Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Due To the Carr Fire There Will Be No Blogs This Week Or Next


Spot fires along Copley Mountain from the Carr Fire. Orange flames in dense smoke. This view was taken from the Shasta Dam area. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.



Due to Shasta County and the Redding area ravaging in flames this week by the Carr Fire, there will be no blogs from me this week or possibly next week. I haven’t been at work since Thursday afternoon, and my family is trying to get our lives back on track. Our house in downtown Redding on Chestnut Street in the historic Breslauer Addition has survived the fire even though we were evacuated twice. A third evacuation for our neighborhood was lifted Sunday morning. 

Up-to-this-date, the Carr Fire has burned over 103, 722 acres. The fire which began by a vehicle malfunction at the Carr Power House has gone on to become the 7th most destructive fire in California State history according to the Record Searchlight and it continues to bring havoc to the North State. Here are some photos and video’s that I took of the Carr Fire...




Spot fires along Copley Mountain from the Carr Fire. Orange flames in dense smoke. This view was taken from the Shasta Dam area. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.





Spot fires along Copley Mountain from the Carr Fire. Orange flames in dense smoke. This view was taken from the Shasta Dam area. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.


A view of the Carr Fire from the Shasta Dam area. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.




A smokey view near the Shasta Dam area with a red sun. This photograph was taken on July 26, 2018 by Jeremy Tuggle.





My house on the left. 1600 block Chestnut Street with the smoke of the Carr Fire in the distance. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.




1600 block of Chestnut Street looking west with the smoke of the Carr Fire in the distance. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle.





Looking north up the 1600 block of Chestnut Street in downtown Redding. Smokey, colorful skies. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.




Looking at a West-North position from the 1600 block of Chestnut Street in downtown Redding. The smoke of the Carr Fire. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.




1608 Chestnut looking with with the Carr Fire in the distance. Time to evacuate... this photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.



A house fire near the corner of Aquamarine and Lake Redding Drive in downtown Redding. I reported it to 911 that night. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.




Looking at Lake Redding/Harlan Drive area being destroyed by the Carr Fire. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 26, 2018.






The Carr Fire ravaging the Redding area on Thursday, July 26, 2018. I got rerouted from Eureka Way into this mess on Benton Drive passing through the 11th Street intersection and passing by the historic Diestelhorst Bridge. I was brought out to Sulpher Creek Hill at Miracle Mile and it took a very long time to get through the madness of people evacuating downtown.

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

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

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Early Shasta Express Companies


A four horse team hitched to a stage parked in front of the general merchandise store of Charles Litsch on Main Street in Shasta. Courtesy of Steve Brui. 


During April of 1851 the construction of the first stage road was completed into Shasta from Red Bluffs via Bells Bridge, Canon House (Canyon House) and Lower Springs. Today, a good portion of this original stage road remains intact near the junction of Swasey Drive and Red Bluff Road. It took four months until any type of rig used this route.
   
It ended up being a passenger stage coach driven by Marshall McCummings which made its appearance in Shasta, coming off the newly developed stage road, in August of that year. As it entered Main Street and parked in front of the St. Charles hotel. McCummings was employed by stage proprietors Munroe & Felt of Sacramento.
   
Additional rigs would continue to transport supplies, provisions and passengers to and from Shasta, as new roads were constructed and express agencies were established. Imagine yourself in control of a rig driving along the dusty roads in northern California in 1851. It wouldn’t be as luxurious as it is today with motor vehicles equipped with air conditioning, heating and radios. The roads weren’t paved. There were no gas stations and restaurants nearby. The stage journeyed into the Wild West as the drivers and their passengers feared attacks by the Native Americans and by the following year, highwaymen began targeting the stage after the establishment of Wells Fargo & Company in California. Stage drivers often carried fire arms with them for their protection when they weren't accompanied by a shotgun messenger.
   
There were no doors with locking mechanisms. Passengers riding inside the coach were protected by a canvas which sheltered them from the blistering sun rays and kept them dry during a rain storm. The drivers were known as knights of the whip, they knew how to handle their stage on the rough-and-rugged terrain. Some rigs were just a wagon without a canvas.

On March 6, 1851 the town of Shasta became the county seat of Shasta County. Shasta was now a bustling city, and a future post office and a courthouse would be established soon. Transportation services were in demand by travelers going to and from Shasta. Shasta became known as the Queen City of the Northern Mines, or simply the Queen City of the North. The Baxter & Munroe Stage Line was another agency which was established in Colusa County in the spring of 1851. They began conveying passengers north to Shasta even though Munroe and Felt of Sacramento preceded them.
   
