation of the mine was 
 undertaken by the Carson Hill Gold Mining Company with the writer in 
 charge. "Work was .started in April 1933. It was planned to work the 
 marginal ores of $2 to $3 grade. Wages and the costs of materials were 
 low and much of the necessary equipment was on the property. The cost 
 of repairs to equipment and mine workings was correctly estimated at 
 $100,000. 
 
 The times then were hard. Men were out of work. Miners were eking 
 out an existence on ranches, in pocket mining, and in placering the 
 already worked gravels. One man, a graduate engineer, told the writer 
 he was getting 85 cents a da.v from his pocket mining, and others told a 
 similar story. Miners were back again to pork and beans, with little pork. 
 It was a time for gold mining to get busy. 
 
 Mining was begun where ore could be produced at the least cost. The 
 footwall gloryhole was worked and excavation of the Union pit by power 
 shovel was started. The ore from these workings was dropped through' 
 an ore pass to loading chutes in the long haulage tunnel. Two shovel pits 
 were operated on the outcrop of the Calaveras vein, from which the ore 
 was hauled by trucks to loading chutes. Underground mining also was 
 done on upper levels of the Morgan and Calaveras mines. Early in the 
 operation the price of gold was increased from its traditional price of 
 $20.67 per ounce to $35 per ounce, and this made ore of lower gold con- 
 tent profitable to work. Underground mining then progressed to greater 
 depth until it was at the 3500-foot level. 
 
 The mill, at the start, had a capacity of 650 tons per day, but this 
 was later increased to a maximum of 1100 tons per day. Gold recovery was 
 by amalgamation, concentration, and eyaniding. All gold was turned out 
 in the form of bullion bars and no concentrate was shipped. The huge 
 tailing pile at Melones, over 3,000,000 tons, represents all the ore pro- 
 duced by the Carson Hill Gold Mining Company and some from the 
 preceding operation. Tailing from the Melones Company operation had 
 been discharged into the river. 
 
 The Carson Hill Gold Mining Company continued operation until 
 May 1942, when the stamp mill burned down. Any hope of rebuilding and 
 resuming work was extinguished a few months later by government Order 
 L-208, which required the closing of all gold mines as a war-time measure. 
 Under this operation the mine produced 2,840,000 tons of ore from which 
 $6,500,000 was recovered. It had paid for the piirchase price of the mine 
 and had paid eleven dividends. 
 
 There is no accurate record of the early production from Carson Hill 
 but the total production is estimated to be over $26,000,000, 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT-1848-70 
 
 I'.y KciBi-.KT V. HuzKK ami Fkanki.i.x Fi;>fnc;a 
 
 „^r,«DT INTRODUCTION 
 OUTLINE OF REPORT p^^^ 
 
 91 History 
 
 '""■"■'l'^;-^;;;;.V ;:;:;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: »1 California, first seen by Caucasians almost exactly 50 years after 
 
 '''•^■''ilwW-menVs''' IIIIIIIIII"!------------------------------ -'i; the discovery of America, lived for three hundred years as a distant 
 
 I iili/,nt'imr'of firepn>onmlf<fiT.K ninteriiils .._„..--------—-----—--- ;'- ^^^^ neirlected outpost of Spain and her satellite, Mexico. Of all the 
 
 Mr'KiVnV"':::::;::"-;;------------------ i!! historic events in which California has participated, none has so stirred 
 
 H..niii..s :::"":":"":':""":'::i:i_I_IIII-I- iis'i the imao-lnation or achieved such siprnificanee as the discovery of gold 
 
 nJu'valU""":;:::::::::"--------------------" li"! bv James Wllson Marshall at Coloma on January 24. 1848. and the 
 
 lUv^hy _.-.- :;:"":"":"":r"IIIII-------- WJ Q^jf^ Ri,s1i of 'fortv-nlne and the 'fifties. In the century since the gold 
 
 ^::S^^"^Z:::::::::^^^^::^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ]!^ dlseoverv. California has achieved a population in excess of 10 million. 
 
 I'h1„V-:e\-M!n,'." :::::;::::::::'--"--------------- ]|];: and manv of its citizens are descendants of the early argonauts; but 
 
 .Moumni.i'l'ass ::"""" ;' MII KkI the davs of the Gold Rush are over, and the gold region has turned to 
 
 S^;;a\''n,K^!i:::::::::::------------------^ ioi other things. Nature had mined and milled the gold-bearing rocks in 
 
 .lamestowii ::':"":ii:_I_I__II I— I '-'— W» her rivers for millions of years, and after the golden harvest had been 
 
 rXul.ir:::::::::::::::i-------------------- Ji;; reaped from the recent stream bottoms and exposed Tertiary gravel 
 
 Tut'tl'pt.l'wn' :'":::::::::IIIIIII------------- IW deposits, the great GoUI Ru.sh was over. Underground mining began 
 
 .m"I.i,.,Vs" ''-_::"/-" -":_:: yyvy" ri '- iw onU- is months after Marshall's discovery, and continues today, but 
 
 Vl'iTm Kln't :::::::::::::"---------------------- \\i the number of worked out and abandoned mines far exceeds those in 
 
 AiiKi-U Cami. ::r:"I"""I'"- III-II— " '-'—'—'- - IK; present operation. Ilvdraulic placer mining went into decline in 1884 
 
 vl'n'erTtn i:::::::::::::::;"------------ \\^ and ceased, for all practical purposes, with the Caminetti act of 1893. 
 
 M"n>liy< :"";::":":":"IIimm-------------- 12;^ Although the word gold is automatically associated with the Mother 
 
 s].'it''si''ri'.',J-s VaiTey"-!---— —- 1;";""""::"':;:'': lli Lode, this is true largelv in a historic sense— the present day is one of 
 
 r'-,mims ">.•.'. ::::::::::::::::-II-;-"----------------- ^r;5 different economic interests and exploitation. Lumbering, building stone 
 
 l.;.Kt..wn __-'- 1""::"":: 1 ::::"III- iSs quarrying cement kilns, the tourist trade, and farming have replaced 
 
 mIa;::!:^'^::::::^^:^:^^^^^^^^:^^^^^^^^^ ^ „old ^traction as a means of livelihood. Of over five hundred towns 
 
 .lacks..!. . V~V^~7l ;:""'":::::-IIIIII lin .jvhich developed in the gold region between 1848 and 1860, more than 
 
 imtT'l-nik :::::::::::::::::"----------- ^ 50 percent have disappeared from the present day maps. Of the other 
 
 \'m-i<'l"'.' (Ttv ::::::::IIIIII--------------------- m half, most exist as place names, and only a small portion are thriving 
 
 i.'rv't'.w.i .J-IIIim"-- ;; ::::::::::::::::: ISO communities at present, survival has been possible only through develop- 
 
 Fuiri'.Avn':::::::::"-------------------------- : ]1 Ing local resources other than gold. 
 
 HiLtti- City "" " ""_I"I 144 
 
 I.<ij:t"Wii "_ _ " 144 Object of the Survey 
 
 film-onli^prtrKr::::::::"------------------^ \f:, The present study concerns the permanent buildings of stone and 
 
 l-lac-Hi-villp ::::::::::::ii;iI-II-II---I------ 14.-. ^^^y bullt in the goW mining region in the two decades following the 
 
 l^.tus :"- ::":"":"::":"::::::::iI"III "__I_III 14s ^old discovery. These buildings are the enduring monuments raised b> 
 
 Vilw's iLmce H.^fr::::::-I---------------------- IJ^, tl,e men who came in answer to the call of gold. Each year sees more of 
 
 {■,'l.',i' ^}"L:::::^::^:^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^-^^^^-^-^^--" 55,0 them destroyed through neglect or intent, and it was in the hope of 
 
 '^"''T'lvirie II'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII------------------------------ 15f> recording certain essential information on the condition and construe- 
 
 (W.,rKet,>Kn"-'.l :::"ir:"'":"II"irriirriIIIII I'si tlon of the accessible remaining structures that this survey was under- 
 
 *vZ™ RaWnV::::::::::::::::::---------------" 5-;l taken, our project is potentially valuaWe in economic terms. The bricks 
 
 WM"u.J.:l^l"ncti""n ::::::"-:-----------------" il moWed of local days all the way from Mariposa to North San Juan have 
 
 <;ras.s Valley 1'"::::::::::::!!!"!!!!!^!!-!---------- rr^ withstood a near-century of foothill weather, surely a strong recom- 
 
 ■Tnwns\n\Vi.Ti"t7orFrenc"h Corral I'T"":!"!"""!!!" liu mendation for the quality of the brick earths of the region. In western 
 
 ri;;;!,^ii;nV'"!!-:::::::::::::::::::"-"=" l'^ Amador and E1 Dorado counties the abundant rhyolite tuff, used locally 
 
 KililiiiKfiil'h.''" 
 
 (91) 
 
92 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 for building stone as early as 1851, has withstood the test of time with 
 distinction. Labor costs and disinterest in erecting hewn stone buildings 
 have contributed to the abandonment of the tuff quarries, but they 
 remain today as potential sources of easily worked and attractive struc- 
 tural stone. 
 
 Acknowledgments 
 
 Throughout the course of our study we have been aided by advice 
 and technical information from Dr. Olaf P. Jenkins, Chief, State Divi- 
 sion of Mines. His thorough acquaintance with the Sierran Gold Belt 
 geology, towns, history, and people has proved invaluable to us. Mr. 
 Oliver Bowen, State Di^'ision of Mines, accompanied us over most of 
 the area surveyed, and his pleasant companionship and technical advice 
 on geological matters were of very great aid. Everywhere we found the 
 local residents anxious to assist us in identifying old stone buildings. 
 As a result of the persistoit questioning to which the.v cheerfully sub- 
 mitted, we secured information on a number of buildings which were 
 hitherto unrecorded or incorrectly described in the historical literature. 
 "We enjoyed and appreciate the opportunity to have become acquainted 
 with the people of the Gold Rush country because they are interested 
 in their heritage and were willing to accept outsiders who professed a 
 similar interest. Dr. Aubrey Neasham of the National Park Service, with 
 whom both present authors collaborated in the 1947 excavation of the Sut- 
 ter Sawmill, made available to us the manuscript file and photographs 
 of the Historic American Building Survey. In the photographs showni 
 here some are identified as HABS (Historic American Building Survey), 
 and the appended number is the negative number in the HABS file. 
 Credit for each picture so listed is hereby acknowledged to Dr. Neasham, 
 the National Park Service, and the Hi-storic American Building Survey. 
 The symbol DMBS refers to the reconnaissance reported in this paper 
 and known as the Division of Mines Building Survey. The number fol- 
 lowing the survey initials refers to the negative number. All film nega- 
 tives of DMBS pictures used in the present report are on file in the 
 library of the State Division of Mines, Ferry Building, San Francisco. 
 A large number of printed books have been consulted in the effort to 
 determine the names of builders and dates of erection of the ,stone struc- 
 tures described below. On the last page of this report we list those printed 
 works which may be of particular interest to the Mother Lode traveler. 
 
 UTILIZATION OF FIREPROOF BUILDING MATERIALS 
 
 The stone, brick, and adobe architecture of the Mother Lode region 
 arose chiefly in response to the danger and the disaster of fire. The first 
 settlements of the gold seekers were unplanned congested hodgepodges 
 of canvas and frame shelters. Open flame fires were necessary for heat, 
 cooking, and illumination and even a minor accident could initiate a 
 conflagration. A fire, once .started, could scarcely ever be cheeked and 
 the devastation of entire towns occurred time after time. An incomplete 
 list reveals that So'nora was burned in 1849, in 1852, and in 1853 ; Nevada 
 City in 1851, 1856, 1858 and 1863; San Andreas in 1856 and 1863; and 
 Columbia w-as partially destroyed by fire in 1854, 1857 and 1861. Dis- 
 astrous fires also are reported for Grass Valley in 1855, Downieville in 
 1852, Placerville in 1856, Mokelumne Hill in 1854, Drj-town in 1857, 
 Jamestowni in 1855, Georgetown in 1852, and Calaveritas and Campo 
 Seco in 1858. 
 
 The miners strove to ijrotect their property in various ways. Every 
 town had its volunteer fire department and some of the larger towns 
 had several fire companies. Elaborate fire fighting equipment was 
 imported (some of the hoses were to serve later in the first hydraulic 
 mining enterprises) and streets were required by ordinance to be wide 
 enough to serve as fire lanes. But the primary danger still lay in the 
 combustibility of building materials and the answer was found in the 
 exploitation of architectural materials which are seldom used in other 
 regions where ample stands of good timber are immediately at hand. 
 Buildings designed for permanence were constructed of stone or brick 
 or occasionally of adobe. Heavy raftered roofs were covered with metal 
 and on top of this a thick layer of sand was deposited. Doors and windows 
 were fitted with the distinctive .sheet-iron .shutters designed .so that they 
 could be closed in an emergency to protect the combustible interior 
 furnishings. These efforts were on the whole successful, as indicated 
 by the number of such buildings which have survived the various con- 
 flagrations. 
 
 The necessity for fireproof construction was not the only feature 
 which determined the choice of architectural materials. The varied cul- 
 tural background of the argonauts was a factor here as well as in styles. 
 Many of the miners from Mexico as well as those Californians who had 
 already been here for a generation were accustomed to building with 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDIXG STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAX GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEXEXGA 
 
 93 
 
 adobe, sun-dried nmd blocks several times larger than conventional 
 bricks. These were laid flat, usually without mortar. Adobe buildings are 
 seen most frequently in the centers of Mexican activity (Hornitos and 
 Sonora) but this material was adopted by others. The frugal Chinese, 
 who gleaned from the abandoned workings of other peoples, especially 
 appreciated this most economical building material. Brick was the 
 favored building medium of the Americans. It sjTnbolized for them sub- 
 stance and permanence and its prestige is reflected in the widespread use 
 of brick facades for stone buildings. Some stone structures were also built 
 by Americans for New Englanders. Middlewesterners were accustomed 
 to building dry rock walls with stone cleared from fields: to building 
 frame structures on stone foundations; and to lining cellar walls with 
 mortar-laid stone. The stone masons par excellence were the Italians who 
 came to the gold fields. In the central and southern section of the Mother 
 Lode region a large proportion of the good stone buildings, especially 
 those of rhyolite tuff, bear Italian names. 
 
