instructed a constable to arrest them, charging them with having stopped a Catholic priest on the road between Kentucky ranch and Honcut city, and relieved him of a $300-watch and $200 in coin that the holy man had collected from the charitably-disposed, for an orphan asylum, a few days previous. He also announced that the man was Jim Webster, an escaped convict from San Quentin, and that his affectionate "pal" was none other than a blooming young damsel who had attached herself to his precarious fortunes. The officer was a discreet man. He proceeded to take into custody the young woman as she crossed the street alone, but while conversing with her in the official dialect of his profession, Jim emerged from a saloon, saw at a glance the position affairs had taken, and acted with a promptness born only of a desperate resolve. As the constable turned to see who approached him, he looked into the inviting chambers of a Colt's navy, six inches away. Being requested in strong terms to let the young man go, he complied with alacrity, and the pair, hand in hand, went rapidly up the street towards the country. Cries of "shoot them" were followed by several harmless shots from those who had witnessed the bold performance. One man had them covered with his rifle, when the hoarse voice of Drake, saying, "Let 'em go; they've only robbed a d- -d old priest," stayed the miner's arm, and he allowed them to escape. This was the notorious Jim Webster, who caused so much trouble in

Nevada county.

In 1860, a large portion of the town was burned. The fire started in a livery-stable, and after consuming several valuable animals, spread out promiscuously, taking in its track a hotel, three saloons, and a number of dwelling-houses. Some were of the opinion that the conflagration was caused by the spite of a desperate female character known as Madame Franklin. A year or so before she had been on trial for arson, charged with burning property of Mr. Swain and others. Among the exploits related cổ this remarkable woman was a slight domestic broil between herself and her husband. He was seen to emerge hastily from their domicile, pursued closely by his loving wife, who sought to caress him with a bowie-knife whose blade was ten inches in length. She wanted his heart, she said, but he was obstinate enough not to give it without the rest of his person. He sidled into a hotel and took refuge in a boarder's room while the occupant was present. The poet has said in effect that "Stone walls do not a prison make;" how puerile, then, must be the barrier offered by a panelled door to the insinuating arts of woman! The madame effected an entrance only to find the object of her pursuit flown through a window and discounting the hurricane's speed down the busy thoroughfare. Strange to say, this little affair caused a coolness between man and wife, and they broke up house-keeping-all that had not been broken before each going a separate way.

On the tenth of October, 1864, the Bangor Guards, of the fifth brigade California militia, were mustered into the service of the state. The first equipment, consisting of forty muskets, bayonets, etc, and officers' pharaphernalia, were received on the twenty-eighth inst. Six months after the company

had increased sufficiently to warrant another equipment of war apparatus. In March, 1865, there were sixty-one names enrolled with the guards. The first officers were as follows: captain, James A. Watson; lieutenant, George E. Soul; sergeants, Samuel Frew, James Varnum, Robert McCouslin, Gardner Osgood and Henry Haffendon; corporals, Jethro Swain, Archibald Andrews, John Espy and Andrew Kitchen. During their existence as a military body, the Bangor Guards did a noble work in raising means for the sanitary fund. Several sanitary balls were given, at one of which there were raised $272. For some time the town contributed, through the efforts of the guards, an average of sixty dollars a month. The Bangor Guards were also good at target practice, for want of anything else to shoot at. They won the second prize at a tournament in Marysville, the first going to the Oroville Guards. At another match, in Oroville, they took the prize away from all competitors. In the spring of 1866 they disbanded.

Though Bangor never produced gold quartz, it was found that the blue cement or gravel could be crushed by the same process and the gold extracted. In 1869, the North American company, of San Juan, put up an eight-stamp mill in Bangor, which ran two years. It was then purchased by George C. Perkins, and the machinery taken to Oregon gulch. At the same time, the Oroville company put up a four-stamp mill, which was finally sold to a company in Yuba county. The mining in that section is now carried on by Chinamen.

Bangor, at present, has a population of about a hundred. The trade is carried on by Dr. John E. Allen and T. F. Shattuck. The Bangor hotel is run by Mrs. Payne, and the blacksmithing performed by A. A. Andrews.

Bangor has two churches, the United Brethren and the Methodist. The former was built three years ago, J. W. Burtner being the present pastor. The latter dates its existence in the place from 1861, and the minister is Rev. S. Kinsey.