Then in, May of 1852 Hall & Crandall launched a series of coaches from Marysville to Shasta and promised their clients that the trip to Shasta would not exceed more than thirty hours of traveling. Their drivers kept that promise. Their stage’s made various stops in Shasta County. Hall & Crandall was owned and operated by Jered B. Crandall and the Hall siblings: Warren Hall and William Hall.
   
The first official United States mail stage to bring the mail north to Shasta from Colusa County was the Baxter & Company (formerly the Baxter & Munroe Stage Line) on May 8, 1852. There were other stages that succeeded them offering to bring packages and letters into Shasta as well but they weren't the official United States mail carrier.
   

Above: an advertisement for the Baxter & Company, U.S. Mail Line of Stages from Shasta to Sacramento, the Shasta Courier newspaper of Saturday, April 9, 1853. The ad started running in March of 1853.


By June 21, 1851, Taylor’s Sacramento and Shasta Semi-Monthly Express had been conveying passengers to Shasta departing from Sacramento on the first and fifteenth of each month, via Marysville, Yuba City and Hamilton City with select stops in between those towns as their coach pressed on-north. At Shasta, this express opened a branch of their stage line which would commute passengers desiring to venture north or north-west of Shasta. This express company made return trips to Sacramento as well. It was one of the first stage companies established in Shasta. It was owned and operated by L.W. Taylor of Sacramento.
   
Hall & Crandall made local history when Jered B. Crandall drove their company's stage from Shasta crossing over the Sierra Nevada Mountains on June 11, 1852 becoming the first stage driver to achieve that accomplishment. According to an excerpt taken from the Sacramento Daily Union newspaper they reported on June 7, 1852, the following:

A branch of the house of Adams & Co., is about being established in Shasta. Mr. I.N. Briceland, well and favorably known in Sacramento, is to conduct the affairs of the house there.

As mentioned before in my previous articles, Adams & Co., was a national express agency which also transported gold and connected with other staging companies in the United States, they also served as a banking corporation. By July 1, 1852, the express office of Rhodes & Lusk’s Express Company was located inside the office of the Sacramento City Bank in Shasta. Rhodes & Lusk’s Express Company was owned and operated by James M. Rhodes and Hiram Lusk.
   
While the rigs were drawn onward by their horses to their destinations, staging to and from Shasta continued. Their drivers also became a source of news from other towns and cities in California as they would often report items of interest back to the local newspapers, and in return the local media often printed their news in their next issue. An example of ticket prices comes from Hall & Crandall who advertised trips from Shasta to Sacramento and Sacramento to Shasta for $20 per ticket. Other stage companies promoted the same prices. Local destinations were cheaper to travel to. During the winter months roads became impassable due to the heavy rains, while the creeks became swollen by heavy floods which caused problems for many stage companies who closed routes to various places.
   
In March of 1853 a branch of the agency Cram, Rogers and Company, opened for business in Shasta connecting it with Adams & Company. Their express agency had been in operation since the fall of 1851 in Weaverville but they lacked business in Shasta County until now. Their weekly express ran from Shasta into Portland, Oregon. It was owned and operated by Robert Cram, F.A. Rogers, Richard Dugan, and A.E. Raynes.
   
Hall & Crandall’s express agency continued to conduct a thriving business. At Shasta, their staging terminal was located in front of the El Dorado hotel, an establishment operated by Dunn & Furney. Another new staging company which was incorporated that month was McGee's Pitt River and Shasta Express owned by Joseph W. McGee who transported passengers from Shasta to the Pit River Diggings in the Pittsburg mining district along Pit River and those placer mines along Squaw Creek. The placer mines at those locations and Bully Hill were burgeoning with success and from that success McGee's business prospered.

