Early days in California : an autobiography written for my grandchildren.

August 15, 1922

Charles R. Stetson

Mining at Shaw's Flat

After two or three days looking around and becoming acclimated, my Father said, if you want to try your hand at mining, right here in front of our cabin is ground that will pay from two to four dollars a day. So after fixing up a string of sluices, I worked for several days, making on an average about three dollars a day, which looked large to me, as youth of seventeen. The method of mining was according to location and richness of the ground. First, by rocker, a sort-of cradle, which was rocked with one hand, and water poured on with the other onto gravel, placed on a square box, say six inches deep. The water and agitation of the cradle caused the sand, small stones, and gold to pass through holes in the bottom and there remain until ready to be removed at the days close. The cradle was on rockers and one end was slightly elevated, so that all the light sand would flow off and only the heavier sand, pebbles, and gold remain for the miners to pan out and separate. Usually two or three worked together. One cradling or rocking; one digging and selecting the gravel to be washed; and the other carrying it in buckets from the pit where dug to the washers. When the mine was some distance from the water, more men to carry the gravel were used. Another method was the Long Tom. A long open box, say twelve to twenty inches wide, made flaring from two to two and one-half feet, turned up at the larger end. The larger end was covered with strong sheet iron, punctured with holes, the size of marbles or less. This was set so the flowing in at the upper end would flow down with considerable fall, so that sand and gravel thrown in could be washed down by the aid of a hoe or shovel, and pass on to the perforated iron, where a man with a hoe shoved it back and forth, until all the sand and gravel and gold passed through the holes. The larger stones were thrown out. When washed by a square pointed shovel, which could readily slip under them, the gravel and gold, after passing through the holes, dropped into the riffle box, set under the perforated iron, set on an angle that let all the lighter matter pass on. The heavier matter, with the gold, was retained until ready to clean up after the days work was done. If the company was a large one, the tom was lengthened, by adding sluices, which were boxes, made of boards, twelve feet long, with the bottom board two inches narrower at one end so they would fit one into the other, so men could be shoveling in as many did for a length of one hundred feet or more. Many claims were worked with sluice boxes alone; having what was called riffles across the boxes at different points. They were generally considered sufficient to catch all or nearly all the gold, the stones being forked out, the lighter gravel and sand passing out at the lower end called tailings, which when too badly accumulated at the lower end, were shoveled away so the water had a free run. The process here described was used universally in place of surface mining and in modified form in all mining.

In prospecting, one or more would pick out a likely looking place and dig down to bed rock and then with pick and pan wash out some of the gravel taken from different points. If one or two pieces or flakes of a color could be discerned, it was thought to be good for three or four dollars a day to sluice. If pieces of flakes of several colors, or maybe a dozen or perhaps a Chisper, which might be one half an ounce or more, then we had struck it rich, and the claim might pay $10.00 of $15.00 per ay to a man, or it sometimes happened it would peter out, that is, a few feet from the find it would hardly pay a dollar a day.

From 57 to 59, I had mined with fair success, but had invested largely in Table Mountain Tunnel, which had brought no returns. I still had a very good surface claim, but no water to work it, other than water from mining holes, which could only be pumped by hand, and would hold out for two to three hours a day. At this time I formed the acquaintance of Mr. Edward Harlow of Plymouth, Massachusetts who had just arrived with his young bride from the East, and we became fast friends. I took him in as a partner. We discovered a gravel deposit on the claim, which kept us busy all that summer, and considering the limitation of water, and slow pumping, we made good wages all summer, while most of the miners were idle.

There were during these years reports of large strikes in different parts, and a rush would be made, but soon subsided to wait another. The strike in Colwell Garden, before spoken of, had caused miners to believe that a river once flowed under the whole of Table Mountain, extending for fifteen to twenty miles through the country, and dozens of attempts to settle the mystery were made and companies formed to run tunnels under the mountain. I was interested in four tunnels, which never brought any return, but rather drained my pocked in assessment fees We abandoned them after from two to four years effort, poorer but no wiser for the experience. So year after year passed, with hope that we would strike it yet! Our winter surface mining always paid well, but the always present chance to do better caused me, as well as others, to try our luck, as we called it, to make our pile at once.