Monday, September 28, 2020

The Zogg Fire Destroys Two Landmarks in the Historic Town of Ono


Above: this clapboard style building was erected in 1935 at Ono to house the meetings and events of the Ono Grange No. 445. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 4, 2018.


Confirmation from the Redding Record Searchlight newspaper confirms that the Zogg Fire which erupted into flames on the afternoon of September 27, 2020, on Zogg Mine Road in Igo destroyed two landmarks in the historic nearby town of Ono. The Ono Grange No.445 was instituted on March 26, 1930, at Ono which empowered them to act under the bylaws of the National Grange for a permanent charter or warrant confirming a perpetual right of succession, and securing them the privilege's of a regular constituted grange. 

The first meeting of the Ono Grange No. #445 was held in a rented building on Buell Road in Ono on April 2, 1930. The first master was James J. Barr Sr., [the husband of my paternal great-great-great aunt Edna L. (Kidder) Barr], and the first secretary of this grange was Lena Driscoll. The charter members of this new establishment were: James J. Barr Sr., Mrs. Martin Driscoll, Olive Miller, David Miller, Marshall Gill, Richard Edmonds, Bob Jordan, W. Kingsbury, May Kingsbury, C.M. Murphy, Joseph N. Moon, Pauline Stevens, Eugenia Graham, Sydnie Jones, Nelly Murphy, Mrs. Addie B. Graves, Charles Plumb, Mabel Fowler, Frankie Fowler, and Mrs. Julia Edmonds.

In February of 1934 negotiations began with the members of the grange and Ono resident David Boyer to purchase a piece of property that Boyer owned near the channel of Eagle Creek for the future Ono Grange Hall. Yet, Boyer decided to donate the land for the grange to use, and on May 25, 1934, the construction began on the new Ono Grange Hall.




Above: the siding of the Ono Grange Hall. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 4, 2018.




Above: the siding of the Ono Grange Hall. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 4, 2018.

The Ono Grange Hall was completed in 1935. Many people joined the new association which provided assistance to farmers, denotes a marked change in the economy of the area, away from mining toward farming and ranching. Through the years, the Ono Grange Hall remained an active gathering place for the people in the community, and many events and community fundraisers were held there. The building served the community for eighty-five years, until it was destroyed by the ravaging Zogg Fire on September 27, 2020.

Another landmark which was destroyed by the ravaging Zogg Fire on September 27, 2020, was the Ono Store and Stopping Place, also known as the Ono Store and International Cafe, which formerly marked the center of Ono. The store was built in the 1950s by Lamar and Aletha Green, opposite of what used to be David Miller's merchandise store. Since the Green's owned and operated the establishment it has been through various owners over the years. I'm sure that more fire ravaged landmarks of the Igo and Ono areas will be announced if any once the area reopens to the public. As of 8:30 A.M., on September 28, 2020, this fire has exploded to 15,000 acres. The fire is being driven by the wind. Praying for Igo and Ono. Thank you, to the fire fighters and our first responders!




Above: The Ono Store and International Cafe. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on July 4, 2018.




Above: the early stages of the Zogg Fire in Igo filmed by Jeremy Tuggle on September 27, 2020.




Above: the early stages of the Zogg Fire in Ono filmed by Jeremy Tuggle on September 27, 2020



RESOURCES:


Patrons of Husbandry Charter - Ono Grange No. 445, instituted March 26, 1930

A History of the Grange by Merla F. Clark

A Journey Through Time: Ono and the Bald Hills by Jeremy M. Tuggle, with an introduction by Al M. Rocca; copyright 2008, published by Preserving Memories, in Charlotte, North Carolina. ISBN Number: 978-0-9742576-8-6

http://onogrange.org/

Saturday, September 26, 2020

AN UNNAMED COPLEY GREENSTONE/QUARTZ MINE ALONG THE SACRAMENTO RIVER TRAIL NEAR REDDING.



Above: this photograph of the adit was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on September 19, 2020.

This unnamed Copley Greenstone/Quartz mine is located along the upper Sacramento River Trail on the east side of the Sacramento River. A marker at that location details the geological history of the mine. The marker states the following:

“This trail to a mine in the Old Diggings (Buckeye) Mining District leads past outcroppings of Copley greenstone, a basement rock in this part of of the Klamath Mountains believed to be about 400 million years old. Composed of old lava flows and some river sediments, the rock was altered by heat and pressure over the centuries to its present greenish hue on freshly broken surfaces. Veins like this mine were tapped for their gold and silica content. In the early 1900s, the low-grade quartz ore was mined chiefly for its silica, used as a fluxing agent in nearby Iron Mountain and other copper smelters.”



