Gold Placers of Los Angeles

8/14/2019 Gold Placers of Los Angeles

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THE GOLD PLACERS O F LOS ANGELES.BY J . M. CUINN.

Note.-The Spanish plural of placer is placeres. The Argonautsof '49 Americanized it to placers.To the gold seekers of the early '50's Los Angeles was knownas a cow country. The gold miner was the aristocrat of that periodand the pastoral people of Southern California were looked uponby the Argonauts as financial if not social pariahs.The seekers after the golden fleece who came to California bythe southern routes, poured into Los Angeles by the thousandsthrough the Cajon Pass, through the San Gorgonio, and by wayof Warner's ranch. Bleared and half-blinded by the burning sandsof the desert, and worn out with months of travel over the aridalkaline plains, they reached sleepy Los Angeles in no mood to

appreciate the salubrity of its climate or the fertility of its soil.They saw the hills and plains covered with thousands of cattle.They found the inhabitants calmly indifferent to the mad rush forgold. To the gold seekers such a country had no attractions.They were not seeking climate and they had no use for anysoil that was not mixed with gold dust. So they hurried on overthe mountains to the gold fields of Northern California. Few, ifany, of them knew that in the caiions and arroyos of the despised"cow country" the first gold ever discovered in California hadbeen found; and that the first mining rush ever known in Cali-fornia had been to the foot hills of that same cow country.The first anthenticated discovery of gold in California was madein territory now included in Los Angeles County.It was made March 9, 1841 by Francisco Lopez (for many yearsmayordomo of the San Fernando Mission) in the San FelicianoCaiion. This cafion is about forty miles northwesterly from LosAngeles City and eight miles westerly from the town of Newhall.Don Abel Stearns gives this account of the discovery:"Lopez with a companion while in search of some stray horses,about midday stopped under some trees and tied their horses tofeed. While resting in the shade, Lopez with his sheath knifedug up some wild onions and in the dirt discovered a piece of


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THE GOLD PLACERS OF LO9 ANOBLBS 229gold. Searching furth er he found more. O n his return to townhe showed these pieces to his friends, who at once declared theremust be a placer of gold there."

'The news of the discovery soon spread from Santa Barbara toSa n Diego and the first gold rush in the history of California began.I n a few weeks hu nd reds of people were engaged in washingand winnowing the sands of the gold fields.Col. J. J. Warner, who visited the gold fields shortly after theirdiscovery, sa ys : "T he d iscoveries of gold placers in th at ye arembraced the greater part of the county drained by the SantaClara River from a point fifteen or twenty miles from the moutht o its source and easterly beyond them to Mount San Bernardino."There was a scarcity of water in the diggings and the methodsof extracting the gold from the gravel were crude and wasteful.One of the most common was panning or washing the dirt in abatea or bowl shaped Indian basket.Another method of mining was by means of a crude form ofsluice o r lon g Tom . A str ip of manta o r coarse unbleached m uslina yard wide and several yards long was stretched on a level gentlysloping piece of grou nd near a stream of wa ter. T h e edge s of th emanta on each side were raised about a foot high and fastenedat short intervals to stakes with raw hide thongs. Th is trough o rsluice was filled with gold bearing gravel and a stream of waterturned onto i t , from a ditch a t the upper end, until the gravel w aswashed away. A narrow board fastened at the lower end pre-vented the gold from escaping. Th e gold which settled in th ebottom of the sluice was separated from the residium of sand bypanning.T h e first parcel of California gold dust ev er coined a t the Un ited

Sta tes mint in Philadelphia was taken from the product of thesemines. It was carried in a sailing vessel around Cape Horn. Itconsisted of 18.34 ounces and was deposited in the mint July 8,1843, by Alfred Robinson. Its value afte r coining was $344.75,over $19 to the ounce. I t belonged to Don Abel Ste am s.Robinson in a letter dated at New York, August 6, 1843, in -forming Stearns of the result of the coinage of .his gold shipmentand other items of news says:"How pleased you would be to make a visit to your native coun-

try. W ha t a change you would f ind. W ha t improvements! Youwill be enabled to come via Panama or rather I should say, perCanal. T h e Messrs. Baring & Co., of London, have made a con-tract with the 'Central Government' and in all probability the con-


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230 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF SOUTHERN CALIFOENXAtract will be finished in five years; so at last the long talked ofroute through the isthmus will be accomplished."

