Yuba County CA Archives History - Books .....Chapter 8 Gold Mining In Yuba County 1924
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/ca/cafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 January 3, 2012, 12:28 pm

Book Title: History Of Yuba And Sutter Counties

CHAPTER VIII 
GOLD MINING IN YUBA COUNTY 

Old Landmark at Timbuctoo 

    A wonderfully preserved relic of the days when Yuba County was at the zenith
of its commercial importance, because of the output of its gold mines, is a
building yet standing in Timbuctoo, suburb of the once famed Smartsville mining
camp, nestling in the mountains eighteen miles east of Marysville. For many
years, in Argonaut days, this structure was the local headquarters for Wells,
Fargo & Company's Express and the Adams Express Company. It is estimated that
several million dollars' worth of gold dust passed through this building. Built
of brick made near its site, the building, up to a few years ago, retained the
huge iron doors peculiar to pioneer days, which did double service as protection
from fire and from robbers. Within 150 yards from this building the early-day
miner, working with crude appliances, took from the soil all the way from $250
to $400 a day. "I'm buying blue chips tonight, boys; she is coming my way," was
the way the sturdy miner had of expressing satisfaction with his day's work. 

    The sign remaining upon the store, and still decipherable, reads: "Stewart
Bros., owners, have for sale dry goods, groceries and provisions, boots and
shoes. Wells, Fargo & Co.; Lowe Bros. & Co.; exchange for sale; hardware, etc."
Though painted last in 1859, by a man now residing in New Orleans, the lettering
of the sign still stands out plainly. 

    The store building is the only remnant left of a once bustling Timbuctoo.
The Landmarks Committee of the Native Sons and Native Daughters of Marysville,
and of the Federated Women's Clubs of Northern California, are planning to
restore the building to its original shape, and to place a marker upon it, in
order that it may be preserved, and that its history may be handed down to
future generations. 

    The Timbuctoo Hotel stood on the opposite side of the street from the
express office. Nothing is left of that structure, it having gone the way of all
Timbuctoo, which same is the story of many an old California mining camp that
nourished in the days gone by. 

Early-day Terms, Customs, and Methods 

    To the Argonauts who delved for gold in Yuba County became known every
feature of the work peculiar to their for the most part newly adopted vocation.
Among these were the location of leads, coyote or hill diggings — evidences of
which still exist near Marysville and Browns Valley — surface diggings, wet
surface diggings, fluming, drift gold, prospecting, panning, the cradle,
sluices, riffles, tailings, and quicksilver methods. The life and the methods
associated with mining in Yuba County were similar to those in other portions of
the State. 

    The miner constituted a class of the genus homo peculiar to itself — active,
restless, energetic, fearless, practical to the last degree. To his mind,
everything had a value in proportion to its use. Governed by strange whims, he
would name his claim, or nickname his companion, after any peculiarity of
person, incident or fancied resemblance. Many were the ludicrous names applied
to mining camps, the reason for the giving of which is a riddle to us now,
though no doubt there was a good one to the mind of the christener. With the
naming of each, there is no doubt something of interest connected, but it is
often impossible to learn just what, as the miners who later worked there knew
nothing about it. They cared little what or how a place was named, so long as
they could strike "pay dirt." And yet, the reason for the name is often
self-evident or easily inferred. Frequently a new man would come along and ask
the miners where he could go to work. Not caring to be bothered with him, they
would point out some spot, occasionally where they thought there was nothing
whatever. If the man made a strike there, they would call it "Greenhorn Bar," or
"Fool's Luck," or something of that kind. If a man became "dead broke," but
finally made one last effort and "struck it rich," he would call his location
"Last Chance," or "Murphy's Luck." "Cut-eye Foster's Bar" was so named because
Foster, the locator, had a cut over his eye. The precise reasons for naming the
following are beyond our knowledge, and we simply give the names, leaving the
fertile imagination of the reader to supply the rest: Whiskey Gulch, Lousy
Level, Liar's Flat, Shirt-tail Bend, Moonshine Creek, Old Hat Hollow, Stud Horse
Canyon, Grub Ravine, Pinch 'em Tight, Jackass Ravine; and there are many others
of equally suggestive import. A man's full name was seldom known, except by a
personal friend, as it was customary to call him by his given name, or to apply
a nickname on account either of some personal peculiarity or of the place from
which he came, such as Bob Kentuck, Big Jones, Red Mike, Whiskey Bill, Sandy
Jim, Judge, Three-finger Jack, Curly Sam, Poker Bob, Limpy Jim, Big-foot
Charlie, Texas Jack, Missouri Bill. 

