California Gold Mines, Gold Prospecting, Gold Panning and Treasure Hunting in California Gold Region 1
California gold in: California Gold Region One California Gold Region Two California Gold Region Three California Gold Region Four California Gold Region Five California Gold Region Six
RECREATIONAL GOLD PROSPECTING, GOLD PANNING, METAL DETECTING AND ROCKHOUNDING ARE FUN!
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PROSPECTING AND GOLD PANNING IN THE CALIFORNIA GOLD REGIONS
Note: The immediately following eight paragraphs
are common to each of the six (6) California gold regions. If you
should read about gold in the other California gold regions, just scroll down to the point in the text
where the particular region is discussed and continue on from there.
Since the days of the California gold rush in 1849, prospectors, treasure hunters and vacationers have flocked to California to hunt for gold. They use gold pans, sluice boxes, metal detectors, dredges and dry washers in their prospecting efforts. Rockhounding is done in the gold producing areas.
Recreational gold panning is a popular hobby in California. A simple gold pan is effective in detecting and recovering gold from a streambed.
Metal detectors are used to detect nuggets in the dry washes, dry streambeds and desert areas. Inexpensive light weight sluice boxes are often used in flowing streams to increase the amount of material being washed for gold. Dry washers are used to recover gold in arid areas. Experienced prospectors may be seen dredging for California gold. However, if you want to find some gold and have fun doing it, pans will suffice and provide many happy hours of outdoor activity for you and your family.
The great California Gold Rush was of such importance, and has received so much publicity, that many people are not aware that the California Gold Rush was preceded by gold rushes in the Southeastern States. The first documented discovery of gold in the United States was in North Carolina in 1799 and gold mining started there in 1803. A major gold rush took place in Georgia in 1828 and a lesser rush occurred in Alabama in the 1830's. Most of the gold mining districts in the West were located by pioneers, many of whom were experienced gold miners from Alabama and Georgia.
Gold mining and prospecting sites in California range from the Mexican border to the Oregon state line and eastward to the Arizona and Nevada state lines. Both Northern and Southern California provide ample locations where you may pan for gold.
Knowledge of those places where gold has been found earlier is useful in searching for more gold.
Prior work by geologists of the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the U.S. Geological Survey and the California Division of Mines and Geology is acknowledged. Of special mention is the prior work of William B. Clark and Ralph Loyd of the California Division of Mines and Geology and that of Waldemar P. Lindgren of the U.S. Geological Survey. The excellent California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193, by William B. Clark, was drawn upon for details of specific gold districts throughout the state and for text regarding the Klamath Mountains region of Northern California. Lindgren's work published in the year 1911 as regards the ancient Tertiary Rivers is considered a classic.
Note: The above paragraphs to this point are common to each of the six (6) California gold regions. If you should read about gold in the other California gold regions, just scroll down to the point in the text where the particular region is discussed and continue on from there.
CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 1
California Gold Region 1 embraces the extreme eastern area of Southern California from Death Valley to the Mexican Border. It includes Death Valley, Needles, Blythe, Glamis, Picacho and Brawley. Some of the mountain ranges in California Gold Region 1 are Nopah, Big Maria, Cargo Muchacho, Chocolate, Chuckwalla, Panamint, Providence, Funeral, Inyo and Whipple.
There are gold sites in California Gold Region 1 within fifty miles of Las Vegas along Interstate 15. Sites occur west of Needles near Interstate 40, west of Blythe near Interstate 10 and along the California side of the Colorado River north of Interstate 8 just a few miles north of Yuma, Arizona.
Big Ten's California Gold Map 1 covers California Gold Region 1. (NOTE: California Gold Map 1 is not available at this time.) It shows 405 gold mines and prospecting sites from official geological records of the State of California and the federal government. Specific gold deposit sites are shown in the eastern part of these counties:
Imperial
Inyo Riverside San
Bernardino
Gold sites continue to the
west on Maps 2, 3 and 4.
GOLD MINES AND GOLD PROSPECTING IN
CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 1
California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193 mentions that mining was done by Spaniards as early as 1780-81 in the Cargo Muchacho Gold District, about 15 miles northwest of Yuma, Arizona. Later, mining was resumed under Mexican rule. This is believed to be the first gold mined in what is now the State of California.
The Cargo Muchacho District received it's name of Cargo Muchacho, or Loaded Boy, when two young Mexican boys came into camp one evening with their shirts loaded with gold. American miners became interested in this district after the end of the Mexican War in 1848. Large scale mining was done there to depths of 1,000 feet.
The Potholes and Picacho mining districts also lie in the southeastern part of Imperial County, about 50 miles east of El Centro and 20 miles north of Yuma. Small scale mining began in the Potholes District when California was under Spanish rule. The district was named Potholes because the gold was found in small depressions or pots. As many as 500 Mexicans and Indians could be seen working the dry washes. It is probable that the Spanish mined the Picacho District as early as 1780. Gold has also been mined in the Chocolate Mountains in Imperial County, notably northeast of Glamis.
The Chuckwalla district, in the Chuckwalla Mountains of Southeastern Riverside County , was organized in the 1880's and mining continued through the early 1900's. There is a considerable number of mines in this area.
Gold has been mined in the Clark Mountain Range in San Bernardino County since the early 1880's, and since at least 1882 in the Ivanpah District, both of which are just off of Interstate 15 and about 35 miles northeast of Baker. Many gold deposits have been discovered through the years both east and west of Death Valley National Monument in Inyo County.
COMMENTS ON GOLD PROSPECTING IN CALIFORNIA GOLD REGION 1
The eastern area of Southern California is dry and hot. This has not deterred modern-day prospectors from hunting for gold with metal detectors during the cooler seasons. They use their metal detectors to scan placers for nuggets in the dry washes and the tailings from earlier mining operations. Other prospectors employ dry washers to recover fine gold and nuggets.
The hundreds of dry washes originating in, and coming down from, the mountain ranges, as shown on Gold Map 1, offer opportunities to find more gold. Prospectors from Arizona, Nevada, and other states cross into California to prospect in California Gold Region 1.
California gold in: California Gold Region One California Gold Region Two California Gold Region Three California Gold Region Four California Gold Region Five California Gold Region Six
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