The San Francisco call., 1895-07-19
A GREAT REDISCOVERY.

Very striking evidence of the imperfec-
tion of early mining methods in Califor-
MA was given by an exhaustive article IN
yesterdays CALL setting forth the wonder
full advances that are being made in Plu-
mas County. The tremendous excitement
caused by the discovery of gold in that
part of the State in the early sos makes
one of the most dramatic chapters in the
history of California. Here and there,
where the elements had worked denuda-
ton of the great lava flow which Lassens
Peak had sent pouring down into the vast
basin which was afterward upheaved to
form the western flank of the Sierra Ne
yada. prospectors found rich placer gold,
and there ensued the usual rush OF miners
and settlers and the uprearing OF ,mush-
room towns. When the partial working OF
surface digg1ngs had led to poorer gravel
the boom began to subside, and Its end
was completed by the fires which almost
invariably finish the destruction OF evan
escent mining camps.
All this time the formidable Gaping of
lava remained intact upon the rich gold
bearing beds of the prehistoric river. For
countless ages before the eruption of
the Mississippi, has been flowing from
some undetermined point in the far north,
and it, or another following its general
course, has been traced as far as the Mexi-
can line. Wherever its ancient bed has
been uncovered the richest gold-bearing
gravel in the world has been found.
1t has been only within the last six
years that the real secret of the old river
has been learned, so far as its presence in
Plumas County is concerned. Experts in
geology were sent to study it, and they
reported that in all probability the super
imposed masses of basalt covered treasures
with which those in the exposed parts that
were worked forty years ago could not
compare. 1t required some courage to
invest millions of dollars in tunnels and
shafts to reach the old bed, but this was
done, and the result has surpassed the
highest expectations of the geologists who
predicted that gold would be found.
And so Plumas County is giving the
most eloquent proof of the fact that in all
likelihood but an infinitesimal part of the
gold which the soil of California contains
has ever been taken from it, and that as
the years pass the discoveries and develop
ments will grow in magnitude. For
Plumas is only one of the numerous coun-
ties lying in the trend of the mysterious
old rivers that existed long before the
Sierra were born. Where lies the vast
original store of gold which it dragged
from place and brought down to US may
never be determined; but it is sufficient to
know that the gold is here and that it is
simply matter of investing sufficient
capital to find it and reap the rich rewards
of its discovery.
The great development of the mining
industry in Plumas is most important in
itself, and, extensive though it is, it is
likely only beginning in that region.
An equally important aspect of the situa-
ton Is the lesson which it teaches with
regard to gold mining generally. This IN
dustry is now in the beginning of a re-
naissance which, when it is fully devel-
oped, will throw into the shade the
wonderful fame which the State enjoyed
from the original discovery of the precious
metal here. And there is not in all
Christendom a stronger inducement for
the investment of capital than there is
to-day in the mining regions Of the western
Sierra slope.