 "f old print shop at Mokelumne Hill ^huwins 'leta 
 hand-chipp«d blocks of rhyolite tuflf. 
 
 The large number of ruins of stone, brick and adobe buildings may 
 be partly accounted for by the fact that the Sierra lies outside the earth- 
 quake region. If this area were subject to earth tremors the number of 
 standing walls would surely be much reduced. 
 
 Rhyolite tuff, known locally as "lava" is one of the few stone mate- 
 rials which was quarried and transported beyond its local occurrence for 
 use as a building material. The reasons for its popularity can easily be 
 recognized. It is as durable as any material which was available in the 
 Gold Rush days but more important, is soft enough that it can easily be 
 dressed with the stone mason's adze. This workability permits the cutting 
 of long narrow blocks to serve as lintels over doors and windows; the 
 dressing of all six faces of a block so that it can be squarely fitted with a 
 minimum of mortar ; the dressing of thin blocks for facing over a rubble 
 core ; and the use of the keystone. There are old rhyolite tuff quarries near 
 Fiddletown. Altaville and Mokelumne Hill and the high knoll which pro- 
 vided Altaville with its first building stone is still being quarried. 
 
 'Wherever it is immediately available, rhyolite tuff is used in the con- 
 struction of all four walls of buildings and occasionally for such ordinary 
 purposes as stone retaining-walls and fences. Beyond the limits of its 
 natural occurrence, it has been transported to such towns as Murphys. 
 San Andreas. Placerville, and Coloma, where it is employed to construct 
 decorative facades for buildings the other walls of which are made of 
 various local field rocks. 
 
 A very similar stone as far as gross appearance and quality of work- 
 ability are concerned is tuffaceous sandstone derived from the Valley 
 Springs formation. There is an old quarry of tuffaceous sandstone at 
 Littlehales and buildings made from it are there and at Jenny Lind. 
 Several buildings in Campo Seco utilize tuffaceous sandstone for an 
 ornamental facade. 
 
 Meta-andesite agglomerates, commonly called greenstones, occur in 
 a band of varying width along the entire western border of the Mother 
 Lode. In the immediate locale of its occurrence meta-andesite is employed 
 for most building purposes. Unlike the schists, it has no well defined 
 planes of cleavage, and unlike rhyolite tuff and sandstone, it is too hard to 
 be easily squared and dressed. In consequence these irregular blocks can- 
 not be set in a wall without the use of heavy mortar, such as mud. which 
 was occasionally used, or lime, which was commonly used. Greenstone 
 was seldom obtained from special quarries and it appears that surface 
 fieldstone (float) was the usual source. When it is used as a structural 
 
94 
 
 6K0L0GIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 material in towns, the building facades are of materials regarded as more 
 ornamental, such as brick or rhyolite tuff. 
 
 Schists of the Calaveras, Cosumnes, and Mariposa series as well as 
 some similar formations of earlier age are extensively used as building 
 material. Their especial virtue lies in the fact that they usually have 
 well defined horizontal planes of cleavage which permit the detachment 
 of large, even surfaced slabs which can be used with very little dressing 
 or .shaping (cf. Pigs. 11, 24). When used for fences or retaining walls, 
 they are often dry-laid (cf. Figs. 23, 166), but in buildings they are 
 usually set in mortar of mud or lime. When the vertical plane of cleavage 
 is definite, it is set toward the exterior. The rough, vari-colored appear- 
 ance of schist walls was not always appreciated by the early builders and 
 most schist buildings have facades of brick (Pig. 74) or of dressed blocks 
 of ornamental stone (mostly rhyolite tuff) and the other walls are heavily 
 coated with lime stucco. That the use of schist as a structural material is 
 confined to those towns where it is available in the immediate locale, indi- 
 cates that it was employed because of convenience rather than preference. 
 Representative schist buildings are illustrated in Figs. 17, 26, 5.5, 164. 
 
 Granite, superb building material that it is, is seldom used in con- 
 struction in the Mother Lode. Perhaps it was regarded as a too pretentious 
 material for the essentially functional architecture of the mining camps. 
 San Pranci.seo's first fireproof building the three-story Parrott Block, 
 was made of granite. It was "pre-fabricated," the blocks were cut and 
 fitted in China, marked with Chinese characters, and shipped to Cali- 
 fornia to be erected by Chinese labor in 1852. Local granite, quarried at 
 Quincy, was advertised for .sale in San Francisco, by Coit and Beals at 
 the Sign of the Granite Obeli.sk, 94 Battery St. in a Jan. 1, 1854 advertise- 
 ment in the Alta California. The granite quarries at Polsom were opened 
 in 1856 and operated by convict labor. The Penryn granite quarry was 
 opened by G. Griffith in 1864. 
 
 Rough quarried granite blocks used in early structures may be seen 
 at the old winery two miles east of Rescue (Pig. 128), at Lotus, and at 
 several places on Highway 49 between Lotus and Pilot Hill. Dressed 
 granite blocks are to be seen in Mariposa, the source being Mormon Bar 
 immediately to the south, and at Coloma (Pig. 131). 
 
 Serpentine resembles meta-andesite agglomerate as far as its qual- 
 ities as a building material are concerned. Field stones of serpentine of 
 irregular sizes and shapes were occasionally used for structural purpo.ses 
 in the immediate locale of their natural occurrence but no intensively 
 worked quarries were seen nor was there any evidence that the serpentine 
 was transported more than a few hundred yards. 
 
 Talc schist, or .soapstone as it is called in the Mother Lode, was 
 occasionally employed in its rough form in rubble walls of buildings (for 
 example the Butterfly Grocery in Mariposa) or in carefully sawed blocks 
 used as an ornamental facing material as it is in the Coulter Hotel in 
 
 Coulterville and the window arches of the Cory Building in Auburn 
 (Pig. 148). It is surprising that a stone which is so easily worked and so 
 resistant to heat and weathering was not used more extensively. 
 
 Limestone (including marble) is of very local occurrence, good 
 exposures being noted at Columbia, Murphys, Volcano, and Cool. Lime- 
 stone buildings can be seen in Douglas Flat and in Murphys and the 
 buildings in Volcano are almost completely constructed of this material. 
 Curiously, the limestone seems never to have been used for structural 
 purposes in the vicinity of Columbia although some fine marble was 
 quarried here in 1852 and shipped to San Francisco. E. R. Roberts of 
 Stockton established a marble yard at Columbia in 1857, and in that 
 year a block of Columbia marble was sent to the national capital to be 
 put in the Washington Monument. In 1852 a block of marble from the 
 Ringgold quarry measuring 48 by 22 by 22 inches and weighing 2700 
 pounds was cut for the Washington Monument, but whether it arrived 
 does not appear to be recorded in the account printed in the Alta Cali- 
 fornian, Dec. 3, 1852. The stone for the Broderick Monument in San 
 Francisco came from the Columbia quarry. 
 
 One of the most important structural materials in use in the Mother 
 Lode region was brick. It was used throughout the area in the chimneys 
 and firpplacf's of wixidcn buililiiiL's. and to frame the doorways and 
 
 Fig. 2. Commenlo^tlti^'e plaque on Telephone BnihHnj: nt French CorrnI, 
 Nevada Count.v. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDIXG STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAX GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEXEXGA 
 
 95 
 
 windows of buildings whose walls were of rough stone. A few towns, 
 located where good brickraaking lateritic clays were available, were the 
 centers of the brick industry. In particular, Columbia, Grass Valley. 
 "Georgetown, and X'orth San Juan are noteworthy as places in which 
 brick is virtually the only fireproof building material employed. 
 
 The first brickmaking in upper California was done in 1847 at the 
 kiln of G. Zins established at Sutterville. just south of Sacramento. In 
 1847 Zins burned 40.000 bricks, and in 1848 his yard produced 100.000. 
 It seems probable that some of the earliest brick buildings in the Mother 
 Lode were made of Zins brick. Bekeart "s store in Coloma, built in 1853, 
 was made of Sacramento brick. J. Doak had a brickyard at Stockton 
 in 18.50. and in that year turned out 700,000 bricks, some of which were 
 sold in San Andreas and Coulterville. The local supply, however, did 
 not meet the demand, for in 1849 a shipload of brick from Ph-mouth, 
 Massachusetts, sold in San Francisco for .$60 a thousand, and in 1851 
 an editorial complaint in the Daily Alta Californian warned its readers 
 of the dangers of fire, bemoaned the expense of imported brick, and 
 commented that California brick, when available, brings from $-36 to 
 $80 a thousand, but '"has no good glaize."' The disastrous fires through- 
 out the Mother Lode and the brick building boom of the 'fifties forced 
 an expansion of the industry. Placerville and Shaws Flat had brick- 
 yards in 1853. An advertisement by Stout and VTall, contract builders. 
 in the Columbia Argus in 1854 offered brick at the kiln for $8 per 
 thousand, $10 delivered, and $20 per thousand laid in the walls. By 
 1856 the Sutterville kilns were selling brick for $7 per thousand at the 
 k i ln and $8 delivered. In 1858 the Sacramento brickyards produced 
 1,500.000 bricks for the San Francisco harbor defenses. In 1854. two 
 years after the great fire in Sacramento, the city had over 500 brick 
 houses. Less than a year after the Xevada City fire of 1856, 25 fireproof 
 brick structures had been erected. These examples illustrate the trend 
 toward fireproof construction at the height of the Gold Rush. 
 
 Brick never became cheap enough to use for retaining waUs, corrals, 
 or farm fences. It appears always to have been a structural material 
 which carried considerable prestige, since it was used for the facades of 
 stone structures in many towns. The stucco covering of stone and adobe 
 buildings was frequently grooved and painted to simulate brick (cf. 
 Fig. 130) . Building in stone and brick gave rise to one quarrying activity, 
 for brick must be set in lime mortar. Early lime kilns in which lime- 
 stone was burned were situated at Shaws Flat. lone, and Cool. Most of 
 the stone buildings seen on our survey were built with mud mortar, or 
 a mixture of mud and lime. Lime must have been scare and expensive, 
 and when available was used to plaster the outside and interior walls 
 of rough stone or adobe buildings. Information on the early utilization 
 of concrete is difficult to obtain. Columbia had, in 1855. a brick reservoir 
 
 lined with cement, and in 1856 Columbia had a building which was 
 then unusual, if not unique for the Mother Lode, made of aggregate 
 (concrete and gravel). It was destroyed in the 'sixties in order to mine 
 the gravels on which it stood. In CoulterviUe a large concrete foundation 
 may be seen which is surely very old, but we were unable to obtain 
 information on when it was built. 
 
 Adobe construction was first introduced to California from Mexico 
 by the Spanish in the late eighteenth century- during the Mission period. 
 It was in general use throughout the occupied areas of California at the 
 time of the gold discovery in 1848, and the impulse to build with adobe 
 bricks in the Mother Lode almost certainly derives from Americans 
 and Mexicans living in California before 1848, who went to the gold 
 regions of the Sierra. Adobe buildings are of two fundamental forms ; 
 those with walls of sun-dried bricks laid up dry or with mud mortar 
 (cf. Figs. 14, 80), and those with walls formed by ramming or pound- 
 ing stiff earth or clay between molds similar to the molds we now use 
 for pouring concrete. Both methods are common in Spanish countries, 
 and the latter is referred to as pise or tapia. Only three examples of the 
 pise technique were noted by us; two at Virginiatown (Fig. 152). and 
 one at Fiddletown (Fig. 114). Adobe brick structures occur at Mormon 
 Bar, ilt. Bullion, Bear Valley, Hornitos. near Bagby. Coulterville, 
 Quartzburg. Sonora. Knights Ferry. San Andreas. Calaveritas, Jenny 
 Lind. La Grange. Drrtown. Fiddletown, and Mokelumne Hill. Others 
 are reported from Salt Springs Valley. Old Gulch, and Mountain Ranch 
 (Calaveras Co.), Shawmut and Jamesto^vn (Tuolumne Co. "i. Dutch 
 Flat (Placer Co.), and Frenchtown (Tuba Co.). In general, adobe build- 
 ings occur frequently along the western margin of the gold belt, and 
 are most concentrated in the south. Less rainfall along the low-altitude 
 western foothills may have encouraged mud-brick architecture, and in 
 the south the greater Mexican-Spanish influence was doubtless largely 
 responsible for the large numbers of adobe structures. Adobe buildings 
 are often ascribed to Chinese builders, but it would be incorrect 4o so 
 attribute all such structures. The Chinese were frugal people, and lumber 
 and brick were expensi%-e. The lateritic clays of the western Sierra slopes 
 bind well, and offered an inexpensive and relatively durable building 
 material. Therefore, adobe buildings may reflect, as for example at 
 Hornitos, either a common pre-1848 Californian architectural technique 
 which was practiced by ilexicans through traditional preference, or 
 they may have been built by underprivileged minority groups such as 
 the Chinese for reasons of economy because they were cheap and easy 
 to erect. 
 
 The usual practice was to coat the exterior walls with a lime plaster 
 about one-half inch thick. This was then whitewashed. So long as the 
 overhanging eaves and roof kept in good condition, the plastered adobe 
 
96 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 ^^?:;r" ¥- 
 
 
 Fig. .1. Fremont Co. Office, Jlariposa, HABS 1,">28. 
 
