Doin’s at the Diggins ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volume 29 Issue I Malakoff Diggins Park Association Spring 2013 10259 N. Bloomfield Rd., Nevada City, Ca 95945 malakoff [email protected]530-265-2740 North Bloomfield Mine 1891 The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company was established in 1866 and was owned by 30 capitalists from San Francisco, led by railroad baron Lester I. Robinson, and William Ralston, a silver miner from Sun Mountain in Nevada. The company’s water rights were the same watershed as Summit Water and Irrigation Company’s but lower down on Canyon Creek. The principal reservoir was at Bowman Lake, while oth- ers included Crooked Island, Middle, Round, English/Ru dyard, Sawmill, and Shotgun Reservoirs. The company’s main canal was the Bloomfield Ditch, but, according to Superintendent L.L. Meyers, only a small fraction of the ditch’s water was used for irrigation and most was used for mine operations. The company had numerous operations in Nevada County, including Union Diggings at Columbia Hill, but those at Malakoff Mine were the most notable. Complet- ed Nov. 15, 1874, the North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company carved a 7,800 feet (2,400 m) long drainage tunnel through solid bedrock at Malakoff Mine. After tunnel completion, the company reached its peak processing of 50,000 tons of gravel each day by operat ing seven giant monitors twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In the company’s 1879 year-end report, the company’s president hailed a major improve- ment: “... electric light of 12,000 candle intensity ... to facilitate mining operations at night better than the pitch bonfires heretofore used.” On July 1, 1884, Judge Lorenzo Sawyer handed down what became known as the Sawyer Decision, among the first environmental decisions in the United States, which abruptly ended hydraulic mining in the Gold Country. North Bloomfield Gravel & Mining Company’s days as opertors of the world’s largest hydraulic mine were num- bered. The tailings can still be found on the South Yuba River and downstream in the Yuba Goldfields. courtesy: Wikipedia For location of the plaque, see photo on p.8 Walk away from the car, to the left and angle slightly uphill for about 50 feet.
Transcript
Doin’s at the Diggins ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Volume 29 Issue I Malakoff Diggins Park Association Spring 201310259 N. Bloomfield Rd., Nevada City, Ca 95945 malakoff [email protected] 530-265-2740
For awhile
NorthBloomfieldMine1891
The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company was established in 1866 and was owned by
30 capitalists from San Francisco, led by railroad baron
Lester I. Robinson, and William Ralston, a silver miner
from Sun Mountain in Nevada. The company’s water
rights were the same watershed as Summit Water and
Irrigation Company’s but lower down on Canyon Creek.
The principal reservoir was at Bowman Lake, while oth-
ers included Crooked Island, Middle, Round, English/Ru
dyard, Sawmill, and Shotgun Reservoirs. The company’s
main canal was the Bloomfield Ditch, but, according to
Superintendent L.L. Meyers, only a small fraction of the
ditch’s water was used for irrigation and most was used
for mine operations.
The company had numerous operations in Nevada
County, including Union Diggings at Columbia Hill, but
those at Malakoff Mine were the most notable. Complet-
ed Nov. 15, 1874, the North Bloomfield Mining and
Gravel Company carved a 7,800 feet (2,400 m) long
drainage tunnel through solid bedrock at Malakoff Mine.
After tunnel completion, the company reached its peak
processing of 50,000 tons of gravel each day by operat
ing seven giant monitors twenty-four hours a day, seven
days a week. In the company’s 1879 year-end
report, the company’s president hailed a major improve-
ment: “... electric light of 12,000 candle intensity ... to
facilitate mining operations at night better than the pitch
bonfires heretofore used.”
On July 1, 1884, Judge Lorenzo Sawyer handed down
what became known as the Sawyer Decision, among the
first environmental decisions in the United States, which
abruptly ended hydraulic mining in the Gold Country.
North Bloomfield Gravel & Mining Company’s days as
opertors of the world’s largest hydraulic mine were num-
bered. The tailings can still be found on the South Yuba
River and downstream in the Yuba Goldfields.
courtesy: Wikipedia
For location of the plaque, see photo on p.8 Walk away from the car,
to the left and angle slightly uphill for about 50 feet.
ParkPoliceshouldbeaseparatetrack–andparksalsoshouldexploreagreementswithlocalpoliceagencies.---Statefundinghasdroppedfrom91%in1979to22%today.Thestateshouldcom-mittoGeneralFundsupport,orotherSpecialFundsupport,fortheDepartmentofParksandRecreation,whichshouldbeadjustedtoreflectthenumberofparks,recreationareas,andhistoricsitesinstatehands.---Expandpartnershipsformorecostsharing.Collaborationwillbekeytothefuture,modeledafterexistingagreementswithNPS,counties,citiesandNon-profits.---CreativeMeansforGeneratingRevenue.DayUseFeeshavetripledinthelastdecade;campingfeeshavedoubled.Parksshouldbeallowedmorecreativityingeneratingfundssotheycanreducedayandcampingfee.Legislatorsshouldallowthemtokeepsomeportiontoreinvestintheirownoperations–asinNationalParks.Mono Lake St. Res.
TheLittle Hoover Reportoffersacoursecor-rectiontopreventparkclosures,notavisionforthestateparksystemforthenextcentury,ataskforourpoliticalleaders.Ourparksys-temshouldnotremainfrozenintimewiththeFredrickLawOlmsteadJr.Planof1929.IfMichigancanworktowardan$800mil-lionParkEndowmentFund,surelyCaliforniacanraisea$500millionfund.TheLittle Hoover Reportshouldprovideim-petusforStateParksDirectorAnthonyJack-son,GovernorJerryBrownandlegislatorstotakeonRestructuring.Theirtask,andours,isrebuildingtrustinthestateparksystemandrepositioningitforthefuture. The entire 12 page report may be down-loaded at: www.lhc.ca.gov Editor MDPA
The Legislators of the State of California have met the Enemy
Charlotte Mint Struck 1838-1861GoldMiningwassecondonlytoagricultureasNorthCarolina’smostimportantindustryfrom1800totheCivilWaryears.Thoughearlycensusfiguresshowmostheadsoffamilieswereemployedasfarmers,agreatnumberofthesefarmerswerealsooccupiedasgoldminers.Entirefamilies,includingthechildrenworkedintheminesItwasnotedatthetimethatperhapstwo-thirdsofthegoldwaswastedthroughprimitiveminingmethodsandthereforeonlyasmallpercentageofthemetalwasretrieved.
Sources: Jones, H.G., N.C. Had Own Gold Rush Early in 19th Century, Handsel, Joyce, Gold Mining
Mr.Howser’sloveandenthusiasmforhisadoptedhomestateincludedeverynookandcrannyofCalifornia,andheinjectedhissenseofwonderanddelighttohisstories.Hisseries,California’s Golden Parks,whichranfrom2002to2010,consistedof68episodesandbroughtviewersapersonalanduniqueaccountofthenaturalbeautyandhistoryofourstateparks.HuellHowserhasleftanindeliblemarkonourparks’family,andwewillmisshimtremendously.
FanscanviewCalifornia’s Golden Parks episodesonourwebsite: www.parks.ca.gov
In1535,thefrenchexplorerJacquesCartierandhismenwereindesperateconditionafteraparticularlyseverewinterinNewfoundland.Already25laydeadandnotoneoftheremainingsurvivorswasnotsufferingfromtheravagesofScurvy.FortunatelyforhistoryagroupoflocalIndianstookpityonthem,andtoldCartierthattheirmedicinemanhadtheperfectcure.Shovingtheirprejudicesaside,theywenttothemedicineman.ThemiraclebrewofthiswisemanwassosimplethatCartierandhismennearlyrejecteditatfirst.Withoutanyhocus-pocus,themedicinemansimplypluckedahand-fullofpineneedlesfromanearbytreeandboiledtheminapotforafewminutes.Thenhegaveeachoneacupof“soup”.Althoughskeptical,theydidastheyweretoldandthesouptransformedtheirhealthinamatterof6days.Thisisrecordedbecausetheylivedtotellthetale. Voyages to Canada 1534-35 J. Cartier
Shoot-out at Gold Flat byDonBaumgart Jailbreak!Thewordrocketedaroundthesmallcommunity.ItwasNovember3,1856,andbanditJimWebsterhadescapedfromtheNevadaCityJail.Whatwastofollowwouldhauntsomeresi-dentsofthisGoldRushtownfortherestoftheirdays.