On April 2, 1853 the Shasta Courier printed the following:

"STAGING FROM SACRAMENTO CITY - We are indebted to the State Journal for this information that there thirteen lines of stages running out of Sacramento to different points in the mines. These lines have 747 horses, and 67 coaches in daily use, and are valued at $368,000. The Sacramento, Colusa, Tehama, Red Bluff, and Shasta Line, owned by messrs. Baxter & Co., according to this statement, has 100 horses and 6 coaches, valued at $50,000. The Sacramento, Marysville, and Shasta Line owned by messrs., Hall & Crandall, numbers 150 horses and 12 coaches, valued at $55,000. Owing to a very bad portion of road, between Marysville and Tehama, this last named line, during the last winter, was not in operation further than Marysville, and we apprehend, in consequence of the late heavy rains, will not be extended beyond that point for several weeks to come. Baxter & Co.'s line has been over the road between the road to Tehama and this point, at an immense cost, nearly the entire winter, and two weeks since running clear through from Colusa. We presume, until the roads improve, their coaches will not run further down than Tehama." (SIC)

Major road work was in progress in Shasta County so coaches and wagons could travel over them without any problems. While the road construction commenced on the Lower Springs Road below Shasta and in between the Canon House (Canyon House). Another road which was being repaired was the Middletown and Horsetown Road often used by Hall & Crandall. By summer the roads returned to normal with heavy traffic passing over them. 
   
By the end of the year, a new addition was added to the St. Charles Hotel for a new express company which was established on January 1, 1854, called the California Stage Company, according to the January 7, 1854 edition of the Shasta Courier. A branch of their office already existed in the New Orleans hotel in Sacramento. The company's property and their fine coaches according to the Shasta Courier were valued at $1,000,000 and their agent in Shasta was Mr. Buckingham.

On February 17, 1854, James M. Rhodes and Hiram Lusk dissolved their partnership pertaining to the Rhodes and Lusk's Express Company. Rhodes still contained ownership of his stage line and he changed the name to Rhodes & Company's Express which made stops at Shasta, Weaverville, Yreka and Jacksonville connecting with the Wells Fargo & Company.


A Certificate of Deposit, No. 3408 – Fred K. Marquand has deposited in this office $160.00. Express Banking Office of Rhodes & Company. Dated: June 26, 1855, location: Shasta, Shasta County, California. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.
   

Express racing came to fruition as early as 1853 while the stage lines competed against time with each other. In 1854, they began competing with each other on certain tracks of road. For example the Shasta Courier newspaper reported the following on June 24, 1854:

"EXPRESS RACING - The expressmen have recently been enjoying some very good sport on Fridays, riding down the road to meet the stage, and then, with the latest papers racing back to our office. On yesterday they raced ten or twelve miles each Express having two horses and two riders on the track. And as their riders were fearless and the horses very swiftest animals in the place, of course they done some tall traveling. Time not known; supposed to beat 2:40. That the interest of the race was not permitted to wane during the run, may be gathered from the fact that Mr. Ned Tracey, of Adams & Co.'s Express who delivered the papers about five minutes ahead of the other Express, rode the last four miles somewhat in the style of a wild Indian - that is to say hatless. He did not tarry sufficiently long before our office to enable us to perceive whether he had run himself out of his boots or not - rather think he had. It is a source of great satisfaction to us, that while these gentlemen are thus enjoying the finest kind of sport, they are at the same time enable to do this office, so great a favor by delivering our papers an hour or two in advance of the stage." (SIC)

Most of these express races were held on the Shasta to Weaverville Road. Ticket prices for stages from Shasta to Sacramento increased to $25 in July with ticket prices to Maryville increasing to $20. Return trips to Shasta on the stage from these places cost the same amount of money. In August, of that year the Greathouse and Company Mule Train owned by George L. Greathouse and his siblings became incorporated at Shasta running from the St. Charles Hotel in Shasta to Callaghan's Ranch at the head of Scott's Valley where it connected with McComb & Company, and in Shasta it connected with the California Stage Company.
   
One stage coach accident which caught the attention of the local media on August 26th stated the following:

"STAGE ACCIDENT - We regret to learn that a few days since, once of the California Stage Company's was upset, between the Prairie House and Cottonwood, and several persons severely, though not dangerously, hurt. The passengers all testify that the driver was in no manner to blame for the accident. See their card in the advertising column." (SIC)

An influx of passengers arrived in Shasta on stages in October. A majority of travelers were traveling towards Siskiyou County as the mines in that northern portion of the state were booming which made express companies in Shasta busy conveying passengers. Then on, December 8, 1854, Adams & Co., made a local record by travelling from Red Bluffs to Shasta, a distance of 45 miles at that time in three hours and ten minutes.
   
As the year came to a close, the New Year took effect and business became steady in January of 1855. The Shasta County Board of Supervisors approved a road tax taxing three days’ of labor at $7.50, which local citizens paid for, there were also twenty-three road districts which were created and approved by them. Each of twenty-three road districts had a road master which were in charge of repairing certain roads within the county. It was up to them to restore Shasta County roads and highways so the coach or wagon can pass over them with ease.
   
