The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1882-10-25
Among the Gold Mines.

fornia: claims that only paid an
ounce per day were looked on with
4 contempt. for it was not an unfre-
ouent occurrence for miners to take
out the shining metal by the pound,
and | know of one man who washed
out forty-seven hundred dollars from
one pan of dust But such instances
as those were, like angels visits, few
and far between. | also knew OF a
locality where within a distance OF
three hundred feet, there were five
nuggets found. worth, in the
aggregates six thousand three hun
dred and sixty-two dollars. That
entire neighborhood was famous for
the size and quality of the nuggets
found. i knew of party who, in
sinking shaft upon quartz lode,
al what was then called Sonora camp,
struck a pocket, and took out in a
short time sixty thousand dollars
the same shaft is now used for a
different purpose in the rear OF the
Uuited States Hotel at Sonora, Tuo-
lumne county. At the mouth OF
Coarse Gold Gulch, where it empties
into Woods creek, a chunk was
found worth ten thousand dollars,
although, as general thing, the
gulch did not pay well | prospect
ed il at later period, and was una.
bic, in the course of a couple of
hours time, to get even n color off
of the ledge.
i | was personally acquainted with
an Irishman who, while engaged in
filling up well upon his premises,
when the job was nearly completed,
found a piece of gold worth a couple
of dollars, upon which he erected a
windlass and hoisted all the dirt out
again, and from the first wheelbar-
rowful that he washed he obtained
over ninety dollars but keeping his
own counsel, he continued TO work
on, and by the time his ground had
been mined out. he had acquired
enough to render him independent.
There was one piece found by him
worth one thousand and eighty dol
lars; he Afterwards undertook to
mine the public road, and was doing
quite well, when he was restrained
by an injunction, and WAS finally
compelled TO abandon the attempt
altogether. His residence was at the
foot of a hill, on the othor slope OF
which an Italian, a very incorporate
fellow. struck "A pocket of .decompos-
ed quartz, and one of hole eight or
ten feet in diameter, and about sew
en- feet deep, he took out nearly eight
thousand dollars. The soil was very
hard to wash, being composed in
part of tough, red clay, and could
not be washed in the ordinary way,
but was dissolved in a pudding box
filed with water and worked with a
hoe until all the earthly matter pass
ed away and nothing but the gravel
and quartz remainep; after which
the gold was easily collected by the
panning process; | saw him pan out
six ounces, worth one hundred and
fourteen dollars, in the course of two
hours time.
One of the most noted quartz
claims | know of was alta place call
ed Suges Pine, from which the lode
derived its name. 1t is situated
about eighteen miles or thereabouts
from Sonora. and was discovered by
two poor miners named Majors and
Gilmore. The former hailed from
Philadelphia. | believe. They had
been engaged in working a placer
mine which Welded them a very
trifling remuneration in return for a
considerable amount of very hard
labor. and thev were so poor as
to find it hard scratching to get
enough to eat; but occasionly, dur
ing their mining operations, they
would find fragments of rich float
qartz, that indicated that lode OF
considerable value was not far dis
tant from where they were working
which fact encouraged them to work
on in the hope of striking it event
ually, which they finally succeeded
in doing. The extent and value oi
the lode far exceeding their most
sanguine expectations but unfortu-
nately for Majors, he, before it, true
value was known, sold out his inter
est for thirty thousand dollars. and
overjoyed by his suddenly acquired
wealth, he came down to Sonora,
and popping the question to a native
of the Emerald Isle employed as a
chambermaid at one of the hotels,
married her, and dressing himself
and bride in the best the city could
supply. left for San Francisco by the
first stage coach.
Gilmore, more discreet than his
partner, retained his interest and
realized an immense fortune. Itwas
stated by the Sonora papers that
during the whole summer of 1862
the claim yielded from twenty to
TWENTY-FIVE thousand dollars per
week, and that at times it even ex-
ceeded that amount | had large
and rich specimen taken from the
claim, but "A saloon keeper borrowed
| it and displayed it behind his bar
and some one appropriated it to hi
own use. There was another quartz
claim, owned by a man named Soul
sby. Prior to Its discovery he was
the owner of a ranch of no great
value, and one day as his son went
out in search of cattle, he found a
piece of float rock. which he brought
home and showed to his father. who
Immediately instituted search, and
succeeded in finding the sources
from which it came, and erected a
mill, and he also soon made large
fortune, but it finally gave out, and
for a long time it did not pay the
expense of running.
There were other valuable claims
in that section, among which was
the Buchanan Lode, from which
forty thousand dollars was taken,
and then suddenly ceased paying,
and was abandoned. Two mem,
named Turner and Patterson, struck
a placer claim at the ledge of the hy-
draulic Ditch on Bald mountain and
in little time had fifteen thousand
dollars each. The Ditch Company's
employees cut through the spot in