    The habit of carrying revolvers and bowie knives was universal in the early
days, and not until 1852 and 1853 was this practice discontinued. In addition to
the never failing revolver, most of the emigrants brought from the States rifles
and shotguns, which were found inconvenient and useless in the mines, and were
placed in the stores to be disposed of or thrown away. The condition of society
was such that every man had to rely upon himself for protection. The revolver
and knife being conveniently carried, these were always ready to protect life
and property, or avenge real or fancied insult. 

    The Chinese found abundant employment in the mines in early days. Soon after
their first appearance, a prejudice against them began to gain ground among the
miners, although with few exceptions they were allowed to work peaceably on
their claims. After claims were deserted by white miners, economical Chinese
located them again, and by diligent toil managed to make them pay handsomely. 

    At first, large numbers of Indians were employed by firms and mining
companies, and many of the more independent Digger Indians worked for
themselves. Knowing nothing of the value of the gold, at first they were
contented if they had enough to eat, and some beads and sugar thrown in for
luxuries. Later, however, they began to learn that this yellow sand was worth
something, and refused to dig for the whites, preferring to keep the result of
their labors with which to buy blankets, dresses, beads, etc., for which they
would no longer pay the fancy prices at first charged. They had in 1848 and 1849
given a cup of gold for a cup of beads, and a pound of gold for a pound of
sugar. Theodore Sicard was a favorite of a chief, and thus managed to accumulate
a large amount of "spangle gold." One of the old residents said that Sicard
showed him four or five claret bottles full of this gold, and judged that he
must have had at least $70,000, all of which he had obtained from the Indians.
David Parks got rich in 1848 trading with the Indians at Parks Bar. William
Foster worked Indians at Foster's Bar early in 1849. All along- the river, in
1848, the whites had Indians to help them. Claude Chana used them near Rose Bar,
close to the present site of Smartsville. He said that the largest day's work he
ever saw was done in September, 1848, at Rose Bar. Four Indians who were working
for two white men washed out $1400, an average of $350 each. The white men did
nothing but superintend the work and take the gold. 

Development of Hydraulic Mining and Dredge Mining 

    Through all the early days the miners leaned upon the primitive methods we
have outlined; but in later years they developed the hydraulic mining process.
Following the decadence of placer and hydraulic mining, for which Yuba County
became famous, there came, in turn, the improved system of dredge mining, which
method at the present day has placed Yuba County at the head of the
gold-producing sections of the world. First operated in New Zealand nearly half
a century ago, the continuous chain-bucket dredge attracted the notice of
American miners; and the first of the type built in California was constructed
on the Yuba River in 1897, by the Risdon Iron Works Company of San Francisco. It
was a mechanical success, but the conditions were such that it could not be
operated profitably. Several other similar machines were afterwards constructed
and operated for a time, but all proved a failure from a financial standpoint
until W. P. Hammon, after whom the town of Hammonton was named, entered the
field in 1902, after several years' experience at Oroville, in Butte County. The
great basin of the Yuba River was at that time what miners call a "blind
deposit," the entire basin being covered to an average depth of twenty-two feet
with tailings from the hydraulic mines above. These tailings had to be moved,
and economically. The value and character of the original gravel deposit had to
be ascertained, as also the extent of the deposit that might be mined. The
ground was known to be very deep, from sixty to ninety feet below the
water-line, fifty per cent deeper than any other ground being dredged at that
time. It is said that Hammon expended over $60,000 in preliminary work; and
before undertaking to construct the dredge, he had a most thorough knowledge of
the situation. Then followed the construction of dredging machines of improved
pattern and adequate for the work required. The first two gold-boats operated
completely solved the difficulties encountered and made the enterprise a
thorough success. 

    The company with which Hammon is connected, and of which he is the moving
spirit, began operations in the Yuba district in August, 1904. It was
incorporated in March, 1905, as the Yuba Consolidated Goldfields, with a capital
of $12,500,000, and is now actively engaged in dredge mining on the river beds,
on a large tract on the Yuba River, nine miles east of Marysville. The recently
constructed boats are 120 feet in length and 50 feet in width. They are run by
electricity received from the Colgate plant on the Yuba River near Dobbins, and
each machine requires about 375 horse-power. They each handle from 2500 to 3500
cubic yards of material per day. The immense dredgers now being added to the
fleets at Hammonton and Marigold are being built of steel at a cost, each, of
half a million dollars. This will give to the reader some indication of the
amount of gold being taken from the bed of the stream. In the beginning, sixteen
years ago, these gold-boats were constructed of wood at a cost of $100,000 each.
Many of the wooden boats long ago went into the discard along with their
machinery. The hills about Hammonton are covered with scrap from the abandoned
wooden boats. 

