The Sawyer Decision did not ban hydraulic mining. The judge's decision limited certain aspects of the practice such as preventing sediment discharge into the waterways. Technological development of hydraulic mining continued largely unregulated because most of the focus of the Sawyer Decision was around the American River and the agricultural areas. Hydraulic mining on the Klamath wasn't effectively quashed until the 20th century with clean water laws at the state level and then federal. Also see the Caminetti Act of 1893.
When I was a teenager, my friend and I were smoking a doobie with an old hippie we had met at a swimming hole known only to locals at the time near Mt. Shasta. He was showing us crystals he had found and then he pulled out a quartz specimen, about the size of a baby red potato, with a substantial gold nugget at the base and smaller gold specs and flakes mixed in. We asked him where he found it and he said, "In the area", smiled a big grin, tipped his hat and walked away, but not before giving us each a small crystal and thanking us for the smoke.
My father probably knew the miners. Back in the depression my father got deer and wild game for the loggers and miners in Galice and he used to tell me stores about all the fish on the Rogue river and all the plentiful game back then. My grandparents had property next to Zane Grays on the Rogue when he was writing westerns there.
My dad worked for the forest service in the Umpqua forest from 78-95 blm 95-96 and state 96-24 He told me a lot of the cabins were burnt down in the 70's and early 80's due to hippies living anf growing stuff. My dad said it was sad as a lot of that stuff could have been nice for future people to see or a hike destination. I filmed a cabin last year that we played in as a kid that is now fallen .
The town you mentioned a few times that was Thompson’s dry diggings then Ieka and is now known as Yreka, the county seat of Siskiyou County on interstate 5. Eureka is on the Pacific Ocean.
I've been all over that hill and there are pits and pits everywhere. I do want to warn you that there is a gold mine located upstream from the big bend in the river. The mine goes in bout 800 ft. I was warned by one of the growers that I shouldn't go up there or risk getting shot.
Using physics of the electronic gold metal detector with dowsing physics being the same, dowsing is the best way to decipher the ore body. Read the book: The Art of Dowsing - Separating Science from Superstition ($14.95), by Michael Fercik. Learn how to build, and all the physics involved in dowsing with the modern light weight ball bearing dowsing, which is the only dowsing rod that accurately gauges what is being dowsed by pitting the energy of gravity against the energizing of the pure one-tenth ounce dowsing rod load that is attached on the elevated acetylene welding rod, which free spins on ball bearings. This precisely gauges the dowsing of all edges, exact center, depth buried with angle of deposition, and most important is grading of the dowsed element that is contained in the elemental mass that is being dowsed. Anybody can become a professional dowser by practicing the book's dowsing lessons of buried pipelines and electrical cables, tunnels and voids, precious metal placer and lode deposits, dowsing for treasure, dowsing for any element, amplified long distance dowsing from a moving vehicle, and dowsing on water from a boat.
Veins pinch and swells, you can bet your hat that it gets larger down below. You’re going to have to dig depending on what type Gold or silver it’s worth investigating
I love Lawson Bar. It always has gold. We are planning a 3rd annual Lawson Bar Cleanup on May 5th at 10am! Last years event was a lot of fun and several RU-vid creators were there. Hope to see everyone there. Heavy Pans!
That look like copper sulfides at the 5 minute mark, a whole other story right there in the State of Jefferson. I enjoyed your video, would love to see one of those unmined bench gravel deposits.
Not sure yet on what the mineral content is on that mine hopefully xrf and assays will reveal a little bit. I definitely like to find one of those benches as well
Northern Cali has such a rich mining history, I found my largest nugget to date in Siskiyou County, on the Scott River, at a nondisclosed location hahaha
My mom and dad lived in Selma OR for many years. I used to find a little bit of gold in Anderson creek. The Sour Biscuit complex fire barely missed their home. The original bridge over the river burned as well as the Boy Scout camp. Looks like things are starting to grow back but, still no more camp 😢
Klondike Taylor Creek complex caused a lot more damage out there and killed off everything that was growing. Between the last couple fires out there over the last 30 years. It's definitely killed off a lot of the native plants
