Baker County Oregon Gold

In 1861, Henry Griffin discovered gold in Griffin’s Gultch and the great finds of Baker County began. Baker County is responsible for two thirds of the gold found in Oregon. Extremely rich placer deposits and discoveries of near-by lodes have generated over 2,000,000 ounces of gold produced in Baker County.

The Connor Creek District

Connor Creek district produced over 100,000 ounces of  lode gold and 10,000 ounces of placer gold to date. Along Connor Creek you can find some very rich placers. Also on Connor Creek you will find The Connor Creek Gold Mine which produced free gold associated with pyrite.

The Connor Creek Mine in the 1930's

Auburn

In Blue Caynon, there were some rich early day placer gold deposits.

Baker

If you go south of Baker a few miles you will find Griffin Gulch. This was the site of the first gold discovery in Baker County. The Baker District alone produced over 37,000 ounces of gold. Half of that came from placers.

If you go southwest by 4-6 miles from Baker you will find the Dale Mine in the west 1/2 of section 22. The Dale Mine produced free milling gold. In upper Washington Gultch, in sections 20 and 29, you will find The Stub (Kent) Mine which produced lode gold.  At the south end of Elkhorn Ridge in most stream gravels you will find some placer gold.

West of Baker by 6 miles in Township 9S and Range 39E you will find Salmon and Marble Creeks. These creeks had rich early placers, especially by the Nelson Placer. On Salmon Creek, above the Nelson placer diggings, in the SW1/4 section 8 you will find the Carpenter Hill Mine. This was a large producer lode mine. In NE1/4 section 7, in McChord Gultch you will find the Paine-Old Soldier Group of mines (Yellowstone). These mines had a total production of 100,000 ounces of lode gold.

East of Baker by 10 miles, near Virtue Flat, you will find the Virtue District. This district produced over 100,000 ounces of lode and placer gold. All area gultches leading up to the Virtue Mines and White Swan Mines containing abundant placer gold. There are a lot of other productive mines in the area. e.g. (the Brazos, Flagstaff, Hidden Treasure, Carroll B. Cliff, Cyclone, ect.)

Northwest of Baker about 15 miles on the north side of Elkhorn Ridge in upper drainage of Rock and Pine Creeks is the Rock Creek District. The district produced over 60,000 ounces of gold. On the North Fork of Pine Creek, you will find the Baisley-Elkhorn mine. This mine was a principal producer discovered in 1882, with over two miles of underground workings. Two miles west of the Baisley-Elkhorn mine  in the Rock Creek drainage is the Highland and Maxwell mines, which were also major producers of lode gold. The Chloride Club, and Western Union mines were all minor producers.

Copperfield

The Homestead district is located on the east end of Route 86, 67 miles northeast of Baker. The Homestead district is on the Snake River. Here you will find the Iron Dyke Copper Mine which has a total gold production of around 35,000 ounces of gold as a byproduct of the copper mine.

Durkee

23 miles southwest of Baker on US  30, you will find the Burnt Creek District. This district had a total production of at least 50,000 ounces of  lode gold and 3,500 ounces of placer gold. You can find gold in all Burnt River tributary streams and gulches. Shirttail Creek was especially rich.

Southeast of Durkee by 6 to 12 miles, you will find the Weatherby District, straddling US 30 along the Burnt River. North of the highway, along Chicken  and Sisley Creeks was some very important placers and lode mines to Oregon gold mining history.

If you go Southwest from Durkee about 15 miles to the ghost town of Rye Valley, at the heads of  Basin Creek and the south fork of Dixie Creek you will find a very rich area that produced over 200,000 ounces of gold out of both placer and lode sources.

Greenhorn

Fifty miles west of Baker you will find the Greenhorn District. This is located near the ghost town of  Whitney in the east part of the Greenhorn Mountians, with some overlap into Grant County. This district produced over 90,000 ounces of lode gold and 15,000 ounces of placer gold. Most of the streams and gultches around Winterville, Parkerville, and McNammee gultches have had productive placers.

