Plumas County CA Archives History - Books .....Industries Of The County 1882
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Book Title: Illustrated History Of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

INDUSTRIES OF THE COUNTY.

   The industries of the county are twofold, and to a certain degree
interdependent, the one to a large measure supporting the other, and in its turn
made cheaper and more profitable by the presence of the other. Until the
agriculture of the mountains had reached such a stage as to supply the food
required in the mines, the price of provisions was so high that many claims
which can now be worked with profit could not then be made to pay. The home
market is not extensive enough to consume all the agricultural produce,
especially the product of the dairies, and thousands of pounds of butter are
annually sent down to the valley and to San Francisco. Two flour-mills, one at
Greenville and one at Taylorville, consume a large portion of the wheat produced
in Indian and American valleys, and supply the people with an excellent quality
of flour.

   The first attempts at agriculture in American, Indian, Mohawk, Sierra, and
other valleys have been spoken of in the history of those localities, and need
not to be repeated. Summed up, they show that in 1851 and 1852 considerable
vegetables were raised by the few scattered settlers who had made locations upon
these fertile valley lands. In 1853 a number of them put in small crops of wheat
and barley, and the grain that was harvested was used the next season by
themselves and others in sowing a much larger acreage of cereals. An unfortunate
frost occurred in August, 1854, doing considerable damage to the grain crops,
and the consequence was that not nearly so large a quantity of grain was put in
the succeeding season as would otherwise have been the case; in fact, it took
several years to restore the confidence of the farmers in -the certainty of a
wheat crop. As soon as the fact was fully realized that wheat, oats, and barley
would make prolific crops in these high mountain valleys, the farmers launched
out upon the cultivation of their ranches, and have grown rich and prosperous.

   The assessor's report for the year 1855 shows the following statistics of
agriculture in Plumas county: Bushels of wheat, 5,765; barley, 854; oats, 1,015;
corn, 5; potatoes, 2,530; tons of hay, 1,500; pounds of butter, 2,000; horses,
mules, and asses, 506; cattle, 715; swine, 1,000; lands claimed, 14,604 acres.
In comparison with these, the statistics of the year 1881 will show the
wonderful progress made; acres assessed, 205,277; acres inclosed, 60,000; acres
cultivated, 6,500; wheat, acres, 1,600, bushels, 30,000; barley, acres, 250,
bushels, 7,500; oats, acres, 30,000, bushels, 60,000; rye, acres, 200, bushels,
6,000; pease, onions, and beans, acres, 65, bushels, 2,650; potatoes, acres,
150, bushels, 4,000; hay, acres, 20,000, tons, 15,000; butter, 200,000 lbs.;
cheese, 10,000 lbs.; wool, 30,000 lbs.; honey,3,000 lbs.; beer, 15,000 gallons;
apple-trees, 6,000; pear-trees, 500; plum-trees, 500; peach-trees, 2,000;
quince-trees, 50; grist-mills, 2; flour, 3,000 bbls.; saw-mills, 11; lumber,
6,000,000 feet; shingles, 1,000,000. The horses and mules number about 2,000;
cattle, 10,000; sheep, 6,000; swine, 1,000.

   It will be readily seen from the above figures that dairying is the leading
feature of agriculture in this county. There are several valleys that are fit
only for grazing and haying, such as Big Meadows, Red Clover, Last Chance, and a
few others; while even in other sections where grain is raised to a considerable
extent the farmers are nearly all largely engaged in the dairying business. The
probabilities are that in placing the number of pounds of butter at 200,000, the
assessor has underestimated that product at least one-third. The excellent roads
that penetrate the county in all directions enable the farmers to transport
their product to market at a trifling cost. The agricultural resources are by no
means taxed to their fullest capacity, and there is no reason to suppose that
the greatly increased population which the rapid development of the mines will
surely bring within the next few years will not be as fully and cheaply
sustained by the product of Plumas county farms as are the people of to-day.

