Welcome to Exploring Shasta County history...
With this blog, I am bringing to life the stories of the early day pioneers and some of the oft-forgotten history of a bygone era in Shasta County, California. I'll also focus on important events after the turn of the 20th century. I would like to reflect upon current historical sites of the modern age as well.
This is copyrighted by Jeremy M. Tuggle.
I haven't found too many mines Shasta County with natural flowstone features in them; however, these small disconnecting mines are among the few I have found. Located in French Gulch inside the boundaries of the French Gulch Mining District of Shasta County, are these two small disconnecting mines with flowstone features in them. Usually, I see flowstone in natural caves of the region rather than inside the local mines here that I have been to and researched over the years as a local historian of the area. Flowstone is a sheetlike deposit of calcite or other carbonate minerals caused by the natural flow of water seepage over the years into the back, face, left and right ribs of the main haulage tunnel of a mine.
Located in French Gulch in the French Gulch Mining District of Shasta County is this abandoned small mine with a raise or a shaft. The natural lighting from the raise inside the mine was pretty cool to see. It appears that this mine was mined for gold. This video was filmed on location December 16, 2023. Featuring Ryan Hammon from Explore with Ryan.
Ever climbed up an ore pass of an abandoned mine before? Not too many people have. An ore pass is a vertical or inclined passage for the downward transfer of ore connecting to a lower level of a mine connecting with an ore chute/ore shoot. We were expecting this mine to be plugged or gated within the boundaries of the Tower House Historic District near Whiskeytown, California, but it was wide opened, so we didn't bring a hard hat. This mine is one of those abandoned treasures which don't appear on any topography maps of the region and doesn't have a recorded history of it. Inside the mine you'll see a small stope as well which my friend Ryan Hammon and I discovered.
In this episode of Exploring Shasta County History, we will tour the remains of a historic water ditch and flume in the boundaries of the Castle Crags State Park, just 40 miles north of Redding, California. This water ditch and flume system dates to the 1890s and was constructed to channel water into the town site of Castella from Castle Creek and Indian Creek. Later on, miners utilized its water in the area for the extraction of gold at their mining claims. Some of these former sites along the present-day trail system have miner camp castoffs at their location to explore as well. This trail is an easy to moderate hike.
Castella was a railroad station which was first called Castle Rock due to the highest dome of the nearby crags. Yet that name was short-lived, and in 1890 the United States Post Office headquarters in Washington D.C., designated the site which we know as Castella today, as Leland. The town of Leland was named in honor of Leland Standford, an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and a member of the Republican Party. Standford served as the sixth governor of the state of California from 1862 to 1863. Standford owned a beautiful summer home at Lower Soda Springs in Shasta County, California.
In 1890 the name of the town of Leland was changed again to Castella about the time this historic flume was erected to serve the community. The town site included a railroad depot, grocery store, hotel, school and a United States Post Office for local residents to send and receive mail. The area was mined for gold and logged for lumber as Castella boasted a population of 600 people at one-time. The town site still remains today along Interstate-5 in the Sacramento River Canyon and its United States Post Office is still in service to the public.
Resources:
The Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 3, 1892
Castella Items - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 2, 1893
Castella Items - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, October 7, 1893
Castella News - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, March 3, 1894
Summer Resorts Up the Canyon - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, August 4, 1904
Castella Is Angry At S.P. - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, November 19, 1907
J.A. Rich, Miner Rescued Thursday Afternoon Several Miles West of Castella - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, March 30, 1907
Cannot Locate New Shasta Post Office - The Chico Record, newspaper of Chico, January 21, 1908
$39,000 Blaze Wipes Out Big Part of Castella - The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, September 16, 1919
Castella Is Now a Thriving Town - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, August 9, 1923
Situated upon Dutch Gulch near the townsite of French Gulch is the Three Sisters mine, a gold mine which was located during the year 1894 in the boundaries of the French Gulch Mining District of Shasta County, California. Historical records relate that this mining property contains a main haulage tunnel of an adit which measures to 1,350 feet and contains 800 feet of drifts, and an open shaft also known as a winze measuring at 120 feet, including a stope of 200 feet as well. Production notes for this mine states it was a lucrative producer of gold, yet the following minerals were also found on this mining property as well: arsenopyrite, pyrite and quartz. This mine has gone through various ownerships and bonds (or leases) through the years.
The mine was owned and operated by Elias Ellery and his brother James Ellery. Production at this historic mining property ended in 1906. Presently, one of the adits on the property that Ryan and I found is covered in thorn-thick vines and is hard to get into, but it’s flooded with clear water. Water drains from the portal of the adit. Nearby this flooded adit are a couple of prospects with small tailings and a massive tailings pile which can be viewed from the main road looking up the ridge line of the gulch, but we couldn’t find the adit this waste rock came out of suggesting it may have been taken out or collapsed. On the property there is a squared stone structure of a small four corner building mixed with mortar as well. This is where my friend Ryan found a lonely square nail after shifting through the rock on the land near this stone structure. In one mine we found the bones of a dead animal as well. Filmed on location on November 17, 2023.
RESOURCES:
Mines and Miners - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, April 2, 1895
French Gulch Gleanings - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, April 16, 1895
French Gulch Gleanings - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, April 30, 1895
French Gulch Gleanings - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, March 3, 1896
Trouble About A Mine - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, September 12, 1896
Mines and Miners - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, September 29, 1896
The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, February 2, 1897
Mines and Miners - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, August 31, 1897
Successful Mining Lease - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, October 2, 1897
Mines and Mining - The Searchlight newspaper of Redding, May 17, 1898
Ore From French Gulch - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, August 13, 1898
Proofs Of Labor - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 24, 1898
The Free Press newspaper of Redding, July 8, 1899
Miners Who Have Done Work - The Free Press newspaper of Redding, January 3, 1901
My return to this abandoned gold mine in the Old Diggings Mining District of Shasta County, California, only to find it being a twenty-five to thirty feet adit. I returned with my friends James, Ryan and Robert. Join us on this mine exploration which was filmed off the beaten path near Flanagan Trail off Flanagan Road which has been hidden for years along this trail system. The only thing known about it is that it's located in the boundaries of the Old Diggings Mining District of Shasta County and was mined for gold. Filmed on location November 4, 2023.
A follow up to the M.A. Burns Lumber Company abandoned railroad 36' narrow gauge video that I filmed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHb14... with Robert Frazier of California Unearthed. The subject focuses on a boiler which was found along the railroad grade by state park staff in 1994.
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