Adams & Company was thrown into suspension on account of their bank failing due to their funds being exhausted, in late February or early March, and their Shasta branch eventually closed down. The express companies who were connected with them were forced to make arrangements with other stage lines. Former employees were employed by other agencies in the area, one of their former agents, Mr. Buckingham, was hired by E.W. Tracy & Company’s Express. This was a brand new express which took over Adams & Company’s stage route to San Francisco from Shasta owned by E.W. Tracy. Tracy was also a former agent employed with Adams & Company. Tracy became a director of the brand new Pacific Express Company which opened a branch in Shasta as well and they hired the former employees of Adams & Company to run their staging company.

The Greathouse and Company Mule Train owned by the Greathouse siblings printed a notice in the Shasta Courier on May 12, 1855, reporting the cancellation of their coaches from Shasta to French Gulch due to the condition of the terrible roads. To substitute their coaches they issued one of their fine mules to clients wishing to travel the roads. They would eventually have to return the animal to its owners. By that date, William McTurck, was their agent in Shasta.
   
On May 14, 1855, another new express company was featured in the Shasta Courier newspaper owned and operated by Charley Uhl who was making profits off miners engaging in mining activities on Dog Creek in the Sacramento River Canyon. On that date Dog Creek was booming with three or four hundred miners on that stream. The deposits yielded lucrative results and Uhl was happy to transport them back and forth.
   
In June, road improvements continued in Shasta County by the local road masters. On June 11th, another loss to Shasta was the dissolving of Cram, Rogers and Company, what lead to this unfortunate loss is not known. By June 30, 1855, the miners on Dog Creek in the Sacramento River Canyon were now actively producing gold along Hazel Creek, a few miles above Dog Creek. Due to this mining boom, Uhl’s express began transporting passengers to both Dog Creek and Hazel Creek from Shasta.
   
As various rigs conveyed passengers in and out of the area, new stage lines were incorporated. While new industries emerged at Shasta, It attracted newcomers to settle there. By the end of the year, Shasta County had the following highways and roads open to the public:

Road from Shasta, Red Bluffs via Lower Springs, Canon House (Canyon House) and Bell’s Bridge (alias the (Old) Stage Road)

Road from Shasta to Red Bluffs via Briggsville

Road from Shasta to Weaverville

Road from Main Street, Shasta via Downer’s, Vosburg’s, Maher’s, Franklin City and Tower House ending at French Gulch

Road from Shasta via Waugh’s Ferry, Quartz Hill, Lake Ranch, Bass Ranch, Pittsburg, Pitt River Diggings, to Copenhaven & Company’s Ranch on Squaw Creek, and Pit River

Road from Stockton & Andrews’ Bridge via Horsetown

Road from Jackass Flat to Bald Hills via Stockton & Andrew’s Bridge

Road from Conger’s Ranch to Stockton & Andrews’ Saw Mill on Clear Creek

Road from Lean’s Ferry via Cottonwood to McCumber’s Mill continuing to Daingerfield’s Ferry and Smith’s Ranch

Road from Daingerfield’s Ferry to Jones & Sheperdson’s Ranch from crossing of Battle Creek




Above: an advertisement for the Cram, Rogers and Company from the Shasta Courier newspaper of Saturday, April 16, 1853.




RESOURCES:

Baxter and Co’s Line of Stages - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, March 12, 1853

New Express - The Shasta Courier newspaper,
Saturday, April 9, 1853

A Daily Mail - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, April 16, 1853

Daily Mail - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, April 30, 1853

Staging Into Shasta - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, May 7, 1853

Hall & Crandall’s Line of Stages - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, May 7, 1853

Staging - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, May 7, 1853

Quick Trip - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, May 14, 1853

Grading Main Street - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, June 25, 1853

New Stage Company - The Shasta Courier newspaper, January 7, 1854

Greathouse & Company’s Mule Train - The Shasta Courier newspaper, January 7, 1854

Stage Accident - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, August 26, 1854

The Travel This Way - The Shasta Courier newspaper, Saturday, October 28, 1854

Stage Coach Monument Historic Marker in Shasta

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

Our Storied Landmarks - Shasta County, California, written and published by May H. Southern  ©1942

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

Shasta: The Queen City by Mabel Moores Frisbie and Jean Moores Beauchamp. Published by California Historical Society. ©1972