GEOLOGIC MAPS AND NOTES ALONG HIGHWAY 49 BOWEN AND CRIPPEN 



55 



A mile and a half northwest of the Mark Twain historical markers, 

 the mine dumps and building foundation of the Norwegian mine can 

 be seen to the north of the highway. The Norwegian is really on the 

 northwest slope of Jackass Hill although it is some distance from the 

 pocket mines near the Mark Twain cabin. This mine has been worked 

 discontinuously in a small way since 1851, but is now idle. The ore was 

 in pockets and ore minerals included gold, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, 

 petzite, and small quantities of other tellurides. The total recorded pro- 

 duction is only $131,000 but considerably more was undoubtedly pro- 

 duced of which there is no record. The Norwegian mine is of interest 

 principally because the notorious outlaw Black Bart was caught as a 

 result of a fracas involving a stage carrying Norwegian mine gold. Bart 

 is supposed to have dropped during the holdup the handkerchief by 

 which he was traced to his lair in San Francisco. 



Beyond the Norwegian mine, Highway 49 drops into the canyon of 

 the Stanislaus River, and crosses the latter at Robinsons Ferry, imme- 

 diately south of the town of Melones. During high water, the canyon 

 bottom is flooded by the lake which backs up behind the Melones Dam, 

 located more than seven miles downstream. The most recent highwater 

 mark can be seen on the canyon walls as a line of dirt and debris. The 

 bridge at Robinsons Ferry is at the Tuolumne-Calaveras County line, 

 a line which follows the course of the Stanislaus in this area. Melones, 

 situated on the north bank of the river, would be a very scenic spot were 

 it not for the shambles of shacks and worn out mining equipment which 

 clutter the hillside behind the town. The large 100 stamp mill and some 

 other buildings burned in 1942 and the mine premises have badly deterio- 

 rated since then. The Melones-Carson Hill mining district has one of 

 the most colorful histories of any along the Mother Lode and mining 

 on Carson Hill has for the most part been a very lucrative enterprise. 

 Although early records are incomplete, Carson Hill mines are credited 

 with a production of more than $26,000,000. Spanish American miners 

 found placer gold along the Stanislaus and its tributaries early in 1848. 

 They are responsible for the name Melones, which was applied to the area 

 because of the placer gold which resembled melon seeds. In 1850, two 

 years after the Spanish Americans located the town of Melones, James 

 Carson and John Hance were digging placer gold from Carson Creek. 

 Hance is credited with the initial lode-gold discovery on Carson Hill 

 when he followed placer gold showings uphill to their source near the 

 massive quartz outcroppings. The Billy Mulligan gang jumped the 

 claims and held them for nine months before being thrown off the prop- 

 erty by court order in 1853. Little more than a year later, the largest 

 mass of gold ever produced in California and one of the largest on record 

 was taken from Carson Hill. It weighed 195 pounds troy which, calcu- 

 lated at present prices and 900 fineness, would be worth $73,710. At the 

 time of discovery it was worth $43,534. Presence of this huge mass of gold 



brought business to Robinsons Ferry to the tune of $10,000 in tolls in 

 less than six weeks ! 



The mines of Carson Hill are famous for the telluride minerals pro- 

 duced in quantity during the early decades of operation. Calaverite, 

 hessite, petzite, and sylvanite were common minerals in Carson Hill. 

 Melonite, a telluride of nickel, is a very rare mineral named after the 

 town of Melones and is found in but few other parts of the world. 



Two large surface workings or glory holes can be seen on Carson 

 Hill. One is on the southwest flank of the hill 1.5 miles from Melones. 

 This is the Calaveras cut on the Santa Cruz claim. The larger of the 

 two is located on the north side of the hill about a mile south of the town 

 of Carson Hill. This is the Morgan stope on the Morgan claim. The 

 Morgan stope was exploited partly by steam shovels from the surface 

 but most of the ore was taken out through tunnels from below. The 

 Melones tunnel, the adit of which is close to Highway 49 just north of 

 Melones, was the main ore-removal way from the Morgan claim. Some 

 idea of the magnitude of the Carson Hill workings may be drawn from 

 the tremendous size of the tailings dump to the east of Melones. 



North from Melones, Highway 49 rises abruptly along the flanks of 

 Carson Hill. There are 3.5 miles of narrow switchbacks and sinuous 

 mountain driving between Melones and the town of Carson Hill. The 

 road cuts on Carson Hill expose a great many quartz-carbonate stringers 

 or veinlets which are typical of the Mother Lode mineralization on its 

 eastern spur from Jackass Hill to Angels Camp. The main thrust fault 

 of the Mother Lode system lies considerably to the west and was not 

 mineralized along this sector. North from Carson Hill the route lies in 

 rolling country which has been exploited both by placering and lode 

 mining. Evidences of both are to be seen everywhere. Carson Flat, Frog- 

 town, and Albany Flat were early day gold camps though little now 

 remains at the old sites which lay close to present day Highway 49. The 

 Mother Lode Central, Marble Spring, Harris, and Waterman mines are 

 all located close to the highway on its west side between Carson Hill 

 and Angels Camp. None of them has been particularly productive as 

 compared with Carson Hill or the mines at Angels Camp. See the map 

 which accompanies this chapter for more precise locations on these mines. 



Angels Camp, 3.8 miles north of Carson Hill town, was founded in 

 1848 by Henry Angel. It is a modern, up-to-date town with few buildings 

 of historical interest remaining. Although its stream placers were rich, 

 the lodes proved richer and more permanent. Some were exploited as 

 late as 1920. The Utica mine, which was a consolidation of the Utica. 

 Stickles, Raspberry, and six other claims, is by far the most famous mine 

 between Carson Hill and Jackson. Although fires and cave-ins hampered 

 production from time to time, the Utica produced gold to the amazing 

 total of nearly $17,000,000. The veins and hence the shafts are nearly 

 vertical and the deepest part of the mine is 3050 feet below the siirface 



