Mode of searching for Gold in California.
Rock gold, or that which is disseminated in dust or fine particles
amongst quartz rock, being so rare in California, but little attention
is paid to searching for it in such situations.
_Mode of Searching for the First Variety._
The miner, in prospecting for the first variety, or dry ravine gold,
selects a situation where, judging from the appearance of the hills, or
the slope of the ravine likely to contain gold, it may be found most
abundant. He commences his excavation at the center of the ravine, by
digging downward till he arrives in most cases at the rock on which the
deposit was made, which varies from 2 to 10 or 15 feet in depth. He then
prospects outward toward the hills till he arrives at the line of
deposit, in case any deposit there exists.
After having found a lead of gold, he excavates upward and downward the
ravine, being careful whilst progressing along, to watch the several
meanderings of the lead, which are likely to occur even in very short
distances.
The miner never need be long at a loss to determine whether there be
gold in the place where he is prospecting. If gold exists only in
moderate quantities, the pick will generally detect it by occasionally
throwing out into view pieces of gold, even when they are quite small.
In digging in dry ravines, the miner, after having arrivd within a few
inches of the rock where he expects to find gold, tries the earth by
washing some of it. If he finds no gold, all of the earth above this
place is thrown away as useless. He then continues to dig downward,
trying the dirt at short intervals, till he finds gold in his washings.
He then is careful to save and wash all of the remainder that lies above
the rock, and even to pick off a few inches from the top of some rocks
that are loose and open enough to receive gold in some of their
crevices, carefully saving and washing the whole.
In some instances in dry ravines, where slate rock occurs, it is
decomposd into clay, to a considerable depth, from the vast amount of
time elapsd since it has been placd in its present situation. Where such
decomposition has occurd, it is useless to penetrate downward into it,
in search of gold, as the gold was deposited most generally in a strong
iron deposit, previous to the decomposition of the rock. This strong
iron deposit is formd of soluble iron, amongst which the gold is
mechanically entangld and there held, unless the iron becomes again
soluble and leaves the gold to settle down by gravitation into the
decomposd rock below. Cases of the second solubility of the iron do not
often occur in dry ravines.
_Mode of Searching for the Second Variety._
It is more difficult to point out a successful mode of searching for
gold of the second variety than either of the other two. Yet
notwithstanding the difficulties attending it, some hints may be given,
useful to the miner, who has previously become in some degree acquainted
with the philosophy of running water and the nature of tertiary
deposits.
Those creeks of intermediate size between dry ravines, and the large
rivers flowing down from the mountains, though dry or nearly so at some
seasons of the year, are powrful in times of heavy rains or the rapid
melting of snows, as is evident from the position of some heavy rocks in
those streams, which none other agent the powr of a mighty stream could
have placd there.
In prospecting for gold in those creeks, the miner may select a position
which he judges to be the channel of the creek, or that portion of it
where the greatest powr of water is exerted, and commence digging
downward, till he arrives at the rock over which various tertiary
sediment has flowd, and if he finds the coarse gravel and sand through
which he passes, entirely down to the rock, cleanly washd of alluvium,
he may fairly conclude that he is in the current of that stream, or
where the water passes with greatest force. In those situations, he
rarely finds gold, or if he does, it is in sparing quantities.
If upon arriving at the rock, he finds a cross reef or ledge rock,
rising one foot or more above the rocks downward stream from his
position, he may then prospect outward either way toward the banks of
the creek, keeping close to the rock on the lower side, till he arrives
a little outward from the current where the waters formd an eddy, as
denoted by a mixture of alluvium with the sand and gravel of the creek.
In those situations, he may expect to find gold. If he finds gold in
such a locality, he may prospect outward toward the banks of the creek,
till he has exhausted the whole deposit.
As the tilted rocks of the gold district have universally one course,
and as creeks meander across them in nearly every possible direction,
there are chances in many places for reefs of rocks to traverse the beds
of creeks, directly along their channels. Under such circumstances, but
little gold has been deposited. If the miner continues his search along
the creek downward, till he arrives at a bend in it, where the water is
forcd over such reefs, a little outward from the channel, gold is often
found in great abundance—watching carefully whilst excavating the earth
in such places, to prospect the lower side of any reefs that may be
found there.
