Redwood History Basic Data

F. THE SITUATION in 1881

In 1881 John Chapman and one other party owned and operated the Gold Bluff mines. Chapman and his men watched the beaches closely, and when the "gray sands" began to go out, it constituted a signal to commence operations. The pack mules were rounded up from the range, the men put back on the payroll, and "the sand scraped together upon the beach as fast as it appears." The auriferous sands were then packed up to the washing box, dumped in piles, and washed as time permitted. [21]

Meanwhile, a placer mine had been opened at Ossagon, on the upper edge of the Klamath Gravel and adjoining the upper Gold Bluff claim. This placer was owned by the Eureka Gold Mining Co., of Ossagon Creek. Unfortunately for the stockholders the dam and supporting facilities were erected "hastily, as is too frequently the case in such enterprises." When the winter rains came, the dam and sluiceway were washed away. The works were reconstructed, and a stronger dam, 250 feet long, 13 feet high, with a capacity. of 80,000,000 cubic feet of water, constructed. A ditch one-half mile in length was dug, while the pressure box had an elevation of 150 feet. The sluice was composed of 60 boxes, each 12 feet long and three feet wide. There were six blocks or ripples to the box. [22]