Since that letter was written nearly seventy years have passedand still that canal is unfinished. But in the interval between thenand now more than a billion dollars of California gold has beentaken across the isthmus of Panama.No authentic data in regard to the yield of the San Fernandoplacers, a s these mines were commonly called, exists. Beyondthe granting by Governor Alvarado of an expediente or officialtitle to Lopez for his discovery and the appointment of Don Ygnaciodel Valle (oh whose rancho the discovery was made) Encargado dejusticia-commissioner of justice-to preserve order in the miningdistrict the territorial government seems to have taken no furthernotice of the mines. It collected no statistics of the amount ofgold taken out of the placers and enacted no mining laws.Some of the pioneer Americans who visited the placers giveestimates. Wm. Heath Davis in his "Sixty Years in California,"places the amount at $80,000 to $100,000 for the first two yearsafter the discovery. Don Abel Stearns states that from the timeof their discovery to 1847, "Some six or eight thousand dollars

were taken out per amum." Bancroft says that "by December,1843, two thousand ounces of gold (about $38,000) had been takenfrom the San Fernando Mines." Don Antonio Coronel informedthe writer that he, with the assistance of three Indian laborers, inthe Spring of 1842, took out $600 worth of gold dust in two months.Don Abel Stearns says that the mines were worked "principallyby Sonorenses (Sonorians) who were accustomed to work inplacers. They met with good success."In the fall of 1854 began the Kern River excitement--one ofthe most famous mining rushes in the history of California goldmining.Gold was discovered on the head waters of the Kern River orRio Bravo. Reports were spread abroad of the fabulous richnessof the mines and the "rush was on." For a time it seemed as ifthe northern mines would be depopulated. From .Stockton to themines, a distance of three hundred miles, for weeks the plainsof the San Joaquin were literally speckled with honest miners onfoot, on horseback, on stages, and in wagons bound for the mines.Every steamer down the coast came loaded to the guards with

miners, merchants, gamblers, and adventurers of all kinds, boundfor the new El Dorado via Los Angeles. The sleepy old metropolisof the cow counties awoke to find itself transformed into a hustlingmining camp. Business in mining supplies was brisk and times


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THE GOLD PLACERS OF LOS ANGBLES 231we re lively in oth er directions. T h e Southern Californian of March7 , 1855 sa ys : "Last Sund ay night was a brisk night for killing.Four men were shot and killed, and several wounded in shootingaffrays." Th ese motley collections of gold hu nte rs ma de the irway over the Tehachapi summit to the mines.

The mines though rich were limited and the disappointed minersbea t the ir way back to civilization as best they could. So m e ofthem turned their attention to prospecting in the mountains southof the Tehac hapi and many new discoveries were made. I n April,1855, a party entering the mountains by way of the Cajon Passpenetrated to the head waters of the S an Gabriel. H e re in someof the caiions they found good prospects; but, the water failing,they were temporarily compelled to suspend operations. T h e San taAnita placers, about fifteen miles from this city, were discoveredand for a time worked secretly--the miners m akin g fro m $6 to$10 each per day.W ork was actively resumed in the Sa n Ferna ndo diggings. Fra n-cisco Gracia work ing a g a n g of India ns in 1855 took out $65,000.O ne nug get wo rth $1900 was found. D urin 1856 and 1857 min-ing and prospecting were continued. In 18?8 rich diggings werestruck o n the S an Gabriel. Mining operations were begun on a

more extended scale. T h e Sa nta Anita Mining Company was or-ganized ; D. Marchessault, president ; V. Beaudry, treasurer ; capi-tal, $50,000. A ditch four miles long was cut around the foot ofthe mountains. H ydra ulic wo rks were erected. Fe brua ry 15, 1859,when the works were completed, the company gave a sumptuousdinner to invited guests fro m the city. T h e success of the enter-prise was toasted in bumpers of champagne, and wine and witflowed freely. Th es e mines paid handsom ely for several years.D uri ng the year 1859 the caiion of the Sa n Gabriel was pros-

pected fo r fo rty miles, and "the color" was obtained in every in-stance. Som e of the ba r claims we re quite rich-as high a s $8 tothe pan being obtained in some places. Fr om a hill claim fo ur mentook out $80 in one day. T w o Mexicans with a common woodenbowl or batea washed out $90 in tw o days. T w o hydraulic com-panies were takin g ou t $1000 a week. I n July, 300 me n were a twork in the caiion and all reported doin g well. A stag e ra n fromthe city to the mines. Th re e stores at Eldoradoville supplied theminers with the necessaries of life; and several saloons, withgambling accompaniments, the luxuries.T h e editor of the Star in the issue of December 3, 1859, indulgesin roseate dream s of the mineral wealth of Los Angeles. H e sa ys :"Gold placers are now being worked from Fort T e j o n t o S a n