    While thus conducting its dredge-mining operations, the company has also
engaged, in conjunction with the Federal government, in building training walls
of rock several miles in length, for the purpose of confining the Yuba River
(which normally has a tendency to "fan out") in a defined channel, in order to
hold in place the great deposit of tailings now there and prevent its moving on
down, to the damage of the farms in the valley below. These walls, which are
built in most substantial manner and many times stronger than originally
contemplated by the government officers, and which would have cost the United
States at least half a million dollars if done by it, were constructed free of
charge by the dredging company, and have proven of incalculable benefit as a
measure of protection to property-owners in both Yuba and Sutter Counties. 

    Many men and members of their families are given employment both on the
boats and in the repair shops maintained at Hammonton, where the company has
built a commodious hotel, homes for the workmen, and a school. Marysville reaps
much trade from the residents of Hammonton, all of whom are required by the
company to be thrifty and steady-going, in order to hold secure their employment. 

    While W. P. Hammon gives the Oroville district, where he first achieved
success in dredge mining, all the credit due it, he pronounces the Yuba fields
the greatest in the world. The amount of ground suitable and profitable for
dredging in the Yuba district is so great that it will require the work of the
dredgers for at least another decade to exhaust it, and all the while it will
add much to the gold supply of the world. 

    As conducted on the Yuba, no damage is being done, or can be done, to the
valley. The land used for dredge mining is, as a rule, comparatively worthless
for agriculture, being in the bed of the river, and the former owners have
received for it from the mining company prices many times in excess of its
former assessed value. The success of this industry means much to the county. It
adds largely to the taxable wealth; it employs a great number of men; it brings
to the section many visitors of prominence and possessed of capital to invest;
and it is doing more than any other industry to attract attention from abroad to
our varied resources, mineral and agricultural, and to invite homeseekers and
home-builders to locate here. 

    Recent reports made by the United States' government place Yuba County at
the head of the gold-producing territories in the nation, and in the world. This
leading place as a mining center is due to the great quantity of the precious
metal being take from Yuba River by gold-dredging boats operated at Hammonton by
the Yuba Consolidated Goldfields Company, and at Marigold operated by the
Marysville Dredging Company. On the opposite bank of the Yuba River the
Guggenheim interests also have large boats working, bringing up from the depths
of the river gold that was washed down the stream in the days of the hydraulic
process. From the hydraulickers, who used large and powerful monitors to wash
the mountain-sides into their sluice-boxes, as much gold escaped as was "cleaned
up," if not more. This is the metal now accountable for Yuba County's enviable
position in the mining world. It is now estimated that the life of the dredger
fields at Hammonton and Marigold is ten years, although recent plans entered
into between the government and the dredger companies indicate that the period
of profitable operation may be still longer prolonged. 

PROPOSED DAMS AT BULLARDS BAR AND SMARTSVILLE 

    At the time this volume was in the hands of the publishers, the Yuba
Development Company, a $24,000,000 corporation, had in course of construction an
immense dam at Bullards Bar on the Yuba River, in this county, the chief purpose
of which is to permit the resumption of hydraulic mining in Yuba, Sierra, and
Nevada Counties, and incidentally to engage in power and irrigation development.
In addition, the Yuba Development Company has amalgamated with a powerful group
of interests and individuals controlling thousands of acres of land adjoining
both sides of the Yuba River, east of Smartsville, for the purpose of developing
hydroelectric power and irrigation projects, involving an outlay of several
millions of dollars. Organizations and individuals back of the enterprise
include the C. F. Ayer Estate, through the Excelsior Water & Mining Company; the
Yuba Development Company; the Metals Exploration Company, with headquarters in
New York City; Harry Payne Whitney, Eastern capitalist; and Bulkley Wells,
multimillionaire mine owner and promoter. The construction of the two great
impounding dams proposed — the one, already mentioned as being under way at
Bullards Bar, and the other at the Narrows on the main Yuba River channel at
Smartsville — is a work teeming with possibilities. It was expected that the
work on the Bullards Bar dam would be completed by the fall of 1923; and it was
planned to start the construction of the second dam at Smartsville at about the
time when this first barrier should be completed. 

