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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (May 19, 1963)
Sports From Josephine County, Stories About Medford Tribune SECTION B MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, MAY JB, 1963 PAGES 1 to 8 Finding a Gold Mine; Wild Flowers at Rough and Ready Park Features By PH1SCILLA AVERILL Mail Tribune Correspondent Grants Pass-The history of any gold mining region is usually rife with legends of mysterious "lost" mines and of miners who have lo cated a rich strike only to die without revealing the secret of its location. In Josephine county an other chapter is being add ed to this hoary mystery tale - only in reverse. This time it is a mysterious "found'' mine, and the mys tery is: who lost it? and When? The mine, an early-day gold placer operation, was unearthed in the Illinois valley this winter by George Reynolds, an amateur sour dough from Grants Pass. Prospecting some land which he and a partner had purchased along B r i g g s creek, Reynolds had spotted some rotting timbers stick ing out of the creek bank. They apparently had been exposed when the creek had washed out part of the bank. Something about them suggested they were old riffles. Pari of Raceway Digging back along their length, he found they were part of the raceway of an old placer mine, now five feet underground. Still clinging around the riffles were the fine bits of gold which they had been set down to . catch. Beyond them the raceway stretched back some unknown dis tance into the grounds , - Reynolds had little idea of the date of the mine's origin, but of one thing he was sure: the operation had been hastily and unwilling ly abandoned one day In the past. No miner would have gone to all the trouble of laying pole riffles in a long raceway without ever re-; turning for the fruits of his labor. Anyone intending to abandon a mine would have taken up the riffles and cleaned them of their gold. Why hadn't the unknown miner come back? Had he met with an accident or been killed during the lusty, brawling early days of gold mining in these parts? Or had he perhaps been one of the Chinese who were driven out in a fight with the white miners George Reynolds, discoverer of an old abandoned mine along Briggs creek in the Illinois valley, shows some of the fine gold taken from the sluicebox which he built at the end of the old raceway, Reynolds found the mine last winter and now wonders who lost it and when. back before the turn of the century? Spare Time Digging Since first uncovering the mine, Reynolds has spent most of his spare time digging-digging back along the old raceway and digging, back into history to try to discover its origins. So far he has dug out about 35 feet, aided at one lime by a troop of Grants Pass Boy Scouts, uncovering coarser gold all the time. He fig ures the cut may go back hundreds of feet more. His digging back into his tory, however, has not yet yielded any pay dirt. Reyn olds knows that the prop erly, which he owns in partnership with Grants Pass logger and miner W Pieren. was first patented in 1914 as the Barr mine. Its 160 acres of patented ground consisted of 8 claims of 20 acres each. The pal- 5 f '-'? fSLTt H-Jr 3 iV. v i i v. This photo shows the mine's old raceway with riffles as unearthed by Reynolds, who may be seen working in the background. Reynolds found the old mine when he spotted some rotting timbers sticking out of the bank along Briggs creek. ents were first applied for in 1901. There is no record of the lost workings among them. One of the patented claims, howeveu, lies on ground directly above the. old cut. The renjains.niits.-. raceway can be seen ex- ' tending back for about 100 ' feet on the surface, some five feet above. Reynolds' diggings. This would seem to indicate the old workings were lost and well covered by the ravages of time be fore 1901. Was Mining Activity It is known there was considerable mining activ ity along Briggs creek in the 1870 s. It is also known that a lot of gold was taken out in those days which was never recorded. What kills this theory for Reynolds, however, is that the riffles in the raceway are nailed with round nails, and he figures thai nails used before the turn of the century would be square. Reynolds Is sure the mine must have been worked by more than one miner be cause some of the boulders were so heavy it would have taken more than one man to move them. An old cabin on the property has long since burned down. Another more recent (but still ancient) cabin stands. Had Several Owners Reynolds found the prop erty had had several own ers before it was acquired by Barr about 1900. It was first slaked out by a farm er named Farren, who mov ed there in 1880. Farren had put in a ditch from Briggs creek for mining