Redwood History Basic Data

C. SILVER MINING

In 1871 Blalock sank a shaft on Myrtle Creek and penetrated rock containing silver ore. For some reason he did not exploit his discovery, and closed his shaft. His find was kept secret until 1874, when word of it was permitted to leak. As expected, this news caused the wildest excitement in Crescent City. Stories spread that a new Comstock had been found in Del Norte County. Men collected on the streets to show one another the "results of the numerous tests of the rock which had been made, some saying that they could find no silver, while others asserted that it was $300 rock."

A new mining district, the Myrtle Creek, was organized, and the entire area staked in claims. The boom quickly subsided without any move being made to develop the Myrtle Creek silver mines. [12]