    The Bullards Bar dam, if the plans carry, will be 175 feet in height, and so
constructed that it may be added to. The Smartsville dam will also be 175 feet
in height, according to the engineers' plans. Together, these barriers will cost
in excess of $3,000,000, and will be capable of impounding millions of cubic
feet of tailings and debris which will be washed down stream through the
operation of the hydraulic mines; and at the same time they will make it
possible for the operators to comply fully with the anti-debris law as it
pertains to the choking of the waterways in the valley. 

    The impounding dams will make possible the opening of hydraulic mines at
various points above the barriers, particularly in the Bloomfield district of
Nevada County, where W. B. Bourne and George W. Starr, mining operators of Grass
Valley, control extensive gravel beds, and also near Smartsville, where the Ayer
Estate owns outright large deposits of auriferous gravel. Owners of gravel
deposits not financially interested in the dams will be given an opportunity to
use the dam for impounding purposes by payment of a rate to be agreed upon. At
least this was the announcement made recently by the projectors of the big scheme. 

Water and Power Interests 

    Under the terms of the agreement entered into between the Yuba Development
Company and the Smartsville contingent, the Excelsior Water & Power Company
would have exclusive right to handle the water interests of the project below
the Yuba River Narrows. In addition to the debris to be impounded, it is
estimated that sufficient water will be conserved behind the two dams to
irrigate approximately 25,000 acres of agricultural lands south of the Yuba
River and extending from the foothills in the Smartsville district almost to
Wheatland. The land to be benefited is owned largely by the Ayer Estate and the
James K. O'Brien Estate. 

    The plan of the Excelsior Water and Power Company is, to develop the main
distributing system for the handling of the storage water and in this manner to
dispose of it to an irrigation district to be formed in the future, after the
project is under way. Much of the land to be placed under irrigation is of
comparatively low value at present except for grazing purposes, but can be made
to produce abundantly with water. 

    It is said the Pacific Gas & Electric Company already has agreed to take the
power generated at the Bullards Bar plant. The power plants that are to form
part of the new development project will be located near the sites of the dams.
It is thought that the Pacific Gas & Electric Company is also enamored of the
power to be developed at the Smartsville dam; and it is believed that this
company is heavily interested with the Yuba Development Company in the immense
project. 

Possibilities of Danger 

    During the month of February, 1923, following the announcement of the plan
of the Yuba Development Company and its associates to build the barriers in Yuba
River, Charles K. McClatchy, editor of the Sacramento Bee, in his paper
questioned the advisability of permitting the resumption of hydraulic mining
behind these dams. McClatchy warned the valley counties, particularly Sutter,
Yuba and Sacramento Counties, that they might be courting the troubles which
they endured at an earlier period, and which they finally blocked in the courts
of the State and nation, causing hydraulic mining to be placed under ban because
of the filling of the valley reaches of the Yuba and Feather Rivers with
detritus from the mines operated under the hydraulic process. The Sawyer
decision, estopping the operation of mines by the hydraulic process, was
recalled by McClatchy. 

Letter of Major Grant 

    Under date of February 13, 1923, Major U. S. Grant, 3rd, of the corps of
engineers of the California Debris Commission, with headquarters in San
Francisco, sent the following letter to McClatchy, which is self-explanatory: 

"To the Editor of The Bee. 

    "Sir: 1. Your letter of January 20, 1823, addressed to Col. Herbert Deakyne,
president of the California Debris Commission, has been referred to me as
secretary and executive officer of the commission. I am not advised of the
character of announcements as to a general resumption of hydraulic mining on the
Yuba River, except what has been stated from time to time in The Bee, of which I
am a regular and quite careful reader. I am, therefore, somewhat at a loss as to
just how to answer your inquiry. 

    "2. The Yuba Development Company is adding considerably to the height of its
present dam at Bullards Bar, bringing it up to an elevation of 175 feet under
authority granted by the California Debris Commission in June, 1922. The plans
for this new dam have been very carefully gone over by the commission and are
believed to be fully within the limits of safety. Certainly the concrete arch
dam which is being built in this case is the very safest type for such work, and
the kind of dam which we would like to see built in every case. The construction
of this dam is proceeding under the continual inspection of the California
Debris Commission. It is expected that it will have a total storage capacity
behind it of about 40,000,000 cubic yards of debris. 

