Early History of the Yuba River Valley

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Yuba County History

THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE YUBA RIVER VALLEY

by George Emmanuel Hanson

CHAPTER VII

NEVADA CITY MINING LOCALITIES

Nevada City was the center and supply station for the mines along the South and Middle Yuba and Deer Creek just as Marysville was the depot and starting point for the extensive mining district lying along the Main Yuba and the region north and east of it. Nevada City was situated on Deer Creek while four miles to the southwest of it on Wolf Creek, a tributary of Bear River, was a great rival center Grass Valley. From both historical and industrial point of view the mining story of this section is not equalled in interest and importance by that of any other region in California.

Nevada City and Grass Valley were located at the lower limit of a luxuriant and virgin forest into which a few prospectors made their way as early as the fall of 1848. Once opened by the miners the occupation of the country was rapid. Crowds of gold seekers in the summer and fall of 1849 worked up along the Middle and South Yuba and Deer Creeks and their principal tributaries, penetrating by the end of the following year every locality of this section.

In September 1849 David Boyer established a trading post at White Oak Springs on the trail between Marysville and Nevada City, and Captain Townsend leader of a party called the Rough and Ready Company built a cabin at the place named after the Company. About the same time Dr. Caldwell built a store at Pleasant Flat on Deer Creek, while in October of that year he started a second one known as Caldwell's "upper store" seven miles higher up on Deer Creek on the present site of Nevada City. Before the end of the year a trading post was started at Boston Ravine, a cabin on Bull Run, and a couple of sawmills near Grass Valley. In April and May of 1850 many returned who had been in this region the preceeding fall. They found the country formerly occupied by a few scattered cabins now teeming with life and humming with the bustle and activity of flourishing mining camps.

As the fame of Deer Creek became widely circulated thousands were attracted to it to find the stories of its wonderful richness unexaggerated. Early in 1850 the miners followed what they supposed to be a ravine leading into the hills when they discovered the immense gravel beds which soon yielded millions of dollars.

Nevada City - - The most prominent mining center situated on Deer Creek was Nevada City which as indicated was known previous to March 1850 as Caldwell's Upper Store. Immediately after the discovery of the rich gravel beds above the town the whole range wherever gravel was soon on the surface was staked off in claims and hundreds of prospector shafts went down by the hundreds. A town called Coyoteville grew up on the gravel hills in the northwestern part of Nevada City. It was well endowed with saloons, shops, and other adjuncts of a mining camp and for a year or two flourished exceedingly. The place did not take its name from the Coyote but from the new mode of mining just then adopted which was that of drifting or "coyoteing." The yield of the old river bed was immense and so great was the rush, that from six to sixteen thousand miners came to Nevada City during the year 1850, and the town grew up as if by magic. Even the dry winter of 1850-51 was marked by considerable activity in mining the gravel hills - water having been supplied in fair quantities by the Musketo, Rock, and Deer Creek ditches.

Since the paramount interest of everybody was to obtain as much gold as possible miners indulged in great latitude of action, often sluicing away roads and bridges to get access to the precious metal. It is reported that a couple of miners commenced sinking a shaft in main street of Nevada City nearly in front of the office of the South Yuba Canal Company. A citizen expostulated with them but only received for answer that there was "no law against digging in the street," and they were going to dig. "Then I'll make a law," said the citizen, and walking into his store he brought out a revolver and a precedent was established then and there that miners could not dig up the streets of Nevada City.

The mining about Nevada City was at first confined to the bars and beds along Deer Creek, but as they became partially exhausted it gradually extended to the dry ravines and flats and thence into the hills. The diggings were incredibly rich and were speedily overrun with eager prospectors many of whom made smug fortunes as the result of their work. These shallow placers which were so easily worked and offered such large returns to the early miners soon gave up their riches, but not without divulging the presence of the great treasures which lay buried in the channels of ancient rivers in many places underlying hundreds of feet of alluvial deposits and volcanic material.

For three years the hum and bustle of busy gold-seekers pervaded Nevada City. Never were fortunes more easily made by unskilled laborers. But the shallow diggings along Deer Creek as elsewhere were not inexhaustible and gradually they began to show signs of depletion. The excitement of "big strikes" became a thing of the past. But while the old scramble ceased, mining continued, and a more healthy state of things came into being. Men were contented with less, and by steadily pursuing their vocation in a definite place instead of wandering hither and thither in search for more remunerative diggings were still very liberally compensated.

It was in the spring of 1850 when the placer mines had been worked two seasons that attention was directed to the quartz veins. In October of that year the Gold Tunnel Lode was located at Nevada City. It was known in 1851 as the richest deposit of gold that had ever been discovered in California and was the only one among several in Nevada City in the early days that did not prove a disastrous failure. Because of inadequate knowledge of proper amalgamating processes, among other reasons, the early mills were unsuccessful. The industry received a check from which it was several years in recovering. But gradually confidence was restored and new mines were opened at both Nevada City and Grass Valley. The development of the quartz interest, however, was destined to meet another reverse though by no means so disastrous and discouraging as that of 1852-53. The discovery of silver in Washoe was first made public in this region in 1859, and quite a number of energetic quartz operators hastened to the new mining field. For three years this region witnessed a constant exodus of miners who abandoned their claims here for the more promising field of enterprise ease of the Sierras. Business in consequence was greatly depressed and property depreciated very materially in value at Nevada City.