Halfway

52 miles east of Baker on Route 8, near the old ghost town of Cornucopia at the head waters of Pine Creek there was over 300,000 of lode and placer removed. Pine Creek and tributaries are very rich.

Hereford

36 miles southwest of Baker on Route 7, the upper Burnt Creek District, produced about 10,000 ounces of  lode and placer gold. All tributaries to Burnt Creek are very rich.

Medical Springs

18 miles northeast of Baker on Route 203, you can find many very rich streams. Big Creek, Eagle Creek, Powder River, Clover Creek, Balm Creek and Goose Creek all had very rich placer operations at one time.

Richland

40 miles east of Baker on Route 86, along the west drainage of the Snake River between the mouths of the Burnt River and the Powder River you can find some rich Oregon placer gold areas.

Sumpter

Sumpter area is by far the richest placer ground in Baker County. Over 300,000 ounces of placer gold came from the PowderRiver area and tributaries. The Powder River Valley was completly dredged 8 miles by 1 mile wide by bucket dredges. Cracker Creek, McCully fork has extensive placers as well. Buck and Mammoth gulches were very rich. There are thousands of old lode mines in the area, some at elevations of 8,000 feet.

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Butte County California Gold

HAMILTON

Gold was first discovered in Butte County California by John Bidwell in the now ghost town known as Hamilton in 1848, and that made Hamilton the first county seat of Butte County. John Bidwell was a local and national figure of that time and the founder of Chico, California and several other towns. He has an outstanding resume as he was among many things, a Brigadier General, served in the California Senate, a Freemason who later left and called the organization “pointless”, and even ran for the election of the presidency of the United States; just to name a few.

John Bidwell in an early photo

Hamilton where the gold was first discovered in Butte county was located on the west side of the river 15 miles downstream of the Feather River from Oroville. Hamilton had a very short duration as a town because they moved the county seat to Bidwells Bar (near Oroville), where they promised to build a new courthouse and jail. The only visible remains of the town of Hamilton is an overgrown cemetery and the remains of an old bridge that once stood there. The post office was closed in 1865. The town of Bidwells Bar is now submerged under the waters of Lake Oroville .

Bidwell Bar 1854 (artist unknown)

OROVILLE

In the old days Oroville was known as Ophir City. Thousands of miners flocked to Oroville in the beginning. It was not the site of a big gold strike, rather it was an important supply point for the miner’s at the now submerged Bidwell’s Bar, but close enough to the historical gold site, that you might find some gold if you prospect around the area.

MAGALIA ( 54 Pound “Dogtown” Gold Nugget)

Established in 1849, Magalia was a mining camp known as Butte Mills. It was also called Dogtown at one time, according to historical maps. It is found in the north-central part of Butte County. The exciting part about this historical site is a 54 pound nugget was unearthed here, at the Willard claim, a hydraulic mine in the Feather River Canyon northeast of the camp. It was the largest gold nugget ever discovered in the world at that time on April 12, 1859. It was named the “Dogtown nugget”. The female residences hated the name Dogtown and renamed it in 1862 to Magalia.  Near Magalia,  is Butte Creek and Little Butte Creek where in 1932 – 1959  15,976 ounces of placer gold was reported to have found. The Perschbaker Mine, found on Little Butte Creek was a major producer of lode gold. The tertiary gravel deposits of Little Butte Creek also have placer gold.

Historical Marker for the Dogtown Nugget

FEATHER RIVER

Of coarse, the Feather River is known to have gold, as many of the locations above were found along the gravel bars and banks of the river. Thompson’s Flat was one of those known locations that had access to gold. Cherokee Flat had placer gold operations. The area around Cherokee City, or anywhere along the Feather River for that matter, has gold. The Yankee Hill district, located at 21N range 4E and 5E,  had a total production of 5,154 ounces of placer gold and 34,427 ounces of lode gold.