 FlO. 5. Traliu<c<. Wiirfliuuse, Maripc.sia. DMBS Mrp-H2. 
 
 wilfc-^^ 
 
 Fk;. a Schl.-ig.-tcr II. .Id, M^iriiJ.jsa, li.Ml'.S ,\Irp 111. 
 
 Fig. C. Chinese adobe buildings, HABS 1529. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 97 
 
 would last indefinitely, but access to the walls by rain water would 
 cause their rapid dissolution, since the bricks were composed only of 
 sun-dried earth. In one instance (the Bruschi Warehouse in Coulter- 
 ville), the large adobe bricks were fired. 
 
 MARIPOSA 
 
 The town of Mariposa marks the southern end of the Mother Lode 
 and Higrhway 49. It is also located on Hijrhway 140, about halfway 
 between Merced and Yosemite Valley. In 1844 Micheltorena, then Mexi- 
 can Governor of California, frranted to Juan Bautista Alvarado the land 
 which in 1847 was boufrht b}- John C. Fremont and later known as the 
 Mariposa Grant. The first quartz mine in the Mother Lode was worked on 
 the Fremont Grant in August 1849, only 18 months after James Mar- 
 shall 's discovery of gold at Coloma on the South Fork of the American 
 River. 
 
 Mariposa retains abundant evidence of its growlh in the 1850 's and 
 the visitor may see on the main street the old Fremont Company Office of 
 brick, now much altered but still identifiable from the accompanying 
 photograph (Fig. 3). Across the street is the old Schlageter Hotel (Fig. 4) 
 built of brick and with wide wooden balconies. The Trabucco Warehouse 
 of brick with its iron doors (Fig. 5), the present Bank of America Build- 
 ing and the I. 0. 0. F. Hall all evidence the early brick architectural 
 styles of the 'fifties. Of the old stone buildings, the most accessible 
 is the present Butterfly Grocery whose exposed inner walls are built of 
 soapstone set in mud mortar. Source of the soapstone is the hillslopes 
 immediately east of the town. The .jail (Fig. 7) which sits on the hill at 
 the southern end of town is made of dressed granite blocks from Mormon 
 Bar two miles south of Maripo.sa. This granite is significant as it comes 
 from the intrusion which terminates the Mother Lode on the south. No 
 visitor in Mariposa should neglect seeing the wooden courthouse, erected 
 in 1854, and built on classic lines. 
 
 MT. BULLION 
 
 The tiny rancher's village of Mt. Bullion, first settled in 1850, was 
 the scene of intense mining activity and the site of the Princeton mine. 
 On the ea.st side of the highway are the remains of the Marre Store, made 
 of adobe and built before 1860 (Fig. 8). The individual adobe bricks are 
 12 inches square and 3^ inches thick. 
 
 HORNITOS 
 
 Hornitos, reached via side roads from Mt. Bullion and Bear Valley, 
 was founded by Mexicans only a few months after Marshall 's discovery 
 of gold. The Spanish name (meaning "little ovens") derives, according 
 to one report, from the domed stone and mud tombs whose remnants may 
 still be seen on the hill just below the Catholic church. The visitor is 
 immediately struck with the impression that here is a Mexican pueblo, as 
 
 Jail. .Mariiio.^a, D.MT.S .Mrp-H.3. 
 
 Fig. 8. Marre adobe. Mi. liullioji. HAl'.H IjliT. 
 
98 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 ^^'t^^^' 
 
 Fig. (I. riaza, Hornitos. HABS 1103. 
 
 Flu. 11. I). Ohirardelli .store. Unrnitos. HABS. 
 
 Fig. 10. Wells Fargo building, Hornitos, U.MBS Mrp-H4. 
 
 Fig. 12. I'osit Ottice (former dance hall), Hornitos, D.MB.S Mrp-Hd. 
 
 Ki^Hnn^BSH 
 
SURVEY OF BT'ILDIXG STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAX GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEXEXGA 
 
 99 
 
 indeed it is in origin and plan (Fig. 9). Few Motlier Lode towns can 
 match Hornitos for the number and charm of old buildings. Among the 
 more interesting structures are the old "Wells Fargo building (now the 
 X. S. G. W. hall) with a brick front and quarried schist walls built in 
 1851 (Fig. 10), the Masonic Lodge (1860) of similar construction and 
 with a limestone flagging which came from nearby rock exposures, the 
 D. Ghirardelli store (185.5) made of dressed schist with one adobe wall 
 and an old brick building in back (Fig. 11), and the present Post Office 
 built of dres.sed schist blocks (Fig. 12). This building was formerly a 
 dance hall and saloon patronized by the notorious bandit, Joaquin Muri- 
 etta, who used, in emergencies, an escape tunnel running from the dance 
 hall under the road, with its exit in an adobe building. The tunnel meas- 
 uring 2 by 3 feet and the remnants of the adobe "blind" may still be 
 seen. The schist for the several stone-mud mortar buildings was quarried 
 in the center of to\ni (Fig. 1.3). Hornitos contains a number of adobe 
 buildings (a feature emphasizing its Mexican aspect) whose preservation 
 varies from complete structures to weathered remnants of walls. Fig- 
 ure 14 shows the adobe brick back wall of a store, built by Mexicans in 
 1851, which later became the Merck Bakery. 
 
 About three miles east of Hornitos on the road to Bear Valley is the 
 site of Quartzburg. Here may be seen the remnants of the Thome Store 
 built in 1852 with adobe brick walls and a fired brick front. 
 
 MT. OPHIR 
 
 Xow completely abandoned, Mt. Ophir is sometimes said to be the 
 site of California 's first mint. Although it is probably true that here were 
 "coined" the famous octagonal fifty dollar gold slugs, the Pacific Com- 
 pany in San Francisco seems to have minted the first gold coins ; these 
 were stamped with the date 1849. Between 1849, when the Federal gov- 
 ernment authorized private coinage subject to approval by federal inspec- 
 tors, and 1854 when the first United States Mint was opened in California, 
 at least a dozen private coiners were at work. Of these Moffatt and Com- 
 pany was the largest. The foundations of the Mt. Ophir mint, about 30 
 feet square, may still be seen. Like the other ruins in Mt. Ophir, they are 
 made of quarried slabs of schist set in mud mortar. The walls of a two 
 room cabin (Fig. 15) are standing on the bank overlooking the mint 
 foundation. The ruins of the Trabueco Store (Fig. 16) can be seen from 
 the highway. It was built about 1853. The inner walls of this building 
 are faced with a lime stucco. The local source of the building material 
 can be seen in the open quarry drift on the east side of the highway (Fig. 
 17). Xext to the road on the east are several stone house ruins (Fig. 18). 
 
 BEAR VALLEY 
 
 The little hamlet of Bear Valley, first named Simpsonville, is the site 
 of a once important town in which John C. Fremont made his home. 
 Several old stone buildings are still in use. All are made of schist 
 slabs, set in lime mortar and plastered over with stucco. A detail of a 
 
 I'll., l.'i. Schi.-t <iuiiir.v in Hoinitns, DilBS iXrii-UG. 
 
 Vui. 14. \\';tll uf adobe iMiihliiii; opiMtsilt' Chiranlelli stnre, Horniln 
 D.MItS Jlrp-IIT. 
 
100 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. lr>. Two room cabin near Mt. Ophir mint, DMBS Mrp-H8. 
 
 Fig. 17. Seiii.st quarrv ea.st of highway. Mt. Ophir. 
 D.MliS Mrp-HO. 
 
 
 Fig. 1G. Trabucco store, Mt. Ophir, HABS 1324. 
 
 Fig. 18. Stone hoii-,. rmn. \lt, (iplm. I'.MI;.-^ .Mil' HIO. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OP THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 101 
 
 I'lo. 11'. Schist wall (detail). Bear Vallev, 
 DMBS Mrp-Hll. 
 
 Fig. 21. Adobe building with stucco e.\terior. 
 Bear Valley. DMBS Mrp-H13. 
 
 Flc. 20. Adi>be building. Boar Valley. DMBS Mrp-H12 
 
 Fig. 22. Jail. Bear Valley, DMBS Mrp-H14. 
 
102 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 weathered corner of the Fremont Company Store (now in ruins) is shown 
 in Pifr. 19. In one instance (a building on the west side of the highway 
 at the south end of town) the stucco has been painted and grooved to 
 resemble large, dres.sed blocks of stone. A local source for the stone build- 
 ing material is indicated by evidences of quarrying in schist outcrops 
 within the town. The rootless .stone .iail stands on the hill near the school- 
 house (Fig. 22). Four adobe buildings also survive. One of these is 
 unusual in having several courses of schist slabs laid in between courses 
 of adobe blocks (Pigs. 20, 21). At the northeast end of Bear Valley, the 
 remains of its Chinatown can be seen in a row of clay hummocks and 
 ruined fireplaces, the vestiges of the original adobe buildings. 
 
 BAGBY 
 
 Bagby is the site of Benton Mills, named by John C. Fremont for his 
 father-in-law, Thomas Hart Benton. The foundations of the mill ( Pig. 23 ) 
 can be seen on the south bank of the Merced River just below the highway 
 bridge and just above the mouth of Hell Hollow. Plat-laid slabs of serpen- 
 tine set in lime mortar have been used in the construction. A mile down- 
 stream, on the .south bank, is the site of the old Selby Perry. A corral and 
 a ruined adobe building still mark the site. 
 
 FRENCH MILLS 
 
 A mile and a half south of CoulterviUe and three-quarters of a mile 
 west of Highway 49, are the ruins of the mine buildings and houses of 
 the old site of French Mills. At present, the remains consist of a boiler 
 house (Fig. 24), a series of retaining walls (Pig. 25), and several stone 
 foundations, all constructed of sehi.st slabs set in mud mortar and stucco 
 covered. The .source of this building material can be seen in the extensive 
 quarrying of local outcrops (Fig. 26). 
 
 ^S^ 
 
 Fig. 24. Two views of lioilerliou.s,. (V), Fiencli Mills, D.MRS Mrii-HlO. HIT 
 
 Fig. 2."). Sehi.st retaining wall, Fiench Mills, H.MliS Mrp-lllS. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEXEXGA 
 
 103 
 
 COUUTERVILLE 
 
 Among: the most interesting of the buiklinfrs in Coulterville are 
 the ruins of a stone hotel. It is constructed of flat laid schist slabs (Fig. 
 28) but the front is covered with neatly dressed blocks of soapstone 
 (Fig. 32). The soapstone facing blocks are said to have been quarried on 
 the Gordon Place at Greely Mountain. Adjoining the ruins of the Coulter 
 Hotel are the brick AVells Fargo office and Wagoner's store. Adjacent to 
 this group is a schist quarry, the source of part of the building material. 
 Across the highway (to the east) are several wells, lined with cobbles set 
 in mortar and surmounted by a brick coping (Fig. 29). The Bruschi 
 Building, once the alcalde's office, is of adobe with a plastered exterior 
 grooved and painted to simulate fired brick (Fig. 30). The front half of 
 the Bruschi Warehouse which now houses the fire department is made 
 of schist slabs but its rear wing is made of fired adobe bricks each of 
 which measures 15 by 7 by 4 inches. Several brick buildings may be seen 
 as well as a few made of schist slabs. Fig. 31 shows the first Bruschi Store 
 (left) of stone, and the second Bruschi Store (right) constructed of brick 
 imported in the early 'fifties from Stockton. Most of the adobe buildings 
 to be .seen on the northern edge of Coulterville postdate 1870 but one, the 
 Sun Sun "Wo Store is said to date from 1851. One other building deserves 
 mention ; the ruins of a large, poured concrete foundation which may date 
 from the Gold Rush period. 
 
 Flu. 2n. IiftMil 
 
 Flli. 27. .J:iil. C.iulterville. H.\HS l.-|22. 
 
 .-ifliist Willi, reilr "f hotel. Coulterville. 
 n.MHS >Irii H2n. 
 
104 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 29. Well on edge of highwav, Coulterville, DMBS 
 Mri>-H21. 
 
 Fig. 31. Brick and stone buildings, Coulterville, HABS 1532. 
 
 Fig. ,30. Bruschi Building, Coulterville, HABS 1331, 
 
 Fig. 32. Hotel, Coulterville, UMBS Mrp-H22. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT. 1848-70— HEIZER AXD FEXEXGA 
 
 105 
 
 BIG OAK FLAT 
 
 Four miles east of Moccasin via Higrhway 120 is the tow-n of Big Oak 
 Flat, founded by James Savage in 1849. It is the site of one of the best 
 preserved and most attractive stone buildings in the Jlother Lode country. 
 The Odd Fellows Hall is made of dressed schist slabs set in lime mortar. 
 The door frames are made square by the use of brick (Fig. 3-3) . 
 
 Xearby is Groveland. once named Garrote by the French miners. 
 Here may be seen a splendid example of a brick front-schist availed 
 building with its full complement of heavy iron doors and shutters. 
 
 CHINESE CAMP 
 
 Xamed for its Chinese laborers who settled here in 1849. Chinese 
 Camp is famous in Gold Rush history. Most of its surviving buildings 
 adhere clo.sely to a single plan, side and rear walls are made of cobblestones 
 (of gabbro and serpentine) set in mortar, and building faces are of brick. 
 The ruins of the Wells Fargo Company Building, built in 1849, the Post 
 Office (Fig. 34. left) and Rosenbloom's Store (Fig. 34. right) all are of 
 this type. The ruins of one all-brick store can also be seen.- 
 
 Among the ruins the "trees of heaven" (Ailanthus) have grown 
 into a miniature forest. 'Wherever Chinese settled these trees were planted, 
 and today their distribution along the Mother Lode attests the wide- 
 spread presence of these people. 
 