   The first flour-mill in the county was built by Cate & Judkins in the
American valley in 1854. It had one run of stone, and another was added the next
year. It was called the Plumas Mills. In 1856 Cate sold his interest to Judkins,
who ran it three years, and then sold to Brett & Hartwell, of Marysville. Two
years later John P. Hartwell became the owner, and a few years later the
machinery was sold and removed to Sierraville. The building still stands on Mrs.
Hartwell's place. The Indian Valley Mills were built in 1856, by Jobe T. Taylor
and Robert Smith, at Taylorville, where they still stand in active service.
Taylor sold the mills to John W. Thompson, who is operating them by the water
power of Genesee creek. This and the Greenville Flour Mills, built a few years
ago by Charles H. Lawrence and Isaac Patch, manufacture some 3,000 barrels of a
superior quality of flour annually.

   Of saw-mills, Plumas county has had many, the demand for lumber to be used in
fluming, building, and timbering of mines giving work to a large number of
mills. In 1850 and 1851 considerable lumber was whip-sawed for use in
constructing wing-dams and flumes, but after that the saw-mills supplied the
demand. The first of these was built at Rich bar, middle fork, in the summer of
1851, by J. B. Batchelder. The first in American valley was built in the winter
of 1852-53 by D. R. Cate, D. W. Judkins, and J. S. Boyington. In 1855 Cate &
Judkins built one in connection with their grist-mill. This is now owned and
operated by Mrs. J. F. Hartwell. Near Quincy, F. Gansner has a large saw-mill
that was reconstructed in 1877, and is one of the finest mills in the county.
The first mill in Indian valley was built at Taylorville in 1855, by J. T.
Taylor and Robert Smith. It is now owned and operated by J. W. Thompson. A mill
on Wolf creek, above Greenville, was built by Shaffer Bros., and is now owned by
C. H. Lawrence, who also owns one in Big Meadows. The steam mill built by D. R.
Cate in Round valley in 1860 was removed to Lassen county. A mill was built near
Rich bar, east branch, in 1852, and worked ten years; also one near Mountain
House in 1856. A mill was built at Meadow valley by Morris Smith, Richard Jacks,
Sarshel C. Brown, and others, composing the, Plumas Mill and Ditch Co. Jacks
owns and runs it now. There was a mill at Independence bar by J. L. C. Sherwin,
and two on Willow creek one owned by Root & Lewis. A mill was built in Mohawk
valley in 1855, by George Woodward and Robert Pennman, now owned by Hill &
Bennett. John Sutton and another built a mill near the last one in 1879. MoNear
built one near McLear's place in 1870, and still owns it. One was built by Otis
& Mayne on the stage road several miles west of Beckwourth in 1872. Several
mills have been operated at various points during the past thirty years, not
enumerated in the above list. There are now in the county eleven saw-mills, four
operated by steam and seven by water. They are not all running constantly, and
some of them not at all. In 1881 they sawed 6,000,000 feet of lumber, and made
1,000,000 shingles. This product is all consumed at home, and the probabilities
are that the future will see an increased demand for lumber. The building of a
railroad may lead to the manufacture of lumber for shipment, and the heavy
growth of desirable timber on the mountains will give employment to them for
many years to come.

   Mining has been and will continue to be the leading industry of the county.
By it was the county first settled and developed. But for mining, Plumas would
not now exhibit so advanced a state of agriculture; for without the large home
market to foster and support it, that industry could not have been developed to
the extent we find it to-day. Mining is, then, the foundation of the county's
prosperity, and the frame-work upon which it rests. By its increased development
in the future will the county be advanced in material prosperity, and any injury
done to it will be a blow struck at the prosperity of the whole county, so
intimately connected are all its industries.

   It is impossible to estimate the amount of the precious metal that has been
taken from the streams and placers of the county: as well try to fix the number
of sands upon the seashore. Rivers, creeks, bars, ravines, gulches, flats, and
hills have combined with great ledges of quartz to pour a golden stream into the
miner's lap, and thence into the pocket of the tradesman and the farmer.
Millions have been spent in the county, while millions more have been taken away
by fortunate ones, or sent away by others who remained to seek for more. It has
gone to the t-air corners of the earth. Representatives of nearly every land
that passes daily beneath the sun hue mined in these mountains, and gold has
flowed back to those countries in large quantities. China, especially, has
absorbed immense quantities of California gold, not a little of which has been
contributed by Plumas county.

   Those who desire a complete geological description of Plumas county, we refer
to an able and scientific article on the subject in Raymond's "Mineral Resources
West of the Rocky Mountains, 1876," being the eighth annual report of Rossiter
W. Raymond, United States commissioner of mining statistics. It is contributed
by Mr. J. A. Edman of Mumford's hill, and is accompanied by a geological map of
the section treated of. It is the purpose of Mr. Edman to publish a complete and
more comprehensive treatise on the geology and mineralogy of the county from
data in his possession, which will be of great value.

