A Snapshot of Piety Hill

Above: the town of Piety Hill, date unknown. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.

Piety Hill is a fine example of a present-day ghost town, which was located in western Shasta County, California. This town was located about a quarter mile east of the present-day town of Igo, on what is now Cloverdale Road, and northward for 0.7 miles, however, the majority of these historic relics from this community is situated on private property which most of them are viewable by-passing motorists from the roadside. Piety Hill was established in 1849 as a gold mining camp and it eventually boasted of 1,500 residents including 600 Chinese settlers nearby due to the local mining claims in the area producing gold. The Chinese mined and worked their vegetable gardens here, there was no China town at Piety Hill.

In 1853, the lucrative Hardscrabble mine began its production of lucrative minerals by the Dry Creek Tunnel and Fluming Company, which began the construction of a water ditch by Chinese labor that is seen in this YouTube video here. It became a 22-mile-long water ditch which diverted water from the North Fork of Cottonwood Creek, Eagle Creek, Andrews Creek and the South Fork of Clear Creek. Then in 1857, gold pans yielded miners working their mining claims at Piety Hill from $60 to $190 per pan. At that time, the community was home to a few families in the area with children when they organized a school at that place and erected a schoolhouse. It was a booming up-and-coming place to live. In 1858, a man named Eugene Crowell kept a general merchandise store at Piety Hill which was a very successful business venture for him due to the production of gold from the local mining claims.

There are two stories of how Piety Hill received its name. Both are quite interesting and easy to believe. One account is that a family named McKinney moved into the area, having come from Piety Hill, Michigan, and the family members named their new home after their former hometown. Another explanation suggested by some historians is that this mining camp was occupied by religious groups which chose to name the community Piety Hill. Piety Hill does appear on the first official map of Shasta County which was surveyed by Colonel William Magee in February of 1862.

The present-day town of Igo began as the relocated community of Piety Hill. Residents moved in 1866, probably to segregate themselves from Chinese miners who were settling in Piety Hill, but also because people learned there was an ancient river channel under the community, making it reliable for well digging. George McPherson was the superintendent of the lucrative Hardscrabble mine as well. It was their hydraulic mining methods which also played a part in declining Piety Hill's growth while the nearby town of Igo burgeoned with success. 

In 1867, my paternal great-great-great grandfather the Reverend William Samuel Kidder, a pioneer Baptist minister, school teacher, farmer and miner, among other things, was recorded as living at Piety Hill, that year, after relocating his wife and children from French Gulch. His registration is found in the California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866-1898. His occupation at that time was a post master but Piety Hill lacked a United States Post Office to send and receive mail which this notation meant that Kidder was employed as post master for the French Gulch United States Post Office. My ancestors eventually relocated from Piety Hill to Eagle Creek (now Ono) at a later date.

By 1868, it was generally thought that the local mines in the area of Piety Hill were worked-out but that wasn't the case. McPherson and his men at the Hardscrabble mine cleaned up from its tailings or dump pile several thousand dollars from gold which was the largest assessment of gold ever produced at that location. That year also witnessed the erection of a brand-new sawmill in the area by Petty & Company, yet this lumber mill was a short-lived business venture.

A year later, Shasta County resident Charles McDonald, a well-known stage proprietor operated an express called McDonald's Express which took passengers from Shasta amongst the following western Shasta County communities: Middletown, Centerville, Piety Hill, Horsetown, Janesville (now Gas Point), and Roaring River. Roaring River was the farthest southwest which this stage line traveled to at that time. Later on, in 1870, Alamarin W. Baker, a resident of Eagle Creek (now Ono) operated a stage line called Baker's Shasta & Red Bluff Express which took passengers from Shasta to Red Bluff (in Tehama County), while making stops in between at Piety Hill and Horsetown.

Even though Piety Hill appeared to be in a declining state the local schoolhouse in May of 1871, had forty-one students enrolled into their one-room schoolhouse. The teacher at that time was Joanna T. Casey. While locals were still prospecting the area for new prospects other mining claims were still being patented in the region into the 1880s and 1890s, and by the turn of the twentieth century, Piety Hill suffered quite a loss from local mines failing at their production of ore while very few residents remained at Piety Hill.

In 1915, the Hardscrabble mine at Piety Hill was worked by miners mining away in drifts and toiling away in shafts on the property while utilizing hydraulic mining methods as a source to extract the gold from this mine, which was located in Section 27, 34 and 35, Township 31 North, Range 6 West, 1/2 mile south of Igo, and consisting of 1,700-acres, of patented mineral land. The owners were the Happy Valley Land and Water Company of Olinda. A. E. Bowles was the president of this company. This company owned the old Dry Creek Tunnel and Fluming Company's water ditch, which was then known as the Happy Valley water ditch as seen in the above YouTube video.

Remaining points of interest from Piety Hill include a reservoir, the Dry Creek Tunnel and Fluming Company's water ditch, also known as the Happy Valley water ditch, pieces of structures and depressions in the ground which were from the cellars below the Chinese buildings. Look for these historical relics along Cloverdale Road the next time you drive by in your vehicle. You might be amazed at their existence. The death knell of this community which never established a United States Post Office to send and receive mail came in 1920 when the last two residents of Piety Hill died.

Resources:

Condition of Our Public Schools - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 30, 1858

To Miners - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 3, 1858

S. Of T. - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 23, 1858

Mining Improvement - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, May 21, 1861

California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866-1898

Enterprising - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 25, 1868

Letter From Piety Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, June 6, 1868

School Report - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 20, 1871

Notice of Application for Patent To Mining Claim - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 4, 1873

Big Interest in Shasta Are Sold - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, July 21, 1911

Happy Valley to Be Transferred - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, July 30, 1911

U.S., Appointments of U.S. Postmasters, 1832-1971

REPORT XIV OF THE STATE MINERALOGIST - MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF CALIFORNIA - CHAPTERS OF STATE MINERALOGIST’S REPORT BIENNIAL PERIOD, 1913-1914. CALIFORNIA STATE MINING BUREAU, CALIFORNIA STATE PRINTING OFFICE, SACRAMENTO.

