By W. H. Storms, Assistant in the Field.
No portion of California has more diversified mineral wealth than the
county of San Bernardino. Although its area is comprised largely of
rugged mountains and desert waste, yet this county is a producer of
gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin, and contains mines of zinc, iron,
and manganese, besides deposits of borax, salt, soda, baryta, gypsum,
sulphur, onyx, marble, asbestos, and structural material, granite, and
sandstone of great beauty and value. Within its borders are found a wide
range of geological formations from Paleozoic (if not Archæan) to
Tertiary, and a great variety of rocks of igneous origin.
The mines are scattered all over its thousands of square miles of
territory, and have already added millions of dollars to the wealth of
the State and the world. Many of its mines are of phenomenal richness,
and were it not for the expense and extreme difficulty attending
transportation in the desert, San Bernardino County would undoubtedly
take first place in adding to the mineral wealth of California. The
largest and most productive section in the county at present is