The tide began to turn in 1853 and once more the quartz ledges of this town found favor in the eyes of those who had rushed away from them to invest in the silver mines of the Comstock. From that time the quartz mining interest of Nevada City continued steadily to improve. In 1880 the business was exceedingly flourishing. Besides the Gold Tunnel Mine others in the neighborhood were the Illinois, and the California Claims, which were situated on the same lode and yielded at times large returns. On the slope descending into the basin located a mile and a half southeast of Nevada City was the Pittsburg Mine which with the Banner situated three miles east of the County seat was known in 1868 as the leading quartz mine of Nevada District. Among other prominent mines near by were the Loggs and the Lecompton.

Grass Valley - - Just over the ridge dividing the waters flowing into Deer Creek from those flowing into Bear River and situated on Wolf Creek four miles southwest of Nevada City was the wealthy and prosperous town of Grass Valley. A party of overland emigrants located themselves on Badger Hill near this city in the fall of 1849, while in December of that year Jules Rosiere opened a store at Boston Ravine near by. The ravine was named by a Boston Company who did some very successful mining in that portion of Grass Valley in 1849. When water failed in December of the following year the company left the place.

The first quartz discovery in Nevada County seems to have been made at Gold Hill near Grass Valley in June, 1850. It produced no great excitement, nor was much stir occasioned by the location of other quartz beds at Massachusetts Hill shortly afterwards. The first mill erected at Boston Ravine in 1850-51 was a rude affair and soon proved a failure. It was in the year 1851 that the great quartz excitement began. Numerous mills were projected and during the fall and winter no less than eight were erected at Grass Valley. They were constructed at an enormous expense. In some cases the owners were deceived as to the amount of gold contained in the quartz, but most often their projects failed for the reason that they did not know how to open and work a quartz vein. At Grass Valley where some eastern and English capital had been invested a few companies struggled through the early difficulties, while in most other places the quartz interest was in 1853 completely prostrated. But the business slowly revived and by 1857 the Grass Valley mines were in quite a flourishing condition. In 1859, however, and for two or three years succeeding the great silver discovery on the Comstock, quartz mining was at a low ebb at Grass Valley. Hundreds of miners departed for the new fields and thousands of dollars were withdrawn from the capital invested here to aid the development of the Washoe ledges. Coupled with this check to prosperity many of the best paying mines in Grass Valley were flooded during the severe winter of 1861-62 and during several succeeding months; consequently miners suffered heavy expenses in repairing the damages.

In 1864 a number of adventurers who had gone to Nevada and elsewhere to make their fortune returned to the more promising mines about Grass Valley. The quartz business received new life and Grass Valley because of the flourishing quartz mines surrounding it became the most prosperous mining town in the State. In 1880 the city of Grass Valley showed on every hand signs of wealth and prosperity. Hundreds of miners and artisans were employed in the mines, and for the sake of supporting these a great number of stores, hotels, and boarding houses were sustained. On the hills and in the ravines about the city were many busy reverberating quartz mills.

The first quartz location at Grass Valley - - the Gold Hill Mine - - was worked with little interruption for fourteen years. In 1868 operations in this mine were again in progress. The Massachusetts Hill Mine was situated about three-fourths of a mile southwest of Grass Valley and was the second upon which gold was discovered. Two and one-half miles south of Grass Valley was the famous Allison Ranch Mine which for a time was the richest in the State. From the time of its discovery in 1855 it was worked with continued success for over eleven years and yielded enormously. The Eureka Mine regarded in the year 1868 as perhaps the most valuable in the world was located a mile and a quarter northeast of the town of Grass Valley and was discovered early in 1851. Many other important mines were clustered about Grass Valley among these may be mentioned the Empire, the Oplin [Ophir] Hill, and the North Star.

Rough and Ready - - A few miles west of Grass Valley was the little village of Rough and Ready. It was in the fall of 1849 that Rough and Ready Company from which the place derived its name established itself on this site. The place speedily became the center of a large mining population. At the election in October, 1850 nearly one thousand votes were cast.

The town, despite the name, was not wholly bad. A society called the Christian Association was organized there in the fall of 1850. From time to time it held services in a little clapboard shanty. As the town grew it seemed desirable, furthermore, that the place should have its own newspaper. To this end a newspaper was started. However, no favorable results followed. When the question of a new county was agitated, Rough and Ready aspired to the honors of being the county seat, but gave way later to the claim of Nevada City.

On the night of June 28, the prosperous little town was wasted by a devastating conflagration; but with energy characteristic of those days the town was quickly rebuilt. In 1856 about three hundred houses occupied the site and among them were some of the finest buildings in the mountains. July 8, 1859 was a sorry day in the history of the mining camp. On that day it was visited by a fire that nearly destroyed the entire town. From this blow Rough and Ready never recovered. There was then nothing to induce the people to remain and build up the town, for the rich diggings which had previously attracted people to it had become nearly exhausted. Some two dozen houses occupied the place in 1870, but it was comparatively quiet and lifeless. Its glory had departed.