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, Siskiyou County, and Trinity County, by G. Chester Brown, ©1915 published by California State Printing Office.

My Playhouse Was a Concord Coach, an anthology of newspaper clippings and documents relating to those who made California history during the years 1822-1888, by Mae Hélène Bacon Boggs. Published by Howell-North Press ©1942

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

Way Back When - Myrtle McNamar, published by C.A.T. Publishing of Redding, California, 1952. 282 pages.

The Story of Western Shasta written by R.S. Ballou, The Covered Wagon, 1964, published annually by the Shasta Historical Society

Place Names of Shasta County by Gertrude A. Steger revision by Helen Hinckley Jones, ©1966 by La Siesta Press, Glendale, California

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, California – County Report 6 – by Philip A. Lydon and J.C. O’ Brien ©1974 by California Division of Mines and Geology

An 1850s Historic Water Ditch at Piety Hill

Video: ©2022.

Explore an 1850s historic water ditch in this video, which is located at Piety Hill, a former ghost town with a lucrative history in western Shasta County, California. This video was filmed in the summer of 2022. 

Hand Carved Sandstone Blocks Along The Present-Day, Sacramento River Trail.

Before 1872, Redding was the end-of-the-line, for the Central Pacific Railroad which became very fortuitous in its role in the development of our county for ten years until the railroad resumed construction of its tracks and laid them north of Redding through the Sacramento River Canyon in 1883. During that year, these hand carved sandstone blocks were mounted and placed by Chinese laborers who were employed by the railroad company to lay tracks over various creek crossings in that region along the Sacramento River. 

Now part of the scenic Sacramento River Trail, there function today serves as bridge foundations for a few pedestrian crossings from Salt Creek to Middle Creek. "Thousands of passengers and millions of tons of ore crossed over these foundations utilized by the railroad until 1939, when the railroad was rerouted over the high trestle east of the trail entrance as part of the construction of Shasta Dam."  

Above: the remaining hand carved sandstone blocks are still intact on the Middle Creek crossing along the Sacramento River Trail. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on October 27, 2022.

Above: a close-up of the remaining hand carved sandstone blocks at the Middle Creek crossing. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on October 27, 2022.

Resources:

Trail plaque at Middle Creek on the Sacramento River Trail

LOWER SPRINGS

Above: a cabin at Lower Springs. This photograph was taken in 1900. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.

After the first two gold discoveries in California were confirmed to be true, scores of people descended into California from around the world, and onto the Rancho Buena Ventura in 1849. As Gold Rush pandemonium struck this region and populated places near it, the forty-niners began pitching up their tents at a rapid pace. These people made their camp sites about two miles southeast of Reading Springs. After that, they began to prospect the nearby creek channels to stake out their placer mining claims. Not everyone was successful at mining. 

At this location, a tent community called Lower Springs was established by these forty-niners, that year. Lower Springs became one of the original gold rush communities of Shasta County. This new tent community was named Lower Springs because its name derived from the nearby community of Reading Springs. Later on, the name of Reading Springs was changed to Shasta on June 8, 1850, and the community of Lower Springs kept its name.

A man by the name of Benjamin Swasey was among the first settlers of this flourishing mining community. He was a native of New Hampshire and he arrived in Shasta County in 1849. After his arrival, the Lower Springs mining district formed its boundaries in the area. Some people made their fortune while others weren't as lucky, yet these miners kept locating new placer mines in this mining district. During the summer months, the Lower Springs mining district became dry diggings with the lack of rain, and water resources were unavailable for miners to use in their placer mines at that time.

Eventually, the rain fell and restored the water in the creek channels every year, as early as fall or as late as winter, however; summer rain storms were known to happen.  It was Swasey who purportedly owned some land near Lower Springs at Gold Gulch. Gold Gulch was a tributary of Salt Creek which reportedly yielded him, $1,500 to the cubic yard in gold. Salt Creek was another stream which channeled near Lower Springs.

In 1850, the first wooden home structure was erected at Lower Springs, and soon after, other homes were completed with additional bungalows and cabins. Lower Springs had a thriving population during its hey-day, the exact number of settlers weren't recorded. However, Lower Springs' population fueled this flourishing community to be a contender for the county seat of Shasta County, along with Horsetown and Shasta, in the running on the ballot at the local primary election in 1851. This is when the county seat was removed from the Reading Adobe at Cottonwood to Shasta.

Then on, March 6, 1851 the town of Shasta became the second county seat of Shasta County. The original location of Lower Springs was on the stage road which routed rigs from Canon House (Canyon House) to Shasta. The current site is located a quarter-mile west of the junction of Highway 299 and Ridge Drive.

The burgeoning community of Lower Springs was prone to Indian attack's, and the Indians raided many cabins in the area at that time, taking with them all of the supplies and provisions the early settlers owned. Then on, April 17, 1851, a man by the name of Merady Swan, a native of Missouri, was murdered by Indians in this community. The following article is from the Sacramento Transcript newspaper of Sacramento:

"Killed By Indians - A man named Merady Swan formerly of Missouri, was shot in his cabin at Lower Springs, two miles this side of Shasta City, one night last week. The Indians slipped up to his cabin at night and shot him through a crack in the door, while he was sitting at the table. Several other persons were in the house, which prevented them from robbing it." (SIC)

In May of 1852, the miners of this mining district were averaging five dollars to the pan per day on Salt Creek. A new settler to the area by the name of Jonathon F. Gage, a native of New Hampshire, erected a log style house there. Gage was married to Alice Jane Swasey a sister of Benjamin Swasey. Jonathon’s profession was farming but he also tried his hand at mining. Together they raised a large family, and then in 1866 they relocated from Lower Springs to Middletown, this is where Gage registered to vote that year.

