North Fork of the American - Mining History

General Mining History

The North Fork of the American FootPrint lies entirely within Placer County, California. Placer County was among the places first settled by gold-seekers in 1849 and still draws them today. The Central Pacific Railroad and now Interstate 80 run the length of the northern boundary of the FootPrint allowing for good access to the area.

Mining began along the North Fork of the American River soon after gold was discovered at Sutters Mill in 1848. Mining was begun by working the extensive shallow placers that ran from the lower plains almost to the summit of the Sierra and were among the richest in the State of California.

As the shallow placers and river bars were exhausted, miners turned their attention to drift and hydraulic mining in the deep auriferous gravels of the ancient river channels on the hills. Whenever the beds of the ancient rivers were accessible for working by shafts and tunnels they were worked by the drifting process and yielded large profits.

Hydraulic mining began in 1854, and was carried on successfully at Yankee Jims, Forest Hill, Iowa Hill, Gold Run and other places throughout the area. When hydraulic mining was temporarily halted by the Debris Commission in 1886, miners turned to the development and working of Quartz (lode) mines and the opening of the deep, lava-capped auriferous gravel channels for mining by the drifting process.

According to JH Hobson, in 1890 in Placer County alone, "there are about 200 miles of unworked auriferous gravel channels and an immense area of auriferous metamorphic rock in which are great numbers of veins of auriferous quartz."

Based on the results of production from channel workings at Forest Hill, Iowa Hill, Canada Hill and others, the value of the gravel varied from $7,000 to $70,000 per linear foot or about $3.5 Million to $350 Million per mile.*

Current Estimates

Investigations done by the US Bureau of Mines indicate that there are still substanial gold resources in the Tertiary Gravels of the American River. Their reserve estimates indicate that considerably greater yardages of gravel remain than were mined. Their estimate is that approximatly 60% of the gold remains in place.

It is estimated conservatively that $507 Million (historic prices) in gold was pulled from the Tertiary gravels in California. Today this gold would be worth about $35 Billion dollars in 2013 prices. That's another $59 Billion just waiting to be dug up!

 

Mining Districts

Iowa Hill Mining District
Iowa Hill is an intensive placer mining district that includes the Roach Hill, Monona Flat, Strawberry Flat, Succor Flat, Grizzly Flat, Shirttail Canyon and Kings Hill areas.

Hydraulic mining began here in 1853 and by 1856 the output was as high as $7 Million* per week. By 1880 more than $1.4 Billion* had been produced from the district. Drift mining continued through the early 1900's and there was appreciable activity again in the 1930's with a few of the more significant mines, including the Big Dipper and the Occidental having been worked since.

Forest Hill Mining District
Gold was discovered in the Forest Hill District in 1850. By 1852 the area was highly productive. In that year the Jenny Lind mine was discovered and hydraulic mining was introduced at Yankee Jims. By 1868 mines in the vicinity of Yankee Jims had yielded more than $70 Million*. Large-scale hydraulic mining continued until the early 1880's and drift mining until the early 1900's. There was appreciable activity here in the 1930's and early 1940's and a few mines have been worked since.

The total output of the Forest Hill Mining District is estimated to be at least $1.7 Billion* and could be considerably more.

Colfax Mining District
Placer Mining began in the Colfax District soon after the beginning of the gold rush. The locality was first know as Alder Gulch and later Illinoistown. The Rising Sun Mine was discovered in 1866. Considerable mining continued in the district until about 1900. Small scale placer mining has continued to the present time.

A fairly extensive path of Tertiary channel gravel is exposed on the north side of Colfax Hill.

Canada Hill Mining District
This mining district encompasses Sailor Flat, Robertson Flat, Sailor Canyon and New York Canyon areas. The gold at Canada Hill is believed to be in a branch of the Tertiary American River that flowed northeast and east across Sailor Canyon and then southeast to join the main channel near French Meadows.The channel is steep and narrow.

Damascus Mining District
The Damascus Mining District includes the lode mines of the Pioneer - Humbug Bar area on the the north and the extensive placer deposits that extend from Damascus through Forks House to the Sunny South-Gas Hill area.

The streams in this area were originally mined during the gold rush and drift mining began in the late 1850's. The Hidden Treasure drift mine was discovered in 1875 and was worked on a major scale through the early 1900's. There was some mining activity in the district again during the 1930's and there has been intermittent prospecting since.

This area has been quite productive with the drift mines alone at a total output of more than $840 Million* and the lode mines several million more.

Gold Run Mining District
From near the town of Gold Run, extensive Tertiary channel gravels extend south to Indiana Hill and the North Fork of the American River. Much of the output in the district has come from the vast Stewart hydraulic mine. This is the large tailings pile that is quite noticeable on the topographic map and aerial photos of the area.

From 1865 to 1878 approximately $420 Million* in gold was shipped from the express office in Gold Run. Mining on a moderate scale continued until about 1915, with considerable production reported in 1908. Minor work was done here in the 1920's and 1930's.

The Tertiary gravels here are more than a mile wide in an east -west direction and three miles long in a north-south direction. The lower cemented blue gravel yielded as much as several hundred* dollars per yard.

Emigrant Gap
This district is a lode and a placer gold-mining district that was first worked during the gold rush. There has been intermittent prospecting and development work here since.

The district contains several patches of auriferous Tertiary channel gravels. There are also a number of quartz veins in schist that contain free-flowing gold, pyrite and other sulfides. Channel deposits at the Lost Camp hydraulic mine contain both cemented and free-washing quartzitic gravels.

*Indicates values converted to current dollars using 2013 gold prices.

Sources:
Hobson, 1890 Placer County
CA Bulletin 193, 1970
Bureau of Mines TP-3, 1968

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