The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-08-08

mine; He carclessiy pointed in a northeriy
crock some eight miles north Of Roddins,, A
few days later one of the Frenchmen picked mp
DENT nSSS Young ns,I found a = $3.50 $50 n Tsn ser Gs l Fiat
Creek. near where the Frenohmen found theirs
IhS biggest nugget found in California In tho
By 2 New York goldsmith ill., after L had been
August, 1859, ". 4. Parish, 4. Wood. j. win:
stead, +, N. L Cl~evering, and Harry Warner
sisrpop 9RF nasSs In The Monumental claim m. n ,sss
nugget which weighed I,Ses ounces troy; It
who paid for it SlS, 800 for exhibition purposes.
"heh ~ was melted about $4,000 was realizea.
oregon SaesOY ilno r aHd neS SPt int % SS%s "a iSt sST Seds, .f Is
one OF the richest counties in California In min,
erals and has made a dozen mon millioneires OF
near tho mouth OF Nelson Creek. It was worth
little. disooT %i9SF a q g., Sta5" nsEsst. and Hays
anc ~Steadman found one above Mohawk Valley,
near nSd tn the county county line; hat weighed 42o ounces
Fl Dorado county, where gold was first found
IN QtS S yielded the first big nugget t9unS
FOLD was dug out with a common spade from
inc oank OF the American River near Lawsons
D bar; u BROUGHT $1,000. Another was "a Ia iSu 1a
y, zoe. In 1867, at Pilot Hill, . boulder Of
quartz gold yielded $4,000. This, with several
Gravel, claim near the Pilot Hill Post oflct.
Several large and valuable gold nuggets were
n mass Of gold IN wei EIGlGp ssS S S0assy; was ih round asSS at
Gold Id, Hill, in the same county, a man NAMED
near Columbia, in the same county, found ono
The discovery made the miner insane on the
following cay, and he was fent to the Stockton
Seeyi y The nugget was Sold, and the m Saer
tho Knapp ranch, half a mile east Of Columbus
Daniel Strain discovered a largo gold quartz
quartz was crushed Ts : and m'i thes:roid melted tho
pront was $500. On Sullivan's Greek, In the
n ra%e county %as ,,t n 1871 Sa "a a o t%sn y ths n,6 Posns
Nc very valuable nugget has been found in
while. however, there comes the news of the
finding Of a ten or even fiftecn-ounce chunk OF
ton in some store or bank window and may be
sent from town to town To be exhibited so as to
boom the mining region whore 1t was picked up.
freight train at the little station, of Caliente.
later they came back to Caliente with a lump
OF gold and crystallized quartz. They were sus.
pected Of having robbed a mining camp and
gold. They proved, however, that while going
about in the dry bed of an old stream two miles
search OF fagots for a fire they had stumbled
upon the gold. They had offered the gold for
he. suspectins fraud, would not bargain with
sold in Los Angles for $S.z55S.. Il. weisfRed lie
there were over 100 men from all parts OF south
ern California hunting daily up and down THAI
old river bed for nuggets, but beyond q few IS
or 81 finds. they got no reward.
\ green hand ut placer mining found a nine
ty-seven ounce gold nugget In the mines at the
lTnlar Tnn1n nnpth nf flA va daERrf II
southeast Of bakersfield in January. 1889.
The very next day another nugget OF the size OF
a manufacturing jeweller. one brought
s 1850 and the other 1878. Several years ago
g nugget that sold for sl,too was brought into
who had been r~ouehing IT up In the mountains
with sheep ranchmen, In his long daily walks
for, health and exercise he amusedsbimself In
looking for Indian relics in a canon. He found
the nugget among rocks one day after u heavy
rainstorm had washed down Immense masses
OF x. avel and earth from the side OF tho canon.
There was no one moro astonished than he at
the. value placed on his find when he offered. 1t
ers. visited the locality where tho chunk was
picked up; but not one of them found another
Col. Thomas +. Brooks of Pomona Valley,
who has been engaged continuously in gold
mining Longer than any one else sid in rsnGs RI a..
formation concerning all varieties of mining,
says that the richest series OF finds OF gold
~necticut Yankee, Hezekinh Alien, who in later
years was Governor OF Nevada.
part IT F 81 shs saS ens d "a ls HlSHs . IN t es,. hqttsst
the other day, in recalling the bonanza days
in gold washing in California, that l was sent
to SEQ what the Yankees were finding on a
creek that empticd into the StanislAus River,
some miles above where Lone Star Is now sit
uated. The miners, were always restless, for
fear they might be fooling away their time in
Psnn ms. and d,5 rocking ling out s2 a,,S Or $50 each Sf.,s :
twice as much. So we occasionally hired a
spy to go and search for US. was tho spy on
the camp, and they had such a good thing that
they were generous, as to information. Well,
saw Hezekiah Allen and a boy 'long-tom' in
six hours that day twenty-One ounces of
an ounce. Sc the work was worth about $325,
o: Ina beans, and several Of double that size
It was only two feet t. bed rock. and the gold
gravel Snr at each freshai. spring ing" and fa1li. for
countless ages. l told many miners OF that find
OF gold, and they all agreed that it was ex'
Il never knew personally OF any ono finding
q nugget larger than a goose egg. A Portu-
more than a month in 1880. and could not
speak an, language but his own, came upon the
e eIaiT ,l0 wail ssa hS rr %Ss pRi. iHsr up 2, s MSScb on on r his
his skillet while he cooked. He went almost
crazy with excitement; It was, no doubt,
tinenessi he boiled It a dozen times; he
YOU'D blt Tor hours and look IL over ana over.
Ho was so afraid that he would lose tho mug
get: that he scarcely slept for a week. l never
PAW, a man try to speak in a foreign tongue so
hard as he did, for we learned later that he did
want to know SO badly what were the prospects
OF his finding more such chunks in that local
ny. The chances are that he never found an
other nugget OF any size whatever.
Speaking of tho possibility OF two or more
nnds OF big nuggets Of gold reminds me that
knew OF but one man among the, thousands ]
have seen and heard about in gold mining who
eyer CHANGED twice upon big nuggets. lie was
Dan hill. who ia always talked about at the
conventions of our State Miners Association.
lilo died in the county almshouse at Los Angeles
some ton years ago, about as thoroughly pick
ied in whiskey as any man i ever heard Of.
1 think 1t was about the summer OF 1866, while
nul was eking out a living in the placcrs near
tho Ruby Belle Camp. in PlnInas county, away
up under the shadow Of Mount Shasta, that
he came across, buried In the gravel, u chunk
q gold and rcd stained, watcr'marE ed quartz
lie started OF tho very next day for Sacra-
mento,, where he sold the find at the d: O.
MILLS BANK for about $4,000. In less than four
months hill had spent every dollar OF the sum.
lie s9uandered over IS, 900 in ono week in the
gambling and drinking saloons in SanFrancisco.
When his money was gone he went back again
ana ~ hard work made an average OF a few
QOUur6 o dAy for the naxt fOur or five years,