In 1853, Benjamin Swasey filed a land claim at Shasta, for one hundred and sixty acres of land at Lower Springs, and then he erected a house on this property for him to live in. He also erected two additional buildings at Lower Springs for his businesses. Swasey became the proprietor of the Swasey hotel and the Swasey mercantile store. The hotel included a large barn and a corral with a natural spring of water. Hay and barley were also stocked in the hotel's barn. His business prospered as Swasey advertised in the Shasta Courier newspaper from Shasta. 

Above: an advertisement for Swasey's hotel at Lower Springs, the ad above is from the Saturday, January 21, 1854 edition of the Shasta Courier newspaper.

Above: this is an upper torso photograph of an elderly, Benjamin Swasey. Benjamin was born on January 31, 1822 in New Hampshire and he died in Oakland, Alameda County, California on September 19, 1912, at the age of ninety. He is buried at Redding in the Redding Memorial Park. He was married twice, first to Nellie Dalton, and second to, Emily Marshall. Then in 1861, Swasey became a photographer and relocated to San Francisco. This image was taken circa 1880s at Vance's Gallery in San Francisco. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.

Aside from the businesses owned by Benjamin Swasey, this community also included a boarding house called the Virginia House and a blacksmith shop which was owned and operated by Henry Jones. Jones was a native of Ohio, and he was married to his wife, Emily. There was at least one son produced during this union which they named James Jones. At a later date, Henry Jones changed his profession to become a gunsmith.

Then on, Saturday, April 2, 1853, the Shasta Courier newspaper reported the following information in the forthcoming article:

"DIGGINGS ABOUT LOWER SPRINGS - We have heard of remarkably good wages being made within the past few days in these diggings, and what is more, we know it to be true. Dr. Dunlap, in digging a cellar under his house, took the trouble to prospect the dirt, and found it paid upwards of two cents to the pan from the surface to the bed rock. This ground of course would pay fine wages for sluicing, if water was to be had." (SIC)

Later that month, additional excitement occurred at the placer mines on the hillside above the Virginia House, which yielded lucrative results to local miners. Miners also crossed the main stage road to the land opposite of the boarding house and they made the most gratifying success there. There were many delightful parties were held at the Swasey house where people danced the night away and during each ball a supper was prepared by Swasey’s wife, Nellie, to serve the guests. Anyone was welcome to join them and it was a great way for the lonely miners of the area to interact with the beautiful and single ladies.

The following year, the miners of the area were extremely harsh on the Chinese immigrants in the Lower Springs mining district, and at that time, they voted to ban all Chinese immigrants, and then, they forced them to turnover their mining properties to the miners of the area which were not of that race, and the "white miner" weren't the only race to enforce this policy. Hong Kong, near Shasta was closest Chinatown to Lower Springs, which was located two miles away. There were quite a number of anti-Chinese mining districts in Shasta County. Lower Springs wasn't the only mining district to evict the Chinese.

Above: This undated surveyed map shows the boundaries of the Lower Springs mining district and some of the mines included. Please note the name: the Old Spanish Mining Co., of course other mines and companies are noted on it as well. 

In the fall of 1854, a brand new trading post was established at Lower Springs by J.D. Dunlap & Company, and they began advertising their general merchandise store in the local media. Two months later, in December of that year, the first rain eventually fell, and miners had an abundance of water to use. The miners started washing their placer mines and they were making one hundred dollars per day by rocker at that time.

Above: an advertisement for J.D. Dunlap & Company at Lower Springs. This ad is from the Saturday, October 21, 1854 edition of the Shasta Courier newspaper.

The construction of the Clear Creek Ditch, sometimes referred to as the Clear Creek Canal, began in December of 1853. Local miners raised the money to back this large project to convey the water of Clear Creek into the nearby dry diggings of Briggsville, Horsetown, Lower Springs, Muletown, Shasta and Whiskeytown. The ditch connected with a large reservoir which was built as a major part of this project.

Local miners celebrated the ditches completion on November 24, 1855. The length of this ditch measured at sixty miles. The reservoir at Middletown covered fifteen acres to a depth of eight feet. Immediately, the water from this ditch began conveying water into the Lower Springs mining district at Salt Creek. The miners at Lower Springs now had an abundance of water to use in their mining claims.

There wasn't much of a ruckus at Lower Springs between the years 1856 and 1857; however, this community managed to stay relevant. The miners in the area focused on their placer mines, and local businesses advertised their companies in the local media. However, in July of 1857, Swasey’s hotel was still owned by Benjamin Swasey, but it was now under new management. A man by the name of Willam H. Bond was hired by Swasey to manage the hotel for him. Swasey still ran his mercantile store but his extra time was focused on being the public administrator of Shasta County, which is part of the reason he couldn’t manage both the mercantile store and the hotel by himself.

Above: an advertisement for the Administrator's Sale of Real Estate for the estate of T.B. Pritchett, deceased. This estate sale was held on Main Street at Texas Springs, in Shasta County, by Benjamin Swasey, Public Administrator on August 22, 1857. The above ad is from the Saturday, August 8, 1857 edition of the Shasta Courier newspaper.