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232 HISTORICAL SOCIBl'Y OF SOU TH EltN CALIFORlqIABernardino. Rich deposits have been discovered in the northernpart of the county. T h e sari Gabriel mines hav.e been worked verysuccessfully this season. T h e Santa Anita placers ar e giv ing forththeir golden harvest. Miners ar e a t work in the Sa n Fe rna nd o hil lsrolling out the gold, and in the hills beyond discoveries have beenmad e w hich prove the whole district to be one g ran d placer."

After that the deluge. The rainy season began early in De-cember. F o r three days and nights it rained continuously. Nea rlya foot of water fell. I n the narrow cafion of th e S an Gabriel Riverthe w aters rose t o an unprecedented height and swept e verythingbefo re them. T h e miner's wheels, sluices, lon g toms, w ing dam s,coffer dams and all other dams went floating off toward the sea.T h e year 1860 was a prosperous one for the miners, notwithstand-ing the disastrous flood of Dec emb er, 1859. T h e increased w atersupply afforded an opportunity to work dry claims. Som e of thestrikes have the sound of the flush day s of '49 : "Baker & Smithrealized from the ir claim $800 in eight days." "Driver & Co. washedout $350 of dust in two hours.''

In the sprin g of 1862, Wells, F ar go & Co. were shipping to SanFrancisco $12,000 of gold dust a month by steamer and probably asmuch more was sent by other shippers or taken by private part ies;all this the product of the San Fernando, San Gabriel and SantaAnita placers.

In th e w inter of 1868 an im mense flood of wa ter sw ept thr ou ghthe cafion of the S an Gabriel Riv er obliterating ever trace of miningoperations and carrying with it all the flurnes and other miningmachinery on the river. T h e flood caused a n abandonm ent of allmining operations for several years.In July, 1871, two men, Matfield and Roberts, began the con-

struction of a hydraulic system a t the head of th e cafion. I n 1872they completed the construction of a flume five miles in lengthand one of the most complete and substantial ever constructed inany mining camp in the state. Th eir venture was a success. Theytook out large quantities of gold. Th eir success induced othe rs totry hydraulic mining. A s late as 1876 there were two hydrauliccompanies working in the caiion, one company reported a yield of$1,365 for a run of twe nty-six days, wo rking five men--an ave rageof $10.50 a day to the man.The yield of the Los Angeles placers can be ascertained onlyapproximately. M ajor Ben C. Truman in his SemGTropical Cali-fornia ( a book writ ten in 1874) says:"During the past eighteen years, hlessrs. Ducomrnon and Jones,


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THE OOLD PLACERS OF LOS ANOELES 233merchants of Los Angeles, have purchased in one way and anotherover two million dollars' worth of gold dust taken from the placerclaims of the San Gabriel River, while it is fair to presume thatamong other merchants and to parties in San Francisco has beendistributed-at least a like amount."

Add to this estimate the amount taken out of the San Fernandoplacers from 1841 to 1847, and from these placers and all the othermines except the San Gabriel from 1855 down to the present time,and the yield of the Los Angeles placer mines would reach if notexceed five million dollars.Our mineral resources are far from being exhausted. Withabundant capital, improved appliances and cheaper methods ofworking them, our quartz lodes and gold placers will yield richerreturns in the future than they have in the past. It may seem arash statement to ma ke t ha t the average yield of gold to eachman engaged in the Los Angeles placers equaled if it did not ex-ceed the average yield per man of the northern mines at the veryacme of placer mining-yet the truth of it can be substantiated.Careful statisticians estimate that in 1853, the year of the greatestproduction of the northern placers, the average yield per manfor those actually engaged in mining was less than $2.00 per da ;the average yield per man of the Los Angeles placers in 18 8,'59, '60,61 and '62 greatly exceeded that amount. YSuch in brief is the history of fifty years of placer mining in LosAngeles. I t is not the story of the treasure vaults of nature un-locked by the blow of a pick, nor is it a tale of disaster and loss.It is, rather, the record of fair remuneration for the labor expendedand the capital employed.

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Gold Placers of Los Angeles