I am pleased to announce the release of my latest book on Oregon Mining History. "The Golden Trail" is the follow-up to my earlier work "Gold Dust".
As Amazon.com explains it: "In his follow-up to "Gold Dust: Stories of Oregon's Mining Years", Oregon mining
historian and prospector, Kerby Jackson, brings you another treasure trove of
stories from Oregon's rich history of gold prospecting, about the prospectors
and their discoveries, as well as about the breathtaking areas where they made
their homes. This time around, Jackson brings us twelve tales from Oregon's Gold
Rush, including the story about the first gold strike on Canyon Creek in Grant
County, about the old timers who found gold by the pail full at the Victor Mine
near Galice, how Iradel Bray discovered a rich ledge of gold on the Coquille
River during the height of the Rogue River War, a tale of two elderly miners on
the hunt for a lost mine in the Cascade Mountains, details about the discovery
of the famous Armstrong Nugget and others."
How about a sample first?
The
Lost Badger Mine
As
the popular story goes, in 1878, a German immigrant by the name of
Karl Meyer was prospecting on Miller Creek in the Lower Applegate
District near the Josephine-Jackson County line. Unlike many such
immigrant miners, Meyer was no greenhorn when it came to mining and
in fact, had a received a degree in mineralogy from the University of
Berlin before he had left Germany to come to Southern Oregon.
One
morning, Meyer awoke at his camp on Miller Creek to discover that his
mule, whom he called Maud, had wandered off sometime during the
night. The mule was very fond of huckleberries and as they were just
starting to ripen, Meyer knew that he would Maud at the nearest
huckleberry patch.
Meyer
followed the tracks of his mule up Miller Creek for what he estimated
was about four and a half miles, then found that Maud's tracks left
the creek and struck in the direction of a huckleberry patch he had
seen earlier that month that he thought was located about three miles
away. Following the tracks, he crossed several small gulches and
creeks in the direction of the berry patch. Soon, it began to drizzle
and steadily developed into a typical Oregon downpour, wiping out his
mule's tracks.
Soon,
Meyer, who always found the hills and mountains of Southern Oregon
confusing, began to lose his bearings. Soaked to the bone, he desired
to find shelter and wandering into a narrow canyon, discovered a
small cave located underneath a rock overhang. The German climbed to
the cave and sat down on a rock at its mouth, enjoying the temporary
shelter that the overhang offered. His hope was to wait the storm out
and continue on.
A
few minutes later, a large badger came lumbering toward the cave,
also apparently in search of shelter. As the animal came quite close
to Meyer and startled him, he gave it a fierce kick. The animal
snarled at him and then vanished into the cave, disappearing so
quickly that it drew the miner's curiosity enough that Meyer decided
to explore the cave. Setting some dry tinder alight with a match,
Meyer set out deep into the recesses of the cave which soon ended
abruptly. There on the wall at the end of the cave, the firelight
revealed a bright glimmer.
Meyer
was stunned to see a 14 inch wide vein that was heavy with gold
running along the wall and promptly broke out enough ore to fill his
hat.
Crushing
and washing the ore out in the creek, the material proved rich. In
fact, it was so rich that the hat full of ore was nearly 90% gold and
gave up $4984 worth of gold. From that figure, Meyer determined that
the ore would assay at about $415,000 per ton, or about 23,714 ounces
per ton!
As
Meyer was sure that he would have no problem finding the cave again,
he did not make a map or leave any marks to find his way back. In
fact, all he could really think about was to get back to his camp to
write out a location notice that would give ownership of his
discovery.
Once
Meyer returned to camp, he found the mule waiting for him, her sides
distended from gorging herself on huckleberries. As it was already
late in the day, Meyer felt that it was best to wait until morning to
return to his new claim. This proved to be a fatal mistake.
Get your copy of "The Golden Trail" from Amazon.com to read the rest of the story of the Lost Badger Mine here.
