MINERAL  RESOURCES  OF  THE  INDIAN  VALLEY  REGION. 
CALIFORNIA. 
By  J.  S.  Diller. 
LOCATION. 
The  Indian  Valley  district,  of  Plumas  County,  CaL,  extends  about 
12  miles  northward  from  the  fortieth  parallel  and  18J  miles  eastward 
from  the  one  hundred  and  twenty-first  meridian.  It  includes  Indian 
Valley,  North  Arm,  and  Genesee  Valley,  which  have  an  elevation  of 
about  3,*)00  feet  and  are  hemmed  in  by  the  mountains  of  the  north 
end  of  the  Sierras,  which  rise  at  a  number  of  places  to  a  height  of 
over   7,000   feet.     The  included   post-offices   are  Taylorville,   Green- 
ville, and  Crescent  MilL 
DEVELOPMENT. 
Prospectors  began  their  search  around  Indian  Valley  during  the 
gold  excitement  of  1850,  and  the  next  year  the  Bullion  ledge,  a  short 
distance  northwest  of  Greenville,  was  discovered.  Many  locations 
followed,  and  within  ten  years  Greenville  became  an  active  mining 
center.  Gold  was  the  primary  object  of  search,  but  the  discovery  of 
rich  copper  ores  in  1805  led  to  the  erection  of  a  small  furnace,  which 
maintained  a  sporadic  activity  for  four  years. 
Although  no  great  mines  have  been  developed  about  Indian  Valley, 
between  forty  and  fifty  small  ones  have  at  various  times  contrib- 
uted to  a  total  output  of  over  $7,700,000.  The  values  are  almost 
wholly  in  gold,  with  a  little  silver  and  less  copper.  Iron  ore,  coal, 
building  stones,  and  mineral  springs,  although  present,  have  not 
yet  become  sources  of  revenue.  At  the  present  time  there  arc  many 
active  prospects  in  the  region,  but  scarcely  half  a  dozen  paying  mines. 
The  principal  producing  mines  have  been  the  Crescent,  Green 
Mountain,  Indian  Valley,  and  McGill-Standard,  all  of  which,  with 
many  others  of  less  importance,  lie  in  the  Crescent  mining  belt, 
which  extends  from  the  neighborhood  of  Taylorsville  N.  50°  W. 
through  the  Crescent  and  Greenville  districts  to  Wolf  Creek,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  15  miles,  with  a  width  of  a  little  over  a  mile.     In  the 
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