SIERRA COUNTY. By E. B. PRESTON, E.M., Assistant in the Field. This may be termed an exclusively mining county, as its agricultural interests are but small, the area comprising mostly mountains, with narrow cañons. As in Plumas, mining has suffered almost to the extent of extinguishment, through the shutting down of its hydraulic mines. The main streams, which are coincident with the chief mining centers, are, commencing on the northwest: Slate Creek, which, for quite a distance, forms the boundary line between Plumas and this county; then Cañon Creek; the North Yuba River, which flows nearly through the center of the county; Oregon Creek; and the Middle Yuba River, which forms the dividing line between this county and Nevada County. All of these streams flow from northeast to southwest, and the banks of all of them have been productive in gold. More than six peaks in the county attain a height of 7,000 feet and above; these are: 7,000 feet. 7,900 feet, 7,300 feet. 8,800 feet. 7,690 feet. 7,780 feet. To give an idea of the general high altitude of the country, the following figures are given of points in the county and near the line in 5,000 feet. 5,916 feet. 4,200 feet. 4,900 feet. 5,500 feet. 5,600 feet. 7,505 feet. 7,263 feet. 4,325 feet. 5,225 feet. Divide between Sierra Valley and east branch of the North Fork of the Yuba. 6,275 feet. Bridge over Sardine Creek at foot of Sierra Buttes 5,750 feet. In the northern part of the county, between Mohawk and the Sierra Valley, the country rock is syenitic granite, also around Sierra Valley. The granite extends to within about 6 miles of the Sierra Buttes, near the Bassett sawmill; at the latter place Howard Creek empties into the South Fork of the North Yuba. Passing up this creek a distance of 5 miles several claims in the bed of the creek were noticed. THE ADELAIDE MINE. This mine is in the Gold Lake Mining District. It contains three locations, and purposes to work a contact vein between the granite of the Haskell Peak ridge and the clay slate. The vein averages 5 feet in width, and courses 15° west of north, dipping at an angle of 45°. The works consist of two tunnels running across the slate. No. 1 is 60 feet to the ledge, from where a drift runs 35 feet to the south and 25 feet north, giving a vertical depth of 30 feet. No. 2 is in 200 feet, with 300 feet more to run to strike the ledge; this will give a vertical depth of 225 feet. At present two men are driving this lower tunnel ahead. By mill process the quartz has been worked up to $10 50 per ton. No stoping has been done. The company control a water right from springs which can be brought onto the ground under a pressure of 500 feet. BULL OF THE WOODS MINE Is situated on the contact north of the above. The vein on this location shows a width of 30 feet. A 40-foot shaft has been sunk and a drift started from the bottom, which has been driven about 25 feet. The vein is broken up. Four men are at work putting the drift ahead. The quartz from this part of the vein pays from $4 to $5 by mill process. HAYES & STEELMAN MINE. In close proximity to the above, but situated just below the contact, is the hydraulic claim of Hayes & Steelman, containing 25 acres. The claim is covered with timber. The bank varies from 3 to 70 feet in depth, averaging about 7 feet. The gravel is not a true wash, but more in the nature of a slide. The slate bedrock is traversed by a hornblende dike 300 yards in width. The claim is entirely dependent on snow for the water supply, the water season averaging about three months, during which time they employ about ten men. obtained is largely quartz gold .920 fine, which sells for $19 an ounce. The gold Another small mine working on the contact vein is the GOLD LAKE MINE, With a tunnel 750 feet long; it will require 400 feet more drifting before the vein will be reached, which it will cut at a depth of 200 feet. THE YOUNG AMERICA MINE Is doing prospect work connecting the lower tunnels through an upraise, while half the mill is being run on low-grade ore. They are working ninety men. The surroundings of this mine, which lies on the north of the Sierra Buttes, give excellent illustrations of the polishing effects of a glacier, on the sides and bed in its downward progress. These polished rocks, surfaces, and grooves are very distinct for a distance of 1 miles down what was the former bed of this ice river. Near the main serrated ridge two beds are discernible that unite lower down and form one body where at present the two Sardine Lakes are The cañon through which the drainage from the lakes finds its way to the Yuba River is lined, more especially on the north side, by the remains of a moraine; the bowlders of the end moraine may likewise be distinguished. seen. 26TM SIERRA BUTTES MINE. Across the main ridge from the Young America Mine is the Sierra. Buttes Mine, at present working a crew of twenty men on the croppings and reserves in the upper works around No. 1 and No. 2 tunnels. They have taken ten stamps from the big mill at the mouth of No. 9 tunnel and erected a mill near No. 2 tunnel. The mine has been working on several veins in close proximity to one another on the south side of the ridge adjoining the town of Sierra City. These veins in their strike gradually approach, until they come together on the top of a ridge that runs down from the main backbone, after crossing which they again diverge. On the Saddle-back ledge, which crosses the main peak, running nearly parallel with the main Sierra Buttes Mine vein, three men are at present prospecting, with favorable prospects. Likewise immediately back of the town, two men are prospecting on a claim called the Sunnyside," an extension of the Sierra Buttes vein, known as the "Whisky"; they have driven, in fifteen months, 150 feet of tunnels and connected the two tunnels by two upraises. The course of the vein is northwest and southeast. At the present time a test run is being prepared to be made in the No. 9, Sierra Buttes mill. THE PHOENIX MINE Is also on the south side of the Sierra Buttes Ridge, and has, during the past season, built a good ten-stamp mill in the cañon at the foot of the hill just below the mine, to which the ore is conveyed by rope tramway. This method of delivering the ore from the mine to the mill is largely applied throughout this neighborhood. At the present time the mine and mill are running, with favorable results. The power for the mill can supply 600 inches of water under 485 feet of pressure. THE MOUNTAIN LEDGE MINE, On the east end of the Sierra Buttes Ridge, has a finely arranged fortystamp mill adjacent to the stage road to Sierraville; the ore is delivered to the mill from the mine above by tramway. For a time trouble was experienced in making this tramway, which is self-dumping, work successfully; the weight, when put on the rope, cut and broke it. By greatly reducing the capacity of the rope, from 80 tons to 30 tons a day, it works all right. In the early part of the season the mill was not running. At present lessees are running both mine and mill. THE CHIPS MINE Has kept its twelve-stamp mill running, and has been pushing ahead as fast as possible the upraise that is to connect the two tunnels. So far all the work on this mine has been expended in work on one short pay chimney not 30 feet in length. The expense of drifting is greatly increased by a dike of extremely hard rock intervening between the slates. There are at the present time around Sierra City the following number of stamps: Sierra Buttes, at No. 2 tunnel. Young America Mine. In passing down the cañon of the Yuba, just beyond the town of Sierra City, a belt of serpentine coursing northwest and southeast and about half a mile wide crosses the road and passes beyond the river. Near the contact of this serpentine belt, on the southeast side of the Sierra Buttes Ridge, is the Colombo group of claims, now being worked by tributers. It was thoroughly described in the report of 1890. Like so many of the surrounding mines, it makes use of a gravitation tramway to convey the ore from the mine to the mill, which it does at a cost of 6 cents to the ton. Below this group, running on the same general course as the serpentine, is a limestone belt, which can be traced across the river. The Marguerite group, near Logansville, has, during the past season, resumed operation; the ditches and flumes have been thoroughly repaired, and the mine, which has been full of water, is being pumped out, in view of active mining operations to be inaugurated. The vein runs under the Yuba River for about 400 feet, causing considerable difficulty in contending with the water, but it is hoped now that no further hinderances to the work will be encountered. MARTINE AND KEYSTONE MINES. A trail leads up the ridge on the left bank of the river to the Martine and Keystone Mines, whose veins course northeast and southwest; the former shows in the workings an average width of from 3 to 4 feet, the latter from 1 to 2 feet, but swelling out in places to a very considerable width. Financial complications caused the works to be shut down, but lately they have been leased to parties who are arranging for active work. This property has yielded a high grade of quartz. The Martine vein can be traced for a distance on the opposite side of the river, being, however, in places covered over by the slate bedrock. A large section of the hillside where the mill and cabins stood has slid out, leaving a large basin. Altitude of bridge over South Fork of North Yuba at Logansville, near Marguerite Mine... Lower tunnel of Martine vein Crossing of the Keystone trail over the upper ditch of the Marguerite prop 3,920 feet. Lower tunnel of Keystone Mine. 4,350 feet. 5,500 feet. Upper tunnel of Martine vein 5,820 feet. Highest croppings of Keystone vein 5,950 feet. 6,125 feet. 4,075 feet. Ditch of Martine claim At Logansville, 3 miles below Sierra City, on the left bank of the river, a bench of gravel extends for a quarter of a mile down the river at an elevation of 50 feet above the present channel, over slate bedrock. The bowlders consist of granitic, porphyritic, and hornblende rocks; the grade of the channel is flatter than in the present river bed. This bench has been worked nearly the entire distance. Passing down the river several Chinese river diggings are passed. KANAKA MINE. About half way between Sierra City and Downieville, on Kanaka Ravine, is the old Kanaka Mine, working on a quartz vein running nearly due north and south, pitching slightly to the east, averaging 3 feet wide, although swelling to large proportions in places. It has been opened by two tunnels; the lower one has been carried forward a distance of 400 feet to the vein, which it cuts under a sharp angle, about 15°. The vein has been drifted on 200 feet. The walls are black slate and quartz schist. A shaft 208 feet deep connects with the surface, double compartment, 3 by 5 feet; it has been continued 20 feet below the level, The upper tunnel is 32 feet above the main one, but is not used. The ore is highly sulphuretted, containing sulphides of iron, galena, zine, etc.; near the surface the quartz showed free gold. The sulphurets yield $10 a ton by mill process. Lower down no gold could be obtained in the mill out of the ore: In Jim Crows Ravine, which empties into the South Fork of the North Yuba from the south, is THE COMET MINE. The vein courses northwest; the hanging wall is slate, the foot wall A crosscut 175 feet long strikes a porphyry; it dips to the west 40°, 3-foot vein; about 80 feet back, a vein about 10 feet wide was crossed; a third vein has not been reached yet. From the back of the tunnel to the surface is a vertical depth of 87 feet. The five-stamp mill has 750pound stamps. The quartz is stated to contain 5 per cent sulphurets, mostly iron and copper sulphides. The ore is said to yield about $8 per ton by mill process. About 6 inches of water drains from the tunnel. Seven men are employed at the mine. The county seat, Downieville, at an altitude of 3,060 feet, is surrounded on all sides by high mountain ridges forming the cañons of the North Fork and South Fork of the North Yuba River, which unite here. North of the town is a serpentine belt crossing Serpentine Hill; altitude, 4,450 feet. This is presumably a branch of the serpentine that passes through Plumas and enters Sierra County at the foot of Pilot Peak. The town has been the center of extensive river mining in former days, the bars having yielded extensively. Passing up the road along the East Fork of the North Yuba a short distance above the town is the Gold Bluff Quartz Mine and mill, lately sold to an Eastern company, who are putting up a new plant. Passing on up the North Fork of the Yuba through a slate country, deeply cut down by the river, whose bed has been worked nearly the whole distance, and is still being gleaned over by Chinese companies, the trail crosses a divide leading on between the East Fork and Middle Fork. West of this point, at an altitude of 5,040 feet, on the divide between the North Fork of the North Fork and Middle Fork, is 1 THE WIDEAWAKE DRIFT MINE. They are drifting for a channel running northwest and southeast through a slate country. The tunnel has reached the channel after driving 900 feet, at a vertical depth of 300 feet below the surface. The channel is lava capped and contains considerable pipe clay; the gravel is free and contains coarse gold, about $2 per carload. Five carloads a day to the man is the usual output. Twelve men are employed at $50 per month and board. On the opposite side of the ridge from this mine, running for the same channel, is the Germania Drift Mine, with a 600foot tunnel. They have not yet reached the gravel, and are waiting for the other company to develop the direction and width. Proceeding on the trail across another divide, Gold Valley is crossed, a large part of which is in diabase. Several mines and prospects are being developed here on both sides of the valley, although but little active work is in progress. The Garibaldi with a ten-stamp mill and the Lone Star, both on the east side, as also the Willoughby Mine with a ten-stamp mill on the west side, and the Empire Mine are idle, the Willoughby on account of litigation. THE LONE STAR MINE, At an altitude of 6,750 feet, lies about 14 miles northeast of Downieville. The company are operating on a northwest and southeast vein averaging 4 feet in width, dipping at an angle of 75°. The hanging wall is diabase, the foot wall slate. A tunnel 400 feet in length has been run for the ledge, requiring about 150 feet more to run. The shaft is 20 feet deep. The quartz is similar to that of the Young America. After passing through this valley the trail ascends to the southeast end of Gold Lake over a rough country; the altitude here is about 7,000 feet. Large masses of quartz crop out along the ridges that skirt the shore of the lake, coursing about 15° west of north. TRUE FISSURE CONSOLIDATED MINE. The group of claims located here in close proximity to the lake on Secs. 19 and 30, T. 21 N., R. 12 E., comprise the Fissure, the Cavern, the Deer, the Gold Lake, the Summit, and the Pigeon Egg. The labor performed consists of a shaft 60 feet deep, a tunnel 400 feet, and a second shaft 25 feet deep. On the Gold Lake ledge is a 50-foot tunnel, besides numerous surface openings and cuts; the veins are nearly perpendicular, averaging from 6 to 8 feet in width. The quartz is well mineralized. From the course of the veins and the formation of the country these veins and those of the Sierra Buttes mines may belong to one and the same system. There is an abundance of timber of the best quality, and the lake supplies all demands for water. The shafts have cost $20 a foot to sink; the tunnel was driven for $7 a foot. The 400-foot tunnel passed through six separate quartz seams, but has not as yet reached the vein run for; it is now 102 feet beneath the surface. The 50-foot tunnel runs on the Gold Lake vein. The 60-foot shaft has about 6 inches of water running in. Only a few men are employed here at present. Crossing the junction at Downieville and taking the trail south, known as the Forest City trail, the ascent commences right from the river bank flanking the east side of Slug Ravine, famous in early days. for the coarse gold found, and continues upward about 4 miles, to the summit, at the City of Six. Most of the ascent is made over a slate bedrock, with the regular northwest and southeast course; only shortly before reaching the head of the ravine a narrow intrusion of serpentine is crossed, which, from its course, would appear to be a branch of the serpentine encountered later in the neighborhood of Goodyear Bar. The City of Six is at the edge of a lava plateau, across which the trail passes to Bald Mountain and the adjacent mines. RUBY GOLD GRAVEL MINE. This mine was located in 1865, and was bought by the present company in 1871. It controls 2 miles of channel, and is situated about 24 miles from Forest City. There are three different channels in this claim, one of which is a lava bowlder channel. Lava Channel Wonmmom, Lava The capping consists of 800 feet of lava over 4 feet of gravel. The The difference between course of the main channel is 15° northwest. the elevation of top of deposit and the underlying bedrock is something over 800 feet. The altitude of the bedrock is 7,500 feet. Clay slate forms the channel bed. There are several miles of tunneling in this claim. The channel drifts are carried 150 feet wide and the gravel drifts are 4 feet wide. The percentage of cobbles and bowlders in the gravel, which is free, amounts to 60 per cent. The thirty men that are employed break 70 carloads of gravel per shift, weighing a long ton There have been 1,800 each. The gold is valued at $17 75 per ounce. The best pay feet of channel worked in length and 125 feet across. found on and under the bedrock. is From this mine the road passes across a basaltic plateau over to Forest City on the other side. It is in the vicinity of this town that the old Bald Mountain claim is situated, one of the most notable of the drift mines in its former days; it is now pretty well worked out. Lessees are taking out some of the old pillars near the front part of the mine. Across the hill from Forest City is the town of Alleghany, nearly on the same altitude, there being only a difference of 40 feet. In former