SHASTA LAKE DROUGHT: JONES VALLEY, AND HISTORY, 8-30-2021

SHASTA LAKE DROUGHT: JONES VALLEY, AND HISTORY, 8-30-2021 SHASTA LAKE IS 161.26-FEET BELOW THE CREST OF SHASTA DAM OR 905.74-FEET ELEVATION WISE.

Filmed on location by Jeremy Tuggle on 8-30-2021.

HISTORY’S MYSTERY: A WOODEN STRUCTURE ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER NEAR CHARLIE CREEK ON SHASTA LAKE, AT 155.65-FEET BELOW THE CREST OF SHASTA DAM

HISTORY’S MYSTERY: A WOODEN STRUCTURE ON THE SACRAMENTO RIVER NEAR CHARLIE CREEK ON SHASTA LAKE, AT 155.65-FEET BELOW THE CREST OF SHASTA DAM OR 911.35 FEET ELEVATION WISE, 8-18-2021. WHAT IS THIS???

THE HISTORIC HEADTOWER AT SHASTA LAKE BEHIND SHASTA DAM

Above photo: Public Domain.

This is the historic Headtower which is seen in many of my videos on YouTube and in pictures on my social media accounts. It was built in 1940 and was used primarily to deliver concrete to the workers of Pacific Constructors Incorporated (PCI) who were building Shasta Dam. It stood at over a towering 460 feet. There were storage compartments in the Headtower as well one of them was the cable room which is seen in a recent video. This historic Headtower is only visible during drought seasons on Shasta Lake. 

Above: the Headtower. Courtesy of Shasta Historical Society.

Above: the historic Headtower. The water level of Shasta Lake was recorded at 148.45-feet below the crest of Shasta Dam. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on August 6, 2021. 

SMOKEY CONDITIONS: WHISKEYTOWN LAKE POOR-UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY, 8-8-2021.

SMOKEY CONDITIONS: WHISKEYTOWN LAKE POOR-UNHEALTHY AIR QUALITY, 8-8-2021. WITH FOUR MAJOR FIRES BURNING NEAR SHASTA COUNTY WHISKEYTOWN LAKE BECOMES BARELY VISBLE IN PARTS THE FOUR FIRES ARE THE: MONUMENT FIRE, THE DIXIE FIRE, THE ANTELOPE FIRE AND THE McFARLAND FIRE. THIS GIVES WHISKEYTOWN LAKE AND THE REDDING AREA AN AIR QUALITY INDEX OF 181.

SMOKEY CONDITIONS: LAKE SHASTA HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY, 8-6-2021.

SMOKEY CONDITIONS: LAKE SHASTA HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY, 8-6-2021. WITH THREE MAJOR FIRES BURNING NEAR SHASTA COUNTY: the McFarland fire, the Antelope fire and the Dixie fire. THE REDDING AREA INCLUDING SHASTA LAKE HAD A HAZARDOUS AIR QUALITY OF 500 YESTERDAY, IT WASN’T LIKE THIS EARLIER THAT DAY. WE WERE TRYING TO GET OFF THE LAKE AND HEAD HOME. LAKE SHASTA WAS AT 148.45–FT., BELOW THE CREST OF SHASTA DAM ON 8-6-2021. SHASTA DAM AND PARTS OF THE LAKE WERE BARELY VISIBLE.

History’s Mystery: Sugarloaf Creek Structure at Lake Shasta.

Filmed on location July 23, 2021.

History’s Mystery: Sugarloaf Creek Structure at Lake Shasta. Possibly a bunker but it looks home made, and it appears to have some type of lid over it aside from the opening. Its possible it belonged to an old house maybe a cellar (homestead I doubt it) it doesn't resemble a Water Well either. If you look closely you can see some type of metal in the concrete lid near the center. Another thought was that it might have been a home made Cold War era bunker. If we had more photos of this intriguing relic under Shasta Lake then we could generate more opinions too. It doesn't appear to be a box culvert either.... another reliable source says it is a: "sub-quality to the 1917 and 1925 Highway box culverts as seen in my photo albums therefore we assume its an earlier highway structure." He also mentioned that it looks to him that the upstream end has been bull dozed off from the culvert. Located off Lakeshore Drive at Lakehead… Lake Shasta is currently (July 23, 2021) 139.82-Feet below the crest of Shasta Dam.

A REDEVELOPED AND SUBDIVIDED PATENTED MINING PROPERTY: THE TILTON CONSOLIDATED MINE

The main tailing pile of the Tilton mine towering above the hillside off Valparaiso Way. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on May 22, 2021.

On January 1, 1902, a prospector and miner named Richard P. Wheelock struck an appealing quartz vein which warranted further investigation of the land he was prospecting on. After that, he sunk a shaft and drove an adit into a hillside establishing a lode mine, which led him to a bonanza of gold. He then called this mining claim the Tilton mine, which was situated west of Redding, and in the boundaries of the Lower Springs mining district. A year later, on January 2, 1903, Wheelock located another lucrative vein of quartz which he called the Dictator mine, after that he sunk a winze on this property which embraced the Tilton mine property. Wheelock then began referring to these mining claims as the Tilton Consolidated mine.

On February 4, 1903, Wheelock located the lucrative quartz vein of the New Redding Gold mine which was merged into the Tilton Consolidated mine holdings, followed by the discovery of the Kamaaina Gold mine quartz vein on September 15, 1904, after that it was merged into the Tilton Consolidated mine holdings which were all owned and operated by Richard P. Wheelock. Four years later, the Tilton Consolidated mine became a patented mining claim on February 3, 1908 under Wheelock's ownership.

Above: map of the Tilton Consolidated mine surveyed by Alfred Baltzell, dated March 1907.

Eventually, Doctor Sherman T. White, of Redding, bought the property, and the following article was heralded by the Blue Lake Advocate newspaper which printed the following on October 24, 1925:

“Mine In Shasta To Be Sold

Redding (Shasta Co.) Oct. 20., Dr. Sherman T. White has agreed to sell to F.L. Kendall the Tilton group of mines between Middle Creek and Centerville for $4,000. The group includes the Tilton, Dictator, New Redding, and Kamaana gold mines. The agreement to sell extends for a period of three years, but work must be kept up continuously.” (SIC)

About the year 2000, this mining property was redeveloped and subdivided. This former mining property is located off Lower Springs Road with residential homes in the neighborhood of Valparaiso Way and Tilton Mine Road, which retains the name of the original mine. Today, only two tailing piles belonging to the Tilton Consolidated mine are visible off of Valparaiso Way. The winzes and adits are plugged, and there weren’t any production notes recorded for this former mining property. 

Above: a second smaller tailings pile exist just off Valparaiso Way in a gulch below a private residence. This photograph was taken by Jeremy Tuggle on May 22, 2021.

Above: a Shasta County Assessors Map - Book 204, Page 19, County of Shasta, dated: 2000.

RESOURCES:

Mineral Survey No. 4597, Plat of the Claim of R.P. Wheelock, known as the Tilton Consolidated Mine, embracing the Tilton, Dictator, New Redding Gold and Kamaaina Gold Mines. Surveyed by Alfred Baltzell, March 1907. Patented: February 3,1908.

Mine In Shasta To Be Sold - The Blue Lake Advocate newspaper of Blue Lake, October 24, 1925

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

Shasta County Assessors Map - Book 204, Page 19, County of Shasta, 2000