A Flash In The Pan: Gold In Winberry; Lane County, Oregon

A sample of what I am working on at the moment; a sort of side project before I finish my novel "Gold Ridge" and my forthcoming Oregon mining book "Boom & Bust"

Introduction


A number of years ago, and quite out of the blue, I received an e-mail from an elderly miner living near Eugene, Oregon. This gentleman, whom I had never heard from prior and who's name I never knew, informed me that he was retiring from mining and that for the last thirty odd years he had been putting in a great deal of study into the history of the Fall Creek Mining District. He remarked that he knew of me by reputation of name only and pointedly asked me if I would be interested in receiving his mining archives on Fall Creek as he desired to see that his efforts in collecting documents would not go to waste. I remarked that I had heard of Fall Creek, but admitted that I had never mined there myself, nor did I know much about the area. That said, I told him that I would be glad to help preserve his research and would be willing to insure that the information was available to others.


A couple of weeks later I received a very thick, over-sized envelope in the mail. There was no sender name on the envelope, but upon opening the package, it quickly became clear that it had come from the unidentified elderly miner from Eugene. A quick skim of the material revealed that yes, the man was a very thorough researcher and had put forward much effort to put the mining history of Fall Creek together, as included among the material were numerous location notices that proved to be a record of the very earliest mining claims in that vicinity, not to mention newspaper clippings, photocopies of articles on the area's geology and related information, all neatly arranged by subject in several folders. Included among the material was a folder simply marked “Winberry”.


An examination of that folder revealed information about what could best be described as “a neighboring mining area” to the Fall Creek and Blue River Mining Districts. Up until that time, I don't recall having ever heard of Winberry Creek, let alone anything gold mining related in that area. As with anyone else, that is not that unusual, for there are many little known mining areas on the West Coast and in fact, I had previously written a little about a few of them, such as Chena Creek near Mount Hood, as well as Gold Creek in Clatsop County.


A quick look in my own library actually turned up very little in the way of mere mention of the Winberry Mining District, let alone anything solid or very detailed. What was mentioned briefly was that there was some gold in the area and that during the 1930's the area had enjoyed a brief flurry of mining activity which mostly amounted to the mere promoting of some unproven prospects.


Upon greater inspection of other material that became available to me through much great effort, while Winberry Creek never was the site of a great gold strike or of any mining of any real economical importance, it soon became clear that the story about the area deserved something more than just a footnote or a dishonorable mention in the annals of Oregon's gold mining history. Indeed, as has happened on so many other little creeks in Oregon, there was a bona-fide gold rush to Winberry Creek in the 1930's. Not only did it capture the imagination of outsiders who looked to Winberry Creek and pondered if there might be untold riches locked away in the hills above, but as so often happens, those who took part in the rush fought bitterly against the forces that were pitted against their golden dream. But unlike their predecessors in the 19th century, who fought against hostile Indians, the elements, Poison Oak, starvation and the general sense of despair and melancholy that often plagued the early mining camps, what the Winberry miners fought against the most were those who simply believed that they were wasting their time.


This is their story.

A Flash In The Pan

Gold Mining on Winberry Creek

Lane County, Oregon

Coming to Amazon.com, Fall 2012

Copyright Kerby Jackson 2012

ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED

ISBN-13: 978-1477535325

ISBN-10: 1477535322

Bull of the Woods Mine, Gold Hill Mining District, Jackson County, Oregon

Bull of the Woods


Major Commodities: Gold, Pyrite
Trace Commodities:
Host Rock: Quartz, Diorite
Legal Description: 36 South, 3 West, Section 15, NE 1/4
Elevation: 1280 feet


The Bull of the Woods mine consists of 31 acres of patented land located above the east side of the Rogue River on the western slope of Gold Hill. Very little is known about the mine prior to the 1930's except for the fact that the property was originally patented as agricultural land in the 1880's by Francis Marion Fredenburgh who was a prominent businessman in the Gold Hill area until a few years prior to his death in 1903. There is no indication that Fredenburgh engaged in any mining on the property or any indication of when mining began on the property, although it is certainly in a desireable area due to its close proximity to the famous Gold Hill Pocket.


In 1934, J.A. Clements leased and operated this property for two years, producing close to 145 ounces of gold. In 1936 and 1937, George Tulare operated the mine but production figures are unavailable, if any actually took place. In the Fall of 1938, Clements again secured the lease and began to drive a second shaft about fifty feet south east of the oldest workings. At the time, the property was owned by Mrs. Vella Hays of Gold Hill and Mrs. Rena Davis of Fort Klamath, California.


Reporting in January of 1939, J,.E. Morrison informed the State Department of Geology that there was a good road into the mine and that the topography consisted of rolling hills. Next to no mining timber was available on the property and no water was available with the exception of about 130 gallons per hour which was produced by seepage in the mine itself. Equipment at the mine included a 7 X 8 Chicago pneumatic compressor that was powered by a 4 cylinder Liberty engine, a small air powered Denver Gardner steam hoist, one ore car, an air hammer and misc. small equipment. Sometime during February or March of 1939, Clements installed a two stamp mill.


Development inside of the mine iconsisted of a total of 266 feet of workings, which did not include a vertical shaft 100 feet deep with three levels at the 35, 50 and 95 foot marks. The 35 and 50 levels connected to the mine's oldest workings, while the 95 foot level consisted of one drift that ran North 55 degrees West for 35 feet and another than ran South 55 degrees East for 25 feet. About fifty to sicty feet south west of the main shaft, a 105 foot tunnel with eight drifts ran North 5 degrees East.


According to reports, the dark country rock is: "probably diorite. (The) vein appears to be aresilicified shear zone from two to six feet wide and is composed of quartz and wall rock which breaks free from the hanging wall. (It is) difficult to determine how much of the foot wall should be mined. The values pentrate the walls. A sample cut for for 25 feet along the hanging wall on (the) 95 foot level runs $1.05 (at $34 per ounce). Samples from (the) foot wall run trace to $2.45. The 95 foot level has not tapped the ore shute (sic) found in the upper levels. (The) vein is of good mineable width. Its lateral extent is not known. Ore mined from the upper levels plated $10 per ton (at $34 per ounce). (The) vein dips from 75 to 80 degrees to the south east and strikes North 55 degrees West. (The) ore minerals are pyrite and free gold, estimated 50% free milling."


Nothing is known about this mine after 1939 and it is presumed to have been shut down in 1942 by Limitation Order L-208 and to have never been re-opened. 


Sources:


Oregon Metal Mines Handbook: Jackson County, 1943, pg. 57
Unpublished State Department of Geology Mine Report, March 16th, 1939
Obituary of "Francis Marion Fredenburgh", The Medford Mail, Eagle Point Eaglets, June 12th, 1903

From the forthcoming "Gold Hill Mining District:
Mines & Mining in South West Oregon" by Kerby Jackson
Copyright 2010 by Kerby Jackson