completed the entire work in February, 1858. The length of this ditch is thirty-six miles. Another ditch was made from Thompson's flat down the Feather river three miles, in 1859, to a place known as Ranch Ord, on Pacificus Ord's land. The long ditch of Walker & Wilson was purchased in February, 1867, by M. B. West and J. V. P. Van Mathis, and was owned by them four years. In 1871, Mr. West bought out Mathis, repaired the ditch, and sold it to Powers in 1876.

In 1854, the population of Thompson's flat was at least five hundred. There were two express offices, one owned by McWilliams, of Oroville. The buildings extended nearly to the flume. Thompson and Watt Perdue built a two-story frame-house that was the pride of the town. A large warehouse was owned by San Francisco parties. There were three saloons, several stores, a hotel, blacksmithshops, and numerous establishments necessary to the existence of a thriving mining camp. The first schoolhouse was built on the top of the hill in 1855, in which Professor Coxhead wielded the birch and rule. A public school was started in 1856, and the professor presided there also.

Of course, Thompson's flat must experience the set-back of a large fire, which inevitable occurrence happened on the twenty-third of April, 1856. The principal sufferers were Thompson, Davidson and Austin. At that time Thompson and Davidson occupied the two-story building, the former with a store and the latter a hotel. Thompson's flat had some pretty girls in those days. Several of them were in an upper room of the hotel on the evening of the twenty-third, and while engaged in a harmless romp, the candle caught on the curtains and communicated the blaze to the dry woodwork. It was impossible to save the building, and the conflagration spread far and wide. The loss was over $15,000. From this time the place began to decline, and never recovered its former prestige.

After the fire some buildings were re-built, but the surface mines having been worked out, the place deteriorated in spite of the efforts of a few to keep it up. For many years it has been a place of little importance. In the early spring of 1881, the Miocene mining company succeeded to E. J. Davis & Co., acquiring a title to the Davis ditch, and the claims on the eastern part of the flat between Oroville and the town. The company, under the superintendency of N. A. Harris, opened out the Miocene mine, which gave promise of being one of the biggest hydraulic mines in the county, when the debris injunctions forced them to shut down. The influence of the mine at its very door, had a perceptible effect on Thompson's flat, and had they continued to work, the growth of the place would have been assured. Notwithstanding, the town has good prospects ahead of it, and will ere long be flourishing again.

At present Mrs. Bottyer keeps a store and boarding-house, and George Duensing is engaged in the saloon business. A large amount of fruit is raised at and near Thompson's flat. Among those having fine orchards and vineyards are Eli Burchard, R. D. Hosely, George Chamberlain, Richard Frerichs, Mrs. Bottyer and the Miocene company.

POWELLTON, INSKIP AND LOVELOCKS.

Powellton, in Kimshew township, was located in 1853, by R. P. Powell. The place was for a long time known as Powell's ranch, but when it became a postoffice it received the name of Powellton. Mr. Powell blazed out and constructed the road that leads to Susanville, the place being now at the intersection of the Oroville and Chico routes to that town. There were very rich diggings near there, and quite a settlement sprung up. In 1856, Mr. Powell ran a hotel, which is now conducted by E. C. Carr. Chapman & McKay's big saw-mill is at Powellton. It was built in 1861, by Charles Clark, and was

afterwards owned by J. M. Clark and several others. machinery for reducing logs to the desired dimensions.

The mill has two circular saws and other
The mill turns out twenty thousand feet of

lumber per day. A year ago Powellton had three saw-mills, two of which have since burned down. One of these was owned by Chapman & McKay and the other by Carpenter. With the former over a million feet of lumber was lost.

Lovelocks, five miles above Dogtown, was settled by George Lovelock in 1855. At that time he ran a hotel and store. The dry diggings at this point were excellent and a great many were there prospecting in an early day. Considerable quartz-mining has also been done there, and many claims are still being worked. Lovelocks has a quartz-mill, owned by Victor Pomerat, which is not running now. Mr. Pomerat keeps a store there, and Mr. Simpson a saloon. The place also supports a good hotel. The postoffice is some distance away, and kept by John Benner.