WYANDOTTE AND VICINITY.

site of the present hotel, which was used for erected by a man by the name of Bateman. Wyandotte attained its highest prosperity in

The place was first located in 1850, by a party of Wyandotte Indians, who were prospecting for gold. The diggings proved very rich. Four brothers by the name of Rice were the first white men to locate near the present site of Wyandotte. In 1850, there were at least two hundred miners in the vicinity. The first structure was a canvas store, near the gambling purposes. A canvas boarding-house was next The first wooden house was built by the Rice brothers. 1852-3. At this time the place could boast of half-a-dozen saloons and several stores. In 1852, Jacob Benner put up a wooden boarding-house, which is yet used as an addition to the hotel. A twelvestamp quartz-mill was put up in Quartz-Mill ravine in 1851, by a Mr. Battersby. It was run a short time, when it was discontinued, and the material sold.

The chivalric spirit of the early pioneers, though not proverbial, was yet a living sentiment. In 1852, a negro cook, who used insulting language to a young lady, was bound by the enraged miners to an oak tree and severely castigated. Among the early merchants of the place were A. P. Southworth and Nye; and among the landlords Sam Long cuts a prominent figure. In the spring of 1853, a ditch was constructed from the north Honcut creek to Wyandotte, by James S. Long, S. C. Long, John McHatton, Dr. H. B. Sheppard and John S. Morris. The ditch only carried one hundred inches, yet it opened up several valuable mines before useless for want of water. In 1855, the South Feather Water Company bought this ditch and enlarged and improved it. In 1857, it was extended to South Feather, at Forbestown, and its capacity increased to 500 inches, which is now used both for mining and irrigating purposes. William Dunstone was appointed local superintendent in 1861, and has held the position ever since. Another ditch was built from a branch of the Honcut to Wyman's ravine, in 1853, which was owned by A. N. Wyman, A. N. Morris and David Lewis.

In 1856, the brick hotel, now owned and run by Mrs. Thatcher, was built. An excitement about the supposed discovery of copper broke out in 1863, and large numbers of men were engaged in prospecting for the metal. Many shafts were sunk, much money was expended, and vast quantities of editorial gas came from the newspapers, but all the ore found was too poor to pay the expense of smelting. In 1861, Wyandotte was made a postoffice, with W. S. Wilkerson as postmaster. Two years after it was discontinued. Three physicians have lived at Wyandotte. Dr. Sheppard practiced from 1852 to 1860; Dr. Kersten, from 1860 to 1863, when he committed suicide while suffering from the effects of a debauch; and Dr. F. S. Snyder, from 1864 to 1872. At the present time, Wyandotte exists

but in name, there being but a few houses left.

Having only placer mines, they are nearly worked out.

A few old miners, however, yet cling to the mines, and, when winter sends a supply of water, manage to pick up enough of the precious metal to eke out an existence. In 1880, a postoffice was again established, and Mr. Dunstone appointed postmaster. The inhabitants of the vicinity are engaged principally in agriculture and stockraising, many fine stock-ranches being run successfully.

In January, 1855, the Wyandotte Division, Sons of Temperance, was established, with John S. Morris as W.P. In 1857, a hall was built by this order, but, in 1859, its charter was surrendered.

The Gem Lodge, No. 251, I. O. G. T., was organized here with nineteen charter members. J. M. Frost was the first W.C.T. A comfortable hall was built, which was afterwards used for school purposes. In 1870, the lodge disbanded.

out.

Evansville was one of the old towns that sprang into existence under the influence of mining, lived and flourished while the mining was good, and hobbled off the theatre of life when the diggings played There were others like Evansville in Wyandotte township. Dicksburg, on the Honcut creek, was at one time lively and rich. Natchez, now in Yuba county, was another. It received its name because of a fancied resemblance to Natchez, Mississippi. Evansville was first settled by a man whose cognomen was Evans, in the year 1850. In the year 1854, Elisha Brown, a Forbestown man, owned most of the place. Some of the richest placer-mining in the state was done here. Rich pocket-ledges of decomposed quartz were very frequent, in which the gold was very coarse and heavy. On Yankee flat, at one time, four pieces were taken out, the least of which was worth $1,200. Benjamin Greenwell, step-father of County Treasurer DeLancie, settled near Evansville in 1854. At that time there was a store, hotel, several saloons and shops, and several hundred miners. Where the Greenwell orchard now stands, there

were then camped four hundred Indians. Evansville existed as a town for many years. In 1870, the mines gave out, and all the people left. The only resident of the present site is John Wall, deputy

assessor.