Two years later, on February 19, 1859, the Shasta Courier newspaper heralded the following article:

“Pottery - The manufacture of pottery has been fairly commenced by Messrs., Bly & Co., at Lower Springs. It is the first manufactory of the kind that we have heard of being established in the Northern part of the State. The first kiln was burned a few days ago. It was entirely successful and the ware is of excellent quality. We have been presented with a large pitcher from this first kiln and we value it highly. It argued well for California to witness the commencement of manufacturing establishments throughout the State - however, humble they may be in their inception. We wish Messrs., Bly and Co., an abundant reward in the pursuit of their laudible enterprise.” (SIC) 

Apparently, the above article by the Shasta Courier newspaper conflicts with previous statements by local historians who claimed that, a man by the surname of Tozure, had owned and operated the first pottery shop at Lower Springs. There's no information to suggest that Tozure was employed by Bly and Company, or that Tozure had become Bly and Company’s successor at Lower Springs. There might have been two different pottery shops at different era's in this community, in operation, because the above article suggest otherwise.

This quiet burg was interrupted one day, in January of 1863, by an affray started by Lawrence O' Connell who assaulted William Thompson over a bottle of strychnine whiskey. This is one incident that the local media frenzied over. It was Thompson who was severely beaten by O’ Connell that day, and after the violent dispute, O'Connell immediately departed Lower Springs for Latona. Thompson traveled to Shasta where he pressed charges of assault against his assailant at the Sheriff’s office. O’Connell was later arrested at Latona by Sheriff John S. Follansbee, and then, Follansbee escorted him to Shasta where he was jailed.

In June of 1863, Jones & Company struck a fine ledge of gold particles on their mining property at Lower Springs. They believed that this ore would carry a high value at the assayers office and it won them quite a bit of praise in the local media. The ledge was measured at twenty-two feet wide, immediately, Henry Jones and his crew sunk a shaft down twenty feet below the surface of the earth. 

As they continued to lower the shaft, the ore they sought after revealed better quality. This discovery brought a boom to the community of Lower Springs, and it became one of the first quartz mines in the Lower Springs mining district. Everything until then had been placer mining, in that area, Jones & Company would soon develop the property further with tunnels, drifts and upraises. Its believed that this former placer mine became the quartz mine known as the Old Spanish Mine.

After this quartz mine was dug out, a number of placer mining properties in the Lower Springs mining district were transformed by miners into quartz mines. In November of 1864, Henry Jones who was one of Lower Springs leading citizens was elected as Supervisor of District 1 of Shasta County, the local media referred to Jones as being “eminently qualified for the position”. That month, a number of large quantity of rocks from the Old Spanish Mine at Lower Springs was hauled to the Spring Creek stamp mill on Spring Creek to be crushed so they can obtain the gold from the quartz rocks.

Then on, Saturday, March 4, 1865, the Shasta Courier heralded the following account of a recent discovery made by Henry Jones: 

“A SWEET DISCOVERY - Last week Mr. Jones, of Lower Springs observes s large number of honey bees working upon the willows in that vicinity, and being quite an expert apiarist, he noticed that in leaving the willows they generally flew in the same direction, and by taking observations from some willows in the vicinity of Mr. Wiser’s garden he saw that the course taken by the bees from the two points converged upon a hill about a half mile from Lower Springs, and upon going to the place, he found the bees occupying a log upon the hill. The log was opened and forty pounds of excellent honey taken therefrom and sufficient left for the bees, which Mr. Jones has taken to his house.” (SIC)

A man named Bert Wiser partnered with a another man by the surname of Terry and together they established an excellent vineyard at Lower Springs. Wiser & Terry were well-known purveyors of wine which became a locally renown favorite of the era. Their wine was bottled at their Lower Springs vineyard and then transported to Wiser’s home at Buckeye, in Shasta County. He lived on the Buckeye Ranch where Wiser & Terry kept a rather large cellar that they stored their wine in. Their wine was labeled as Wiser & Terry, Lower Springs, California.

Another serious affray occurred in this community on March 15, 1865, when a shooting of a Chinaman transpired over an apparent purchase of a mining claim and water ditch. The German settler who apparently sold the property to the Chinaman denied the fact that he had sold him the land. Then the German claimed that he didn't realize the area was an anti-Chinese district. After they quarreled- the German shot the Chinaman in the arm and the feud was settled according to reports, but both parties lived, and no one was arrested.

On September 9, 1865, the local media reported the following; 

"We are advised that there are fair prospects for the erection of a small mill at Lower Springs, this fall. - The good work goes on, and if the people will but prospect, the future of Shasta is assured." (SIC) 

The above quote by the Shasta Courier newspaper is referring to a brand new stamp mill to help crush the rock to obtain the ore from the samples they retrieved. The mining company to establish this new stamp mill at Lower Springs was the Union Company who hired a man by the name of L.A. Kelly to be their superintendent at the stamp mill and supervise their daily operations here. The Union Company's stamp mill wasn't in operation until mid-December. It's not known how many stamps this crusher had.

Between the years 1866 and 1870, there were newer quartz mines which were located in the Lower Springs mining district. The quartz rock from these mines were hauled to the Union Company's stamp mill or the Spring Creek stamp mill. The ore from these mines were assayed at high value, and due to this mining boom these lucrative quartz mines brought new settlers to the area. The Union Company actually began to dig and blast through surface rock to make their own quartz mine at their stamp mill property to prospect.

While the decade of the 1870s and 1880s evolved around the mining district at Lower Springs, the (old) gold mining burg flourished once again as work continued in number of mines in the area. One quartz mine in particular is the Old Spanish Mine, which is located in the Lower Springs mining district. Throughout history, this mining burg never established a post office, and it continued to be prominent into the 1890s, and past the turn of the 20th century. Today, Lower Springs Road retains the name of this once thriving gold rush community and present day Swasey Drive was named after forty-niner, Benjamin Swasey.