In all, it is reported that Butte County, had a production of 3,200,000 ounces of placer gold and 104,000 ounces of lode gold. The Surcease Mine in township 21N range 4E was a good producer of lode gold.

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Idaho County Gold

As far as area is concerned, Idaho County is the largest county in the State of Idaho. In 1861, the first white’s who visited Idaho County, besides the occasional trapper or mountain man were gold seekers who followed the Nez Perce trail into the area now known as Elk City found gold in Baboon Gulch. About two thousand people flocked to Elk City that first year and the following year a town was established. At the time the rumor was that a man could clean out his rocker box and pan out a $1,000 a day, even if this seems unlikely.

At the head of Baboon Gulch was a camp called Florence. It was here that in the winter of 1862, that the miners were trapped in what was said to be at least ten feet of snow and survived on very meager rations. The Portland Oregonian read it like this…”all here are now satisfied that these will prove the richest and most extensive mines yet found north of California. All claim that the center of the vast gold field has at last been found.” There are many small districts in the county. Here are the ones worth mentioning:

Elk Creek District

The Elk City District had a total production of around 800,000 ounces. Placer gold can be found in the Clearwater River, especially along the South Fork of the Clearwater River. Gold can also be found in areas along the American River.  The largest mine in the area was the Buster Mine with a estimated 500,000 ounces of lode gold being retrieved.

Florence District  /  French Creek District

By far the richest district in Idaho County. Over a million ounces of gold was recovered.  Nearly all the gold was from placer operations, which is quite amazing. The French Creek-Florence district is in T. 25 N., Rs. 3 and 4 E., about 42 miles from Grangeville. French Creek was heavily mined.

Sign at Florence

Buffalo Hump District

Located in west central part of Idaho County is the Buffalo Hump District. About 27,000 ounces of gold was taken from this remote district. There were about twenty small quartz veins that occupied a five mile area. Production ceased because of its small deposits and remote location.

OroGrande District

The district mainly consists of  lode gold mines. Gnome Mine produced  11,582 ounces from in a five year span from 1932 to 1937. Orogrande-Frisco mine was also a large producer in this district. The area has been worked off and on for many years. Newsome Creek has some placer deposits. Located 8 miles from the Buffalo Hump district.

Dixie District

Twenty miles south of Elk City lays the Dixie District. Incomplete production records for the district, but estimates are between 40,000 and 80,000 ounces of lode and placer gold were taken. Much like the Buffalo Hump District the area was very remote. Sheep Creek and Crooked Creek were heavily worked for placer gold.

Rescue Mine near Warren Idaho

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Skamania County Washington Gold

There are 27 lode mines and 2 placer operations listed in Skamania County as being gold producing in history of the county. The best chances to find gold bearing deposits of are McCoy Creek, Camp Creek and Quartz Creek areas.

McCoy Creek

On Mccoy Creek, in T10N R8E, in section 15 is the Hudson and Meyers Placers which were very rich. In section 10, is the Perry Mine, which was a lode gold mine in arsenopyrite. Along both sides of Camp Creek in Section 10, the Primary Gold Mine and the adjoining Bruhn Mine. Both of these produced free milling gold and platinum. The Primary Gold Mine can be accessed 4 miles by trail from end of the Niggerhead Road. In the creek bars and bench gravels, the Camp Creek placers were very productive.

Quartz Creek

On the north side of Quartz Creek, in SW 1/4 of the SE 1/4 section 7 T8N R8E, is the Plamondon Mine. You can access 3.5 miles by trail from end of road. This mine was 29 claims and produced gold in chalcedonic quartz.