    "As the Yuba Development Company appears to be willing to sell some of this
storage space at a reasonable rate, it will be of considerable benefit to those
mining on a small scale and will give them positive debris storage at a lower
price than they can obtain by individual barriers of even a much less safe type.
Until the space behind the dam is entirely filled up, we will be sure of the
escape of no debris from the region above it, except such light slickens as are
inevitably carried over the top of any dam by high water. 

    "3. It is understood that the Yuba Development Company contemplates the
utilization of part of the reservoir behind the dam for the development of
hydro-electric power. This feature comes under the jurisdiction of the Federal
Power Commission, which, I understand, has also scrutinized and approved the
design of the dam. The space will not only provide for the storage of any
retarded movement of mining debris, but will also catch natural erosion and old
tailings which would otherwise continue to work their way down stream. This dam
will then be of general benefit, as well as of direct benefit to the rivers, by
the retention of all debris above it, and by the storage of much flood water for
release during the low-water season. 

"4. A dam in the Narrows near Smartsville was a part of the original project of
the California Debris Commission, but was never built, the construction of
barriers having begun downstream and never having been carried up this far. The
project now comprises only the Daguerre Point dam (already built), the north and
south training walls above and below the latter (not yet completed), and certain
rectification of the channel. This work has proven so effective that the
California Debris Commission is now making every effort to complete the south
training wall below Daguerre Point to close Inskip Slough, Dunning Channel and
the other old channels where large quantities of debris are stored and might be
set in motion by unexpected high water. In view of present conditions, it does
not appear to me likely that the California Debris Commission would for many
years consider the construction of any other dams upstream from Daguerre Point.
[Daguerre Point is about ten miles above Marysville, and an equal distance below
the Narrows, near Smartsville. — Editor.] 

    "Some years ago, the Harmon Engineering Company drew up a project for fairly
extensive mining in the Yuba River, including a diversion dam somewhere near
Smartsville; but, as far as known by this office, this plan was definitely given
up. While I have heard from time to time some talk of this project or a similar
one being taken up again by various mining interests, no application has been
made to the commission for a license to mine under any such project. However, I
think the commission would be inclined to act favorably on any such proposition,
if it contained, as an essential part, the construction of a safe and permanent
barrier providing for and assuring the storage of debris behind it. Such a
barrier would tend to stop the movement of all debris above it for a number of
years, and would relieve the deposits held back by the Daguerre Point barrier
from the gradual annual accretions now reaching them. 

    "5. In the last paragraph of your letter, you do specifically inquire as to
whether the duties of the California Debris Commission extend to the protection
of agricultural lands and other interests besides navigation. For your
information in this regard, I inclose a copy of the Act of Congress approved
March 1, 1893, on which the jurisdiction of the commission is based. It is
evident from the terms of the law itself that Congress claimed jurisdiction to
control hydraulic mining solely on the ground of the resulting injury and damage
to navigable waters; but any measures which stop the movement of debris and tend
to regulate the flow of water in time of freshets necessarily are of general
benefit, and incidentally afford some protection to otherwise exposed
agricultural lands. 

    "This letter has been somewhat delayed in order to give it the serious
consideration which the subject-matter deserves. 

    "For the California Debris Commission, 
                         "Yours truly, 
                                "U. S. Grant. 3rd, 
                             "Major, Corps of Engineers, 
                                      "Member and Secretary. 
"San Francisco, February 13, 1923." 

Reply of the Editor of The Bee 

    To Major Grant's letter editor McClatchy made reply, reviewing the hydraulic
mining situation and pointing out that the State and Federal courts retain
jurisdiction and authority to issue injunctions against injurious hydraulic
mining. McClatchy's reply of March 1, 1923, was as follows: 

    "The act of 'Congress of 1893 provides for the appointment of a California
Debris Commission, composed of Federal engineers, to devise plans for
restoration and protection of navigation and to permit hydraulic mining to be
carried on, 'provided the same can be accomplished without injury to
navigability' of the rivers or to 'lands adjacent thereto.' It authorizes
issuance of permits under such safeguards as will 'protect the public interests
and prevent such injury,' and further provides that 'no more debris shall be
washed than can be impounded within the restraining works erected.' Hydraulic
mining on the watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, without such
permit, is by the same act prohibited and declared unlawful, and any injury to
navigation, directly or indirectly, from such mining is made a misdemeanor
punishable by fine or imprisonment, or by both. There are various other
provisions of the act which need not be mentioned here. 