Above: In January of 1905, this plat map of the Telluride Consolidated Mine was surveyed by Alfred Baltzell, an U.S. Deputy Mineral Surveyor, for its owners Charles Piftschek, and Anton Herzlieb, of Redding. The Telluride Consolidated Mine embraced the Tellurium Quartz Mine, Diagonal Quartz Mining Claim, and the Hill Gravel and Quartz Mining Claim. All of these were located on the property of Piftschek and Herzlieb.

Legend has it that these iconic palm tree's were planted by pioneer, Benjamin Swasey at Lower Springs, and they grew in front of his Swasey hotel. The palm tree's lasted until the decade of the 1970s when the area was developed and they were uprooted. This photograph was taken in 1972. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.

RESOURCES:

1850 U.S. Census

Killed By Indians - The Sacramento Transcript newspaper of Sacramento, April 17, 1851

From The Interior - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, May 31, 1852

Lower Springs - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 12, 1853

Diggings About Lower Springs - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 2, 1853

The Lower Springs Road - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 7, 1853

The Ball At Lower Springs- The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 21, 1854

J.D. Dunlap & Co. - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 21, 1854

Lower Springs - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 23, 1854

A Serious Difficulty - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 13, 1855

Convention of Shasta County Miners Relative to the Chinese Question - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 20, 1855

Clear Creek Ditch - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento, October 29, 1855

Clear Creek Ditch Finished! - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, November 24, 1855

Swasey’s Hotel advertisement - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, July 11, 1857

Slanderous - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 19, 1859

1860 U.S. Census

Supervisor - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, November 19, 1864

Quartz - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, November 26, 1864

A Sweet Discovery - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 4, 1865

Shot - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 18, 1865

Still Another Mill - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 9, 1865

Lower Springs - Union Co. - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 9, 1865

New Discovery - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, January 6, 1866

Struck It - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, February 10, 1866

Prospecting Mill - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 10, 1866

Buckeye Ranch - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 1, 1865

1866 California Voters Registration

1870 U.S. Census

1880 U.S. Census

California Journal of Mines and Geology, Volume 10 1890, page 632.

Mining District Near Redding’s Limits - Mineral Wealth Magazine, March 15, 1905

Benjamin Swasey Dies At Home In Oakland - The San Francisco Call newspaper of San Francisco, September 20, 1912

My Playhouse Was A Concord Coach, an anthology of newspaper clippings and documents relating to those who made California history during the years 1822-1888, by Mae Hélène Bacon Boggs. Published by Howell-North Press ©1942

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

Lower Springs by Mabel Frisbie - The Covered Wagon, 1957, published by Shasta Historical Society.

In the Shadow of the Mountain A Short History of Shasta County, California, by Edward Petersen ©1965

Gage-Carter Family Stories, Compiled for Lloyd D. Carter, edited by M. Walsh © October 1990 929.2 Gage/Carter in Shasta Historical Society library

Middle Creek & Lower Springs Mining District 622 Mining, available at the Shasta Historical Society

The Bunker Hill Mine

This map was surveyed on August 12, 1948, as part of the railroad relocation project from Middle Creek to Matheson. The Bunker Hill mine is noted as the George P. Whaley and A.M. Whaley lot.

In 1860, a miner by the name of Samuel Gaston, a resident of Middle Creek, led a party of miners consisting of: James T. Loag, Drury D. Harrill, and Soloman D. Brawstow. The later were all prominent residents of Shasta. However, some accounts refer to them as the Loag party. They started prospecting the channel of Middle Creek and they struck a lucrative vein of decomposed quartz near the mouth of the creek.

   

While they were at their new mining claim, Gaston and his men began the surface work, that day. A couple hours later, another party of miners arrived at the scene. This group was led by Terrance Brennan of Shasta. During my research I haven't found any documents which contains the other names of the Brennan party. The local media often referred to them as Brennan & Company. After their arrival at the mining claim, a heated argument ensued between Brennan & Company and the Gaston party. During this argument Brennan & Company objected to their work because they claimed that they were infringing upon a nearby quartz lode that they owned. They demanded the Gaston party to leave at once and never to return.

   

After Gaston and his men returned to their home’s, Gaston traveled into Shasta where he filed a law suit against Terrance Brennan in the Shasta County District Court, in November of that year. Gaston had reasons to believe that Brennan & Company didn’t own the mining claim. The case was tried before Judge William P. Daingerfield. 

   

Later that month, on November 27, 1860, the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper of Sacramento reported the following account:

"SHOOTING AFFAIR - Terry Brennan and Samuel Gaston who have been engaged in a law suit in reference to a mining claim located near Middle Creek, Shasta county, met on the claim on Monday, morning November 19th, both armed and, after an exchange of some harsh words and threats, resulted in Brennan shooting Gaston in the arm. Brennan gave himself up, says the Northern Argus, but none appearing against he was discharged." (SIC)

Over the years the media outlets in California have twisted the above shooting affray into a bloody battle between Gaston’s party and the Brennan party, at the Bunker Hill mine. The above article was derived from an article that appeared in the Northern Argus, a newspaper from Horsetown. Some accounts are bogus but the above article is the most authentic story of the Bunker Hill mine, due to its gold and lore the mine became famous.

As the trial in the District Court preceded, the disputed mining claim was brought before the miners of the Lower Springs Mining District and the Middle Creek Mining District to determine if Gaston and his men were conducting surface work or quartz lode work on December 5, 1860. They were also hoping to settle the dispute out of court. Apparently, the miners decided that they were conducting surface work and the Gaston party would eventually infringe upon the quartz lode owned by Brennan & Company. There were mining resolutions which were passed that day but they were not in favor of Gaston & Company. Gaston continued the law suit in the District Court. 

The earliest account of this mine being referred to as the Bunker Hill appears in a newspaper article which was printed on Saturday, December 8, 1860 by the Shasta Courier. It’s not clear as to who named this mining claim, but the shooting affray between Brennan and Gaston played an important part of its naming. One of the questions brought before the District Court was in regard to who had completed the most surface work at the mine, and only time would tell.