Spirit Lake

Northwest of Spirit Lake, in extreme northwest corner of the county, on Black Mountain, in sections 2, 3, 10, 11 T10N R5E is the location of the Independence Mine. This mine was 6 claims that produce copper, lead, silver and minor gold. Opposite Spirit Lake is the Minnie Lee Mine, which was a lode gold with copper and silver mine. Near Grizzly Creek, probably in section 20, is the Grizzly Creek Mine. You can access this by trail. It produced lode gold with lead and silver. Northeast of spirit lake,in T10N R6E, in sections 8 and 17, is the Germania Mine. The Germania Mine was 12 claims for lode gold and copper. Near the W 1/4 corner section 16 is the Golconda Mine. You can access the Golconda mine .5 miles up Ryan Lake trail from the Green River Trail.

Stevenson

Northwest of Stevenson, in E 1/2 section 25 T4N R5E, is the Texas Gulch Placer, which was very productive.

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Douglas County Oregon Gold

Douglas County has produced some nice gold in the past. The Myrtle Creek and Cow Creek areas are great producers.

Last Chance Creek

At the headwaters of Last Chance Creek, in township 32S range 4W section 34, is the location of the Puzzler Mine, which was a rich lode mine.

Quines Creek

On Quines Creek, in the W 1/2 of the NW 1/4 of section 1 township 33S range 5W, is the location of Quartzmill Mine. This was also a productive mine.

Glendale

In the Glendale area along Cow Creek there was numerous old hydraulic placers. The gravel bars, bench and terrace gravels all contain placer gold. There were many area mines that were rather productive. The BLM has a section that is withdrawn from mineral entry that is open to recreational gold panners only.

Myrtle Creek

If you go east and northeast of Myrtle Creek, in the drainage basins of North and South Myrtle Creeks you will find some extensive placer ground. On Lee Creek and Buck Fork there was over 50,000 ounces of placer gold recovered. On Letitia Creek, a tributary of South Myrtle Creek, in the NW 1/4 section 20 township 29S range 3W is the Chieftrain and Continental Mines which recovered over 100,000 ounces of Oregon gold.

South Umpqua River

This river is great for fine particles of gold. Especially in the upper part of the river. Dredging usually produces match head sized nuggets, but usually you will find fine particles. Gold is on the bedrock  in the sand bars, especially in spots that have rust color around them.

South Umqua River with bedrock showing

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Great Gobs of Gold Abound in Southern Oregon

The largest gold nugget ever found in Oregon was discovered on the East Fork of Althouse Creek in the Illinois Valley in 1859. Its discover, a small Irish miner by the name of Mattie Collins found the whopper in the face of the stream bank under a large stump located about twelve feet about the normal waterline. Dubbed the “Collins Nugget”, it weighed in at a whopping seventeen pounds!

After Mattie Collins found the nugget, he lived in constant fear of being killed and robbed until he hired a fellow countryman of his by the name of Dorsey to help him transport the nugget out of the Althouse. With the nugget hidden in a sack on Dorsey’s back and Collins taking up the rear armed with a double barreled shotgun, the two men trekked down the old Althouse Trail (which still exists in places to this day, and upon which this writer has walked) and spirited the hunk of yellow metal out of the district under the cover of night. Every twenty or so feet, the two men would stop and peer into the darkness, mistaking every other stump or some other object for a highwayman, until finally, certain that it was a trick of the eye, Collins would tell Dorsey to go forward. Local legend has it that after selling the big yellow marvel to the smelter at Jacksonville for $3500, that awash in wealth, Mattie Collins celebrated his discovery until he drank himself to death.

Today, the Collins Nugget would be valued at about $375,000, though a gold nugget of this size and notoriety would certainly carry a hearty premium.

Other notable large nuggets found in Southern Oregon include:

The Vaun Nugget which was discovered on Slug Bar, near Browntown, also on Althouse Creek. Weight: Approximately 40 ounces.

The Oscar Creek Nugget, discovered in 1892 by Boardman Darneille. It weighed over 18 ounces. Three additional large nuggets were discovered on Oscar Creek around the same time, weighing respectively 12 ounces, 6.25 ounces and 5.75 ounces.