 Fro. 3.3. I. O. O. F. Hall. Wm Oak Flat. HAHS 1.578. 
 
 Fig. 34. Left: 
 
 P»)st Office ; risht. store with iron doons. brick front, stone sides, 
 Chinese Camp. DMBi? Tm>-Hl. H2. 
 
 Fig. 33. Stone corral. Mountain Pass. DMBS. 2.33-B-ll. 
 
106 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Flu. 30. House iui)i, west ot Mouiitiun Pass, D.MIIS, 23.'!-c-l. 
 
 Fid. .37. Tullncli Mill. KniKlits F.-iiy. H.VI'.S n37-(;. 
 
 MOUNTAIN PASS 
 
 Near the Mountain Pass School, on the south side of the road there is 
 a stone corral made of dry-laid latite boulders (Fig:. 35) derived from 
 the lava cap Table Mountain which stands just north across the highway. 
 
 West of Mountain Pass on a knoll on the south side of the road, the 
 ruins of a house, made of serpentine blocks set in lime mortar, can be seen 
 (Pig. 361. The outcrop is nearby and shows signs of workings. Close by 
 on the same knoll is another and similar stone ruin. 
 
 KNIGHTS FERRY 
 
 Settled by William Knight in 1848, this town on the Stanislaus River 
 soon became a center for local mining and an important way point on the 
 route to the Mother Lode. It is reached via Highway 120 and is located at 
 tlie edge of the San Joaquin Valley east of Oakdale and west of Chinese 
 Camp. Knight was succeeded by the Dent brothers (brothers-in-law to 
 U. S. Grant) , who built the Tullock Mill (Pig. 37) at the east end of town 
 near the famous covered bridge. The brick one-story warehouse was raised 
 in 1852-58 and the stone grist mill buildings were erected in 1862 by 
 T. Vinson, an English stone mason. Vinson built the piers and abutments 
 of the covered bridge in 1862-63. The brown and pink stone used in the 
 Tullock Mill is local lone sandstone quarried in the nearby slopes ; other 
 stones in the main east and south walls are from granite and conglomerate 
 river boulders. 
 
 The use of local lone sandstone is also evidenced in Knights Perry 
 in the low retaining walls (Fig. 40, left) which line the back streets and 
 alleys. The famous iron jail is perhaps the most unusual one in the Mother 
 Lode district. The Chinese are attributed authorship of the adobe brick 
 houses, remnants of which may be seen south of the road near the jail. 
 Their basement walls are of lone sandstone blocks or rounded river 
 cobble-mud mortar construction. 
 
 Fired brick was used for the old hotel which later became the court- 
 house. The basement excavation and remnants of the walls are all that 
 are left of this building which was erected in 1859. 
 
 LA GRANGE 
 
 La Grange is located south.of Highway 120 and west of Coulterville. 
 Leaving Highway 120 and turning south, the motorist will see the low 
 foothill elevations bordering the San Joaquin Valley. At Crimea House, 
 2.5 miles off Highway 120, is a circular stone corral on the east side of the 
 road (Pig. 38). It was constructed in 1850 with Chinese labor of dry-laid 
 schist blocks and measures about 80 feet in diameter with the walls over 
 two feet thick and five feet high. 
 
 In La Grange proper is a beautifully preserved adobe brick building 
 measuring 45 bv 21 feet with walls 10.5 feet high and 18 inches thick. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDIXG STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAX GOLD BELT. 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEXEXGA 
 
 107 
 
 Fio. 38. St.me corral. Crimea House. D-Mr.-S TiioH?.. 
 
 The mud bricks measure 10 by 17 by 4 inches. Its preservation is due to 
 a wooden framinir wliich is a later addition to the adobe which was built 
 in the 'fifties. Opposite the adobe building is a pair of stone buildings 
 complete with iron doors ( Fig. 39 ) . They are made of light tan-and-pink 
 lone sandstone which occurs just west of La Grange. 
 
 Two miles south of La Grange on the road to Coulterville is a stone- 
 walled ditch used in earlier times for mining operations (Fig. 40, right) . 
 It is neatly made of dry-laid flat schist slabs gathered from the imme- 
 diate vicinity. 
 
 JAMESTOWN 
 
 Jamestown, the historic "Jimtown." has a large number of stone 
 buildings surviving from the Gold Rush period. These include the present 
 Post Office wliich was formerly St. James Masonic Lodge, and other ilain 
 Street buildings. The construction of most buildings is masked by heavy 
 coatings of .stucco and false facades but the building pattern seems to 
 have been consistently one of brick fronts with side and rear walls of 
 schist slabs set in mortar in a manner similar to the buildings of Chinese 
 Camp. JIany years ago a Captain X'eville built a hotel near the old depot 
 whose lower walls were of green mariposite rock. It has since been 
 destroyed and is mentioned here as the only instance encountered on this 
 survey of the use of this rock in construction. 
 
 Midway between Jamestown and Sonera on the north side of the 
 highway there is a house with a schist foundation and frame upper 
 structure (Fig. 41). 
 
 
 Fig. ;;'J. San.lsti.iie buiUliuK.-. I,a (iraii;;?. IJMB.-*. 2;i.'!D-J. 
 
 Fit. 40. Left, siimlstime wall. Kiiishls Ferry. I>MUS Sta-Hl ; riKht. st.iiie-walleil 
 ditch, w.iith ..f La (Jranse, KM US Sta-H2. 
 
108 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 
 
 
 Ym. 41. House with .st'tut' li;i.sfiiifiit. between Sonuni 
 luid Jamestown, IIMB8 Tuo-H4. 
 
 SONORA 
 
 Sonora was named for the first gold seekers who settled here, Yaqui 
 Indians from the State of Sonora in northwestern Mexico. It survives 
 today as one of the largest and most vigorous towns of the Mother Lode 
 country. It is an important center for lumbering as well as gold mining 
 activity. Most of the evidences of the early town are concealed on the 
 main streets by the practice of facing buildings with stucco, vitreous 
 brick and other new materials but the same buildings viewed from side 
 streets and alleyways reveal abundant evidence of early architecture. 
 
 As the visitor enters Sonora from Jamestown, a number of quarries 
 in the schist bedrock can be seen along the right side of Highway 49. 
 These are the sources of the towii's favorite stone building material. 
 Across the road to the west shoring and retaining walls made of drj'-laid 
 flat schist slabs channel the stream of Woods Creek. 
 
 The favored construction pattern in Sonora was that of making the 
 sides and rears of buildings of flat laid schist slabs, the fronts of brick, but 
 there are some all-brick buildings as well as some all-stone buildings and 
 the influence of the Mexicans is to be seen in surviving adobes. 
 
 The building now known as the Opera Hall Garage was once the 
 theater for Sonora. It still contains a stage and dressing rooms once 
 used by the players. It has a brick front, and side and rear walls of 
 schist slabs. The hillside behind the opera house was quarried to provide 
 the building materials. At 919 Washington Street there is a two story 
 building with a brick front and schist sides (Fig. 44). It was built in 
 18.51 and is known as Bother's Tin Shop. Two adjacent buildings at 
 803 Stewart Street are of similar style but one is constructed of brick 
 and the other of schist slabs with a brick front (Fig. 42). These were 
 built by Americans and lat«r sold to Chinese. Modern Sonorans refer to 
 them as the ' ' China Stores. ' ' At 905 Shepard Street there is a two story 
 brick building resting on a foundation of schist slabs (Fig. 4.3). There is 
 an all schist building opposite the Purity Store on Stewart Street (Pig. 
 46) and the old schist wall can be seen in the alleyway on the side of the 
 Gem Cafe. Between the offices of the Sonora Daily and the police court, 
 the ruins of the walls of an adobe building can be seen. The adobe blocks 
 measure 13 by 6.5 by 3 inches. In 1850, Sonora had numerous adobe 
 buildings including Captain Green's Hotel, a two story, 40 by 100 foot 
 structure. The historic Italia Hotel, still in existence in Sonora (Fig. 45), 
 contains at least one interior adobe wall of the original structure. 
 
 Fio. 4:;. i'.iiihliiii; at so:'. Stewart St.. 
 
 oja. li.Mi..^ loo li.p 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDIXG STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AKD FEXENGA 
 
 109 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 m 
 
 ^^^^^^^^ "^ '' w^i ^' 
 
 H 
 
 4i~iife_ ^H^H 
 
 B|/ 
 
 sj^^H^^ ici^HP^^B 
 
 L 
 
 
 Fig. 43. Home at tKl.j Shepard St.. S..n..ra. HMHS T«o-H6. 
 
 Fig. 44. Brick and schist building, 919 Washington St., Sonora DMBS Tno-HT. 
 
 ^d.._,„J 
 
 Fig. 4.".. Italia H..tel. ISonora. S.MBS Tuo-HS. 
 
 Fig. 46. Schist buildinff opposite Purity Store, Stewart ?;t-, J^uuora, DMBS Tuu HO. 
 
110 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 47. W. O. Mills building. Columbia, HABS 17uS-2. 
 
 Fig. 48. Well.'; FiirRo Exi)re.ss buililiiis, Ci>Iunibi:i H.\IiS 1T4.2. 
 
 COLUMBIA 
 
 The town of Columbia, once called "The Gem of the Southern 
 Mines," is one of the architectural showplaces of the Mother Lode 
 country. It was never abandoned; consequently the buildings never fell 
 into complete disrepair ; nor has it experienced the growth which led, 
 in other towns, to false fronts and stucco covering. A!mo.st all of its 
 permanent buildings are made of brick, a reflection of the excellent 
 brick-making lateritic clays available locally. Two brickyards (in oper- 
 ation in 1854) were located on the old Dambacher Ranch in Matelot 
 Gulch, two miles north of Columbia. The extensive, marble-like, lime- 
 stone outcrops seen in this region seem not to have been exploited for 
 local building material although marble was quarried here and shipped 
 to San Francisco as early as 1854. 
 
 Columbia's first brick building, completed in 1853, was torn down 
 in 1866 and the bricks were sold in Sonora. Other brick buildings, were 
 demolished in the 'sixties in order to mine the gravels under them, 
 and the bricks resold in the nearby boom town of Copperopolis. Most 
 of the historic buildings in Columbia are signed. Among them are the 
 D. 0. Mills Building erected in 1855 ( Fig. 47 ) , the Wells Fargo Express 
 Office built in 1858 (Fig. 48), the Gold Nugget Saloon built in 1857, the 
 Hildenbrand Building (now the N. S. G. W. Hall) erected 1855, the 
 Levi Block built in 1854, and the Pioneer Saloon (Fig. 49), the Sun 
 Tun Sing Company Building, St. Anne's Church, completed in 1856 
 (Fig. 50), the Masonic Hall built in 1854, the Odd Fellows Hall (Fig. 
 51) and the Springfield Brewery (Fig. 52). The east iron grill work 
 on the Express Building was made in New York. 
 
 Most of Columbia's brick structures postdate the great fire of 1854, 
 which occurred only 4 years after the town was founded. Columbia, now 
 a State Park, has numerous attractions in the form of exhibits of histori- 
 cal relics which the Mother Lode traveler may inspect. 
 
 Nine miles east of Columbia is French Camp, first settled by 
 Frenchmen, where the Maisson Store, built in 1851 with lower walls 
 made of schist, may be seen. 
 
 SHAWS FLAT 
 
 In the flat, lying between Sonora and Columbia, there were three 
 (iold Rush settlements, Shaws Flat, Squabbletown, and Springfield. 
 Among the interesting remnants to be seen in this area are the ruins of 
 the two lime kilns ( Fig. 53 ) which were used in the reduction of the local 
 limestone to lime. These kilns date from 1852. The pitted limestone bed- 
 rock was extremely rich placer ground. The red lateritic earth was good 
 for brick making, and some of the Sonora and Columbia bricks were 
 molded and fired here in the early 'fifties. 
 
 At the site of the once populous town of Springfield is the well 
 preserved remnant of a two story brick building, built in 1854, which has 
 variouslv served as a church and an armory. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAX GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEN^ENGA 
 
 4^ 
 
 111 
 
 Fig. 49. Pioneer 8aloou, Columbia. HABS 1143-2. 
 
 Fig. riO. St. Annes Church. Columbia. HABS 1142-2. 
 
112 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 52. Springfield Brewery and Tuolumne Engine House Xo. 1 HABS 1711-1. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 113 
 
 Fig. 54. Lett. Swerer's store. Tuttletown. DMBS 233-B-8. 
 
114 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 ,.^HHHL '^'^iCIVf!!. -*4fai^BvF 
 
 c 
 fc/ 
 
 Fig. .■>.■), Stcme house oil reiitlula ranch. Mfh^nes, 1)M1»S (_'iil-lll 
 
 TUTTLETOWN 
 
 Fig. r,6. Slone buiUlins, Carson Hill, DMIIS Cal-H2. 
 
 The very well preserved and neatly built .stone building which 
 stands in Tuttletown was a store, built by W. Swerer in 1852, and 
 patronized by Mark Twain during his sojourn at Jackass Hill. It is made 
 of quarried and dressed blocks of Calaveras schist (Fig. 54). A schist 
 quarry can be seen on the north side of the highway a half mile west of 
 the store. Tuttletowii was first settled by a group of Mormon prospectors 
 in 1848 and then named Mormon Camp. 
 
 MELONES 
 
 The old town of Melones, at various times also called Roaring Camp 
 and Slumgullion, lies on the north bank of the Stanislaus River. Melones 
 was first .settled by Mexican placer miners in 1848. To the east of the 
 highway, several ruins of former schist buildings are to be seen including 
 the Vignoli Gaming House built in 1850 and the homestead house on the 
 Pendola Ranch (Pig. 55) about a mile northeast of town. 
 
