46 



parts of El Dorado, Placer and Nevada as they existed in the years of 1851-2-3. 

 They are much in the condition in which the flats and ravines in those counties 

 were during those years, and which, since the introduction of water by canals, have 

 yielded vast sums of gold, and such high remuneration for labor. 



These mines are as yet almost untouched, and they require only that stimulus 

 which has been applied in other counties to the south, to bring them into immedi 

 ate use and occupancy. The rapid ascent of the Sacramento River after it enters 

 the canon immediately above the Upper Ferry is such that any amount of water 

 would be easily obtained by diverting a portion of the stream, and carrying it by 

 canals or ditches to the west of the river to be distributed among the high flats to 

 the west from the town of Shasta, which flats abound in auriferous deposits similar 

 to those of Middletown, Briggsville and other localities. A distance of six or seven 

 miles from the mouth of the canon would give sufficient altitude to carry the waters 

 nearly as high as the summit of the hill on which is situated what is known as the 

 Upper Springs, and within the town of Shasta. 



A distance of three or four miles above the first settlement on the plain east of 

 the river, the waters of the Sacramento may be diverted to any extent that might 

 be requisite, arid in quantities sufficient, if required, to nearly inundate the upper 

 plain on that side of the stream, and a natural channel may be found of sufficient 

 elevation a portion of the way, to convey the waters over the undulating hills on 

 the southern and middle portions of the prairie beyond. 



The inducements for the investment of capital in mining operations which offer 

 themselves in this immediate vicinity are unsurpassed in any county of the State 

 south of this point, and it is a remarkable feature in the history of this district 

 that they have not attracted that attention which their intrinsic merits suggest. 



GEOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN COAST MOUNTAINS. 



The term Northern Coast Mountains is used in this case for the purpose of sepa 

 rating a portion of this district, which differs materially in mineral aspect from any 

 other part of this chain south of the County of Colusi. The counties of Humboldt, Kla- 

 math, Trinity, Shasta, and the southwest part of Siskiyou.if not the whole of the latter 

 county, are situated in this part of the chain, and which collectively form a portion 

 of the mineral districts of this State. My line of travel did not extend sufficiently 

 far north to determine with certainty what portion of the mountain district, in the 

 northern part of the State should strictly constitute the coast chain. But from what 

 evidences there are in our possession at the present moment, respecting their peculiar 

 disposition, the presumption is strong that even Mount Shasta belongs to this chain, 

 in place of its forming a part of the Sierra Nevada as heretofore believed. This 

 will prove to be the case, provided the Cascade range which extends through 

 Southern Oregon is found to be a continuation of our coast chain as is now sup 

 posed. 



In this case we shall have the Sierra Nevada terminating at Lassen's Peak, or 

 rather at a point not farther north than this moumtain, and the structure of the 

 county extending northward from this towards the southern line of Oregon fully 

 warrants such a conclusion. North of Lassen's Butte there is not a mountain to 

 be seen on the line of trend of the ridge country, which consists apparently of 

 low, flat table lands, similar in structure and appearance to the table hills north of 

 the main Feather River or those which extend through the southern, western and 

 northern parts of the Counties of El Dorado, Placer and Amador, as we approach 

 the plains from the mountains in these several counties. 



The only mountains in this part of the State are those belonging properly to the 