On Saturday, March 23, 1861, the Northern Argus printed the following column: 

"DISTRICT COURT - The court has been engaged during the greater part of the present week, in trying the case of Gaston against Brennan and others. It terminated on Wednesday last, the jury stood nine for plaintiffs and three for defendants. The case will be tried again during the coming week." (SIC)

During the next week, the jury in the trial voted in favor of the plaintiff on every count. Apparently, it was determined by the District Court that Gaston and his group completed the most surface work at the site. Therefore, they were the rightful owners of this disputed property. Gaston won the lawsuit which allowed him to collect damages from Brennan. 

Then on, Saturday, April 13, 1861, the Gaston party took possession of the Bunker Hill mine and they resumed their mining operations that day. Once again, Brennan & Company started another altercation with them as they rushed into the mining claim and belligerently forced the Gaston party off the property. Brennan & Company threw out all of their equipment and additional belongings they brought with them as well.

Upon their departure from the Bunker Hill mine, Gaston & Company immediately went to get the Sheriff at Shasta, and they returned with Sheriff, John S. Follansbee to Bunker Hill where Gaston and his party had the sheriff arrest the Brennan party for rioting. The Brennan party still claimed ownership of the mine even though the District Court awarded it to Gaston and his group. After the Brennan party were released from jail, Gaston and his men obtained a Writ of Resolution from the District Court of Shasta County. Due to this clause an agreement was reached by both parties who decided not to mine the claim for thirty days until the rightful owner was decided again by the District Court.

It was Judge William P. Daingerfield who officially declared ownership of this mining claim to Samuel Gaston and his party in May of 1861, which ended the Writ of Resolution. Brennan was very disappointed that he lost the potential ownership of the Bunker Hill mine. Lawyers for Brennan’s party motioned for a new trial to be granted but the motion was denied by Judge Daingerfield.

Gaston and his men established the Bunker Hill Company, naming themselves after their mine. Each of them owned shares within the mining company. In April of 1862, the Bunker Hill Company were steadily mining and extracting gold from their placer mine at an lucrative rate of six to ten pounds per day. They employed four men to assist them in their claim. The Shasta Courier, a newspaper from Shasta, reported the following account on Saturday, May 3, 1862:

"BUNKER HILL - On last Thursday, this claim paid ninety-three ounces, and it is improving continually."

Then in, October of 1862, a notice was printed by the Shasta Courier that claimed Brawstow was selling his interest in the Bunker Hill mine. This was a chance for others to buy his shares within this mining company, and the new shareholder profited very well. 

During May of 1863, prospectors Hoy and Kennedy struck a rich vein of ore on land adjoining the Bunker Hill mine. The discovery yielded remarkable results which were heralded by the local media in Shasta. Hoy & Kennedy cleaned up nicely as it was reported that they were making between $900 and $1,700 per day with the employment of three miners extracting the ore near the Bunker Hill mine. The local media opined that this vein was a continuation of the Bunker Hill mine lead.

A ditch was dug from Middle Creek and miners extended it into the Bunker Hill mine to help them convey water into their mining site to assist them in the extraction of gold. If a large abundance of water was available then mining was a regular occurrence on the property. The Bunker Hill Company negotiated a contract with the Spring Creek stamp mill to crush its rock to obtain the ore. It was surface rock that they were crushing. After the deal was made they began delivering large quantities of rock to the nearby stamp mill. 

Two years later, the Bunker Hill Company was still actively perusing their claim. In February of 1865, their miners struck a new vein of gold ore. It was reported by the Shasta Courier newspaper that: "four pans of rock from which, when crushed in a hand mortar yielded twenty-four ounces and eight pennyweights. It still continues to pay nearly the proportion."

Nearly a month later, the Bunker Hill Company continued making progress on their placer mine as they extracted forty ounces in two days by washing pay dirt. The ground contained an abundant of ore in profitable quantity to be extracted by their miners. As the mine kept revealing its secrets they rapidly stayed in production that year. In January of 1866, after a run of a two week period the mine yielded between fifteen and sixteen hundred dollars in gold. The mine continued to produce lucrative ore. There were no adits, shafts or tunnels on the property it was still an active placer mine, not a quartz mine.

Aside from washing pay dirt at the mining site. The miners extracted the ore from a soft slate in a thin strata of decomposed quartz as well. Their miners struck gold in deep pockets of quartz, and located quartz walls with veins of gold on the property. 

In 1872, the construction on the California & Oregon Railroad, a division of the Central Pacific Railroad, finished bringing the railway north to Redding. The construction would not resume north for another ten years. During the interim, in December of 1874, Drury D. Harrill applied to the United States Government for a patent which was granted at a later date for the Bunker Hill mine. After a ten year hiatus, the construction of the railroad resumed north from Redding in 1882.

That year, Chinese immigrants who were employed by the railroad made an amazing discovery of gold pieces valued between $15,000-$20,000 at the Bunker Hill mine, it wasn’t reported by the local media about how or why these gold pieces were left. At that time, the Bunker Hill mine was abandoned. However, this discovery brought a renewed interest to the mine and it was developed again.

In 1896, the Bunker Hill mine was owned by John Varner Scott of Shasta, a Mrs. Carmichael of Oakland, and Mrs. Emily Loag of New York (the widow of James T. Loag.) A man named William Albert Pryor was an overseer of Mrs. Loag’s shares of the mine. Pryor's position granted him access to the mining property and mining rights.

In December of 1900, the Bunker Hill Company employed one man and an armed guard at the mining site to protect their property, because the mine began yielding  $3,000 per day. It’s days of being a lucrative placer mine were ending as the owners wanted to transform the placer mine into a quartz mine with adits, tunnels and shafts. Eventually, additional men were hired by the above company to do that for them.

