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.
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.
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.
My last visit to this mine was in 2020 and on October 21, 2023, I returned to the Mount Shasta Mine in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and is part of the Shasta Mining District. This site dates to 1897. Upon my return to the site, I found some familiar things like the old tailing/waste rock piles, a prospect, an adit, foundations of its stamp mill and the known incline shaft that's fenced off by the park service. However, I was least expecting to find something new...
What surprised me was locating a secondary vertical shaft on top of the main haulage tunnel of the adit. Possibly, it could be a raise as well from inside the main haulage tunnel which are practically the same thing, however it was a shock to me to find this plugged shaft. The known incline shaft has a fence around it and is right next to the trail with water in the incline shaft. While the new shaft is plugged at this historic mining site. I'm hoping to explore more of the area soon.
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
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
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