Moore's Flat - - Situated a little south of the Middle Yuba was an important center of hydraulic mining. A pioneer known as H. M. Moore who came to this locality from across the plains in 1851 built immediately upon arrival at this point a house and store which from him became known later as Moore's Flat. When the diggings of this region became a matter of more general knowledge miners poured in by the hundred.

But all did not make their way directly to Moore's Flat. At first Orleans Flat situated two miles above Moore's was much larger than this place owing to the fact that the diggings there were more shallow. Below Moore's a distance of one mile was Wolsey's Flat which also attracted a number of miners. For a time the rivalry between the three places was exceedingly brisk. Orleans Flat which first took the lead had at one time a population of six or eight hundred, but its diggings being comparatively shallow were in a few years entirely worked out and before 1870, in consequence, the town was deserted. Woolsey's Flat with its deep diggings it seems hardly attained the prominence of the two neighboring camps.

In time Moore's Flat became very decidedly the center of trade and population of the district. But in July 1869 a devastating fire nearly swept the village out of existence. It was rebuilt, however, but on a location a half mile south of the old site. In 1880 Moore's Flat was still quite a bustling town.

Bridgeport situated on the South Yuba about a mile and a half from its mouth was once the headquarters of a prosperous mining locality. In the early days the trade of this region went to Marysville which was but little further distant than Nevada City and much easier of access. Bridgeport was a lively camp as long as the river mining continued to be profitable.

North San Juan a thriving mining town lying at the foot of San Juan Hill soon became the business, mining, and intellectual center of this region. In the spring of 1853 two enterprising pioneers Jeremiah Tucker and Christian Kientz developed rich diggings at this place. The news of their success caused a great influx of adventurers and the entire surface of the hill was soon covered by eager locators. In 1857 the camp had grown sufficiently to demand a post office. In that year too J. G. Olmstead and Company commenced the publication of the San Juan Star. North San Juan was considered in 1868 as the most important center of hydraulic mining in Nevada County. For a number of years it was a very flourishing town.

French Corral - - Situated on the ridge near the confluence of the Middle Fork with the main Yuba as the lower terminus of the auriferous gravel range in that region was the mining village known as French Corral. A Frenchman built and maintained a corral for mules at this point in 1849. From this fact the locality and afterwards the town received its name. Soon afterwards the ravines and flats about the place proved to be very rich in gold. A considerable number of miners were attracted to the place and a store was opened to accommodate them. In 1859 a post office was applied for and obtained. For a number of years it was the scene of extensive mining operations. About four hundred people inhabited this flourishing mining town in 1870.

North Bloomfield a noted center of placer and hydraulic mining was pleasantly situated near a little creek on the ridge between the Middle and South Yuba rivers some eight or ten miles northeast of Nevada City. A prospecting party consisting of two Irishmen and a German discovered a rich deposit of gravel on this site in the fall of 1851. After working it for some time they found their supplies running low. One of the Irishmen was therefore dispatched to Nevada City, but with strict injunctions to preserve due silence in regard to their good fortune. The Irishman sold his dust purchased his supplied and got ready to return. There was no telling when he would be in town again and to resist the temptation of a drink was not his way. As one glass led to another he grew more and more loquacious and finally began to boast of the rich diggings he had discovered. He seemed to remember his promise, however, for when asked where his claim was situated he refused to disclose the locality. When he took his departure the next morning a crowd of rapacious gold seekers tracked him to the camp. They wandered up and down the creek panning an little here and there but in no place finding the rich diggings they anticipated. Returning to Nevada City the disappointed adventurers unanimously pronounced the creek a humbug. After that it was known as Humbug Creek. In 1853 when hydraulic mining commenced there and a town started it was also called Humbug from the name of the Creek.

Humbug City which was a hamlet of some twenty homes in 1855 took a sudden impulse forward the following year. The rich deep hydraulic diggings made it one of the liveliest and most prosperous towns in that region. Before 1857 the population increased to four hundred, and the number of frame houses to seventy. When application was made for the establishment of a post office it became necessary to change the name of the town, California being too full of Humbugs to suit the Postal Department. The name was then changed to that of North Bloomfield. In 1863 a decline set in which almost depopulated the town, but four years later mining operations revived and population and business increased once more with amazing rapidity. Not less than one thousand people occupied the flourishing town of North Bloomfield in 1880.

Other Camps - - In the region about Nevada City numerous camps flourished in the early days, but of those situated nearest the Yuba or its tributaries the most prominent have been mentioned. Many a camp which grew up in a few months to a town of several thousand people disappeared quite as rapidly when richer diggings were opened elsewhere or water for gold washing failed. The history of one camp was much like that of any other. In each there was discovery of rich diggings, an influx of miners and merchants, and a sudden growth of population and business. Each enjoyed prosperity and importance so long as the mines continued to yield, but experienced gradual deterioration with their decline and finally had little more than the memory of other days to live upon.

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