The first shaft was dug to eight feet below the surface of the earth and a new tunnel was dug in near the hillside to the new shaft. While the miners were digging out and constructing the new tunnel a new vein of gold was discovered by them.

During the year 1915, the mining property included sixty acres of patented land and 460 feet of tunnel. The mine was owned by William A. Pryor, the Shasta druggist, and a man by the surname of Logan. According to G. Chester Brown of the California State Mining Bureau the Bunker Hill mine included a north and south vein which was five feet wide with 200 feet of drifts. Pryor and Logan were working the mine together while they were producing fine specimens of ore.

Eventually, the quartz mine was abandoned again, and during the 1940s, it was relocated again. Miners began redeveloping the mining site and extracting the ore from it. Then the production stopped. The last owner’s of the property was George Whaley and his wife A.M. Whaley of San Francisco, according to a 1948 map of the property which was surveyed for the railroad relocation project from Middle Creek to Matheson.

At the Bunker Hill mine there are remains of an old water well which has been plugged, a rock retaining wall, a plugged shaft and a few fig and grape trees. Along the creek nearest to the mining site there are a few spots indicating that the miners tried probing while miners dug for gold. From historical references it’s learned that drifts and adits were made with underground openings (now plugged). If you go take water with you on a hot day.

The unmarked trailhead to the Bunker Hill mine is located just north of the ribbon bridge that spans the Sacramento River on the Keswick side of the Sacramento River Trail. From this trailhead the trail guides you in about 0.2 miles from the Sacramento River Trail near the mouth of Middle Creek. The trail is a moderate hike into the mine. Another mine called the Compton mine exists north of here at Rock Creek just off the Sacramento River Trail, if you know where to look.

Above: The superintendent of the mine more than likely lived near this plugged water well of the Bunker Hill mine. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: One of the plugged shafts of the Bunker Hill mine. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: One of the plugged shafts of the Bunker Hill mine. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: Miners tried to probe here but without luck they moved on to better diggings. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: A Fig tree at the Bunker Hill mine, a rock marking the spot in memory of someone. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: Grape trees at the historic site of the Bunker Hill mine. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: A rock retaining wall against the trail into the gold mine. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 13, 2015.

Above: The headstone of the original locator of the Bunker Hill mine, Samuel Gaston (1834-1909). He was interred into the Redding Memorial Park. Gaston was a native of Livingston County, New York. He arrived in Shasta County and settled at Middle Creek in 1852. He was a miner. At a later date, Gaston relocated from Middle Creek to Elko, Nevada where he served as a deputy Sheriff for a number of years. After that, he returned to Shasta County and died in the county hospital. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 19, 2018.

Resources:

Shooting Affair - The Sacramento Daily Union newspaper, November 27, 1860

Mining In Shasta - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, April 26, 1862

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, May 3, 1862

A Chance - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, October 4, 1862

Rich Claim - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, May 9, 1863

The Mines Played Out - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, February 11, 1865

Bunker Hill Co. - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, March 4, 1865

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, April 29, 1865

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, January 6, 1866

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, June 9, 1866

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, June 16, 1866

D.D. Harrill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, December 5, 1874

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, October 20, 1877

Bunker Hill - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, February 29, 1896 

1896 California Voters Registration

A Story of Bunker Hill Mine - Sausalito News, December 15, 1900

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, Siskiyou County, and Trinity County, by G. Chester Brown, ©1915 published by California State Printing Office. Page 37.

Place Names of Shasta County by Gertrude Steger, published by La Siesta Press, ©1966.

Mindat.org

Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, ©1974, Philip A. Lyden & J.C. O'Brien

Shasta's Growth, Prosperity and Decline, Part Two.

Pictured above is the (Old) Stage Road which was completed in April of 1851 taking travelers to and from Shasta. There is a historic marker nearby. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on April 29, 2016.

Then in, April of 1851 the first stage road in Shasta County was completed giving travelers a lot smoother ride to and from Shasta. (A section of this old stage road still exists at the junction of Swasey Drive and Red Bluff Road near Shasta.) It brought many newcomers to the area and additional commercial trade. Many people used this road from the nearby rural communities to transact business in Shasta.

Three months later on July 10, 1851 a post office was established by the United States Postal Service headquarters in Washington D.C., with Robert W. Crenshaw appointed as the first postmaster. Then on, March 13, 1852, a newspaper called the Shasta Courier was founded in Shasta by Archibald Skillman, Jacob C. Hinckley and Samuel H. Dosh. This newspaper was a weekly newspaper which was printed every Saturday. During that year, a fire department was organized.

Shasta’s first fire occurred on the morning of November 28, 1852 at 3 a.m., the fire started in the Arcade Saloon and it totaled to $111,520. Eventually, Shasta was rebuilt. A second fire destroyed Shasta again on the night of June 14, 1853. The fire ignited at 5 p.m., inside the Parker House (a hotel) on Main Street, Shasta’s entire business district burned down in thirty-three minutes. The results were catastrophic, and the above fire was the greatest loss by fire to date in Shasta.

By October of that year, local residents were busy improving their city as new homes and businesses were rebuilt again. A school was organized in Shasta by a teacher named Benoni Whitten in 1853 with sixteen students in attendance. It was a public school and not a private school. In addition to that year, an entrepreneur by the name of B. Jacobson erected the first fire-proof brick building on the south side of Main Street. Jacobson’s store was called B. Jacobson & Company.

