WALKER MINE -STAMP MILL AND OPEN SHAFT MINE-

In this episode of Exploring Shasta County History, I invite you to come explore the history of the historic Walker mine which gave its name to Walker Mine Road in Redding and the nearby Walker Mine Trailhead. Today, there are a few reminders that this one-time famous lucrative producer of gold and copper even existed. Join Robert Frazier, host of California Unearthed, and I as we tour its remaining ten stamp mill and an astonishing open mine shaft which was connected to the Walker brother holdings. Originally, called the Josephine and Providence mine, it wasn't until 1888 when this mining property was purchased by the Walker brothers of Salt Lake City, Utah, who were well-known millionaire bankers of that locality and had an interest in the mining industry of the western United States. They changed the name of this mine to the California and Utah mine that year. Since then, numerous people have bonded or leased the mine from them and have purchased the mine to operate it. Commonly known as the Walker mine or the Walker Group of Mines it has been idled since 1941. Filmed on location on October 21, 2023.

RESOURCES:

McGregor, A. ©1890, Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta Counties: California Mining Bureau. Report 10

Crawford, James John ©1894, Twelfth report of the State Mineralogist: California Mining Bureau. Report 12

The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 23, 1896 

The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, June 25, 1896

The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, October 14, 1897

The Walker Mine - The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, April 7, 1898

The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 14, 1899

May Sale Walker Mine - The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 6, 1900

Walker Mine May Soon Be Transferred - The Daily Free Press newspaper of Redding, November 23, 1900

Will Ship Ore to Kennett Smelter - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, August 13, 1905

Notes From Shasta's Gold-Quartz Mines - The Courier Free Press newspaper of Redding, July 21, 1909

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

Walker Mines in Old Diggings Have Been Sold - The Courier Free Press newspaper of Redding, October 11, 1929

The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 9, 1931

Walker Mining Group Transfer Recorded - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, March 9, 1939

The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 4, 1932

Trinity River Water to Be Used in Mining Plan; Walker Mine to Reopen - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, May 25, 1932

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