WebsterhadmadeNevadaCityhisheadquartersduringhisbrieftwo-yearoutlawcareer."Al-thoughapricewasplacedonhishead,"RuthHermanwritesinherbook,More Than Gold,"oc-casionallyheboldlycameintotownswherehewasknown,butwherenonewerecourageousenoughtostophim."Finallyhewasstoppedandjailed,briefly.
GhostBusters Strike Gold The Fall 2011 Doins contained a story of a missing building here at Malakoff Diggins. Not just any building, but a three story roadhouse known as Casa de Pingaree. The only reference to the structure’s existence was historic Watkins’ Photo # 1836 showing a sturdy, nine sided, peaked roof, three story, three section, road-house with a roofed porch on two sides.
Amateur archeologists Maiya and Ross Gralia sniffed out the photo in 2011 and have since poured over records and maps looking for more information as to the precise location of the long-gone ghost of the Malakoff.
Zoom in for view of Casa de Pingaree in center of photo.
Their hard work paid off when they found this photo of the apparition in its original sur-roundings. Specifically, across from the Diggins View parking area, one half mile down-hill or S-W from the N. Bloomfield School. Park your car, look back across the road at two dilapidated hovels from that ancient time. To the left you will notice a flat area cov-
ered with manzanita bushes, then a dirt road. Some sniffing around to the left of that dirt road will satisfy the curious that the riddle has been solved.
Looking downhill and across North Bloomfield Road from the Diggins View Parking Lot, is the dirt road to nowhere.
As you walk onto that road you will see piles of what appear to be “tailings” stones.
Closer inspection will reveal old foundations and basement impressions that are now believed to be the remains of Casa de Pingaree.
In the Watkins photo on the first page of this article, one will notice North Bloomfield Road at approximately 10 O’clock, arcing off to the left. Immediately
below the road are two rows of buildings with a road between them.
That road is visible here, in the upper-left, disappearing up into the forest. There is nary a trace of the buildings.
So, just what in Sam Hill is a Pingaree? If someone knows, please let us all in on it. I have been able to find only two references:
In L. Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz series we find, published in 1916, Rinkitink in Oz, which tells us all, “Pingaree is a beautiful Island in the Nonestic Ocean that is four days journey by boat from Rinkitink.” The fantastic names of people and places throughout Oz are believed to be the product of Baum’s imaginary genius.
From Australia we learn that “Pingaree” is an Aboriginal term meaning, “to turn around”. Most Americans probably have forgotten, or never knew, that parallel to the California gold rush, c.1849, was the Australia gold rush, c.1851. Gold seekers followed the gold, and here’s the stretch........ It is known that many men (and a few women), Lola Montez for example, turned up in both countries following the respective strikes. Since we know the Watkins photo was taken as part of his “Early Series”, 1861-1873, in would have been possible for whomever named Casa de Pingaree to have know the Aboriginal meaning of the word and applied it to the road house, being a place to, “turn around”. If anyone can prove that, I’ll buy them a six-pack of Fresca. ed.
Treasurer STATE PARKS Jennifer Stark [email protected] Cooperating Association Liaison 530-254-5679 SupervisingRangerDonSchmidt [email protected] Director 530-273-3024 Nancy Bynes [email protected] 530-265-0525