    The Federal act, however, although it has been adjudged constitutional,
gives the commission no judicial powers, and in no way interferes with the
authority of the courts, State or Federal, to protect either public or private
property from injury caused by hydraulic mining, even when done under a permit
from the commission. This was decided by the supreme court of California in the
case of the County of Sutter vs. Nichols, owner of the Polar Star hydraulic
mine, who had built a debris dam under the direction of the debris commission,
and was operating with its permission and in accord with its requirements. The
injunction issued by Judge Davis of the superior court of Sutter County was
sustained on appeal, without dissent, five justices of the supreme court uniting
in the decision. The lower court had found the dam insufficient to prevent
debris from being carried down and causing injury to public property, and that
the dam was not of a permanent character. The supreme court held the defendant
could not be relieved from liability for damage because of the commission's
permit; that the Federal act was not intended to license either the filling of
the river channel with debris or the doing of injury to private property by
discharging debris into the rivers. It was held also that it was not the intent
of the Federal statute to exonerate the miner from liability for injuries, or in
any respect to limit or restrict the powers of the State courts to protect
private property from threatened injury and to redress inflicted injury thereto
from the operation of hydraulic mines, though carried on under a permit and in
strict compliance with the plans and directions of the debris commission, and
that the Federal act does not have that effect. 

    "No doubt seems to be entertained in the Sacramento Valley that the debris
commission has done much useful work in construction of barriers and training
walls in and along the Yuba River, to restrain debris turned into the stream or
its tributaries by hydraulic mining prior to the creation of that body. And in
granting permits for construction of debris barriers across the Yuba at Bullards
Bar it is presumed to have acted within the spirit of that statute and in accord
with its requirements. But the people of the Sacramento Valley always have
opposed use of the river channels for storage of debris from hydraulic mining in
order that this private and transient industry may be continued, however useful
such barriers may be to prevent or lessen further injury because of past
operations. It is evident, however, from the decision of the State supreme court
in the Polar Star case, outlined in the foregoing, that any county, community,
district or land-owner may at any time obtain relief or protection in the courts
from either actual or threatened injury, despite permits issued by the debris
commission in accord with its authority and the instructions of Congress. 

    "The statement recently published by The Bee, that the debris dam at
Bullards Bar on the Yuba is being raised to a height of 175 feet by a private
corporation, with approval of the commission, to create a storage reservoir with
a capacity for 40,000,000 cubic yards of debris, is now officially confirmed.
And Major Grant says: 'Until the space behind the dam is entirely filled up, we
will be sure of the escape of no debris from the region above it, except such
light slickens as are inevitably carried over the top of any dam by high water.'
It was largely such light material, however, that caused ruin and devastation to
the bottom lands of the Yuba in the earlier history of hydraulic mining. The
yellowish pipe-clay and fine sands were washed down by hydraulic mines from the
mountain region into the valley of the river by millions of cubic yards,
converting fertile farms, orchards and vineyards into a desert waste, as
described in the decision of United States Circuit Judge Sawyer in the famous
suit of Woodruff vs. the North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company. The channel of
the stream below the foothills, down almost to its junction with the Feather, at
Marysville and Yuba City, was completely destroyed by the slickens, sands and
fine gravel, and the deposits of debris raised the banks and bottom lands
several feet above the level of the neighboring lands. 

    "As to the 'slickens' proper — the yellowish pipe-clay commonly washed down
in enormous quantities from the precipitous banks of hydraulic mines — it has
been the contention of the miners in numerous anti-debris suits that its
ultimate destination was nowhere short of the ocean, because of its extreme
lightness and portability. And very much expert and official testimony has been
given in the courts to show that many millions of cubic yards of it have reached
at least Suisun, San Pablo and San Francisco Bays, if not the Pacific Ocean. 

    "The rising generations of Californians, and the newer residents of the
State, have but little realization of the magnitude of past hydraulic mining and
its present capacities for injury. According to the official reports of former
State Engineer Hall, the hydraulic miners upon the streams draining into the
Sacramento Basin were using in 1879 a yearly supply of 15,000,000 miner's
twenty-four-hour inches of water, and annually were washing into the canyons
over 53,000,000 cubic yards of material. The annual water supply here
technically expressed in miner's inches is equivalent to about 60,000,000,000
gallons. The Yuba River alone received each year, he estimated, 22,326,500 cubic
yards of debris from hydraulic mines. These figures (based on incomplete data)
are probably much below the mark, but suffice for the purposes of illustration.
A naked statement in figures of the extent of hydraulic operations conveys
little significance. But if the reader will bear in mind the fact that a million
cubic yards of debris will cover a square mile to the depth of a foot, he can
realize the magnitude of the annual flow of over 22,000,000 cubic yards, into
the Yuba. It would fill the Erie Canal to the brim in eighteen months. And this
flow, it should be understood, repre 
sents solid material, water not included. 