 CARSON HILL 
 
 A few stone buildings made of fiat Calaveras schist laid up with mud 
 mortar (Pig. 56) may be seen. The famous Carson Hill mine, .still in 
 operation, is nearby, as is the site where the largest California gold 
 nugget ever found was picked up in 1854. It weighed 195 pounds troy 
 and would be worth roughly $73,710 at the present price of gold. 
 
 ALBANY FLAT 
 
 Between Carson Hill and Angels Camp near Progtowii in what was 
 called Albany Plat stands the James Romaggi Pandango Dance Hall 
 built in 1852 (Fig. 57). It has several rooms and is two stories high in 
 the front. The walls are of selected coursed slabs of amphibolite schist. 
 Few buildings in the entire Mother Lode can match this for size, 
 excellence of construction, and elaborateness. 
 
 ANGELS CAMP 
 
 The modernized town of Angels Camp is built around a core of 
 eighteen-fifty period stone structures. The Angels Hotel built in 1855 
 now bears a new facade, but is still recognizable in its earlier style shown 
 in Fig. 56. It is built of dressed rhyolite tuff blocks, as are at least a 
 dozen other buildings in town of equal age. Examples which show rhyo- 
 lite block construction are the Stickle Store, Scribner's Store, the Wells 
 Fargo Building and the present Sierra Club. Source of the tuff was the 
 quarry east of Altaville (Pig. 63). A Chinese store built of brick is 
 referred to locally as the "Chinese Calaboose." 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HBIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 115 
 
 'J.->^il-. 
 
 ■c^'-r^: 
 
 .1 
 
 
 />*k 
 
 
 i 
 
 Klv, r.T. K.iiiai;;;! F;in,JanK>. Hull, AH :iny Flat. DMBS Cal-H3. 
 
 Fig. j8. Angels Hotel. Angels Camp. HABS 1547. 
 
116 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 ALTAVILLE 
 
 Altaville, the historic Cherokee Flat (also known as Winterton and 
 Forks of the Road), has one very well preserved stone building, the 
 Prince and Garibardi Store, built in 1857 of dressed blocks of rhyolite 
 tuff (Fig. 59). Several dryrock walls are built of the same material 
 (Fig. 63) as is the Demarest Foundry. The North Branch Cemetery 
 near Altaville contains several interesting tombstones, the legends of 
 which suggest the rigour of life in the Gold Rush days (Figs. 60, 61, 
 and 62). A mile east of Altaville on the road toward Vallecito there is 
 a prominent butte, capped with rhyolite tuif. Known locally as "lava" 
 this material has been quarried since the 1850 's and has provided a 
 substantial, decorative building material for structures in Altaville, 
 Angels Camp and Vallecito and facing and trim materials for buildings 
 in more distant towns. This Pierano quarry is still in operation (Fig. 64). 
 
 Flc. HO. (Iravcstonp, North Branch cemetery, nenr Altaville, 
 H.\BR, 148T-2. 
 
 Fig. 59. Prince and Garabardi store, Altaville, HABS 1205-2. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HBIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 117 
 
 Fifi. til. 
 
 Ornvestoue, North liiaiicU (■eniptery, near 
 Altaville, HABS, 1487-2. 
 
 Fu;. U: 
 
 (lra\ estitne. Xorth Branch cemeter.v, near 
 Altnville, HABS, 1487-2. 
 
118 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 i , Ji 
 
 .I'v^* 
 
 / L 
 
 m 
 
 Fig. 63. Rh.volite tuff block fence just east of Altaville, DMBS Cal-H4. 
 
 W Ul.iiilil.' lull (luaro, 1 niil.-i'iist c,f .\ltavillc, D.MUS Cal-H.-.. 
 
 VALLECITO 
 
 Vallecito is on Highway 4, six miles from Angels Camp. Vallecito 
 preserves the Wells Fargo Office, later Sanguinetti's and then Dinkel- 
 spiel's Store (Fig. 65) built in 1854. It is constructed of dressed blocks 
 of rhyolite tuff which came from the Altaville quarry (Fig. 64). Across 
 the road are the ruins of the Wells Fargo Stables put up in 1851 and 
 made of the same material (Fig. 66), and up a side street is the splendid 
 Cuneo building built in 1851 complete with iron doors and made of 
 rhyolite tuff blocks (Fig. 67). 
 
 Beyond Vallecito at Douglas Flat, a distance of 2| miles to the 
 northeast, are a number of stone ruins which may be seen on either side 
 of the road. The rough-quarried limestone here has served as a fence 
 material. The Gilleado building built in 1851, now stabilized with con- 
 crete and with a new tin roof (Fig. 68), serves to illustrate the use of 
 rough limestone blocks as a construction material in this vicinity and 
 at Murphj's not far beyond. 
 
 MURPHYS 
 
 Murphys, also located on Highway 4 to the northeast of Douglas 
 Flat, is almost unique in preserving the atmosphere of a substantial 
 Mother Lode town of the 'fifties (Fig. 69), Permanent buildings are 
 of brick or quarried limestone. The Mitchler Hotel at Murphys (Fig. 70), 
 made of rough quarried limestone chunks set in lime mortar, was built in 
 1855 by J. C. Sperry and J. Perry. It is supposed to be the one referred 
 to in Bret Harte's "A Night in Wingdam. " In the hotel register may 
 be seen such names as Mark Twain, Thomas Lipton, Henry Ward 
 Beecher, U. S. Grant, and J. J. Astor, Jr. Across the street is a typical 
 Mother Lode brick-fronted, limestone rubble-lime mortar^ walled build- 
 ing which was in 1851 a miner's supply store and bakery. The simple 
 charm of the St. Patrick's Catholic Church made of brick and dating 
 from the 'fifties is a direct link with Murphys historic past (Fig. 71). 
 The P. Travers building made of hea\-j' limestone rubble and erected 
 in 1856, is now Morley's Garage. It housed a store and the Wells Fargo 
 Office. The Jones Apothecary shop (Fig. 72) with brick front and lime- 
 stone rubble walls and Victorene .Compere 's Store (Fig. 73) with facing 
 blocks of dark rhyolite tuff and walls of limestone rubble and now 
 remodeled into an attractive private residence, complete our list here, but 
 the visitor will identifv many more structures which have come down to 
 the present from nearly a hundred years ago. Less than a mile beyond 
 Murphys on the road to Altaville there may be seen to the right several 
 remnants of buildings made of schist slabs and rubble (Fig. 74). 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 119 
 
 ^6^«S 
 
 Fici. cri. Left, ilet.-iil of reilr Willi. Wfll^ K:m-);" Oltiii-. \^lllec■ill^ ; i-ii;ht. front d • 
 
 WVlls K.11-KO Offi.H. \-nllecito. UMBS CmIHR. H7. 
 
 Fig. 66. Wells Fargo stables. Vallecito, DSIBS Cal-H8. 
 
 Fig. 67. Rh.volite tuff buildiui;. VaJlecito, DMBS Cal-H9. 
 
 Fig. 68. Limestone building. Douglas Flat. DMBS Cal.-HlO. 
 
120 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 ■^y^^ 
 
 
 -.■*t 
 
 
 *-:^^-, 
 
 
 
 •" ^v. 
 
 
 
 Jf 
 
 • 
 
 
 ' ^ 
 
 \i 
 
 
 
 ■■ '■ "iC 
 
 ■.^m 
 
 ^^^ y 
 
 .">* 
 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HETZBR AND FENENGA 
 
 121 
 
122 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 ;>;^'^-:.'r.' y ^«:; -■■-. '-: --^^rfiV^:?*^ 
 
 Fig. 73. Vktorene Comi»ere"s store. Murphys, HABS 110&-2. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 123 
 
 Fig. 74. Ruined schist-walled building just west of Murph\s, I»MBS Cal-H12. 
 
 Fig. 75. Stone corral. 6 miles west of Altaville. DMBS Cal-H13. 
 
 COPPEROPOLIS 
 
 Six miles west of Altaville on the road to Copperopolis, two well 
 preserved stone corrals can be seen (Fig. 75). They are made of ser- 
 pentine and meta-andesite fieldstone. 
 
 Copperopolis is 12 miles west of Altaville via Highway 4. The min- 
 ing of copper at this town began within a verj' few years after the gold 
 discovery and its building boom shared the architectural styles of the 
 Mother Lode country. Most of the standing buildings in Copperopolis 
 are built of brick ( some of which was secured from buildings which were 
 torn down in Columbia in the 1860 's) but there are some buildings and 
 many foundations built of local fieldrock, mostly meta-andesite together 
 with some schist and serpentine. Among the most interesting buildings 
 to be seen is the Odd Fellows Hall, built as a church in 1862. It is built 
 of brick and rests on a foundation of meta-andesite which contains 
 copper ore. This foundation material is probably waste rock from one 
 of the mines (Fig. 76). A store at the south end of town has a front 
 section built of brick dovetailed into a rear section built of meta-andesitic 
 field rock (Fig. 77). 
 
 SALT SPRINGS VALLEY 
 
 Salt Springs Yalley, a few miles northwest of Copperopolis, was 
 the site of several early-day mining and ranching ventures. Scattered 
 stone and adobe buildings of the 'fifties occur in this valley, particularly 
 on the Andrew "Williams ranch where there was once a town called 
 Felix or Stone Creek Settlement (Fig. 78). 
 
 JENNY LIND 
 
 Jenny Lind. today almost deserted, was a booming town during 
 the Gold Rush and vestiges of her previous opulence are seen in the 
 abandoned ruins of stone and adobe buildings. The town can be reached 
 from Copperopolis via Salt Springs Valley and Milton. It is seven miles 
 north of Milton. A buUding made of carefully dressed blocks of tuffa- 
 ceous sandstone (Fig. 79) was once a grocery store. The building material 
 was quarried near Valley Springs, a few miles to the north. One large 
 adobe structure stiU stands (Fig. 80). Its foundation is made of local 
 fieldstone. An old quarrj-, dug into an outcrop of lone siltj- sandstone 
 can be seen on the hillside just behind the town (Fig. 81). 
 
124 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fin. 76. I. O. O. F. Hall, Copperopolis, DMBS Cal-H14. 
 
 Fio. 78. Mine building, Salt Springs Valley, HABS. 
 
 Fio. 77. Brick and schist building, Copperopiilis DMBS Cal-H15. 
 
 Fio. 79. Tuffaceous sandstone building, Jenny Lind, PMBS Cal-H16. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 125 
 
 CAMPO SECO 
 
 Three miles north of Valley Springs, which is on Highway 8 west 
 of San Andreas, is Campo Seco, scene of the historic legal dispute over 
 the Campo Seco Land Grant. The most interesting buildings in this town 
 are the two story buildings of the Adams Express Company and the 
 smaller buildings adjacent to it (Pig. 82). The fronts of each of these 
 structures is made of carefully dressed blocks of tufaeeous sandstone, 
 the sides and rear walls of rough hewn fieldstones of meta-andesitic 
 agglomerate. Just west of this row of buildings the brick oven of an 
 old bakery can be seen (Fig. 83). 
 
 DOGTOWN 
 
 A quarter of a mile north of Altaville on Highway 49 is the Calaver- 
 itas road which turns off to the right. Dogtown, which lay on the edge 
 of the flat at San Domingo Creek, is marked on the right side of the road 
 by a stone fireplace and on the left by a large house ruin of schist set 
 in mud mortar (Fig. 84). 
 
 Calaveritas, about five miles northwest of Dogtown, contains a 
 number of adobe brick buildings erected in 1850 and 1851. Fig. 85 is 
 a photograph of a somewhat dilapidated, but still well preserved struc- 
 ture, built in 1850. The exterior still bears the original lime plaster 
 which served to protect the mud bricks from disintegration. The bricks 
 measure 13 b}- 7.5 inches and are 5 inches thick. Just beside this adobe 
 are the remnants of two other buildings whose basement walls, four feet 
 high, are composed of schist, and quartzite rubble and fieldstone laid 
 up in mud mortar with adobe walls on top. Each has an arched doorway 
 in the stone basement wall, which faces to the south. Originally one of 
 these was partially faced with well dressed granite blocks. Just beyond 
 and around the bend is the Costa and Palmer adobe-brick store erected 
 in 1851. The present owner has kept it in nearly perfect condition. 
 Behind, in the farmyard, is a second adobe building, originally a house, 
 which has schist rubble foundation walls. Still a third remnant like 
 the last lies just to the west of the store across a small creek. 
 
 Fig. 81. lone silt-sandstone quarry, Jenn.v I.ind DMBS Cal-HlS. 
 
126 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 82. Adams Express Co. building, Campo Seco DMBS Cal-H19. 
 
 Fio. 84. House ruin, Dogtown. DMBS Cal-H21. 
 
 Flo. 83. Brick and stone oven, Campo Seco DMBS Cal-H20. 
 
 Fio. 85. Adobe brick house, Calaveritas, DMBS Cal-H22. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 127 
 
 Fig. SB. I. O. O. F. Hall, San Andreas, DMBS Cal-H23. 
 
 Fig. 87. Superior Garage. San .\ndreas, DMBS Ca]-H24. 
 
128 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 r 
 
 J^^s^', ,Lf:i 
 
 Fig. 88. J. nanque sli.re, San Andreas. DMBS Cal-H2S. 
 
 SAN ANDREAS 
 
 The main street of San Andreas displays several buildings dating 
 from the 'fifties. Among these are the I. O. 0. F. Hall made of brick and 
 erected in 1856 (Pig. 86), the Corcoran and Sullivan building con- 
 structed of dressed granite blocks in 1855 (Fig. 87), and the J. Banque 
 Store on Court Street with granitic walls and a brick front built in 1351 
 (Fig. 88) and said to be the oldest brick building in this section of the 
 Mother Lode district. The adobe brick buildings adjoining the Banque 
 Store date from the early 'seventies. The Friedburger building, otherwise 
 known as the Calaveras Bar, has now been torn down but an earlier 
 photograph is reproduced here (Fig. 89) to illustrate a common archi- 
 tectural technique of applying a smooth stucco outside over the stone 
 walls (here of tlat Calaveras schist rubble laid in lime mortar) and groov- 
 ing the stucco to simulate stone construction blocks. An excellent museum 
 and public library occupies the former Krini Hotel building which was 
 built in 1852 of dressed pieces of local gnei.ssic granite and Calaveras 
 schist. 
 