   Shallow placer and river mining have long since declined to but a shadow of
their former greatness. Where thousands delved for gold along the streams but a
few dozens can now be found, and those principally Chinese. Quartz-mining and
the working of the extensive gravel beds that have been discovered have taken
the place of the placer-mining of old; and the richness of the ledges and extent
of the gravel ranges give promise of a long and successful career to Plumas as a
mining county. Capital has been attracted by these promising investments, and
the developments made have been of the most encouraging character. A dozen
quartz-mills crushed 100,000 tons of quartz in 1881, while more than 500 men
have been given employment in the quartz-mines alone. The oldest quartz-mine in
the county is the Plumas Eureka, owned by the Sierra Buttes Mining Company of
London, England. It has two steam and water mills, with sixty stamps each. 200
men are on its pay-roll. A history of this mine is given under the head of
Quartz Township.

   The Green Mountain Gold Mining Company, a new York company, owns the Green
Mountain, Cherokee, and Gold Stripe locations, near Crescent Mills. The Green
Mountain is the principal ledge, and was discovered in 1862 by J. B. Batchelder,
who worked it occasionally for ten years. In 1876 it was purchased by Green &
Brewster, who worked it until 1879. At that time H. C. Bidwell went to New York
and organized the above company, of which he became president, and was
succeeded, upon his decease in the fall of 1880, by R. E. Brewster. Batchelder
made a great success in working the mine until he attempted improvements beyond
his financial capacity, and became so involved that he had to sacrifice the
property. Since 1876 C. G. Rogers has been superintendent, and to his able
management is largely due the great success in working the ledge. The mine is
worked entirely by a tunnel, no expensive hoisting works being required. The
total length of the tunnel is 3,000 feet. Ore is drawn in cars to its mouth, and
then let down on tramways to the two mills running 100 stamps, farther down the
mountain. The vein is a true fissure, and can be easily traced for two miles.
The Cherokee mine is worked by means of a shaft, and the ore is crushed at the
Kettle mill of twenty stamps, two miles from Greenville.

   The Indian Valley mine, near Greenville, was discovered and located in 1862
by Waterworth, Shannon, & Co. It is now owned and operated by an Indiana
corporation, the Indian Valley Mining Co. They have a large water and steam mill.

   The Plumas National mine, on Soda creek, was discovered by Ellis & Lowry in
1877. The Plumas National Gold Mining Co., of New York, is now working the mine,
and has a steam mill of thirty stamps.

   Considerable prospecting in quartz is being done, and some work on a smaller
scale than by the large companies mentioned above. The Bell Gold Mining Company
of Dubuque, Iowa, was organized by R. Z. Bell in 1876. They are working a ledge
at old Elizabethtown by means of two tunnels and a ten-stamp mill, under the
management of Mr. Bell. Colonel E. A. Heath and others are working quartz-ledges
at Argentine, a few miles east of Quincy. The probabilities are that much more
capital will be induced to develop the many valuable ledges in the county, which
are waiting to shower a golden reward into the lap of intelligent and
enterprising capital.

   Of gravel-mining and more shallow placer-mining there is considerable. The
assessor reported 1,000 miles of mining ditches in 1.881, which he valued at the
extremely low amount of $99,266, or less than $100 per mile. In 1857 there were
45 miles of ditch, that cost $170,000 for construction. Some of these are used
for quartz-milling, but the greater portion for placer and gravel mining. Except
in the vicinity of La Porte and Poorman's creek but little hydraulic mining is
.or has been carried on. Some of the best gravel deposits are so situated that
the hydraulic method cannot be used. One of the most important and most
promising of these is the Monte Christo mine at Spanish Peak, described in the
history of Mineral Township.

