120 



THE AUPJFEEOUS GEAVELS OF THE SIEEEA NEVADA. 



scattered along the sides of the ridge at various points, but chiefly along the southeastern side 

 near Indian Canon, and in the shallow patch which caps the ridge near the Catholic church, a 

 little northeast of Iowa Hill. The total quantity already washed away is probably between two 

 and three million cubic yards, of which about nine tenths may be assumed as having come from 



the deep channel. 



Mr. Goodyear makes the following estimate of the amount of ground remaining to be worked by 

 the hydraulic process, in the vicinity of Placerville 



Locality. 



Hangtown Hill to Reservoir 



Excelsior Claim, Coon Hill . 



Webber Claim, Coon Hill 



Webber Hill 



Little Spanish Hill 



Big Spanish Hill 



Smith's Flat . 



Clay Hill .... 



Indian Hill 



Negro Hill, below Reservoir 



Steven's Claim, spur 



White Rock Canon, southwest sid 



White Rock Point, spur . 



Cedar Flat 



Dimensions. 



Cubic Yards 



2640' x 1000' X 75' 





40 acres 135' deep 



8,712,000 



900' x 1200' x 100' 



4,000,000 



40 acres 75' deep 



4,840,000 



20 acres 100' deep 



3,22(),()()0 



10 acres 100' deep 



1,613,333 



1200' X 200' X 60' 





3 acres 15' deep 



72,200 



6 acres 20' deep 



193,600 



50 acres 75' deep 



6,050,000 



15 acres 40' deep 



968,000 



1200' X 1000' X 40' 



177,778 



1500' X 400' X 90' 



2,000,000 



15 acres 45' deep * 



1,089,000 



Total, 



40,809,743 



If now to the above estimate for special localities we add 25 per cent, which is probably a liberal 

 allowance for the quantity which remains distributed along the sides and spurs of various hills, and 

 not taken into account above, we may say that as fair an estimate as can now be made for the total 

 quantity of gravel capable of being hydraulicked in the vicinity of Placerville will amount, in 

 round numbers, to fifty millions of cubic yards. 



Subdivision II. — The Region south of the Mokelumne River. 



The region between the Mokelumne and the North Fork of the American 

 River having been described in the preceding pages, chiefly from the notes 

 of Mr. Goodyear, we turn next to that portion of the western slope of the 

 Sierra which lies to the south of the Mokelumne. The region which is now 



■ 



about to be described is extremely interesting from many points of view ; 

 but it is not a great hydraulic mining district. It has been the scene of 

 extremely rich placer, river, and tunnel mining operations, and many quartz 

 mines have been worked in the three counties of Calaveras, Tuolumne, and 

 Mariposa; but no one of these interests can be said to be, at the present 

 time, in a very flourishing condition. Few, if any, of the quartz mines have 

 proved to be permanently productive and capable of being worked to great 

 depths like those in Amador County ; the river beds have long since been 

 thoroughly cleaned out. The rich channels under the various lava flows, 

 like the Sonora Table Mountain, have been worked out by tunnels, and 



* This item was added by Mr. Alderson, who examined and approved of Mr. Goodyear's estimates as 

 given above. 