    "But one must visit the hydraulic mining regions and see the monitors in
operation, fully to realize the destructive nature of the industry. The area of
excavations is measured in acres and square miles. Mountains literally have been
washed into this valley. The work of the monitors has made vast ampitheaters,
shut in by perpendicular precipices, hundreds of feet high, where originally
were mountains covered with forest growth. Up to 1878 the Excelsior Company at
Smartsville, Yuba County, alone had washed 8,000,000 cubic yards (14,000,000
tons) of material into the Yuba; and ten times that quantity remained to be
removed from its claims. In forty days, using 3000 inches of water and blasting
extensively, the Miocene Mine poured into the Feather River above Oroville no
less than 300,000 cubic yards of debris. 

    "An incomplete statement of the damage caused by hydraulic mining debris is
contained in a report made by State Engineer Hall in 1880. Upon the Yuba,
Feather and Bear Rivers, Auburn Ravine, and Dry Creek, he found 43,546 acres of
valuable land had been covered by debris, and the depreciation and loss thus
occasioned to the owners amounted to $2,597,635. But this estimate did not
include damages along the Sacramento and American Rivers, nor the vast area of
lands protected by levees but greatly reduced in value through the increased
danger of overflow and liability to ruin by debris. One of Hall's reports shows
that prior to 1885 the channel of the Yuba at Smartsville was filled by the
hydraulic mining debris to a depth of 150 feet. In 1882 Colonel Mendell, of the
United States corps of engineers, reported to the War Department that the level
of the beds of the Yuba and Bear Rivers had risen 'to an elevation of several
feet above the banks," the streams being held in place by levees. 'These
instances,' he said, 'may be taken to illustrate the ultimate condition of the
Sacramento and Feather Rivers under a continuance of the influence to which they
are subjected. The abandonment of existing channels is a consequence to be
apprehended.' 

    "The danger to navigation, however, was not confined to the rivers of the
valley. It affected the bays as well. Witness these extracts from the report,
made July 1, 1882: 

    " 'The surveys [San Pablo Bay] of 1863 and 1878 are distinguished by a
deposit of 76,025,000 cubic yards made in the interval. The depth of the deposit
averaged over the area of comparison, 24 1/2 miles, would be 3.1 feet. . . . The
mean reduction in width of channel . . . is 2820 feet, which is 22 per cent of
the mean width in 1855. A comparison of maps of three and one-half miles on the
Sacramento, near its mouth, and one mile at the mouth of the San Joaquin, shows
a deposit of 2,000,000 cubic yards in the Sacramento, and 500,000 in the San
Joaquin, between 1867 and 1878. . . . A comparison of charts of Carquinez
Straits between different dates indicates the formation of large deposits in
recent years.' 

    "According to an official report of the State engineer, made in 1879,
16,000,000 cubic yards of material were carried annually by the waters of the
Sacramento River, in suspension, past the capital city. This does not include,
he is careful to say, the sands rolled along the bottom by the force of the
current — a very considerable quantity. And it is only fair to add that he
attributes about 5,000,000 cubic yards of the aggregate to the results of
natural wash. 

    "The extent of the auriferous deposits of 'gravel' in the Sierras is not
definitely known, but is practically unlimited. It is estimated that 100,000,000
cubic yards of material already have been washed into the Yuba alone, and that
"there remain at least 700.000,000 cubic yards more, upon the drainage basin of
that stream, workable by present hydraulic methods. 

    "State Engineer Hall reported that 70 per cent of the discharge of debris
into the Yuba could be stopped behind dams, leaving 7,000,000 cubic yards a year
— a very formidable quantity — to descend that one tributary into the Sacramento
Valley. 