 MOKELUMNE HILL 
 
 The traveler arriving in Mokelumne Hill is immediately struck by 
 the observation that most of the buildings are made of well finished stone 
 blocks. These are of light brown rhyolite tuff. The I. O. O. F. Hall (Fig. 
 90) was originally a two story building erected in 1854 by the Adams 
 Express Company. The third story was raised in 1861 by the I. 0. O. F. 
 thus making it the first three story building in the Mother Lode. This 
 splendid building, the Mater building erected 1854 (Fig. 91) , the burned- 
 out printing shop (Fig. 92) and the adjoining garage (Fig. 93) all show 
 the beautifully tooled rhyolite tuff block construction. The famed Leger 
 Hotel, reminiscent of the style of the 'fifties (compare with Figs. 4, 58, 
 110), built of brick and rhyolitic tuff with wooden balconies adjoins the 
 old courthouse which is now part of the hotel (Pig. 94). The exquisite 
 Congregational Church built in 1856 of wood is supported by pillars of 
 fitted rhyolite tuff blocks. The hill which rises west of town was the source 
 of the rhyolite tuff which has hei>e a long surface outcrop in wJiich can be 
 seen the quarry pits opened in the 1850's (Fig. 95). 
 
 Two locally famous structures, the Hemmighofen and Suesdorff 
 brewery made of rhyolite tuff, and the Pellaton Store made of adobe 
 bricks are no longer in existence. 
 
 Fig. 89. Friedburgfr Buildinj; ( nu luii;.;Lr staiulin;;; San Andreas 
 
 IIABS 1478. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 129 
 
 J 
 
 JACKSON 
 
 Like Sonora, Jamestown, San Andreas, and Plaeerville, Jackson is 
 a 'forty-nine camp which has successfully made the transition from a 
 boom town to a modern projrressive community. Like the others in this 
 class, its main street has assumed a surface veneer of parking; meters, new 
 metal trim and ^rlass fronts, but to the person who gives the business 
 houses a second look, many of the buildinrrs show the characteristic fea- 
 tures of the 1850 's when they were erected. 
 
 Jackson is primarily a brick town. After the disastrous early fires, 
 which destroyed the frame structures, brick rather than stone was 
 employed to rebuild a permanent and fireproof to\ra. Among brick struc- 
 tures which are approaching the age of centenarians are the National 
 Hotel ( Fig. 96 1 , the Wells Fargo Building ( Fig. 97 ) , the Amador County 
 Courthou.se (built 18.54), the Native Daughters of the Golden AVest Hall, 
 and a large number of the single .story main street stoi-es. Among the 
 better early stone buildings built of meta-andesitic agglomerate which 
 was secured from the basement excavations or hillside quarries is the old 
 Marre Store. 
 
 JACKSON GATE 
 
 Not far beyond Jackson lies Jackson Gate. Here the main old build- 
 ing is Chichizola's store (Fig. 98) whose thick stone walls have withstood 
 nearly a century's ravages of weather. Just before entering Jackson Gate 
 there are to be seen two tremendous upright wooden wheels whose purpose 
 was to lift mill tailings up the hill for disposal. Their diameters are 58 
 feet and tliey are now nearly half a century old. 
 
 SUTTER CREEK 
 
 Across the highway from the Central Eureka mine on the crest of 
 Sutter Hill is the Botto Granary built in 1869. It is of dressed field stone 
 (andesitic breccia) obtained on the property. With its iron doors and 
 plastered interior, it stands as an excellent example of the enduring archi- 
 tecture of the Mother Lode (Fig. 99). Sutter Creek, like Plaeerville, has 
 made a valiant effort to modernize its main street, but the quaintness of 
 the 1850 styles as .shown by the Sorocco Store, Brignoli Store, American 
 Exchange Hotel, Methodist Church and Masonic Hall cannot be so easily 
 eradicated — these retain the essential simplicity and solidity of the period 
 in which thev originated. 
 
 Fig. 00. 
 
 I. O. O. F. Hall, MnkPlumne Hill, HAB.S 12.S1-2. 
 
 ■-:j 
 
 ■ ^'■■^''^ ■^^. 
 
 — — — J^^^^" 
 
 
 ^^^3^K 
 
 "^^^^ '% W ■^. .^ .^^Sk^ ' p |- ^^ 
 
 ^s^^m^bm 
 
 
 Fig. 01. Mater building, Mokelumne Hill, DMBS Cal-H20. 
 
130 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 92. Wall of burned print shop, Mokelumnc Hill, DMBS Cal-H27. 
 
 
 Fiu. !«. Print shup and sarage, Mokelumne Hill, DMBS Cal-1128. 
 
SURVEY OP BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 131 
 
 Fio. 94. Leger Hotel, Mokelumne Hill, DMBS Cal-H29. 
 
 
 Fig. 9.'). Rliyolite tuft qiiarr.v, Mokelumne Hill, DMBS Cal-HSO. 
 
132 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 96. National Hofel and brick store. Jackson HABS 1520. 
 
 Fio. 97. Wdls Farco Office, Jackson, HABS 1156. 
 
SURVEY OP BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 133 
 
 Fio. 98. Chichizola Store, Jaokson Cate. HABS 1513. 
 
 Fig. 99. Left, Botto Granary, Sutter Creek, DMBS Ama-Hl ; right, detail of 
 dressed meta-andesite blocks, DMBS Ama-H2. 
 
 Fig. 100. Meta-andesite fieldstone building on hill east of Sutter Creek, 
 DMBS Ama-HS. 
 
 Fig. 101. Remains of winery east of Sutter Creek on Volcano road, DMBS Ama-H4. 
 
134 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [BuU. 141 
 
 Fig. 102. Stone cellars, sanie location, DMBS Ama-HS. 
 
 Fig. 103. Main Street, Volcano, St. George Hotel on right, HABS 1283-3. 
 
SURVEY OP BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 135 
 
 Fig. 104. Limestone building ruins. Volcano H_ 
 
 Fig. 105. Limestone building. Volcano, DMBS Ama-H5. 
 
136 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 106. I. O. O. F. and Masonic buildings. Volcano, HABS 1545. 
 
 Flo. 107. Adams Express Co. building, HABS 1518. 
 
 ■!■■ 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AXD FENENGA 
 
 137 
 
 VOLCANO 
 
 A side trip east of Sutter Creek via Gopher Gulch will bring the 
 visitor to the most picturesque of all the Mother Lode towns, Volcano 
 (Fig. 103). The town was settled in January 1848 by members of Steven- 
 son's regiment, but not until after the gold discovery at Coloma were the 
 rich "Soldier's Gulch" diggings located. 
 
 Three and a quarter miles east of Sutter Creek one sees the remains 
 of an old winery (Figs. 101, 102) built in 1851 of brick and stone (grano- 
 diorite. andesite and slate). Beyond, toward Volcano, one sees at every 
 hand crumbling ruins of miner 's stone-mud-mortar cabins and the hum- 
 mocks and pits left by placer miners of the past. The whole country here 
 has literally been turned over in search of gold. Xearing Volcano the lime- 
 stone cliffs and road cut exposures prepare the visitor for the stone 
 material used in the Volcano buildings. On all sides are massive buildings 
 of quarried and rough-dressed blue limestone ( Figs. 104, 105 ) , among the 
 better are the brewery, the Lavezzo Building, the Wells Fargo Building, 
 the Masonic and I. O. 0. F. Hall with two stories (Fig. 106), the Adams 
 Express Building (Fig. 107), the old wineshop (Figs. 108, 109). The 
 most imposing building is the charming three-story St. George Hotel of 
 brick ^vith continuous-front balconies (Fig. 110). Here also is the 110 
 year old cannon "Old Abe" used by the famous Volcano Blues in Civil 
 War times. The Gianinni family of Bank of America fame hails f lom 
 Volcano, and this town may also boast the first rental librarj- in Cali- 
 fornia (1850). 
 
 AMADOR CITY 
 
 Through the two blocks of towii traversed by Highwa.v 49 one sees 
 on every side the signs of the abandonment of this once thriving city, a 
 contrast to the time when the placers and underground mines produced 
 in abundance. An abandoned brick building stands next to the Fleetheart 
 Store, beautifully constructed of stone whose dressed meta-andesite brec- 
 cia blocks show the stone masonry techniques of the 'fifties at their best 
 (Fig. 111). At the foot of the main street of Amador City is the old 
 Imperial Hotel, again an example of the beautiful brickwork of Cali- 
 fornia's past. 
 
 DRYTOWN 
 
 Here is a town, founded in 1848, which has already seen its day of 
 history. In the hills behind Dn,-town are a score of abandoned mines, their 
 names once household words, now forgotten. As Highway 49 crosses Dry 
 Creek, one maj" see the brick store built in 1854 (Fig. 112), and across 
 the road the Town Hall (1856) of brick with meta-andesite stone founda- 
 tions. Down the back road leading east is an equally ancient adobe house, 
 still inhabited, with a dry-laid foundation of meta-andesite which was 
 quarried from the cellar. The Masonic Lodge of brick still remains from 
 the 'fifties. 
 
 Fig. lOS. Wine^l,.-! \- :...:. I iMIIS Ama-HG. 
 
 Fig. 109. Detail of doorway of wineshop. Volcano, DMBS Ama-H7. 
 
138 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [BuU. 141 
 
 Fig. 110. St. George Hotel, Volcano, HABS 1285-2. 
 
 Fig. 111. Sloiip building, Amartor City, DMBS Ama-H8. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 139 
 
 PLYMOUTH 
 
 Of Plymouth 's Gold Rush days when the town was called Pokerville, 
 little meets the visitor's eye: farming; has replaced placering as a means 
 of extracting wealth from the earth. About one-half mile out of town on 
 the main road leading west is an old and curiously constructed building 
 with a brick front and rear walls which merge step-like into the side walls 
 constructed of undressed fieldstone of meta-andesite agglomerate (Fig. 
 113). 
 
 FIDDLETOWN 
 
 Off the main road a few miles east of Plymouth, is Fiddletown which 
 preserves a considerable measure of its early 1850 's flavor. Entering 
 town one sees a dilapidated rammed earth "adobe" (Fig. 114) made by 
 Chinese, a two story brick-covered stone walled store (Fig. 115) and a 
 representative of the common early 1850 style building with a brick front 
 and schist-mud lime mortar walls (Fig. 116) . The brick was fired locally, 
 as was the case in nearly every town where the lateritic clays furnished 
 readily available brick earth. Near the east end of town is the Schallhorne 
 Blacksmith and Wagon Shop (Fig. 117), a massive and excellently con- 
 structed building erected in 1870 of rectangular hewn blocks (measuring 
 12 by 18 by 10 inches) of Valley Springs rhyolite tuff which is easily 
 worked when first quarried but hardens after exposure. The source of 
 this tuff, a quarry about 1.5 miles east of Fiddletown, may be seen across 
 a field to the south of the road. 
 
 BUTTE CITY 
 
 Two and a half miles south of Jackson the old Benoist Store (later 
 owned by Ginuochio), built in 1854, stands beside the road (Fig. 118). 
 It is the only substantial remnant of a once thriving community known 
 as Butte City. The door and window frames are of brick, the walls of 
 Calaveras schist fieldstone and the upper openings still bear the iron-plate 
 doors so familiar to an3-one who has any acquaintance with the Gold 
 Rush country. 
 
 Fig. 112. Brick store. Drytown. DMBS .\ma-H3. 
 
 Fig. 113. Stone and brick building on west edge of n.vmouth, DMBS .\ma-I110. 
 
140 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [BuU. 141 
 
 Fig. 114. Rammed-earth building, Fiddletown DMBS Ama-Hll. 
 
 Fig. ll.'i. Brick store, Fiddletown, DMBS Ama-H12. 
 
SUR\T;Y op building structures op the SIERRAN gold belt, 1848-70— HEIZER AKD FENENGA 141 
 
 Fig. llti. Brick building wilh schist walls. Fiddletown, I)MBS Ama-IIi;j 
 
 Fig. 117. Schallhorne smithy. Fiddletown. DMBS Ama-H-14. 
 
142 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 118. Ginnochio store, Butte City, HABS 1506. 
 
 Fig. 120. Four arra.stre stones laid in walls of buiklniK .■jhown in Kig. lilt. I^iwer 
 left shows drill hole and cro.ss section of stone, UMBS Eld-H2A-D. 
 
 Fig. 110. BuildinE foundation walls, near Logtown. DMBS Eld-Hl. 
 
 Fig. 121. Rhyolite tuff and luiik l.uildiuKs, El Dorado, DMBS Eld-H3. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 143 
 
 Fig. 122. Rear o£ two story stone building shown in Fig. 121. DMBS Eld-H4. 
 
 Fig. 12.3. Tuff-faced melaandesite building. El Dorado. DMBS Eld-H.5. 
 
lU 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 n-sl)iittei-ed window anil tuff-franiptl dtu 
 shown m Fig. 121. DMBS Eld-HG, H7 
 
 rwa.v HI rear 
 
 Flo. 12."i. Rh.volite luff liuilding, west edge of Diamond Springs. DMBS Eld-H8. 
 