Above: this video was filmed by Jeremy Tuggle on location on September 19, 2020.














Wednesday, September 16, 2020

The Mount Shasta Mine: A Gold Mine on the Mt. Shasta Mine Loop Trail


Above: a miner pushing an ore cart filled with rock at the Mount Shasta mine. Courtesy of the Shasta Historical Society.


Located about 2 1/2 miles from the town of Shasta is the Mount Shasta mine, a once-lucrative producer of gold and one of the larger gold mining operations in the Shasta mining district, after gold was discovered in the area in 1897. The mine, which is within the boundaries of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area on the Mt. Shasta Mine Loop Trail, can be found after a moderate 1.2 mile hike to the mining property, or you can hike the entire loop distance of 3.1 miles. 

The mine was first owned and operated by then-Shasta County Sheriff, Charles Behrens, the maternal grandfather of the late Honorable Shasta County Superior Court Judge, Richard B. Eaton. Behrens operated the mine with his mining partner, Levisay, and they negotiated a contract with the Keswick smelter to have their ore treated. The Mount Shasta mine consisted of the Pittsburgh mining claim and one other mining claim as well.




Above: a man tending to two horses hitched to a wagon at the Mount Shasta mine. In the back ground is the building which enclosed the eight stamp steam powered mill. Courtesy of the Shasta Historical Society. 


Behrens and Levisay, began digging a winze on the property which sunk down to about 80 feet below the surface of the earth, and this was the start of the 463 foot shaft on the property. To jump start the production earnings, Behrens and Levisay’s ore first earned them between $80 to $90 per ton at Keswick. Later that year, Behrens and Levisay sold their mining claim to San Francisco capitalists Hirshly, Vair & Farfst for $10,000.

Early on, in 1898, the new owners organized the Mount Shasta Gold Mine LTD., and they employed fifteen men to operate the mine by February of 1898. During the following year, Hirshly, Vair & Farfst had a stamp mill built for them on the property consisting of eight stamps, which operated by steam to crush their rock so their miners could obtain the ore they were seeking. Each stamp weighed 1,050 pounds, and a building was erected which enclosed the perimeter of the stamp mill as well.

Other equipment included a wooden head frame with a steam powered hoist, and a cage so miners could toil away in the shaft to extract the ore of the lower levels or to enter a drift they were working. The Mount Shasta Gold Mine LTD., began lowering the winze on the property as well. Eventually, the mine included seven levels with drifts branching off from the main winze.

By 1900, the Mount Shasta mine and its holdings were sold to O.O. Howard and F.E. Ware of Redding. Ware was a former superintendent at this gold mine. Howard and Ware employed W.G. Scott as their superintendent who supervised the work of their miners as the production of this mine continued. While the work progressed on the property, their miners probed and examined the rock on site which also consisted of digging and blasting out an adit, not far from the main shaft of the property.

The Mount Shasta Gold Mine LTD. expanded their holdings in the area after purchasing additional mining claims and bringing in additional shares of investors or capitalists from the Chicago area. Eventually in 1901 this company entered the copper mining industry of Shasta County, with most of the company’s copper claims were in the Pittsburgh mining district near Bully Hill. They focused on those copper claims between 1901 and 1904 due to the shut-down of the Mount Shasta mine which remained idled after that.

Surprisingly, another transaction occurred in 1912 when the Mount Shasta mine was sold to A.A. Linsdsay & Associates of Portland, Oregon, for an impressive $35,000. They had planned to enter an extensive hiring phase that December to employ one hundred miners, and continue the production of this gold mine.

During May of 1913, after re-timbering the adit and drifts on the property and installing a new ore-shoot, the mine was sold to H.O. Cummins and Associates for about the same price as the previous transaction. 1915 was the final year of production for this gold mine and the total production reached an output of $180,000 in gold, which is the equivalent of $2.5 Million in today’s currency.

Note: the Mount Shasta Gold Mine LTD., can be found as the Mount Shasta Gold Mine Corporation in the written historical records as well.



Above: The Mount Shasta mine as filmed on location by Jeremy Tuggle on August 25, 2020.





RESOURCES:

Mining and Scientific Press, 75 no. 18 (October 1897)

The Free Press newspaper of Redding, October 14, 1899

The Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 22, 1900

Mount Shasta Mine Sold And Paid For - The Courier Free-Press newspaper of Redding, February 16, 1912

Mount Shasta Mine Sold To H.O. Cummins - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, April 22, 1913

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

Historic Resource Study Whiskeytown National Recreation Area by Anna Coxe Toogood, May 1978, Denver Service Center, Historic Preservation Team, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior