Sports
Medford
Features
Tribune
SECTION B MEDFORD, OREGON, SUNDAY, JULY 21, 1963 PAGES 1 to 8
old Mining --
The Area's First Chapter
By EVA HAMILTON
K Mail Tribune Staff Writer
Recollections of early mining in Jackson county and
other sections of southern Oregon have been stimulated
by the recent appearance here of an article in The Ore
Bin.
The article appeared in the June issue of the maga
zine published by the Slate of Oregon department of
geology and mineral industries. It was written by F. W.
Libbey, former director of the state department and now
a mining engineer in private practice. The article re
views gold mining as the original mainstay of the econ
omy of southern Oregon.
While Jacksonville, as the article relates, was loca
tion of the first gold lode and first gold pocket un
earthed in Oregon, the Gold Hill mining era, less pub-
licized, was equally colorful.
! It was of shorter duration but the men who brought
, gold from the diggings, were frequently like the brief
, flame that burns brightest. The finds they made were
spectacular and so were the things they did with their
j gold, as completely gone today as the ashes of the last
flame.
Most Famous Pocket
"The most famous of all was the astonishing gold
', pocket, discovered in January, 1857, by Emigrant Gra
', ham and partners near the top of the hill two miles
1 northeast of Gold Hill," according to Libbey's report.
It is said that this pocket produced at least $700,000.
Also featured in Libbey's history of mining is the
: Revenue pocket. It was mined out by the Rhoten broth
1 ers five miles south of Gold Hill on Kane creek. The
Ore Bin report places the amount taken from the pocket
at $100,000.
Al, Ed and Enos Rhoten were widely known for
their ability to "smell a gold pocket," according to Floyd
' . '
www . I ipmi n m I t A
Lance of Gold Hill, recently retired from the Gold Hill
cement plant and himself a descendant of early day
miners.
Lance worked with the Rhoten brothers when the
cement plant opened its quarries at Gold Hill, and on
other mineral projects.
They were deft miners and many stories of their
exploits were told by other mining men who coveted
their finds.
Of Enos, The Centennial History of Oregon, published
in 1911, said, he found gold "wherever his keen young
eye and native miner's instinct directed him to prospec
tive ground in stream or mountain gulch."
This Rhoten crossed the plains with his parents in
1852 and began his mining career al the age of 10 years.
In addition to mining he operated a farm of 160 acres
in the Applcgatc valley and maintained a general store.
Estimate Value of Pocket
The book estimated one of his gold pockets at $125,
000 in virgin gold nuggets of various sizes.
The Rhotcns were large men and they had large feet,
which made large tracks, Lance recalls. Whenever am
bitious pocket hunters saw their tracks they followed
them, wherever they led.
The Rhotens were free spenders, too, according to
Gold Hill legend. The gold flowed out of their pants
pockets as fast as the gases and liquids rose from be
neath the surface of the earth to form the much sought
metal in its beginning.
A story told many times by people who claimed to
be actual observers relates that the Rhoten brothers were
in a Medford saloon one night when the bartender want
ed to close and told them to go home. Determined to
continue their night in town, they bought the saloon,
laying the money on the bar and maintaining their
rendezvous.
Lance's grandfather, George W. Lance, Sr., operated
7 zJ y n
4 I . i' v ' """Srr-t
1-r sj
mnm.'m,T
T
- v 4
This photograph shows the Ashland mine soon after it was opened. Now the property ol
Fred and Dewey Van Curler, it comprises 276 acres of patented ground. The owners used
the stamp mill for concentrating chrome ore during World War II.
!
--In
WAP'! i
m -a, i
This operation was owned by General R. G. O'Brien and was located in Josephine county on Louise creek beyond
Cranls Pass. Josephine county miners, William Robertson and Virgil E. Hull, struck an "enrichment" in their quartz
vein in 1940 and took out gold valued at (20,480 in four days, in what was formerly known m Bunker UiU rniif.
a x,'- 4 .
