CAMPTONVILLE AND VICINITY 



427 





tions that I was able to make upon the ground, the small water-course in Oak Valley empties into 

 Willow Creek instead of Beaver Creek (or Brandy Creek, as it is also called), and the headwaters 

 of Willow Creek are farther to the northeast than would appear from the map. If these changes 

 could be made, the map would give a much more truthful representation of the facts than it now 



does. 



* 



Leaving out of consideration for the present a few outlying deposits of gravel whose relations 

 are questionable, I will begin with a description of the main north and south channel, which can 

 be traced across the ridge between Camp ton ville and Depot Hill, or Indian Hill. The prolonga- 

 tion of the channel to the north of the North Yuba will be described in a subsequent section, in 

 connection with the gravel of Brandy City. 



The places at which hydraulic mining has been or is now carried on are, beginning with the 

 most southerly, Cam pton ville, Galena Hill, Y r oung's Hill, Weed's Point, Railroad Hill, Depot Hill, 

 and Indian Hill. The first tour places mentioned are in Yuba County ; the last two are in Sierra 

 County. The precise locality of Railroad Hill I cannot give. It is probably in Sierra County, the 

 position assigned it on the map being erroneous. 



The town of Camptonville stands on the ridge between Willow Creek and Oregon Creek, at the 

 head of a ravine leading down to the latter. The gravel deposit lies to the west of the town, and 

 at a lower altitude, the town being built upon the rapidly rising slope of the eastern rim of bed- 

 rock. The busiest days of mining at this place were between 1853 and 18G0. It was one of the 

 first places at which the hydraulic process was introduced and proved to be successful. Since 

 1874 no mining of any consequence has been done near the town, the deposit of gravel being 

 practically exhausted; at some of the other places above-mentioned the supply is still sufficient 



to last many years. 



The bed-rock at Camptonville is a slate which strikes a little to the west of north, and has a 

 nearly vertical dip. About four miles to the southwest of the town, on the San Juan road, I ob- 

 served the transition from slate to granite. There is also a similar change of bed-rock from slate 

 to granite, about a mile to the west of the town, just below the junction of Horse Valley and 

 Willow creeks. Some of the granite at this point lias a very coarse-grained texture. At Galena 

 Hill the bed-rock is an easily decomposable slate, while the slate at Depot Hill is of a harder 

 variety and is considerably worn. The bed-rock relations at Indian Hill are in some respects 

 peculiar. At the eastern or upper end there is a coarse, rotten, easily decomposed granite, con- 

 taining mica crystals as much as a quarter or a half of an inch in diameter. At the lower end the 

 bed-rock is again slate, like that at Depot Hill or beyond. The line of junction between the two 

 kinds of rock has a northwesterly direction for the short distance along which I was able to trace 

 it. It would be interesting to determine the boundary of this upper mass of granite, which ap- 

 pears to be separated from the granite already referred to by a broad belt of slate rock. 



Between the gravel of Camptonville and that of North San Juan there is nothing to obstruct 

 the view. The line of sight follows very nearly the course of Oregon Creek and then across the 

 Middle Yuba. The river-bed at Freeman's Crossing is more than 1,100 feet below the Campton- 

 ville bed-rock. The character of the country is such that a very ex tensive view is obtainable of 

 the northern slope of the San Juan ridge, and there is nothing in sight to suggest any opposition 

 to the theory that the old channel from Camptonville followed approximately the line of the 

 present Oregon Creek, and effected a junction with the more southern channel at some point near 

 San Juan. The difference of altitude between the bed-rock at the southern end of the Campton- 

 ville deposit— 2,657 feet— and that at the eastern end of San Juan Hill — 2.033 feet — is G24 feet. 



y 



The distance in a direct lino is not far from seven miles, allowing a grade of eighty-nine feet to 

 the mile, a grade which is in excellent agreement with that (bund for the average grade of the old 



* A copy of the Yuba, County map, which is referred to above, was given me by Mr. Joseph K. Young, 

 an attorney-at-law residing at Camptonville. I am also indebted lor information to Mr. Jason Meek, the present 

 county surveyor. The alterations made upon the map in red ink, and the coloring tor gravel, are made from my 



notes. 



