The Many Lost Treasures of Mariposa, CA (Photos Added)

[mariposagold]

Mariposa Mine Story

Eagle, I started reading this thread from the beginning. wow, your stories are inspiring and captivating. Had to fast forward. You recently mentioned your intent to tell a story of the Mariposa Mine. Not sure if had yet. I live just a few blocks away from the Mariposa mine.

Mariposa Gold.

 

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[Sam 8]

Eagle...well I think we are going to put the Gold Grabber rocker-box model on the, "things to get" list.
We are going to Reno this weekend to see our son, (taking the MXT) and the following weekend we are trying to get a trip going up to the claim to reconnoiter the situation. I wish I had the $ to just order the thing, but such is life, eh?

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle

How about some information on the trip? I know the weather was good. Sorry I didn't make it by your camp. We were up and over the hill from Briceburg the week before and the week after. As far as dredging, PLP has a case that may be heard within the next two weeks,and they seem to think they have a pretty good case, and if so, all dredging will go back to the 1994 regulations and permit fees. I have never dredged, but would like too and hope to secure a permit in the near future for a club dredging on two new claims. Happy Hunting.... PS I am wondering if you have ever metal detected the burned out cabin site of Miner Petes place. Perhaps he moved his polk before his passing, knowing that the feds would surely get rid of his cabin PDQ if he were to pass. I would think your Whites might serve you well there or up the mountain at his old mine site.
PLP WINS!!! injunction overturned - Suction Dredging permits

Public Lands for the People, Inc.

PUBLIC LANDS FOR THE PEOPLE - A 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization Check out the 4/12/12 Petition of Writ of Injuction....

Halito Oakview2,

Sorry to take so long in answering, but it's really been a hectic couple of weeks. Orders from my website, experiments with HHO, and one of my girl friends in town visiting with me. (Strictly platonic of course). (lol) In any case, there's not much to tell. The river was too high to cross. The foliage was too high to metal detect. And of course, the river was running over places I wanted to metal detect. So, I entend to go back in August. THEN, I should have something worth writing about.

I haven't metal detected Pete's place yet, but when the river gets down enough for me to wade across, I'll take care of that little chore. Now, if I can just remember where his Apricot tree was. (lol)

I hope that PLP wins their case. I put a request in to be notified by the courts of any further developments in the case. Everytime I open my email, I hope to see the outcome.

Thanks for the links!!

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Eagle, I started reading this thread from the beginning. wow, your stories are inspiring and captivating. Had to fast forward. You recently mentioned your intent to tell a story of the Mariposa Mine. Not sure if had yet. I live just a few blocks away from the Mariposa mine.
Mariposa Gold.

I think I did say that. (lol) Hokay, the problem with this one is that I heard about it from a man who has "passed on". So, I can't say for a fact that it's true, though I believe it was. I think I mentioned him earlier. Fritz Clark. He was the one who had a 8X10 glossy photo of himself standing in the portal of the Colorado Mine, with a 50+ pound chunk of gold in his hands.

For this to make sense to my readers who know little about hardrock mining; One of the things in a rich gold mine that the miners look and hope for is a phenomenon commonly known as a "Cross". This is where two gold bearing quartz veins intersect and cross one another. If both veins are rich in gold, for some reason (unexplained to me), quite often, the "cross" will be surrounded by a massive accumulation of gold. By dent of some judicious drilling, this mass of gold can usually be taken out in one lump. Now, with that brief bit of knowledge, on with the story:

My memory is a little hazy on some of this, since I knew I wouldn't be allowed to go in and try to recover this treasure, I didn't pay as much attention as I should have.

It seems that there were plans to open the mine to tourists and have them pay to go into and be guided through parts of the mine. But Fritz had worked in the mine years before and told them of a "cross" that they might want to take out before they allowed outsiders into the mine.

Since he was experienced in this sort of operation AND knew where the cross was, he was asked to go in and pull the cross out. So, Fritz geared up and decended to the fifth(?) level, then partway down the tunnel to where the cross was.

Things were going quite well with his usage of a powder-monkey's hand drill and a single-jack. The first day, he got something like 6 holes drilled. He figured that the following day, he'd drill a couple more holes, then it would only take a small charge of powder in each hole to drop the estimated 40 to 60 pound aggregate of gold onto the floor. He intended to make the top holes a little deeper than the others, that way, when the charges went off, the blast should roll the gold out and down in one mass.

So, he arrived at the mine early the next morning, in high spirits. Perhaps bouyed up by thoughts of the fat little commission he'd recieve when he carried that bad puppy up out of the mine.