Honcut was one of the earliest camps. It was very busy during the winters, when the influx from the mountains poured in. Not only was the gold-dust obtained in the neighborhood spent freely at this time, but the mountain crop, also. In 1854, the camp had greatly declined, only two families, those of Fox and Wallace, residing there. A great deal of bad blood existed between these families, which at one time culminated in the death of a Fox at the hands of a Wallace.

BOSTON RANCH, OR HURLTON.

The Boston ranch consists of one hundred and sixty acres, twenty of which are bottom land. It contains a fine orchard, vineyard and garden. The location of the hotel is as picturesque and pretty as can well be imagined. Beautiful shade-trees surround the place, and the walls of the house are embowered in rose-bushes and many other flowering shrubs. Twenty years ago, the place was a popular resort for pleasure-seekers, its nearness to Oroville making a trip from that place delightful. A view of it is given in this book.

Smith H. Hurles, proprietor of the Boston ranch and hotel, is of Irish ancestry, and was born in the town of Enniskillen, May 1, 1827. He was educated in Portora Royal College, Ireland; and when twenty years of age came to the United States and located in Boston, where he remained for seven years. He was there married to Miss Hattie Herring, a native of Portland, Maine, and shortly after they came to California. In 1857, Mr. Hurles settled on the Boston ranch, and opened a public house, which has, from that time to the present, sustained its high reputation of treating guests to the best of everything. It is situated on a sunny slope on Honcut creek, twelve miles from Oroville, and has an

altitude above the sea level of 1,350 feet. The postoffice was established in May, 1880, and received the name of Hurlton. It has tri-weekly mails, and Mr. Hurles is postmaster. His family consists of his wife and four children, all of whom have a musical bent. Fannie, the eldest daughter, has been educated in the East. Richard W., Daniel F. and Annie H., are attending school at home.

GEOLOGY OF BUTTE COUNTY.

BY A. L. KNOWLTON.

Butte county, though not represented by all the geological formations, is nevertheless an interesting field. That the subject may be better understood by those who have not the time to investigate the science of geology, I will give a brief statement of the names and position of the geological formations as accepted by the best geologists.

The names of formations, and their subdivisions, are arranged in a descending order; or, as we should find them were we to make a perpendicular descent into the earth's crust, and find them all in place:

First, the Tertiary-divided into the Recent, Pliocene, Miocene and Eocene; second, the Secondary formation-divided into the Cretaceous, Jurassic and Triassic periods; third, the Primary Fossiliferous formation-divided into the Permian, Carboniferous, Devonian, Silurian and Cambrian periods; fourth, the Eozoic, or non-fossiliferous and metamorphic rocks, which in turn rest upon the granite which is at the base of the series.

The granite and metamorphic slates are well represented in this county-the eastern portion being composed of these rocks. The slate strata are nearly perpendicular; and their strike, or direction of the upturned edges of the slates, is about N. 30° W., S. 30° E. In these slates are found beds of magnetic and chrome iron-ore, limestone and marble, and well-defined and rich quartz-veins.

In the ascending series we find the whole of the primary fossiliferous formation, and the Triassic and Jurassic of the secondary formation missing in Butte-at least I have never found what I regarded as a representative of either. In the Coast Range, near Allen's Springs, is found a fossiliferous stone, which may be of the Jurassic period, which may extend eastward as far as the foot-hills of the Sierra, but being covered by newer formations, is not seen.

The Cretaceous period is well represented. Probably the whole western portion of the state, from the base of the Sierra, is of this period. During this period the western part of the county was beneath

the ocean. The eastern shore of the Pacific of that period passed northward from a point near Oroville -probably west of the town; is seen again at Pence's ranch on Dry creek, at Mineral slide on Little Butte, at or near Helltown on Big Butte, near the old toll-gate on Little Chico, and near Harris' place on Big Chico. It is again seen on Deer creek in Tehama county. Large portions of Tehama and Shasta counties are composed of sandstones of this period.

