The record-union., 1897-05-09
MINING IN THE PAST.
"reminiscences Of Early Days on the
C0mStOCk.
The First Quartz Mining East of the
Sierra Nevada Mountains and
Who Did 1t.

Especial Correspondence of Record-Union.)
ST. HELENS (Or.), May 5.-In Sep
tember, 1857, l crossed the Sierra Ne
vada Mountains to examine the mining
prospects in Gold Canyon, near Carson
Valley, Utah. Finding the outlook fav-
orable, 1 returned to Placerville; organ
lied company of six men and in an
other month our little all was on the
road being slowly transported by two
OK teams to the chosen locality.
Old Californians can understand this
rapid change of base. And perhaps they
| only can recall the hope and enthusiasm
in the hearts of the men who, having re-
/ solved to go, never turned back. We
transported much that we would re-
quire for winter use, and had enough to
dispose of, to run small trading post.
1t soon began to dawn on us that we
We're in a desert country. That lack of
water from winter rains would make our
bedrock fiume scheme a failure. How
could we achieve success from the fail
ure was the question uppermost with all
in our company.
While prospecting for mining ground
we hunted and killed many mountain
h, lliQ q lew dAlSlOpt, ONSI lliC iotCl
named Comstock range at the head of
the American Ravine, Gold Canyon and
SiX-Mile Canyon. Seeing a great deal
of quartz on this range we often in
Quired of the miners who were there
before us if any gold had been found in
the quartz in that vicinity, and ventur-
ing the opinion that discoveries of gold
possibly might be made where so much
| quartz existed.
We were told that two brothers, Allen
and Hosea Gresh, lived in the canyon
the year before. That much of their time
was occupied in making tests of the
quartz That they found traces of gold
and that there was a good deal of evil
dence going to prove that silver existed
| in the quartz.
l was much interested in this inf0rma-
| ton, and sought to learn everything that
might throw more light on what the
Gresh boys did, and what they dis
covered
l will state at the risk of stirring up
a hornets nest, that these excellent and
unfortunate brothers mined no quartz;
worked no quartz, but did spend much
time in testing quartz with the blow
pipe, and such other limited means of
testing as was possible with them at
that time on the advanced frontier of
the mining region.
Without faith mining would be a
sorry business; or more correctly stated,
would not exist at all. AS attention be-
comes centered on proba bilities, one
miner will begin work at the point that
to him seems most favorable for find
ing gold. Another catches the infection,
and thus they morally sustain each
other in prospecting for gold where none
has yet been found. Thus the tests and
the faith of the Gresh brothers led up
to the first real quartz mining and re-
ductions-crude as it was-that were
made east of the Sierra Nevada Noun
tains.
In December, 1857, Jos. Bretts and w.
B. Galpin (the latter named had cabined
with the Gresh brothers, had faith
in their theories and the most profound
respect for their memory, in examining
an outcroD of quartz on Pioneer Hill,
just below the Devils Gate, in Gold
Canyon found it contained gold that
could be plainly seen. They rudely pull
verised and panned out six or eight
pounds of the quartz and obtained a
very flattering prospect.
In company with one of my partners
we met these miners on the threshold
of their discovery. BY mutual agree
ment we located nine claims; calling it
Pioneer Quartz Lode.
Major w NJ Ormsby was located with
US on the understanding that he would
furnish the work animals to operate
the arastra that we at once began to
construct. Major Ormsby will be re-
membered by old Sacramentans as keep
ing horse market on K street in 1906
in company with J. X Trumbo.. They
crossed over to Carson Valley in the
summer of 1851 and engaged in general
merchandise at Genoa and at Johnstown
in Gold Canyon.
Ormsby commanded 105 men in the
first Piute Indian war in May, l think,
1869 and was slain in this, the most
cowardly, disgraceful defeat ever sus-
tained when the number of combat
ants on each side is considered. 1t is
a fact that less than twenty mounted
Indians chased 100 armed white men
for twenty or more miles and actually
killed over seventy of them without the
loss of any of their number.
How was this possible, do you ask?