That year also witnessed the establishment of a Chinatown called Hong Kong in Shasta by the Chinese at the southern end of Main Street near Middle Creek Road. Each of the Chinese lived in their own huts made of wood and cloth. The majority of them were miners. Hong Kong was a thriving place that included several stores including a gambling saloon, a hotel, and a joss house. In December of 1853, Hong Kong had a population of 500 Chinese immigrants. The white settlers discriminated against the Chinese settlers, and anti-Chinese meetings were held within Shasta. They were unwelcomed in the area. The anti-Chinese meetings were held on a regular basis but in February of 1859, the Chinese were ordered by the white settlers to evacuate their Chinatown by March 1, 1859. Some moved on to other Chinese settlements in Shasta County and Hong Kong fell to vandalism.

In 1854 the first Shasta County Courthouse was built. The building was a two-story log style structure, which was located on High Street near Boell Alley. Shasta County paid $5,280 for this building and it served as the courthouse until 1861. In June of 1854, Doctor Benjamin B. Shurtleff erected a fire-proof brick building on Main Street for the purpose of operating his own pharmacy, this became the first pharmacy in Shasta and his pharmacy shared the building with the Goldstone & Company General Merchandise store.

In April of 1857, a new luxurious three-story fire-proof brick hotel called the Empire was completed at a cost of $30,000, on Main Street at Shasta. The first Empire hotel was destroyed by fire in 1853. The new building was paid in full by its owners Donalson & Company which also included a Mr. Chapman. They advertised as having the following: private rooms with large and commodious rooms which were provided for the accommodations of private families, a dining room, a bar with the best stocked liquors and cigars. In addition to the hotel there were also a corral and stable attached to the building.

The Empire hotel passed through many owners since Donalson & Company owned this first-class hostelry. The brand-new Empire hotel became the leading hotel at Shasta, and the Empire stayed in business under different owners until 1923, when a new owner of the hotel dismantled the hotel to relocate to Redding and built a newer hotel there. The Charter Oak hotel stayed in operation until 1915, when it was dismantled by its owners.

Then in 1861 the Shasta County Courthouse on High Street was converted into a modern schoolhouse. However, a building on Main Street was purchased by the county from James T. Loag for $25,000. The building was remodeled that year to include a courthouse and a jail. It stayed actively in use until May of 1888. (This building is presently the Shasta Courthouse Museum in Shasta.)

As Shasta prospered well into the 1870s with new businesses, and newcomers making Shasta their home, a new town called Redding was established at a place called Poverty Flats by the California and Oregon Railroad a division of the Central Pacific Railroad in 1872. With Redding coming into fruition, Shasta would soon start to decline due to the railroad bypassing Shasta, even though Shasta still had control of the county seat. As the end-of-the-line Redding was very fortuitous in its role in the development of our county for ten years until the railroad resumed construction and laid its tracks north of Redding through the Sacramento River Canyon.

Redding became incorporated as a city on October 4, 1887 and during the following year Redding battled Shasta and Millville at the local election primary to become the county seat. Redding won the county seat during that county wide vote. Shasta served as the county seat from March 6, 1851 to May 19, 1888, a total of thirty-seven years. On May 19, 1888 the first court was held in Redding inside the brand new Shasta County Courthouse on Court Street.

As Redding grew, Shasta’s population waned as local residents moved from Shasta to Redding, and at the turn of the 19th century, Shasta was becoming nothing more than a ghost town, falling to blight and vandalism. An effort to restore Shasta’s historic district began in the 1930s and from this effort came the creation of the Shasta State Historic Park which was dedicated in 1950. Today, (Old) Shasta remains a busy town with a population of 1,771 people.

A postcard of Callaghan Block at Shasta on Main Street, circa 1855. L-R: the Shasta Book Store, proprietor Anton Roman, City Drug Store, proprietor C. Roethe, and J. & D. Callaghan. This building was owned by the Callaghan siblings, Jeremiah Callaghan, Daniel Callaghan and a third brother whose name eludes me. This store was later owned by Jeremiah Callaghan & Company which included my maternal great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Walter William Scott (1807-1878), a forty-niner of Shasta County who formerly ran their pack trains and freighted in the merchandise from Sacramento to Shasta for the Callaghan brothers. He was also their store clerk. At later date, the name of the store became Scott & Callaghan. From the collection of Jeremy M. Tuggle.

The present site of Callaghan Block on Main Street in Shasta A marker was placed by the Shasta State Historic Park marking the site. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 23, 2018.

A view of Main Street, Shasta. Shasta State Historic Park and Museum at the former Shasta County Courthouse. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 23, 2018.

Bull, Baker & Company along Main Street at Shasta. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 23, 2018.

Additional ruins along Main Street at Shasta. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 23, 2018.

This plaque notes some of Shasta's history on it. Shasta is a registered California State Landamark. It was dedicated on June 12, 1950. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on June 23, 2018.

RESOURCES:

A Jail And A Courthouse - The Shasta Courier newspaper pf Shasta, November 19, 1853

Hong Kong - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, December 3, 1853

Empire Hotel - The Republican newspaper of Shasta, January 31, 1857

Empire Hotel - The Republican newspaper of Shasta, April 4, 1857 

Our Storied Landmarks – Shasta County, California, written by May H. Southern, published by Balakshin Printing Company, ©1942.

Shasta County, California A History by Rosena Giles, published by Biobooks, ©1949.

In the Shadow of the Mountain A Short History of Shasta County, California, by Edward Petersen ©1965

Place Names of Shasta County by Gertrude Steger, published by La Siesta Press, ©1966.

Shasta: The Queen City by Mabel Moores Frisbie and Jean Moores Beauchamp, published by California Historical Society, ©1973.

Shasta State Historic Park Brief History and Tour Guide, published by Shasta State Historic Park, ©July 1985

Did Arsonists Raze and Re-Raze Shasta? by Jeremy M. Tuggle, the Record Searchlight newspaper, July 25, 2016