He said that he had been drilling for about 3 hours and was on the next to the last hole. He hit the hand-drill with the single-jack, and the drill flew from his fingers and into the hole he was drilling. And..........., he was instantly drenched in the water that came gushing out of the hole. He took off running for the ladder to the next level up, with the water lapping around his feet as he started up the ladder. By the time he got to the third level, he looked down and could see that the fourth level was already inundated with water. He arrived at the second level and the water was still rising under him. He started up the ladder, and never looked back to see where the water was when he left the mine into the sunlight. He wasn't sure, but he thought the water might have filled three levels in the mine.

From what he told me, I got the impression that the sudden surge of water might have knocked out a goodly sized hole just above the cross, to allow an underground stream to flow in unhindered.

He wasn't sure how much the water had come up and as far as he knew, nobody ever bothered to try and pump the water out to go back in for the gold. I guess you could say that the treasure is now in a make shift "Davey Jones Locker". (lol)

So, there you have it. An inaccessable treasure under the present circumstances!!

I hope you enjoyed this one.

Eagle

 

[Oakview2]

Sounds like it was a very successful trip, because the worst day of prospecting is better than a million good days at work. Happy Hunting and good health to you. Always enjoy your accounts of the region. Hope to meet up with you some day...

 

[DesertCruiser]

Diamonds in Calaveras County

Thank you SushiDog!!

I'm sure we'd all appreciate reading it. I didn't go into a lot of details in the story, because I didn't have the book for reference, but I believe other counties where diamonds were found were: Yuba, Calaveras, up around Susanville, Marysville, Shasta. Note: I'm sure about Yuba, but the others, not so sure. Also, back in the days, most of those counties were Mariposa County.

Eagle

Eagle: I've just started reading your epiloge and it's very interesting, wish I had a writer like yourself for our Web Site. We'd gladly publish all your adventures in the Desert southwest. But back to this diamond thing. Hope you get to read this, sorry I didn't get here sooner.

About 15 years ago we worked for a friend who live in this area, see the map below. He had a group from some university stop at his place and ask to leave their vehicles there while they looked for diamonds on the mountain behind him. They were very nice with a group of younger adults (students) with them. Later after hearing this I took a hike into the area from a different direction (see Banner Rd.) and found a volcanic chimney with not growth on it. Shown on the map. In doing so I met the Robert (can't remember the last name) and he showed me several other chimney's on his property also, with a lot of mineralization and some jade in them. BUT the interesting thing was when we climbed up to the chimney that was next to his property on BLM property. We found a couple of volcanic rocks (lots more there also) and broke them open as they were perfectly round, and inside they were hollow with millions of small crystals all around the inside. We later found out that they were diamonds. None of them were any bigger than match head size, so we never got back up there to do more investigating. Maybe some would be interested in this. It is in Calaveras County near where we used to live. We also spend a lot of time dredging and high banking in the area. And we found a considerable amount of gold there. We have other places there where we never to go back to. Maybe later we'll tell you about that also. We now live in Utah, so coming back is not an option. Love reading your adventures, but am only to page 10. Thanks. Here's the map.
My wife just remembered his name (guy that owned the property with the chimneys - Bob Wolf)
Don....

 

[EagleDown]

Halito Don,

Thanks for your very interesting post. One of the things I would like to do is find another diamond. Sounds like Calaveras County might be just the place. As I stated earlier, CA diamonds tend to floress under a "short-wave" ultraviolet light. So, it could be worthwhile to plan on spending a couple of nights in the area.

You might pm me when you have the time. Frankly, if I had known anyone would be interested in my journey through life, I would have been taking notes fifty or so years ago. (lol) Incidentally, I was wondering why Dave Taylor doesn't think he could make a living writing at the ripe old age of 53? I'm 75 and I honestly believe I could make a living at it. Actually, it's a lot easier than prospecting, since I don't have the stamina I use to have.

In any case, welcome to my thread and please come back anytime.

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Another Trip

Just to let all of my friends know; I'll be leaving here Thursday morning. Yep, I'm heading back up to Mariposa for a few days. If anyone has the time and would be interested in meeting, let me know by Wednesday night, so that arrangments can be made. Just send me a pm and I'll respond with my phone number.

Love and Respect,

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

I'm heading back up to the Merced river this morning
for a few days, so, I'll leave you with this to think about.

This is one of the greatest dangers we, as Americans,
are facing right now!! Bring us down and the rest of the
world will "crumble".