purposes. The Chinese were mining on Briggs creek when Farren arrived. Ralph, Chester and Fred Moore bought an interest in the property before 1910, and one winter took out $1,700 in gold from the up per pits. This was all coarse gold, with many $4 and $5 nuggets. The largest record ed, worth more than $130, would bring considerably more today. The next owners, Cougar Consolidated Mining com pany of Denver, installed hydraulic pipe and ran a big operation. It was work ed once more by the Moore boys In the 1940's. Curiously, all this activity was on land that was around, and even on top of, the old slice - which might have held its secret locked forever if a wayward cur rent hadn't finally come along to wash away part of the bank which was Its tomb. By LETHA COOKE Mail Tribune Correspondent A traveler on southern Oregon's Highway 199 may not notice modest signs de noting "Rough and Ready Creek State Park." , There is no explanation to tell, that here, within a small rugged area lies one of the world's most , elaborate displays of nat 1 ural flora. Definte bounda ries are not designated, ex cept that the park follows both sides of Rough and Ready creek for some dis tance in either direction. The area is well-known by botanists and laymen, however, who for years, even before this part of Josephine counly was set aside as a park area, have traveled from ' far to see the wild flowers. April Most Prolific March, April, and May, with perhaps April the most prolific, are the best -months to see the abun- , dance of color and variety. There are only about two months of the year when at least one variety cannot be found. Seasons being unpredicta- ' ble, sometimes the show starts in mid-February, and often winter makes a re turn trip to play tricks on premature spring harbin gers. Tender blossoms of gold stars and grass widows are left shamefully hanging their despoiled faces. The weather, governed by Pacific storms, brings warm rain over coastal ' ranges into the valleys, and mountain altitudes produce aw- if m Morning glory bloom all summer at Rough and Ready Creek State Park off High way 199 in the Illinois Valley. an overlapping of climatic conditions. This hybrid t mosphare Is considered part ly responsible for flowers known as endemics, exclu sive to Rough and Ready flat and a large pari of this southern Oregon county. Grotesque Oaki Scattered along in groups or singly, grotesque oaks , ' . . i xms&msrimt,, mm. mm,mm M5 Wit XM- 5.' ' Alpine phlox, shown above, Is a rose colored flower which harmonizes with the green grasses and gray desert driftwood manzanlta at Rough and Ready Creek Slate park. Another of the plants adding color Bnd beauty to Rough and Ready Creek Slate park Is this arrow leafed balsam root. Each month finds different wild flowers at the little known park, making II a haven for flower lovers. and small scrubby pine rep resent nature's own perfec tion, enthusiastically pur sued by fans of Japanese bonsai. Manzanlta and mes qulte border open spots where the extravaganza ot variety not only of colors, but numbers of varieties grow. ' Rough and Ready creek tumbles from the mountains clear and cold and green. Sometimes filled to over , flowing by warm rain and , melting snow, it carries sand and leafmold . Into crevices of rocks and piles it against the higher shrubs, thus Improving soil condi tions for low growing al pines. from early spring until latest fall, multitudes of flowers grace the rocky terrain. Deforming Factor ' Periods of rainfall In spring seem to be the de termining factor for some species. If conditions are unfavorable certain varie ties do not appear until a spring when sun and rain are conducive to their re quirements. One elegant pixie Is known lo remain dormant for two years. About the middle of May, its rose lipped tubular corolla, spoiled with yellow in the throat, makes its appear ance. Many varieties of wild flowers bloom during the spring and enrly summer, while in later months - Au gust and September - desert plants dominate the scene. Mutations Occur Frequently Not to be forgotten or Ignored are the mutations nccuring with frequency, possible only In the midst of a teeming efflorescence. Pure white arabls, odd combinations of color in frltlllaria and intense pig mentation, of broom rape, Orobanchc aro noticeable to a casual observer. Botanists with keener knowledge and ambition to delve profoundly into pri vate lives of plants have recognized many digres sions and classified them as endemics. It seems almost impossi ble that here, In an area of 30 acres, In prolific splen dor, during three seasons of the year, flowers of desert, mountain, meadow and prairie grow. Condi tions are right in one spot or another during rain, cold, heat or drouth to satisfy the Individual demands oi countless varieties.