days they were connected by a tunnel through the ridge. The formation on the Alleghany side is slate and serpentine, and there are several gravel and quartz mines in the neighborhood; the latter are largely pocket mines, containing very coarse gold. The altitude of the divide between Forest City and Alleghany is 5,300 feet. The following mines are situated in the Forest City and Alleghany Mining Districts: THE SOUTH FORK GRAVEL COMPANY, Working on the lava channel that cuts through the Bald Mountain channel. The location is half a mile from Forest City; the tunnel is 2,500 feet long to the channel. The gravel averages 14 feet in depth, with lava immediately on top; it contains some gold, but not in sufficiently profitable quantities. From the slate bedrock to the top of the ridge is 750 feet. The ventilation is secured by 2,000 feet of airway, and from there to the breast of the tunnel boxes. The men are working here on two shifts. The tunnel costs $2 50 per foot to drive, the company furnishing the timbers. The wages are $3 per day. A former company run 2,000 feet of tunnel and then sunk a shaft 46 feet into rich gravel, and it is this body of rich gravel and the shaft that the present parties are aiming to reach. Water for washing is obtained partly from springs, partly from Oregon Creek. THE YOUNG AMERICA, FOREST CITY, Own 250 acres of ground, and are running a prospect tunnel, now in 400 feet. The ground is situated in Secs. 28 and 33, T. 19 N., R. 10 E. It is thought the tunnel will have to be run 1,200 feet more. Altitude of Forest City, 5,550 feet; altitude of top of ridge, 6,200 feet; altitude of bedrock in tunnel, 5,589 feet. A shaft has been sunk in Wet Ravine, toward which the tunnel is directed; this shaft is 190 feet deep, and the bottom of the shaft is 5 feet higher than the tunnel will be when it reaches that point. Operations are temporarily suspended, but will be resumed very shortly. The -capping is lava; the 3 feet of gravel next to the slate bedrock constitutes the pay. Fifty per cent of the gravel is cobbles and bowlders. Water for washing is obtained from Oregon Creek. The following claims are all in the Alleghany Mining District: OSCEOLA QUARTZ MINE. Located in 1884. The vein courses northwest and southeast, dipping 50°. The hanging wall is talcose slate; the vein is 4 feet wide; a pocket mine; the quartz contains a little pyrites and galena. It has been -opened by two tunnels 200 feet apart. A small prospecting mill belongs to the property. THE RAINBOW GOLD MINING COMPANY Embraces three locations. Strike of the vein northwest and southeast, dips 50°, with the same walls as above; also a pocket vein, the average of the quartz paying only $2 50 per ton. The vein is 3 feet wide. Two tunnels 400 feet apart, connected by a winze, constitute the developments; 200 feet in length has been stoped. In the pockets the gold occurs very coarse. The quartz carries a considerable amount of sulphurets. A good ten-stamp mill with four Frue concentrators belongs to the property. Three men are usually employed. FESSLER MINE. The vein courses 15° west of north, dips 70°, with porphyry and serpentine walls. It has been tapped by two tunnels about 250 feet long; these are not yet connected. About 100 feet of the vein has been stoped. No mill is connected with the property, the owner working alone, crushing the quartz in a hand mortar. A pocket mine. GRANT AND APPLE MINE. This is situated across the ravine from the Fessler Mine, and the vein runs about parallel with it. Like the other it is a pocket mine, without a mill, employing three men. THE BUCKEYE GRAVEL DRIFT CLAIM Holds 80 acres of ground, worked by four partners. A tunnel is being driven through the slate bedrock to strike the Blue Lead bedrock tunnel. From 700 to 800 feet of the channel has been worked. This is an old mine being gleaned over. RED STAR GRAVEL MINE Has a frontage on the ridge of 600 feet, and extends back through the summit. It is opened by a tunnel 400 feet long. It is old ground, There is a and three or four men are working out the front reserves. capping of about 250 feet of lava and pipe clay, with from 4 to 5 feet of gravel. The gold, which is very fine, is all on the bedrock. THE MAPLE GROVE GRAVEL MINE COMPANY, About one half a mile from Alleghany, holds 140 acres of ground and a timber location. A bedrock tunnel, 100 feet long, cuts the channel, which is 250 feet wide, with 5 feet of cemented gravel. Two men are working on a contract to drive 400 feet of a new and deeper tunnel. A water The gravel pays about $6 per carload, equivalent to one ton. right