 LOGTOWN 
 
 Logtoivn is located in Logtown Ravine about midway between 
 Plymouth and El Dorado. In the little flat near which was once the site 
 of Logtown are two stone house ruins. One, seen through the eottonwoods 
 on the west side of the road (Pig. 119) , is of especial interest because laid 
 in the mortared walls of meta-andesite are a number of beautifully pol- 
 ished, mottled granodiorite millstones from an old arrastre (Pig. 120). 
 Pifteen of these arrastre stones average 22 inches long, 15 inches wide, 
 and 10 inches thick. Others even larger occur in the vicinity at random,' 
 as though they were too heavy to be of use. On the back surface of the 
 stones are three conjoined drill holes which received iron eye-bolts to 
 which the chains were attached. All show a smooth, undulating, grind- 
 ing surface marred only by curved scratches formed by contact with the 
 quartz ore. Many have flat or rounded sides which were caused by contact 
 with the sides of the arrastre walls (cf. Pig. 139). 
 
 Across the road and up the slope is a second ruin built of granodiorite 
 fieldstone. The door lintel is a heavy, flat slab of schist imported from 
 some other locality. 
 
 EL DORADO 
 
 Formerly named Mud Springs, El Dorado can boast a larger number 
 of 1850 buildings than many larger Mother Lode towns. The mo.st impos- 
 ing structure is a group of three buildings of dressed rhyolite tulf built 
 in 1855 (Pigs. 121, 122). The westernmost of the tbree (now a garage) 
 has side walls of fieldstone which is largely meta-andesite agglomerate. 
 The Hill Building now the "Wilson garage, erected in 1857 is of the local 
 rhyolite tuff. At the west end of town is a large stone and frame building 
 faced with dressed rhyolite tuff (Pig. 123) and with the walls of meta- 
 andesite fieldstone held in lime mortar. The iron doors and shutters (Pig. 
 124) are still present, and in the rear is a doorway framed with rhyolite 
 tuff blocks (Pig. 124). Some early brick buildings (Charles- laekson Store, 
 Nathan Rhine's Store and the Gold Xugget building) may also be seen. 
 
 DIAMOND SPRINGS 
 
 Several buildings erected in the 'fifties still stand in Diamond Springs 
 and are in present day use. The transition from the roaring 'fifties to the 
 prosaic present is exemplified by the old Wells Pargo Express Office 
 now under different management with a sign in front reading "Mom's 
 Kitchen." It is built of attractive gray -brown dressed rhyolite tuff blocks 
 whose sources was nearby Pleasaht Valley. The site of the famous Golden 
 West Hotel built in 1856 is marked by a vacant lot littered with large 
 dressed facing blocks of rhyolite tuff. Louis Lepetit's Store, erected in 
 1857, is the modern Red and White Store. Toward the west end of town 
 are two buildings fashioned of dressed rhyolite tuff, one on the south side 
 of the road and now abandoned, the other, used at present as a hay barn 
 (Pig. 125), was originally a general store. The 1. 0.0. P. Hall, made of 
 wood (1852) rests on a foundation wall of brick with dressed rhyolite 
 tuff corners. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FEXENGA 
 
 145 
 
 PLACERVILLE 
 
 Placerville, a thriving community situated on one of the main trans- 
 Sierrau highways (Highway 50) and supported by lumbering, mining, 
 and farming, is. like Auburn and Sonora, a city which has sur\-ived and 
 flourished even after the gold placers "played out." Old Dry Diggins or 
 Hangtown. as it has been variously named, contains many of its 1850- 
 1860 period buildings. Many of these are brick such as the famed I^->" 
 IIou.se (1861), the Federated Church (1861), and home at 313 Washing- 
 ton Street. The P. G. and E. building (1852) is made of talc schist with 
 brick-trimmed facjade. The quarry from which the stone was excavated is 
 the cut directly behind in the hillslope. The Title Building is of similar 
 construction with brick face and talc schist walls. The building at 849 
 Main Street (built 1861). one door east of the Library, has brick sides, 
 talc schist foundations, and rhyolite tuff facing. The El Dorado County 
 Chamber of Commerce building is made of dressed blocks of rhyolite tuff, 
 probably derived from the Diamond Springs area a few miles to the west. 
 This building was the Pony Express office. Perhaps the nicest of the old 
 buildings is the Wilcox Warehouse (Fig. 126) built of carefully selected 
 blocks of andesite conglomerate and schist. 
 
 Hangtowners are conscious of their history, and the visitor will find 
 them and the Chamber of Commerce gracious and helpful hosts. Most of 
 the store windows on the main street contain Gold Rush period antiques. 
 
 SHINGLE SPRINGS 
 
 Shingle Springs is located about six miles west of El Dorado on High- 
 way 50. The two-story Wells Fargo Building (Fig. 127) made of meta- 
 andesite and semi-dressed granodiorite, both materials common in the 
 immediate vicinity, is the outstanding building of the late "fifties at 
 Shingle Springs. Just west of town near the railroad crossing, a well 
 preser\-ed house of meta-andesite fieldstone, talc schist, and white quartz 
 float laid with mud-lime mortar can be seen (Fig. 128). South of there a 
 few hundred yards on the French Creek road are two old building ruins 
 made of meta-andesite and serpentine (Fig. 129) . 
 
 At the beginning of the road from Shingle Springs, which goes north 
 from Highway 50, to Lotus are several old building remnants. A few miles 
 north of Shingle Springs, the first side road to the left leads to Rescue, 
 beyond which, at a distance of two miles on the McDonald (now Reamer) 
 Ranch, are the ruins of an old winery built in the late 'fifties. The con- 
 struction, of granite fieldstone set in mud-lime mortar, has held up well 
 (Fig. 1.30). Back on the main road, the next side road to the right takes 
 one east on the Green Valley road, along which are abundant evidences 
 of placer activities for about two miles to the first lane to the right. Two 
 hundred yards down this and to the left are the remains of an earth dam 
 with meta-andesite fieldstone facing, built by miners in the early 'fifties 
 to impound water for placer mining (Fig. 131). 
 
 Fig. 12(1. 'Wilco.'s Warehcus.-, I'hK frvillp, DMBS Eld-H9. 
 
 Fig. 127. Wells Fargo building. Shingle Springs. DMBS EldHlO. 
 
146 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 Fig. 128. Stone house ruin just west of ShinKli- Springs, DMBS Eld-Hll. 
 
 Fio. 129. Stone ruin on road to French Creek, DMBS Eld-H12. 
 
 Fio. 130. Winery ruins. 2 miles west <il Hesiue, H.MliS KM-Hi:;. 
 
 FIG. 131. Miner's dam of earth and rocli, i.u.ii \ .lUiy road, DMBS Eld-H14. 
 
 HM^a 
 
SURVEY OP BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 f 
 
 147 
 
 Fig. 132. Adam I. hrv _,:ore. Lotus. DMB.S Eld-Hlo. 
 
 Flu. 133. Grauite jaU, Ci.loma. DMBS Eld-H16. 
 
148 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 134. Cobblestone building with rhyolite tuff facing, Coloma, DMBS Eld-Hl" 
 
 Flu. 135. Robert Bell store, foloma. DMBS Eld-H18. 
 
 LOTUS 
 
 Lotus, once called Unionto^v^l, participated in the earliest gold placer 
 activities because of its proximity to Coloma. One quarter of a mile south 
 of Lotus on the west side of the road is the basement remnant of an old 
 building made of rough-quarried granite blocks. Two iron doors still 
 remain as witness of the eighteen-fifties period when it was built. The 
 Uniontown School, built in 1869, is of brick and is still in use. The Adam 
 Lohry Store (Fig. 132) and residence, both built of brick in 1859, are 
 excellent examples of brick structures of the period. 
 
 COLOMA 
 
 Other Mother Lode towns maj- claim their own first this or that, but 
 Coloma 's historic significance is unequalled as the spot where James 
 Wilson Marshall picked up on January 24, 1848 the first grains of gold 
 in the tailrace of Captain Sutter's sawmill. These bits of gold were the 
 harbingers of the great Gold Rush which is the foundation of our State. 
 Marshall lies buried on the hill where his heroic bronze statute stands. 
 Coloma exists today as a community whose population is less in numbers 
 than its age in years. A number of the old buildings still stand. Among 
 the more interesting is the old jail of the early 'fifties whose three foot 
 thick walls of dressed granite have been partly removed (Fig. 133). Two 
 buildings built in 1850-51 and now ownied by the State Division of Parks, 
 have iron doors, river cobblestone walls and dressed rhyolite tuff facing 
 blocks (Fig. 134). The Robert Bell store of brick constructed about 1856 
 (Fig. 135) and Bekeart's Store of brick built in 1853 (Fig. 136) are still 
 standing. On the back streets may be seen fences of piled rhyolite tuff 
 blocks which came from an old winery operating in the 'sixties. Several 
 of the old wooden buildings in and around Coloma are built. In part, of 
 lumber cut in the now-vanished Sutter sawmill in 1850-53. 
 
 MEYER'S DANCE HALL 
 
 Just above Lotus, after crossing the South Fork of the American 
 River, about a mile and a half below the spot where James Marshall dis- 
 covered gold in 1848, one sees to the left the splendid two story stone ruin 
 of Meyer's Dance Hal! and Saloon (Fig. 137). The walls are of granite 
 fieldstone or river boulders split so as to furnish a flat facing. Tlie cor- 
 ners, door and window frames are of dressed rhyolite tuff blocks. Source 
 of this tuff was probably to the south in the vicinity of Diamond Springs. 
 A half mile beyond on the left side of the road is a foundation built into 
 the sidehill next to the road. It is of split granite fieldstone laid with lime 
 mortar. About a half mile on and just past a prosperous farm, is a com- 
 plex of stone foundations made of granite fieldstone laid with lime mortar. 
 After crossing the next bridge, there may be seen along the stream terrace 
 to the left several ruins of granite fieldstone buildings (Fig. 138). 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 149 
 
 Fig. 136. Bekeart's store, Coloma, DMBS Eld-H19. 
 
 Fig. 137. Meyer's Dance Hall and Saloon, just north of Lotus, DMBS Pla-Hl. 
 
150 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. 138. Stone ruins between I,otus and Pilot Hill along creek, DMBS Pla-H2. 
 
 Fio. 139. Arrastre walls, 1 mile north of Baileys, DMBS Pla-H3. 
 
 PILOT HILL 
 
 Of Pilot Hill little remains except a few scattered remnants of stone 
 cellars. Just beyond on the left is Baileys and the picturesque three story 
 porticoed brick inn, now owned privately. One mile above Baileys on the 
 left side of the road across the creek is one of the few remaining old 
 arrastres of the Mother Lode. The mill basin (Pig. 139) is nine feet in 
 diameter and two feet high and constructed of white quartz. The heavy 
 mill stones or "drags" have been removed, and a few lie scattered on the 
 surface nearby. 
 
 COOL 
 
 Five miles north of Baileys near the site of Cool are some old lime 
 kilns which operated in the 'sixties. The two kilns on the right side of the 
 road have straight faces and curved sides. They are constructed of dressed 
 limestone blocks and lined with quarried meta-andesite. which was more 
 heat resistant (Fig. 140). The ruins of several building foundations 
 made of the same limestone which was burned in the kilns are nearby, and 
 the quarry pit may be clearly seen. Just beyond is the modern Cragco 
 Company quarry. 
 
 KELSEY 
 
 At the little town of Kelsey, six miles north of Plaeerville, on High- 
 way 93 to Georgetown, a frame cabin has been reconstructed on the site 
 once occupied by the blacksmithy of James Marshall, famed as the orig- 
 inal discoverer of gold at Coloma. This cabin once housed a museum, the 
 only remaining exhibit of which is a granodiorite muller stone from an 
 old arrastre, the primitive manual mill employed by Mexicans in the very 
 first efforts in California to reduce gold from hard rock ores (Fig. 141). 
 
 LOUISVILLE 
 
 A mile and a half north of Kelsey, at the abandoned settlement of 
 Louisville, is the ruins of a house, made of slabs of laminated schist set in 
 mud mortar (Pig. 142). 
 
 GEORGETOWN 
 
 Georgetown, on Highway 93 ten miles north of Kelsey and once 
 known as " Growlersburg, " is one of the towns located in areas having 
 abundant lateritic brick clays, and this natural feature is reflected in the 
 choice of building materials. No stone buildings are to be seen nor are 
 there foundations or fences of stone. 
 
 The present I. O. O. P. Hall, formerly an hotel managed by Madame 
 Balsar, is a two story brick building erected in 1859. It has been remodeled 
 twice. The row of brick buildings along the north side of the main street 
 includes one which functioned as a Union Armory during the Civil War. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OP THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 151 
 
 GREENWOOD 
 
 The little community of Greenwood 5.5 miles west of Georgetown on 
 Highway 93, contains a few vestiges of its halcyon days. A ruined wine 
 cellar, dug-into the hillside and with its doorway framed with blocks of 
 meta-andesitic agglomerate can be seen on the west side of the main street. 
 Directly across the street there are two building foundations made of 
 slabs of schist set in mud mortar (Pig. 143). In front of the house 
 numbered 308 there are two fragments of a granodiorite stone "drag" 
 from an arrastre. In recent times they have served as hitching posts. 
 On the east side of the highway at the north end of town there is the 
 foundation of a long narrow building made of blocks of fieldstone of 
 meta-andesite agglomerate and Mariposa slate. 
 
 AUBURN RAVINE 
 
 On the old Sacramento highway, a mile west of Auburn, a few build- 
 ing ruins mark the former settlement of Auburn Ravine. The outstanding 
 remains to be seen are those of a composite brick and stone building which 
 was once a saloon. One section of the structure is made of blocks of schist 
 set in mud mortar (Pig. 144), the second section is of bricks set in 
 lime mortar (Pig. 145). Adjacent to this building, the walls of a semi- 
 subterranean "cold house" can still be seen. It is made of dry-laid blocks 
 of schist. 
 
