The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-09-08


this store was found nothing would be
necessary except to break off what each one
considered sufficient to make him happy
and pack it off in the most convenient
manner; and so when each fresh report was
circulated enough men got crazy over it to
make sensation which only wore out
when persistent efforts to find solid
mountain of gold resulted in failure or
worse disaster. 1t was at such q time that
one Stoddard struck the busy camp at the
Forks" afterward Downieville, with
tale OF lake with banks and bottom of
pure gold. He showed some pieces which
he claimed to have picked up there just
as band of Indians came up and ran him
Off. He said that he had come over the
Lassen trail with party and that he and
companion had gone out for hunt and
losing their way had wandered for sew
eral days in the mountains to the north
east OF Downieville; when shot at by In
dams he claimed that he was wounded in
the leg, and showed a scar as proof; that
he ran for the hills, became separated from
his companion and never saw him again;
after some days he reached the Yuba and
told his story, but it was late in the season,
winter was coming on, and the fate of the
Bonner party had made men cautious, so
he got no encouragement that fall. But in
the spring the whole country having be-
come enthused over the story, he had no
trouble in getting UP party, and in May,
1850, he got twenty-five prospectors to-
gether and left Nevada City at their head,
bound for Gold Lake. In the meantime
immigrants were swarming in from every
quarter and most of them were ready to
believe anything told them. Fabulous
dlggings had been found in widely sep
arated parts of the State and big pockets
had been struck. Besides many large
chunks were left in prominent windows on
exhibition. Everything conduced to fire
the heart of the bold young adventures
who had come from the four quarters of
the globe, free from family cares, unre-
strained by the presence of women or of
old associations, and ready for anything
that fate had in store for them.
Under such circumstances an expedi-
ton like that headed by Stoddard could
hardly fail to attract great deal of atten-
ton, and the little company was followed
by thousands from the day they started
out. There are conflicting stories in some
respects, but they all agree that it was
one of the widest of all the wild goose
chases ever made. One of Downieville's
Oldest settlers says he was in Hangtown
when man came in who told of a hunter
who looked down on lake that was paved
with gold, but who never got to the waters
edge, as there were savage Indians in the
way. He offered to guide party over,
and WAS soon on the road. 1t was so in a
hundred camps, and horses, mules, tents
and stores rose to very high figure. Pay
Ing claims IN prosperous camps were sold
or thrown away, and everything that had
legs was packed for the journey. Loads
were carried on the backs of horses, mules,
oxen and even men. Many started out
with wagons and apparatus, but they had
to be abandoned and the wild race kept
up with flying baggage. Stoddard soon
proved that he knew nothing of the coun-
4 g., n LII
other lake, but the crowds that were fol-
lowing his party stuck to it like shadows,
and vainly imagined that all the tramping
to and fro In an apparently almlesS man.
ner was to throw them off the scent. They
wandered into the Sierra Valley and into
some of the smaller valleys north of it.
Patience at last gave out, and the anger of
the camp increased to such an extent
that it was voted to hang Stoddard. He
was notified, and be. begged so hard
that the men agreed to give him one more
day. That night he disappeared and the
little valley is known to this day as Last
Chance" The party scattered, some 60
ing prospecting on their own account,
others returning to old locations, and the
hint and did likewise. The winter had
been hard one, show had fallen to
depth OF 80 feet, snowshoes had not been
introduced, and great hardships were I'M
dergone. Many lost their lives by snow
slides, by falling over cliffs or by exposure,
and In less. than a month it was known all
over the State that Gold Lake. was O
myth and the Stoddard party broken up.
The charm was broken and the floating
thousands drifted into other things, many
of them almost as wild as the one they
had escaped from. Steddard tried to get
up other parties but failed. He spent the
summers for several succeeding years in
ai%0 - 4 L. L \
advertised SO well, but finally abandoned
the search and left the mountains for q
ranch life in the valley.
Whether the Gold Lake of to-day is the
one Stoddard lost or not is hard to prove.
1t answers the description well and is To-
Gated as near right for it as any, so far as
the modern prospector can Judge. Stod-
dard's party took the ridge between
Feather River and the North Fork of the
Yuba, and must have gone very near this
lake, as they travelled over the hills to
Sierra Valley, which lies almost in sight to
the east Every freshet brings down layers
OF mica, which gid the shores and bottom
at the south end, and make as good look
ing prospect as any man could ask for.
Though the bottom of the lake is not
paved with gold there are great deposits
on all sides, and many million has been
taken out in sight of its waters. Gold
Valley lies four miles west, and mills built
only last summer are crushing rock from
mines that were found generation ago,
but never before thoroughly worked. The
Young America is six miles south, the
-Four Hills mine seven miles northwest,
and there are gold lodges among the hills
adjoining the shore. Twelve miles north
lie the famous Plumas- Eureka mine and
mills, the largest in the State. For over
thirty years from ten to hundred stamps
have been laundering away, and ST., 000,0 900
has been taken out. The Sierra Buttes
took 100000 out about dozen miles
south, and on the Steelman and Hayes
claim, three miles east, there was picked
up in early days one nugget worth $4,000.
man found it under small tree and was
throwing it out among the rocks, when its
weight attracted his attention, and he
washed the dirt off it and saw its value.
He said it looked like a small ham, and he
had no idea it was a little fortune In itself.
Phiio A. Ravens, well known in San
Francisco, went to Last Chance with Stod-
dard and later found quartz at Gold Lake.
With his brother, James M. Ravens, he
worked placer and quartz mines there for
years, building water-power at the outlet
for sawmill and quartzmill. All have
gone to decay and to-day form interesting
ruins.
Every place of interest in the mountains
attracts to it some one character who be-