If a rock of several feet in hight traverse crosswise the whole width of
a creek, so that the only passage for the water of the stream is over
it, like the fall of a mill-dam, its force seldom allows gold to be
deposited near to it. But a short distance below, where the first quiet
waters occurd, gold may be found in lateral and central pockets and
little basin-shapd hollows of the rock at the bottom of creek deposits.
Again, if a rock project from any portion of the stream, so high that
water cannot run over it but is forcd around it, an eddy is in such case
formd immediately below it, in which situation gold may be expected to
be found.
In some situations, along some of the creeks, as at Sullivan’s camp, on
one of the tributaries of the St. Waukeen, the slate rock, on which the
gold was deposited, has since been decomposd to a considerable depth
below the tertiary deposit. It would seem that a second solubility of
the iron deposits had taken place, and liberated the gold to settle down
into the decomposd rock. In such situations, the miner continues to
prospect downward, as long as he finds gold abundant enough to reward
his labors.
Creek-washd gold is sometimes found higher up in the banks from the
current of creeks than the experiencd miner is aware of, but the man
acquainted with the appearance of creek-worn pebbles is never at a loss
to determine the agent that placd them there—and if, in such situations,
he finds rounded, creek worn pebbles, he may conclude that the pebbles
and gold also were deposited there by water. In such cases, it becomes
the miner to examine the bearing and level of the creek above such
place, and see if the creek may not some day have formd an eddy there,
and deposited its various contents. If, still higher up in the bank, he
finds gold entirely angular, he may conclude that it has slidden down
from the hill above.
Another thing to be observd by the miner, relative to creek-gold, is,
that in prospecting up and down creeks for gold,—he carefully observe
where a level expanse is formd at the foot of a cascade. Near the head
of such expanse, between the cascade above, and the next one below, he
will find gold more abundant than toward the lower end of such expanse.
In searching for eddies of creeks, where the greatest amount of gold is
often deposited, the miner should bear in mind that eddies formd in time
of freshets, are most likely to contain the most and heaviest gold, from
the fact that much power is requird to move heavy gold, and tertiary
sediment.
_Mode of searching for the Third Variety._
To obtain a knowledge of prospecting for bar gold, requires also a
knowledge of the philosophy of running waters—yet gold is prospected
with less difficulty in the bars of large rivers than creek-gold.
As the bar gold is very light and thin, it is subject to the various
freaks of running water, in which it is mechanically suspended, during
times of freshets. In prospecting therefore, for gold along the bars of
rivers, the principal thing to be attended to, is the formation of
eddies along those streams, which, if the edges of the water were
straight and unbroken, through the length of a bar, would also be formd
along in straight lines but a short distance from shore, or outer edge
of the water. These eddies are the intermediate line between the
downward current of the stream, and the retrograde or upward movement of
the water along the shore, where water is nearly in a quiescent state.
But as the edges of streams are rough and uneven, the eddies are also
formd uneven. Hence, a deposit of gold in those eddies, is not straight,
but varies according to the unevenness of the shore.
Such a line of quiet water, is the only deposit of bar gold which is
likely to be richest, near the heads of bars.
The best method of prospecting for bar gold, is to commence an
excavation, a short distance out from the water of the river, near the
head of a bar, digging downward but a short distance among the sand and
gravel, occasionally washing the earth.—And if gold is found, progress
toward and from the river, till the richest deposit is found. Then
change the course upward and downward the river, and continue to
prospect as long as gold is abundant enough to pay for working.
As this gold is subject to subsequent removals by every succeeding
freshet, it never gets deeply embedded in any solid tertiary deposits.
Hence, it is most usually found among loose sand and gravel, near the
surface.
This search should be made when the water of rivers is quite low, which
time is also best in searching for the other two varieties.
If along a line of bar deposit, a rock is found protruding high—gold may
be expected more abundant immediately below it, than elsewhere.
To those searching for gold along the bars of rivers, it was at first,
not a little surprising to learn that but little gold was deposited
toward the center of the stream—but on reflection,—it will be seen that
the water is too violent to admit floating gold to come to rest in such
situations.
[Illustration: Decorative glyph]