The characteristic fossils are Ammonites, Belumnites, and Orthoceratites, besides many of more simple form. These fossils are very numerous and interesting. Of the land and its living tenants little is known. We have reason to believe that the country was more even than at the present time. At the close of the Cretaceous period, or during the early portions of the Tertiary, there was a vast change. The country was elevated, the floor of the cretacous ocean became dry land as far west as the Coast Range, or perhaps farther. During this period (Tertiary) those mighty rivers that deposited the gold-bearing gravels flowed in a southwest direction down the west slope of the Sierra, and out over the nearly level plains of the old cretaceous ocean beds, to the shore of the Pacific, then as far west as the Coast Range.

In Butte county alone there are five of these old river-channels, varying in width from 200 to 1,300 feet, with well-defined shores or banks of slate-rock, with gravel deposits from a few feet to two and three hundred in depth, all containing gold. One of two conditions must have prevailed during this period. Either there must have been a greater amount of rainfall then than now, or the rivers must have taken their rise further inland, and have drained a larger extent of country. It is likely that the latter condition prevailed, and the old tertiary rivers took their rise far beyond the present summit of the Sierra, draining the country known as the "Great Basin,” in Nevada and Utah; and the Sierra themselves were but a chain of comparatively low hills. There is a variety of porphyry, having a grayish-green base, with large square and rectangular crystals of feldspar, found in Little and Big Butte, Little and Big Chico, and in Deer creek, evidently carried down from its original beds by those old streams; for in no part of Butte county can this porphyry be found in place. Further geological investigation will alone settle this

This

The fossils of this period are in many respects similar to living animals and plants. During this period a mighty volcanic eruption occurred, by which the country, from Central California to British Columbia, was buried from 200 to 3,000 feet beneath accumulations of lava. eruption was not the work of a day; it must have required ages to accomplish it. The first material ejected from these monster volcanos was vast accumulations of volcanic ashes; and the old rivers bore this material down their channels and deposited it along their courses in the form of beds of pipe clay, varying from a few feet to fifty in thickness. Following this came the more hard and compact lavas— not always in a molten state, but in most instances composed of material having all the appearance of a mass of loose volcanic stones-mingled with sand and ashes, and all subsequently cemented in one solid mass, often containing animal and vegetable remains. We are justified in the belief that during this period the country, as far east as the foot-hills of the Sierra, was successively submerged beneath the ocean, and raised above it; for we find the lava outflow as far west as the foot-hills on the east flank of the Coast Range. This must have flowed out over a country having a moderate slope, and lying above the ocean. Again, we find the deposits lying nearly horizontal, and bearing unmistakable evidence of being deposited under water; the isolated buttes near Pence's are fine examples. But why no fossil remains in these deposits, if they were laid down beneath the ocean? During this lava epoch the waters must have been an ocean of mud from the streams carrying down deposits of volcanic ashes, thus destroying every vestige of life in these waters. This eruption covered all the old river channels, destroyed all animal life within its reach, and left the country a waste, to be repaired and re-peopled during the 'succeeding ages.

Following this eruptive period was ushered in that of the glacial, when the whole northern nemisphere, as far south as the fourth degree of north latitude, was covered with a moving mass of ice. All along the western slope of the Sierra were sent down moving streams of ice, cutting cañons from Oregon to Yosemite that challenge the world for magnitude and sublimity. In many places these cañons were cut through the lava that covers the country like a great mantle, deep into the underlying slates and granites, thus cutting across the old tertiary rivers and scattering their golden treasures along the newmade channels. Thus we have access to those rich gravel deposits which are rewarding the toiling miner. To the glacial epoch are we indebted for much of that beauty and grandeur of scenery for which this coast, and California in particular, is so justly noted. All the rivers flowing through deep mountain gorges were given their channels by the action of the glaciers. The summits of the Sierra chain of mountains bear evidence in the polished and stiriated slates and granites of their action; quartz-veins are smoothed and polished like marble; and all mountain lakes above an altitude of 5,000 feet may be safely claimed as glacial. During this epoch the cañons along the base of the Sierra and foot-hills sent great icebergs rolling and rocking over the present Sacramento Valley and the Coast Range, for there was