Inskip, seven miles above Powellton, on the Susanville road, was in 1859 and for several years after, one of the liveliest camps in the county. A man named Kelly was the original locator, settling there in 1857. He opened a hotel called the Kelly house. In the following year the rich mining of the locality brought hundreds thither. At its most palmy period Inskip had five hotels--two good ones -several stores, blacksmith-shops, etc., and did a big business. In a few years, however, the town suffered the fate of its kind and gradually retrograded. The one hotel of Inskip is now kept by Mr. Stokes. The Dewey ditch runs through the place.

STRINGTOWN AND ENTERPRISE.

Among the early mining-camps which can hardly be said to have an existence now, are Stringtown and Enterprise, in Mountain Spring township, on the south fork of the Feather river. People had settled at Stringtown as early as 1849, and in the winter of that year numbers of miners were scattered around through the adjoining hills and ravines. The cabins of the camp extended some distance up and down the river, and it is believed the name of Stringtown was given the place because it strung out so long. In 1850, half a mile up the stream, a large store was opened by Dr. Powell and B. F. Forbes, the founder of Forbestown. At this point the river was being flumed. Stringtown became very populous this year, and there were several general trading establishments, butcher-shops, saloons and gamblinghouses. Dr. Willoughby tended to the physical ailments of the camp. We give a few names of those who were living there in 1850: M. Scott, G. B. Young, S. C. Caldwell, Thomas Wells, R. Horton, John Patton, Peter Mullen, Noah Welch, Henry Powell, John C. Stout, J. J. Coles, S. H. Winters, J. W. King and James I. Carpenter.

In 1852, the Union Enterprise Company flumed the river a mile above Stringtown, and took out considerable wealth. Connected with the company were N. D. Plum, James Forbes, Cannon brothers, Webster, Varney, W. B. Safford and others. The fluming operations were quite extensive and a goodly number of men were employed, who formed a camp that took the name of Enterprise, from the title of the company. A big canvas boarding-house and store was the first mercantile venture, which was soon followed by others. In 1853, both the towns were flourishing greatly and the mining was excellent. G. G. Marquis, now of Concow valley, was for a year or two one of Stringtown's enterprising merchants. In 1855, the Feather River and Ophir Water Company started to build its ditch from Enterprise to Oroville. For several years both these towns were very lively in the winters, when the miners were driven out of the mountains by storms, but they both gradually decayed. Extensive quartz-mining has been carried on near them in the past ten years. Three and one-half miles north of Enterprise is the old Trojan ledge, where the Oro Mining Company is at work. Several other mines of lesser importance are near the towns.

FORBESTOWN.

Forbestown is situated in the southeastern part of Butte county, and in the southwestern part of Oro township. It lies on the dividing ridge between the south fork of the Feather river and the Yuba river, and is within a few hundred yards of the Yuba county-line..

The present site of Forbestown was first settled upon by B. F. Forbes, upon the first day of September, 1850, who was immediately joined by D. W. C. Gaskill and Cowperthwaite. Forbes took one side of the creek for his base of operations and Gaskill and Cowperthwaite the other. Some time previous to this occurrence, about half a mile down the creek, a man named Tolle had began to mine and trade, his locality being known as "Tolle's old diggings," to distinguish them from other diggings owned by the same man on the Yuba road, towards Marysville. Forbes had a stock of provisions with him, or brought them soon afterward, and opened a small store. The two other parties, under the firm title of Gaskill & Co., also opened a depot of supplies. These establishments drew most of the trade from Tolle, who had hitherto enjoyed a monopoly of it. Before the tenth of September, a violent storm drove the miners out of the mountains, and when Mr. N. D. Plum arrived there a few days subsequently he found five hundred miners stationed in and around the camp, which took upon itself the appellation of Forbestown. The two ravines were exceedingly rich in gold and began to be worked with great profit. The two great pockets of nature were literally lined with auriferous deposits. At Forbes ravine, in the year following, sixteen claims were consolidated, as they could work to better advantage in this

way.

The first quartz-mill of importance erected in what is now Butte county was at Forbestown, in the year 1851, by the Sutter Quartz Company. It was a sixteen-stamp mill with open batteries, large boiler and engine, and cost considerably over $200,000. The venture was not a paying one, considering the lavish expenditure made in its construction. In the early part of 1853 it was turned into a saw-mill, and ran for two years or more as such, when it was abandoned entirely. In the course of time, the building became demolished by the action of wind and water, the latter not only rotting the timber, but undermining the structure.