   Plumas Water and Mining Company owns the most valuable gravel location and
water privilege combined to be found in the county. Their property consists of
1,500 acres on Gopher hill on Spanish creek, and a main ditch twenty-one miles
in length from Gold and Silver lakes on Spanish peak. The company was formed in
1871, and the stock is owned by N. Cadwallader, Ira Cadwallader, Thompson &
Kellogg, D. Folsom, O. J. Wellman, George D. Dorning, R. Neville, and E. C.
Ross. Mr. Folsom is manager of the property. Quite a little history attaches to
the water privileges now owned by this company. The Plumas ditch, seven miles in
length, was completed from Gold and Silver lakes to Mountain House, in. 1855, by
Joseph Winston, William and Richard Jacks, Sarshel C. Brown, and others. A
settlement of 500 people, called Mount Pleasant, sprang up at this terminus,
where hotels, stores, saloons, and a saw-mill existed for several years. The
objective point of the ditch was Fales' hill. The Spanish Ranch ditch was
commenced in 1856, to run from Spanish creek to Elizabethtown, a distance of
thirty miles, and was finished in two years. Branch ditches were run to Gopher,
Badger, and Railroad hills. The Mount Pleasant ditch was completed in 1857, from
Mill creek to Mount Pleasant and Fales' hill, by Thomas A. Cravens, Miles
Hallingsworth, Samuel J. Dickson, and William M. Story. All these ditches are
now combined under the control of the Plumas Mining and Water Company, and as
their mining ground and water privileges are practically unlimited, this may be
denominated the most valuable gravel-mining property in the county.

   Among the other gravel-mining enterprises of the county are the drift-mine of
Corbin & Manson, at Elizabethtown; the tunnel being run in the American valley
by Mr. Mills; and the extensive gravel-mining property and operations of D. R.
Thomas, on Poorman's creek.

   The most extensive hydraulic mining in the county is being carried on in the
Thomas and Reed mines on Poorman's creek, and the claims of the Hopkins Creek
Gold Mining Company on Hopkins creek. It was on these streams that the first
mining in the county was done, early in 1850, and they have been unsurpassed for
richness of their auriferous deposits by any streams of their size in the state.
In October, 1876, D. R. Thomas, J. H. Reed, and Francis Hall, of Boston,
purchased the claims and water rights on Poorman's creek, and immediately
constructed reservoirs, ditches, flumes, and everything necessary to work them
by the hydraulic monitors which they placed in the claims. They have continually
added to their possessions and privileges, until they now own one of the best
mining properties and water privileges in the state. A score of cabins are on
the property, in which live the men employed by the company. There is also a
saw-mill owned by the company, which supplies all the lumber required in the
mines. Nuggets have been found varying from $100 to $2,200 in value, and the
gold is all very pure, being from 929 to 945 fine. A natural lake supplies a
portion of the water used in the mines, and lies at an altitude of 800 feet
above them. Beside the Boston and Eclipse hydraulic claims, the company owns the
Blue Lead drift mine, one-half mile below the Boston claim, comprising 500 acres
of land. They obtained full possession of this in 1880, and have constructed a
large ditch to it, so that they can work it by both the drifting and hydraulic
methods. This property is believed by mining men to be exceedingly valuable. The
company also owns the Bunker Hill claim, adjoining the Blue Lead on the east.
They own, also, the tailings from the early mining operations on the creek,
which are quite valuable.

   The claims of the Hopkins Creek Gold Mining Company are about two miles above
the forks of Hopkins and Poorman's creeks. They consist of the Cox & Harrington
claims that have been worked since 1858 by George D. Harrington and James Cox.
In 1880 they were purchased by a Boston company, and in 1881 extensive
improvements were made upon them in the way of reservoirs, flumes, ditches,
pipes, and hydraulic monitors. They are now working these claims on an extensive
scale. On the south-west the company has located a claim of about 100 acres
joining the North American mine of Sierra county, on which they have constructed
a large reservoir. Mr. Harrington still owns an interest in these claims as a
member of the company. A good road has been built by the company to Poorman's
creek, where it connects with the road built by D. R. Thomas from that point to
the La Porte and Quincy road.

   D. R. Thomas is the general superintendent in charge of these mines, except
the Hopkins creek claims, of which William B. Thomas is superintendent. Mr. D.
R. Thomas gives his personal attention to all the operations, and it is to his
energy and capacity that the great success the companies have met with is
largely due. The claims on Poorman's and Hopkins creeks are connected by
telephone. The property and operations are illustrated in this volume, and an
idea of their magnitude can be obtained from the engravings.




Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Illustrated History of Plumas, Lassen & Sierra Counties

San Francisco: Fariss & Smith
(1882)

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