 AUBURN 
 
 Auburn is one of the most vigorous of the surviving Gold Rush 
 towns. Located at the intersection of highwaj-s 49 and 40, its expansion 
 eastward up the hill has left a number of early buildings undisturbed 
 in the old town at the foot of the hill. The building of the J. E. Corj- & 
 Son Peed Company in the 100 block of Lincoln Way is constructed of 
 schist blocks (Pigs. 148, 149). It has ornamental arches over the second 
 story windows made of sawed soapstone blocks (Fig. 150). The adjacent 
 brick building rests on a schist foundation. The opposite comer building 
 of the Auburn Electric Company is built of thick slabs of schist (Fig. 
 146). Extending up Court Street from this building is a row of three old 
 brick structures, and directly across the street is a small abandoned 
 building made of schist slabs (Pig. 151). Lincoln Way, from Court 
 Street south, contains a niunber of old brick buildings notable among 
 which is the round front of the L^nion Bar (Fig. 147). 
 
 West of Auburn on the foothill fringes of the Sacramento Valley are 
 several mining towns dating from the 'fifties. Among these are Ophir, 
 Penrj-n, Gold Hill and Virginiatown. At this last place are two splended 
 ranuned-earth adobes (Fig. 152) built by Armour in 1852, and the 
 original home of the present meat packing concern. 
 
 Fig. 140. Lime kUns near Cool, DMBS PIa-H4. 
 
 Fig. 141. Arrastre stone of granodiorite, Kelse.v, DMBS PIa-H5. 
 
152 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 KlG. 142. Schist shib house ruin, Ixjuisville, DMBS Pla-H6. 
 
 Fir,. 14:1 Schi.st buildiiif fnuiiiiations, Ureenwiiiid, DMUS I'la-HI. 
 
 
 Fig. 144. Brick and schist building ruin. Auhurn Ravine, DMBS Pla-H8. 
 
 Fig. 145. Placer Herald and other brick buildings, Auburn, 1>MBS Pla-H9. 
 
 pJbL 
 
SURVEY OP BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 153 
 
 Fig. 146. Auburn Electric Co. BuUding, Auburn, DMBS Pla-HlO. 
 
 Fic. 147. riii.in Bar. Oldtowii in Auburn, DMBS Pla Hll. 
 
154 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [BuU. 141 
 
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SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTUKES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 155 
 
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156 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 WOLF ROAD JUNCTION 
 
 Ten miles north of Auburn at the road junction leading to Wolf 
 stands a well constructed chimney (Fig. 153), the remnant of a large 
 house. It is made of laminated chert set in mud-lime mortar and the 
 fireplace is lined with fired brick. 
 
 One and a half miles farther on and to the left in the edge of the 
 flat, stands another chimney constructed of rough serpentine chunks. 
 
 Elsewhere to the south the buildings originally erected with these 
 chimneys would have been of stone, but Nevada County, with its timber 
 and early sawmills, turned to frame construction, a cultural feature 
 which is responsible for the scarcity of stone buildings in the Northern 
 Diggings. 
 
 GRASS VALLEY 
 
 Grass Valley lies in a pine-forested region, and not long after the 
 discovery of rich placer and quartz mines there were several sawmills 
 operating here. Frame houses characterized the early architecture, but 
 a disa.strous fire in 1855 led, as all through the Mother Lode country, 
 to the building of fireproof structures. The unavailability of the excellent 
 meta-andesite used .so extensively farther south for stone buildings and 
 the abundance of lateritic clays which served as brick earth are in part 
 responsible for the choice of brick as the material fop durable buildings 
 in Grass Valley. To the Mother Lode traveler who by now has seen 
 a number of brick buildings, the familiar style will be immediately 
 apparent on the main business street of Grass Valley in the many store 
 fronts. The Club Cafe building is an outstanding large stone structure 
 made of serpentine and talc schist held in lime mortar (Fig. 155). A few 
 blocks south of the main street on Mill Street is a beautifully built mill 
 building (Fig. 156) of rough serpentine, talc schist, and granite blocks 
 laid in lime mortar. The window and doorframes are of brick. Nearby, 
 across the street from the Lola Montez house is a dwelling (Fig. 157) 
 constructed in a style similar to that of the mill building. One 
 distinctive stylistic trait of the local architecture is leaving the outer 
 wall of the brick fireplace chimneys flush with the outer wall of stone 
 buildings (cf. Pig. 157). 
 
 About two miles south of Grass Valley on the west side of the road 
 are the remains of a winery built of rough-quarried granite blocks set 
 in mud mortar. Several complete buildings still stand. Figure 1.54 shows 
 ' the brick-arched entrance to one of the cellars. 
 
 NEVADA CITY 
 
 Like many other settlements of the Mother Lode, Nevada City has 
 acquired a surface veneer of modern life, but has still not lost the 
 
 peculiar charm which pervades these century-old towns. This charm 
 derives from and persists by reason of the old buildings which still form 
 the physical core of present business activities. Nevada City, like its 
 age-mates farther south and north, is a holdover, a tarriant, from the 
 booming 'fifties. And not until the old brick and stone buildings are torn 
 down and the towns laid out with a view to convenience will they lose 
 their particular flavor — the Mother Lode town is something unique, and 
 something with universal appeal. This observation we submit as impor- 
 tant, since too many visitors (and guidebooks) are overimpressed with 
 the romantic history which takes the form of a recital of lynchings, the 
 size of gold nuggets found, or how many million dollars in gold dust 
 passed through the doors of this or that building, and thereby fail to 
 appreciate the country and the old cities for what they are. 
 
 The largest stone building here is the old brewery (Fig. 158), now a 
 cafe, built of quarried undressed granite. In the wall facing the alley 
 may be seen the distinctive trait of leaving the brick chimney flush with 
 the outer face of the main wall. The two-story brick flrehouse (Fig. 159) 
 and the Ott Assay Office built in 1851 (now covered with a stucco front) 
 are typical of the early brick architecture of Nevada City. The common 
 stone in this area is granite, and one will see numerous retaining walls 
 along the sloping streets of this material. 
 
 TOWNS IN VICINITY OF FRENCH CORRAL 
 
 West of Grass Valley on Highway 15 lies Rough and Ready, first 
 occupied in 1848, and during the Civil War the scene of a local secession- 
 ist flurry. There are no outstanding stone buildings in Rough and Ready. 
 Beyond is Timbuctoo, named, it is said, for the birthplace of a negro 
 slave settler, which still exhibits one excellent brick-fronted, fieldstone- 
 walled store built in the early 'fifties. Turning east on the way to French 
 Corral one passes over the Middle Fork of the Yuba in the famous 
 covered bridge. Bridgeport can boast many excellent dry-laid granite 
 walls and fences. 
 
 Two lone brick buildings mark the permanent remains of French 
 Corral. The Milton Mining and Water Company Building, which also 
 served as the Wells Fargo Express Office (Fig. 160) is remarkably well 
 preserved. Here in 1877, according to a brass plate affixed to its front, 
 the Ridge Telephone Company operated the first long distance telephone 
 line in the world. The line connected French Corral via Sweetland, North 
 San Juan, North Columbia Hill, North Bloomfleld and Graniteville with 
 Milton and BowTuan Lake, 58 miles away. The second brick building, 
 which now serves as a barn, was a store (Fig. 161). Four miles beyond 
 the traveler comes again to Highway 49 and not far north is North 
 San Juan. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OP THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 
 
 157 
 
 
 Fig. 155. Club Cafe buUding (side wall). Grass Valley, DMBS Xev-HS. 
 
 Fig. 1.j6. Mill building, Gra.>* Vallf.v. Liilli.-- -\e. lH. 
 
158 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [BuU. 141 
 
 Fig. 157. Stone house on Mill St., Grass Valley, DMBS Nev-HS. 
 
 Fig. 1,'i8. Stone brewery, SinTiimeiii" SI., .Nev:i.la City, ll.MBS Nev-Hti. 
 
 BH 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENTENGA 
 
 159 
 
 5c 
 
 Fig. 139. Brick firehouse. Nevada City. DMBS Xev-HT. 
 
 Fic. 16(1. Milton Mining anJ Water CV. t.uilding, French Corral. DMBS Nev UK. 
 
160 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. lUl. IJruk storo, rroncli Corral, DilBS Niv IIU. 
 
 Fio. Iti'J. Wells F:u-Ki> Stiitimi (now Fortv Ninei- CiitVl :inil .Milsonic Hall. 
 Xorth San .Tnan. HABS, 1697. 
 
SURVEY OP BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENENGA 161 
 
 Fig. 163. Detail of stone addition to brick building, North San Juan. DMBS N'ev-HlO. 
 
 Fig. 164. Sidewall of office building. North San Juan. DMBS NevHll 
 
162 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [Bull. 141 
 
 Fig. lli.5. Detail of arched doorwaj : :i:id -nllwork, North San Juan, DMBS Xev-H12. 
 
 Fig. 166. Pioneer Museum building, Downieville, HABS, 1687. 
 
SURVEY OF BUILDING STRUCTURES OF THE SIERRAN GOLD BELT, 1848-70— HEIZER AND FENEN6A 
 
 163 
 
 Fig. 167. Building b«bind Ponta Hotel. DownieviUe. iJilB.S Sie-Hl. 
 
 Fig. 168. Dry-laid schist wall. DownieTille, DMBS Sie-H2. 
 
164 
 
 GEOLOGIC GUIDEBOOK ALONG HIGHWAY 49 
 
 [BulL 141 
 
 NORTH SAN JUAN 
 
 North San Juan is composed almost entirely of brick structures. 
 All of them date from the 1850 's. The 49 'er Cafe on the corner is the 
 old Wells Pargo Company Office. The adjoining two story building, now 
 a store and bar, is the Masonic Hall (Pig. 162). What is now Bryan's 
 Garage was the San Juan Times Building. The main structure is brick, 
 but attached to the rear is an addition built of rough granite rubble set 
 in lime mortar (Fig. 163), one of the verj' rare examples of stone con- 
 struction in this brick town. Nowhere is the brick architecture better 
 displayed than in the two story building just east of the 49 'er Cafe, 
 with cast iron grillwork running around the face about halfway up the 
 side (Pigs. 164, 165). Two of the arched brick doorways have been 
 joined with a wooden arch to admit automobiles when the building was 
 converted to a garage. The lower floor originally housed a store and 
 the upper floor was occupied by offices of the various local hydraulic 
 mining companies. Across the street is a row of single story commercial 
 buildings such as may be seen in nearly every other Sierran Gold Belt 
 town. 
 
 The bricks were made locally and appear to be unusually firm. Their 
 excellence is in part due to the good clay and the tempering material 
 which is decomposed granite. 
 
 Just above North San Juan near where Highway 49 crosses the 
 Middle Pork of the Yuba River can be seen the remains of the Freeman 
 Toll Bridge. On each side of the river still stand the huge quarried granite 
 abutments. On the north bank is a fine old building built of well dressed 
 granite blocks, and in the general vicinity a number of well made dry 
 rock granite boulder fences made by Chinese in the 'sixties. 
 
 DOWNIEVILLE 
 
 This Gold Rush town marks the northern limit of our survey. The 
 Courthouse which burned recentlv still exhibits remnants of its stone 
 
 basement and separate outbuilding of boulders and brick. The iron 
 cell-blocks, reminiscent of the Knights Perry jail, stands amid the court- 
 house ruins. The Pioneer Museum building made of carefully selected 
 schist slabs and with brick doorframes (Fig. 166) dates from the early 
 'fifties. In the rear of the frame Ponta Hotel is a stone celler (Fig. 167) 
 built of schist slabs and river boulders held in mud mortar. This struc- 
 ture dates from the 'sixties. Downieville is built in a steep walled canyon 
 with a narrow bottom, and the standard method of securing building 
 space has been to erect retaining walls to form flat terraces. Excellent 
 dry-laid terrace walls may be seen on both sides of the river ; a typical 
 example is shown in Fig. 168. 
 
 BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 AvERILL, ClTARLES V., and others. Placer mining for gold in California : California 
 Div. Mines Bull. 133, 377 pp., 1946. 
 
 BORTHWICK, .T. D.. Three years in California : W. Blackwood and Sons, 384 pp.. Edin- 
 burgh and London. 1857. Reprinted 1917 as The Gold Hunters edited by Horace 
 Kephart : Outing Pub. Co., Cleveland and Xew York. 
 
 BUCKBEE. Edna B., The saga of old Tuolumne : R. R. Wilson, 526 pp., Xew York. 1935. 
 
 California Historical Society, Centennial papers : Spec. Pub. 21. 56 pp., San 
 Francisco, 1947. 
 
 Drury. Aubrey, California, an intimate guide: Harper and Bros.: 592 pp., Xew 
 York, 1947. 
 
 Glasscock. O. B., A golden highway : The Bobbs-Merrill Co., 313 pp., Indianapolis, 
 1934. 
 
 Johnston. Philip, Lost and liying cities of the California gold rush, California cen- 
 tennials guide : Touring Bureau, Automobile Club of Southern California, 61 pp., 
 Los Angeles, 1948. 
 
 Rensch, H. E., Hoover, Mildred B.. and others. Historic spots in California, yalley 
 and Sierra counties : Stanford Univ. Press and Cambridge Univ. Press, 568 pp., 
 Palo Alto and Cambridge, 1933. 
 
 Stellman, Louis J., Mother lode, the story of California's gold rush days : Harr- 
 Wagner Pub. Co.. 304 pp.. San Francisco, 1934. 
 
 Weston, Otheto, Mother Lode album : Stanford Univ. Press., 177 pp., 2 plates, 204 
 photos. Palo Alto, 1948. 
 
 91294 5-48 5M 
 
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