Forbestown rapidly developed and prospered. In December, 1853, it was spoken of as second only to Bidwell in size, population and trade. The mines at the place were considered among the richest in the State. They were generally dry diggings. Forbestown could boast of several fine stores, four large hotels, a saw-mill and a quartz-mill. The population of the town proper was not less than a thousand. The Eagle Hotel and its boarders recognized James Watson as the landlord thereof, while William Clark catered to the public through the medium of the La Fayette Mountaineer. The United States Hotel, owned by James Forbes (brother of B. F. Forbes) and N. D. Plum, was at the time doing the heaviest business. This house was erected in 1851. The Wisconsin House, afterwards the National, was the property then of B. F. Hoyt. This building still stands at Forbestown, having long since been refitted for a residence. General merchandise traffic was represented by Forbes, Plum & Co., Cowperthwaite, Gaskill & Co. (the company being E. C. Bogardus), and Dr. Williams' store, kept by Sam Hageman. The Forbestown Saloon supplied liquid conviviality for the camp, though not having a monopoly of the trade, as all the stores contained more or less of it. The building was erected by Alexander Simpson and Miles Chapin, in the early part of 1854. During 1854, Brown's Hotel, the largest in the place, was put up by H. W. Brown. This was leased by James Abney and A. G. Simpson, in January, 1855.

It was on "January 36," 1854, that E. C. Bogardus, known as Old Ned and Ned the Butcher, raffled off his meat-market, together with "horses, cowes, premium hogs and the almighty golden slugs."

Tickets to the "Mountain Raffle" were sold at one dollar each, and the lottery was advertised to be conducted in the most honorable manner. History saith not who were the lucky drawers of prizes, nor whether Old Ned "quit the diggins" with a pocketful of dust.

In very early days the California Stage Company ran a line of daily stages from Marysville. These diurnal visitations occurred for about two years. In time these were discontinued, but in the spring of 1857 Charles Baird established tri-weekly stages from Oroville to Forbestown. One year after the California Stage Company got possession of this route, and it and its successors have continued it ever since. The line now connects with the La Porte stage at Woodville, in Yuba county.

art.

Among the reminiscences of the pioneer period comes the following: The mining company which worked in Tolle's diggings in 1851 sustained the loss of the company purse, which was left in charge of an old Dutchman designated as Peter, who superintended the domestic affairs of the camp. The company, though having previously had the utmost confidence in the uprightness and integrity of Peter, was of the opinion that he had fallen a victim to the tempter, and, like many another banker, had secreted the funds. No amount of mutilated anglo-Saxon protestation on his part could remove the strong suspicion of his guilt that clung to the company's mind. Being much attached to Old Peter, they had no desire that he should pay the penalty of his crime with death, even though his guilt should be established beyond a doubt, and there was very little of it. The most feasible plan seemed to be the forcing of a confession from him by threats and rough treatment, and compelling him to disgorge. He was taken to a neighboring tree and a rope adjusted according to the most approved manual of the neck-stretching Peter was fearfully agitated, but his lips were confession-proof. He was run up, allowed to wriggle convulsively for a moment, and then lowered. No disclosure followed. Again he dangled between earth and air, and again found terra firma, but his lips were irrevocably sealed against imparting the desired information. Giving him up as a bad job, they allowed Old Peter to retain the boon of life. But the severe gymnastic exercises he had performed broke him down both in mind and body, and he died some months after, in New York, a raving lunatic. In the fullness of time the right man was found, but a reactionary humanity had taken hold of the company, for they only gave him as a punishment twenty-five lashes, without removing his clothes. The blows were not laid on with much heaviness either. A gentleman observed that "it was like whipping a bundle of buffalo-robes with willow twigs.” The Forbestown Union Hall Building Company organized in October, 1855, for the purpose of erecting a huge structure, which was to contain several stores and concert-saloon on the first floor, and a big public hall, Masonic hall, and other rooms on the second floor. The plans were quite elaborate and extensive, but were never fully carried out. The result was a good two-story brick building of not near the size intended. The brick was manufactured by Mr. N. D. Plum. The first floor was then occupied by Mr. Gaskill. The building now stands. Forbestown could, a few years later, boast of having one of the finest brass bands in the country. It was called out upon all important occasions, and discoursed brassy strains at places far and near. It was generally conceded that the boys understood their business, whether at waltz, march, or serenade. The leader of the band was William Whipple, who practiced the tonsorial art for a livelihood.

