The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1919-04-26
EARLY HISTORY



lower end. They plan to drive a
tunnel from the east side Of the
canyon through one of the numer-
Gus reefs that cross it to bsdrock
and sluice the rich gravel that
lies on the bottom. Later 1t Is
probable that hydraulic operations
will be employed. The gravel is
over 100 feet deep and is said to
carry good values throughout.
Tule canyon is a deep wash some
IL miles long, which heads In the
high mountains south of Mount
lMagruder, debouching into the
north wash of Death Valley. Le-
gend tells of the mining of gold
from its bed by the Spaniards and
Mexicans, who invaded the oun
try many years ago, when 1t was
part of Mexico. Later our own
hardy pioneers sought its treas
ure; then came Chinese placer
miners from California.
The first authentic history of
Tule canyon dates back some SO
years, when a lone white mar
brought nuggets of coarse gold to
Independence, Cal, and exchanged
them for bacon and beans. His name
has been forgotten, but he paved
the way for Mexican miners, who
trailed him to his camp. After the
Mexicans came the Chinese, then
a long period of time in which only
sporadic efforts were made to re-
cover the gold. While the canyon is
known to be rich in a%uriferous
treasure, nature has ~interposed OBJ
stacles to it's recovery that ire diff
ficult to overcome. The gravel is
deep-from eight to Is feet a
short distance below the head to
more than 100 feet in many places.
At intervals reefs of rock cross the
channel and on bedrock courses an
underground stream of water. The
water saturates the gravel and sed-
iment for several feet above bed
rock, causing the shafts through
which the men worked to a
Tule canyon gold is high grade,
bringing SIS to SIG per ounce az
the mint. 1t shows little e a EVIL
dence that it has not travelled far.
but its source is a mystery. The
hills all around have been prospect
ed for gold leads, without success,
at the upper end of the canyon,
| where it is natural to assume the
auriferous gravel originated. The
most plausible theory advanced is
that the mountains originally stood
much higher, that the gold bearing
lodges were in these high noun
tains and have eroded clear to their
base.
Since 1906, when Tule attracted
the attention of Jefferson E. Doc
little, very little work has been
done. Three years before Doolittie
became interested in a gigantic plan
&c mine the gold, John T. Blake
and William Marmaduke took up
several claims about two miles be-
low the head of the canyon. They
were Joined two years later by
George Mcclure, also an experienced
placer miner, who was backed by
the BSbbitt brothers, wealthy mer-
chants of Arizona.
Blake and Marmaduke. Mcclure
and other operators followed the old
method of shaft sinking, being un-
able to finance their ventures on
a scale necessary to hydraulicking.
! On bedrock they took out coarse
gold, nuggets ranging from $2.5O
to $40 each. which they sold to
Goldfield jewelers.. Blake and HIS
partner found two nuggets behind a
boulder, twins" they called them,
that brought $74.60 and $500.
They also prospected Nugget gulch, a
side canyon, in which a Mexican
found an $500 nugget. But Mug
get gulch yielded them nothing.
Mcclure drove a tunnel from the
side of the canyon through one. OF
the reefs and cleaned up $4,000.
In 1906 Blake, Marmaduke, Nc
clure~ and other locators sold their
claims to e. w. Fogg of Oroville,
Cal, who secured locations cover
ing the entire canyon, clear to the
wash" Fogg had amassed a for
tune in drift mining on the old
Blue lead, the bed of an ancient
river, in California. 1t subsequent
ly became known that Fogg was