    "By far the larger portion of the cost of levees constructed in the
Sacramento Valley is chargeable properly to hydraulic mining. There is abundant
evidence, to begin with, that Marysville and Yuba City, and the Counties of Yuba
and Sutter, needed no levees before hydraulic mining debris had filled up the
Yuba and Feather Rivers. Portions only of the business streets of Marysville
were wet by the great floods of 1*52-1853 and the still greater floods of
1861-1862, and there was still no thought of building levees. The city had no
encircling levee until 1868. But twenty years later her levee account footed up
$500,000, nearly one third of the total assessed valuation of the city. Vastly
different were conditions in early days, when the rivers were clear and deep,
and a deep-draught vessel, which made the voyage around the Horn, ascended the
Feather River and discharged her cargo at or near Marysville or Yuba City." 

Later Details of the Project 

    Subsequently to this correspondence, there were filed with the Division of
Water Rights, State Department of Public Works, in Sacramento, more detailed
plans of the Yuba Development Company for the vast project. According to these
plans, the company is to develop 262,130 horse-power of electricity when all its
units have been constructed, which, it was thought, will require several years.
There will be nine storage reservoirs and six hydroelectric power plants. The
power will be developed by taking advantage of the 6000 feet of fall in the Yuba
between Haypress Valley on the south fork of the North Yuba, where the elevation
is 6870 feet, and the dam at the Narrows, near Smartsville, where the elevation
is 275 feet. The reservoirs will have a storage capacity of 500,000 acre-feet.
To distribute and use these waters will require, it was estimated, the
construction of some twelve miles of diversion tunnels. 

    The hydroelectric power plants are described as follows: 

    "Sierra City Power House No. 1, located at an elevation of 4400 feet, to be
fed from Haypress Valley, Jackson Meadows and Milton reservoirs. The power will
have a developed horse-power of 27,640. 

    "Downieville Power House No. 2, at an elevation, of 3000 feet, to be fed
from Sierra City reservoir. This power house "will develop 39,140 horse-power. 

    "Toll-bridge Ramshorn Power House No. 3, at an elevation of 2500 feet, to be
fed from Toll-bridge and Shady Flat reservoirs. The development here will amount
to 15,600 horse-power. 

    "Garden Valley Power House No. 4, at an elevation of 1900 feet, to be fed
from Indian Valley reservoir. The hdyroelectric development will be 46,350
horse-power. 

    "Colgate Power House No. 5 (to be constructed by the Pacific Gas and
Electric Company for its own use), at an elevation of 600 feet. The development
here will amount to 110,500 horse-power. This power house will be in addition to
the present Colgate power house of the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which
is located at an elevation of about 1300 feet. Both Colgate power houses will be
supplied from Bullards Bar reservoir. 

"Smartsville Power House No. 6, to be at an elevation of 275 feet, 
will be supplied from the Narrows reservoir. Its capacity will be 22,900 
horse-power." 

    The horse-power development of the power plants increases as the river
descends, largely due to the increasing volume of water. Sierra City power house
will have only 301 second-feet of water, while the big Colgate power house will
have 1100 second-feet and Smartsville will have 1300 second-feet. 

    The working out of the units is such that practically no fall of the river 
will be allowed to go to waste. Soon after the water is discharged from the race
of one power house it will be again stored and diverted for another power house.
The water for Garden Valley power house will be taken from Indian Valley
reservoir through a 29,548-foot tunnel to the head of the penstock to the power
house. The water for the big Colgate power house will be taken from Bullards Bar
reservoir through a tunnel 31,800 feet long to the penstock of this power house. 

    The proposed development of the Yuba River project is declared to be one of
the most complete ever contemplated in the country. It provides not only for a
series of storage and regulatory dams but also for utilization of practically
all fall of the river. 

    About the middle of the year 1923, the Yuba Development Company, through
legal process, changed the name and title of the concern to the Yuba River Power
Company. On December 23, 1923, the company announced the completion of the
immense dam at Bullards Bar. A month later all the old landmarks at Bullards Bar
went up in smoke, as the result of a bonfire used as the most economical means
of ridding the site of the old hotel, blacksmith shop, store and other buildings
so dear to the heart of the old host, George Mix, and sacred in the memory of
the pioneer teamsters and miners. 


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

HISTORY OF YUBA and SUTTER COUNTIES 
CALIFORNIA 
WITH 
Biographical Sketches OF 
The Leading Men and Women of the Counties Who Have Been Identified with Their
Growth and Development from the Early Days to the Present 

HISTORY BY 
PETER J. DELAY 

ILLUSTRATED 
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME 

HISTORIC RECORD COMPANY 
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
1924

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ca/yuba/history/1924/historyo/chapter8321gms.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/cafiles/

File size: 42.9 Kb