Agenda 21 in One Easy Lesson | National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA)

Eagle

 

[EagleDown]

Merced River and There-abouts

Halito to all,

I've been back for about 5 days from my little sojourn in Mariposa County. I had planned to post the trip sooner, but again, I got into a fight with my computer. It takes spells when it refuses to download photos from my camera(s). But, yesterday, I managed to trick it into accepting them. It's one heck of a note when you have to be smarter than your computer.

Anyway, I arrived there a little before noon and met with "Goldenprospector". Though we did a little "prospecting" together, we spent much more time on exploring different areas. As I've noted before, Mariposa has very rich and varied history, especially in the respect of gold mining. (Is there anything else)?? (lol) If you drive around through the old mining districts, you can still see how much the "old timers" dug and stacked materials in many areas. Is there still gold to be found in these areas?? You betcha!!

While roaming around, we decided to go up the mountain to Sweetwater Creek. While there, I took some photos of the abode of the late "Sweetwater Clyde" and his present abode. Also of what's left of the old mill that was such an influence on mining in that area. I can't say much about Clyde as I never had the honor of meeting him, but he was somewhat of an "icon" back in the 1970s and '80s.

So, without further adieu, for your viewing pleasure:

More photos this evening.

 

[EagleDown]

NATURE, Reclaiming her land.

Hokay, these next photos are what's left of the old stamp mill. The average person probably would have no idea that this was once a multi-million dollar operation and that Clyde drove Cadillacs up and down those rough mountain roads. (I saw his auto "bone-yard"). (lol)

 

[EagleDown]

A few more

I think this is enough for now. Do like me and let your imagination run wild.

Eagle

 

[Oakview2]

Great pictures Eagle, a great reminder of yesteryear. I am including some pictures of a old mine on a club claim about14 miles north east of Coulterville. PS... Next to the Jefferson Hotel, is the longest continous running saloon in the state. So many boots have rubbed accross the old wood floors, there are grooves in front of the bar. They have music on Sundays, and serve the meanest cheeseburger you can imagine

 

[Oakview2]

Here is some small specimen gold we coaxed out of a tailings pile

 

[EagleDown]

Great mouth watering photos Oakview2!! I was intending to download some pictures of the gold ore that Goldenprospector found in a tailings pile, but for some reason I can't find any way to put this camera on "Macro", so out of 6 photos, only one is half-way decent. Well, I'll post it anyway, even though I don't think it's good enough. (lol)

A dime used for reference. The two smaller pieces at the upper right are nuggets found elsewhere. (Sorry, I'm not at liberty to disclose where any of this was found).

The next time I'm up that way, I'll have to check out one of those cheeseburgers. Thanks for posting!

Eagle

 

[Oakview2]

Great mouth watering photos Oakview2!! I was intending to download some pictures of the gold ore that Goldenprospector found in a tailings pile, but for some reason I can't find any way to put this camera on "Macro", so out of 6 photos, only one is half-way decent. Well, I'll post it anyway, even though I don't think it's good enough. (lol)

A dime used for reference. The two smaller pieces at the upper right are nuggets found elsewhere. (Sorry, I'm not at liberty to disclose where any of this was found).

The next time I'm up that way, I'll have to check out one of those cheeseburgers. Thanks for posting!

Eagle

Wouldn't expect to you to give the location, but what type of detector. Always enjoy your pictures and recollections of the area. My son and I are hoping to try some highbanking on the Merced below the bridge sometime this summer. Some folks from our club have been doing well up there recently and I hope to give it a whirl. You won't be disappointed on the cheeseburger, the ambiance, or the building..... Happy Hunting

 

[EagleDown]

He uses the Fisher Goldbug II with the 6.5" elliptical coil.

Perhaps I'll see you there. I will be back up around the 1st of August. Who knows, perhaps by then, PLP will have our dredging rights restored. (Sure, I can dream big). (lol)

Eagle

 

[Oakview2]

I am hoping our paths will cross as I am looking forward to meeting you and working that stretch of the Merced....

 

[mariposagoldbag]

Hey Eagle! I got my first nugget with the Minelab 3500! Thought you might want to take a look....

 

[EagleDown]

Aw man, I told ya....."Ya gotta throw those little ones back"!!

Seriously though, that's really great! Got any details?? i.e. How deep was it? Was it in bed-rock? How was the signal?? Loud or just a whisper? I'm a hard task master you know. I want to share the find with you. It's hard to tell with the little quartz in it, but it looks like about 2 dwt.

Congratulations Brother!! I guess you won't be going back to the Gold Bug now.

Now, get away from the computer and get back out there and find us another one.


Eagle