Monte Cristo was a mining camp in
Sierra County in the U.S. state of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
near
California State Route 49
State Route 49 (SR 49) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California that passes through many historic mining communities of the 1849 California gold rush. Highway 49 is numbered after the "49ers", the waves of immigrants ...
and
Downieville. Monte Cristo can be reached by trails from Downieville. One of the main trails is at the ridge between Goodyears Creek and the North Fork of the
North Yuba River
The North Yuba River (also called the North Fork Yuba River) is the main tributary of the Yuba River in northern California in the United States. The river is about longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline ...
. There are views of the Excelsior Mine on Goodyears Creek four miles northwest of Downieville near Monte Cristo.
Goodyears Bar, California
Goodyears Bar, known as Slaughter's Bar before 1851, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sierra County, California, United States. Goodyears Bar is located along the North Yuba River and California State Route 49 west-southwest of Downievill ...
is nearby. The mines at Fir Cap, two miles from Monte Cristo, were once rich with gold.
[The Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California](_blank)
Josiah Dwight Whitney, Cambridge, Vol. 6, Massachusetts, 1880
History
Monte Cristo was one of the richest mining camps from 1855 to 1860. In the 1859 election, almost one thousand votes were cast.
Monte Cristo produced from the 1850s hundreds of thousands dollar's worth of gold.
[History of Sierra County](_blank)
- Volume V "Over North" in Sierra County, James J. Sinnott
In 1855, B. C. Stevens was the owner of a livery stable at Monte Cristo, Sierra county. He had a livery stable, which became insolvent. As a result, Isaac Stevens attempted to recover possession of horses, mules, hay, barley, and saddles, which the town sheriff levied upon.
On April 22, 1859, the ''Sacramento Daily Union'' reported:
On September 29, 1859 there was a major fire in the town of Monte Cristo. The ''Sierra Democrat'' gave a description of the fire:
On February 28, 1860, the ''Sacramento Daily Union'' reported delegates from Monte Cristo for the
Democratic State Convention
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy
Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the ...
. Mining claims were made along the Goodyears Creek, as well as a half-dozen mining tunnels.
There were several businesses in Monte Cristo, including a saloon, drug and variety store, an attorney's office, a physician and surgeon and a butcher shop, among others.
Mining continued to be active through the 1860s into the 1870s at Monte Cristo.
Placer mining
Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed (Alluvium, alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining, open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment.
Placer minin ...
was the most prevalent mining. There are reports of miners at Monte Cristo in the 1900s as well. In 1903, the White Bear channel was discovered that ran to Monte Cristo. The Monte Cristo Company worked the channel taking out $200,000 worth of gold. In 1911, the Monte Cristo Gravel Mines Company took out gold from the gravel they excavated.
Geography
The former Monte Cristo Mine is located above sea level at .
The White Bear channel runs through Saddleback Mountain and Fir Cap, passing through Cooper Ranch under Monte Cristo. The characteristics of the gravel of this channel is a large amount of clean white quartz boulders.
Gold placers of California. California Mining Bureau
Haley, C.S. (1923), Bulletin 92, 167, page 126.
References
External links
Monte Cristo Mine
{{authority control
Gold mines in California
Underground mines in the United States
Ghost towns in California