The Klippel Nugget, found in 1904 on McDowell Gulch, weighing approximately 25 ounces.

The Burns Nugget, discovered on Brimstone Gulch at the Stovepipe mine near the site of Leland in 1934, weighed 34.47 ounces.

Also in 1934, Ed Prefontaine discovered a piece of quartz float on Foots Creek that contained 13.63 ounces of gold.

Several large nuggets, one weighing almost 15 pounds were also taken from Sucker Creek which is due east of Althouse.

The crew at the famous Bunker Hill Mine on Silver Creek show off a two week clean up. The man at far right is pioneer Galice area miner, John Robertson. Photo courtesy of Sharon Crawford, who is the grand daughter of Orval Robertson, who discovered the Bunker Hill with his partner Ted McQueen in 1926.

Numerous discoveries of rich gold “pockets” which Southern Oregon is famous for have dotted the mining maps of this area, not limited to the fabulous Gold Hill Pocket discovered in 1860 by Thomas Chavner and partners which some say contained over 250,000 ounces of gold, the famous Revenue Pocket (2500 ounces) discovered on Kane Creek by Enos Rhoten, the SteamBoat Pocket in the Upper Applegate drainage and the famous Briggs Strike of 1904, as well as a rich discovery by Orval Robertson and Ted McQueen at the Bunker Hill Mine on Silver Creek exceeding some 5000 ounces in 1926. One piece of nearly solid gold ore from the Bunker Hill was so heavy that when it fell from the side of the tunnel, it broke the leg of a miner named Bill Mitchell who was operating a drill. The piece of ore was only a foot long, 6 inches wide and 3 inches thick, but it contained nearly 20 pounds of free milling gold. There was so much gold in this vein of ore that Mitchell called it the “Ham and Eggs Vein”, because of the amount of ham and egg breakfasts he had been able to buy with his share of the gold.

As recently as a half decade ago, a couple of pound sized nuggets were taken from a small tributary of the Applegate River, proof that the “big ones” are still out there if you are willing to work hard to find them.

~ Kerby Jackson

Josephine County, Oregon

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CALIFORNIA’S FIRST SPANISH MINERS

Soldiers, settlers, and laborers, part of two mission colonies under the administration of Francisco Garces, mined placer gold in the southeastern Chocolate Mountains in 1780 and 1781. Their mining methods were simple. Placer gold was recovered by winnowing (tossing the lighter materials away by gently shaking a blanket in the wind). Dry washers may also have been used. Their mining endeavors, almost recreational in nature (as they were not mining gold for a living) ended abruptly when the Yuma Indians attacked the two missions on July 17, 1781, killing at least 50 men and taking 67 women and children captive. Mining activity was resumed in this area only after the establishment of the Mexican Republic in 1823.

An early image of Spanish Miners

Also worked in the 1780’s were the placer grounds of Jackson Gulch and the oxided ores of Padre Madre Valley in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains. The Padre y Madre Mine, located 13 miles northwest of Yuma and 3 miles northwest of Ogilby, was one of the most extensively developed early mines. The mine enjoyed a modest production from the 1780’s until 1894 with few interruptions.

Even the name of the mountain range speaks of the early interest in mining in the area. Reportedly in the early 1800s two young lads playing at prospecting in imitation of their fathers came into camp with their shirts loaded with gold ore. Their antics resulted in the name of Cargo Muchacho, for the mountains where they had made their find. Although it is difficult to estimate the area’s gold production during the Spanish and Mexican eras (1780-1848) it was probably not more than half a million dollars.

William P. Blake, a geologist with Lt. Williamson’s Pacific Railroad exploration party, was the first Anglo- American to visit the southern portion of the Cargo Muchacho Mountains with an eye toward mining. In 1853 he reported seeing several quartz veins from three inches to a foot or two in thickness. His observations were recorded in official government reports, but no one acted upon this evidence of possible mineralization until the Southern Pacific Railroad between Yuma and the coast was completed.

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