: i
t 4'
Rviv. .v.-;-
V,
tern r v. ? jn
This peaceful mountain setting was once known as J. B. Pickett camp (Pickett was constable lit Jacksonville in 1G7II). In 11I0O, when this photo was
taken, it was home of Albert W. and Henry Shearer. Steve's peak and Iron mounlain arc in 1 he background. This Slei'mboat mine produced a net
work of quartz veins in andesite in 1800. A yield from the Steamboat pocket was reportedly $390,000. ' , . : .
the Lance mine on Foots Creek, one of the older placer
mines. He bought the original holdings in 1861 and kept
adding on until it comprised the region from Miller's
Gulch to Birdseye Creek to Foots Creek.
These holdings were part of the Abie J. Champlin
mine, owned by Medford Police Chief Charles Champ
lin's grandmother. The same property was dredged from
1928 to 1935 by the D. H. Ferry company which later
moved operations to Graves creek.
Lance has retained about five acres of the mining
property as a place for the family to vacation and
"just dig around."
One of the recent gold stories of the Gold Hill area,
recalled by Lance, involved the finding of a hule near
the roots of a pine tree on the Chavner Thompson prop
erty. The imprints revealed that a kettle or similar con
tainer had obviously been removed. The theory was that
it contained one of -:e missing gold pockets. Many were
known to have been stolen from their Gold Hill discov
erers. Ashland Mine Location
Ashland mine, photographs ot which also appear In
the Jacksonville museum, was located In 18RH by Wil
liam Palton, according to Libbey's research. 11 was ac-
tive almost continuously until 1902 when the shaft
reached a depth of 900 feet. It was closed down because
of litigation with owners of adjoining claims and was not
reopened until about 1932, when a 10-slamp mill op
erated by electric power was installed. '
Total development Is approximately 11,000 lineal
'feet and includes two shafts, an adit, raises and drifts.
Several veins have been found but only two have been
explored. Mill concentrates assayed about $100 a ton
and "milling" averaged about $13 a ton. Up to 1933 tolal
value of production was reported as $1,300,000.
Back to the Jacksonville scene, Libbey tells of the
so-called Hicks Lead found on the left fork of Jackson
creek. Sonora Hicks, the discoverer, working with his
brother, took out $1,000 in two hours, according to the
Jacksonville Sentinel. Walling, 'recognized Oregon his
torian, reports in his history Hicks sold his claim to
Maury, Davis and Taylor, who then built the first Arras
tra in Oregon in order to treat the Hicks ore.
Roaring Gimlet Pocket
A rich deposit known as the Roaring Gimlet pocket
was discovered in 1893. It was found at the mouth of
China Gulch, about 2Vi miles south of the Gold Hill
pocket. Several small pockets were extracted just cast
rf the large Gimlet. Libbey docs not slate who made the
discoveries, but places the yield at $40,000.
Early-day statistics of. gold production In Oregon
were meager and, for the most part, based on records
of agencies such as Wells Fargo, banks and post offices
which handled gold shipments to the San Francisco ,
mini.
Figures for annual production of gold in Oregon,
beginning in 1881, arc believed to be reliable. However,
production statistics segregated by counties were not
publishd until 1902,
As a result, stories will remain the basis far many
reports and as long as they come from many quarters
they will contain many differences. But it is to be
hoped they will always be as interesting as those told
by the first finders of southern Oregon's gold.
m;. ii ii ww i in w .,LiH'w:.t -k:wrw. ...
a
The mine in this photograph, laken by Pr c in 1894 and now In the Jacksonville
museum collccliori, Is l'ii miles up Rogue Ei '. v from the town of Gold Hill. The gold pans
on Ihe sluice boxes contain gold. The old gr i vcl bur is still there but it is now barren rock.
The mining men on the scene are Potter, Net:, McC'onnell and Diamond. (Their first names
were not listed In the file.)
4
This crew Is believed to have been photographed at the Blue Ledge mine, one of the
larger operations in southern Oregon. The photo was given the museum by Mrs. Lyle
Penny, the former Rulh Luy.
I I , "V -.V; "i'd rt' -4 - : m v "t .
7'rft;yf .f7.U V-.. h i- -w-' 4f' 'i,f"
This operation was carried on by the Squaw Lake Minin g company. The basket opens claws to pick up quartz, closes
them with Its find and then carrlca the rocks to be deposited In another location, played upon by streams of water. The
iwula wukk dooWd to Uta uuMiuia collKctioa by the, lata Muj Aik lUnlcy.