Forbestown has been twice baptized by the fire-priest. The ceremony was first performed on the twenty-eighth of January, 1860, when a large part of the business portion was destroyed, leaving only the National hotel, and the three stores of D. W. Gaskill, J. L. Gibson, and L. Rafael. The total loss was in the neighborhood of $30,000. Among the losers by the fire were: Samuel Hageman, $6,000; James Watson, N. D. Plum, and James Forbes, $3,000 each; Brown's hotel, $5,000; Mountaineer hotel, $2,000; Forbestown saloon, $2,000, and Dr. W. P. Flint, $1,000. Several others lost smaller amounts.

The town was built up better than ever after the disaster.

R. C. Gaskill put up a fine hotel, and another was built up by J. Allenbach, which prided itself upon the august title of the Europe hotel. Flint & Barker put up a saloon building, with a Masonic hall on the second floor. At this time Mr. Plum opened a drug-store, and several other establishments sprang up from the ruins.

On the first of August, 1861, eighteen months after the first conflagration, the fiery brands were again thrown broadcast o'er the peaceful hamlet, and destruction more dire than ever stalked through the streets. The fire started in the Europe hotel. We furnish a complete list of the losses, which in the aggregate amounted to $42,700: The Europe hotel was entirely destroyed, the owner losing $10,000; Eccleston & Brother's meat-market suffered a like fate, to the tune of $6,000; the Union hotel, $5,000; the Tucker & Flint saloon, $3,500; Bloomfield saloon, $3,000; N. D. Plum, $2,000; Rednall & Whipple and A. Lewis, $1,500 each; Thompson's restaurant, $1,400; R. Galer and D. Gaskill, $1,000 each; H. S. Maddox, postoffice, $900; Gibson & Deuel and W. F. M. Goss, shoe-store, $800 each; L. Rafael. $700; Clark & Co., $600; Sam Hageman, J. M. Read, China house, and Forbestown Water Company's flumes, $500 each; Masonic lodge, $400; California Stage Company, $250; brass band, $200; Whipple, the barber, $100.

Forbestown at present is a flourishing little town of about three hundred inhabitants. She has held her own pretty well against the march of time, being in this respect far more fortunate than the average mining-camp, owing in a large degree to her fortunate location near the large mining enterprises now carried on, on the Yuba. Her business is transacted by the Forbestown Mercantile Association, consisting of Charles Parlin, James Lamb and E. Brooks, who keep a good store there; I. W. & J. K. Vail in the drug and variety line; L. Garton, of the Forbestown hotel; Joseph Payton in the saloon business; C. Strouse in the butchering line; and J. F. Deuel in making and repairing tinware.

The school-house at this place was built in 1858. It is a commodious structure with two rooms. ́T. V. Goodspeed at present has charge of the school. The town spring in the center of the town furnishes water so pure that it can be used for chemical purposes by merely undergoing a slight filtering. FORBESTOWN LODGE, No. 50, F. & A. M., was organized under a dispensation dated January 11, 1854. A charter was granted on the eighth of the following May. The first officers elected under the charter were: A. G. Simpson, W.M.; J. Boland, S. W.; C. O. Foote, T.W.; J. Abney, Treasurer; N. D. Plum, Secretary. The lodge is still in a thriving condition, and owns a large brick hall on the side of the hill. The Good Templars also have a frame hall where their periodical convocations are held.

CLIPPER MILLS.

In the winter of 1855-56, A. P. Willey and Elisha Scott built the Clipper mills, at a cost of $16,000. The mill commenced cutting timber May 1, 1856. It was located on the divide between the south fork of Feather and the Yuba rivers, near the county-line, and in one of the finest bodies of sugarpine timber on the western slope of the Sierra. The property passed afterwards into the hands of Willey, Dean & Co., and again to Hudson, Willey & Caine. In 1864, the corporation known as the Union Lumber Company purchased it, and was run continuously until 1873, under the management of Mr. Willey, when A. M. Leach became its owner. In 1876, for want of valuable timber at the spot, the machinery was moved two miles south, to Woodville.

In 1852, a small watermill was built three-quarters of a mile north, on Grizzly creek, by the Piatt brothers, of Honcut creek, and Joseph McConnell, who, after the Clipper mill started up, abandoned it. It was called the Pine Grove mill. The Pine Grove hotel, now at Clipper mills, is owned and run by