of 7 to 8 inches under a 700-foot pressure belongs to this property. BALD MOUNTAIN EXTENSION DRIFT MINE. This property, located near Forest City, lies to the east of the old Bald Mountain, and is the most extensive drift mine in this section, comprising 1,600 acres. There are three channels in this neighborhood. The oldest and highest runs through the old Bald Mountain; this was cut through by a lava channel, 80 feet deeper than the bed of the upper one, and then there is a branch to the upper channel, on which the present Bald Mountain extension works are being prosecuted. No gold has been found in the lava channel, except at the point where it cut down through and below the main channel, and the gold from both sides of the cut washed into it. These gravel channels show white quartz gravel, with a little foreign matter. In the extension, 6 inches from the bedrock, an iron rust scale has formed over the gravel, which is quite hard, and below which the richest of the dirt is to be found; pieces weighing up to 11 ounces are occasionally met with. The slate bedrock in the extension under the channel is perfectly white and very soft, making it easy to work through it. The present tunnel is from the opposite side of the ridge from which the former opening into the channel was made; it was run under the impression that the gravel would be reached in a much shorter distance, and the hoisting up the old 30-foot slope would be got rid of. The altitude of the mouth of the new tunnel is 4,975 feet. The distance to gravel was found to be far greater than calculated on. The tunnel measures about 14 miles in length, and is about 15 feet below the bottom of the channel. It was continued 200 feet across the channel, but without reaching the opposite rim. The grade is 1 foot in 25. The channel courses northeast and southwest, with a capping of 1,000 feet of lava over 56 feet of gravel; it has been worked a distance of 125 feet. All the gravel in the channel contains some gold, but only 4 to 5 feet near the bedrock is sufficiently valuable to be mined. The channel drifts are carried 200 feet wide, and the gravel drifts 4 feet deep; one half of the gravel is cobbles and bowlders. Three upraises connect the channel with the tunnel. The mine is ventilated with a water blast. The tunnel dimensions are 7 by 8 feet. The tunnel is supplied with T rails. Twenty men on a shift, with two shifts in twenty-four hours, extract 100 carloads of gravel per shift, weighing a ton per car; a train of these cars, consisting of from ten to twelve, is run by mule power, consuming one hour to fill, run out, and return. To increase the output of the mine it will be necessary to employ some speedier method; perhaps electricity could be successfully introduced. In the old tunnel a specially constructed locomotive took the place of the mules. The different shifts are taken in and brought out by the mules. The gold from this channel is .962 fine. Spruce and pine timber is plentiful. Lumber costs $25 per thousand feet. From Downieville, to the north and west, the trail passes over the serpentine belt toward Red Dog, flanking Mount Holly, likewise serpentine to Fir Cap, on the head of Goodyear Creek, over a belt of metamorphic rock and slate. Altitude of Red Dog Mountain. Altitude of the Excelsior Mine on Fir Cap Altitude of the divide between Excelsior and Monte Cristo Fir Cap Mountain The contact between the slate and serpentine passes north 22° west, close to the cabin of the Telegraph Mine. The serpentine belt is about 1,000 feet wide, and passes down Goodyear Creek and across the river near Goodyear Bar, where it is a mile wide. A branch of the serpentine connects near Monte Cristo and runs under the lava over to Excelsior Mine. This belt has been traced all the way to Spanish Ranch, in Plumas County. On the eastern contact of the slate the connection forms pretty much a straight boundary, while on the other side the serpentine sends out branches into the adjoining slate. It might be suitable to mention here, that under the writer's observations, through Plumas and Sierra, nearly all of the pocket ledges in these counties that are famous for producing coarse gold are in the proximity of the serpentine; whether there is any connection between these facts would be of interest to investigate. THE EXCELSIOR MINE Lies 4 miles north of Downieville, and was first located in 1852. It includes the St. Lawrence, the Dead-broke, the Excelsior, and the Eagle claims, comprising 300 acres. It is an ancient channel, capped with 400 feet of lava; 26 feet of gravel in depth have been proved, how |