MEDFORD, Or., Jan. 25.--(Special.)--Plans for placer mining on county-owned land at Jacksonville as a means of unemployment relief, "on the boom" last week, were apparently abandoned here today. Preliminary holes have been filled up and sluice boxes abandoned. Reasons for discontinuing the project, given by George B. Maxwell, originator of the plan, emphasize conflict of opinion and entrance of commercial interests into the field. Much opposition to the plan was voiced at the last meeting of the Jacksonville council, when the marshal of the historic town was instructed to order miners to fill vacant holes. The many transients brought to town by announcement of a relief gold rush didn't find a welcome.
    While several residents of the town were finding backyard mining profitable as a sideline before the relief plan was inspired, they would not have prospered had shelter and meals not been provided by other means, Jacksonville officials claim.
Oregonian, Portland, January 26, 1932, page 18


    After only a week of work on the county lots at Jacksonville which had been turned over to the unemployed for an opportunity to placer mine and perhaps eke out a dollar now and then, the plan has been abandoned. This announcement was made Monday by George Maxwell, who had introduced the plan, and offered his instruction to the men who came to the county's property to mine.
    In contrast to this is the Josephine County case.
    That county has taken over some old abandoned claims for the taxes. They are located about three miles up the river from Grants Pass near the old Ament dam, and lately a tiny community has sprung up, with its members eking out a living of 50¢ or 75¢ a day--often a day 10 to 14 hours long.
    County officials who learned of the newcomers thought that the land was being dug up too much, so the sheriff haled the men to the courthouse.
    "If we can't dig gold, you'll have to feed us," one of the prospectors pointed out, and the judge finally sent them back to their diggings, where they are still located, and the county considers this phase of their unemployment problem well taken care of.
    At Jacksonville, of course, the problem of caring for the workers who were drifting to the town, many unskilled and unprepared in any way to feed and shelter themselves until they secured a little gold on the county property, is a situation with which the town is unable to cope. Another angle which developed through the publicity given the project was that some men came ready to buy likely lots, which brought a new angle into the case.
Gold Hill News, January 28, 1932, page 1


    Abandoned, water-filled and dangerous mine shafts which dot the town and furnish serious menace to safety and good appearance are to be done away with as result of action taken at a special meeting of the Jacksonville city council held last Friday. Council members voted to instruct the marshal to notify all property owners with idle, unprotected holes on their lots to make provision for filling them. If such action is not carried out within reasonable time officials will hire the work done and charge resultant expense to the property.
    It was pointed out that authority for this action is provided under nuisance control laws, city officials having power to take steps to remove any public menace such as old mines furnish. Council also caused Neathamer and Campbell who, it developed, were mining on Railroad Avenue just north of Oregon Street, to stop operations and fill their shaft.
    J. O. Grey and George Porter, Medford councilmen, were present at the meeting, wishing to get an opinion from the local body on the Maxwell unemployment relief mining venture. They expressed their city's willingness to comply with any wish Jacksonville might express in reference to granting mining permission on Medford-owned lots. Porter and Grey even went so far as to suggest the city accept a quitclaim deed to the property, automatically releasing the neighboring city from any participation in the controversy.
    Mayor Hartman and various councilmen explained to the representatives that, although the city had no objections to mining, previous experience had demonstrated promoters' promises that holes would be filled were seldom kept. It also was revealed that G. I. Maxwell, proponent of the plan, had never at any time approached local officials or discussed with them his proposition, preferring to use the Medford council as a wedge into this city.
    No representatives of the unemployment relief plan were present at the meeting, which was crowded with miners. City council granted permission to purchasers of one lot from Medford to use a dragline shovel for moving dirt after it was stated that ground would be left in better condition after mining, gravel to be replaced on bedrock.
    It was suggested that council call another special session to repair the door, which has become so contrary that only jujitsu wrestlers, safecrackers and second-floor men can get through with less than a pitched battle. The only way one can enter the building quietly is by throwing rocks through a window and crawling in. It was added that the city would do well to establish a bureau of mines should present difficulties increase. Meeting was adjourned before a single miner could start sinking shaft in the middle of the hall floor.
Jacksonville Miner, January 29, 1932, page 1


    Kinney and Rhoten, digging around from one water sump to another on Kinney's property near the house, stuck their picks not in a gold mine but an underground reservoir made up of some seven old drifts and two or three subterranean rooms filled to the topmost crevice with water. The two received a bath several days before the scheduled time as the wall of their newest hole gave way under the tremendous pressure from nearby caverns.
    Kinney stated that when they attempted to pump water from their workings they had to drain the entire watershed of this township. After what seemed endless days of hoisting moisture they cleaned out what appeared to be recent workings but [were] in reality more than 10 years old. Tunnels were in perfect condition, having no cave-ins or slides. All seven drifts were connected by immense rooms and probably will furnish the boys plenty of room for expansion.
    They also added that pay dirt on their property was found about three feet above bedrock, whereas indications in the first workings they uncovered pointed to chief activity on bedrock itself. Miners who had tunneled this location years ago evidently overlooked gold in topsoil, for which Kinney and Rhoten are duly appreciative, inasmuch as they are without virgin territory to an annoying extent.
Jacksonville Miner, January 29, 1932, page 1

    Jacksonville, Jan. 30.--Thar's gold in them thar back yards! And Jacksonville residents finding time heavy on their hands--things being as they are these days--have reverted to the methods of pioneer days when this town was a thriving center of mining industry.
    Experienced oldtimers, who constitute the greater portion of the community's population, have helped in sinking shafts to bedrock, a matter of some 15 to 30 feet, in neighboring back yards, and garden plots and poultry runs have blossomed forth as full-fledged mines with small gasoline pumping plants, sluice boxes, rockers and pans in evidence.
    Conversation has swung from politics and the depression to "pay dirt"; the relative success of the various projects is discussed wherever men of Jacksonville gather, and the time for sluicing and panning finds interested groups waiting to view the result of the "cleanup."
    Returns are not high in this new outbreak of mining in old Jacksonvillem from whose soil over $70,000,000 worth of gold has been taken in bygone days. Most of the land has been mined--first by the white men and later by the Chinese. And the Chinese, oldtimers say, left little gold where they plied their picks and pans.
    There remains, however, the age-old lure for the miner. He may realize two or three dollars for a hard day's work--and then again he may find $50 worth of the yellow metal when the sluice box is emptied.
    The present-day Jacksonville miner finds life much easier than did his predecessor. At the end of his shift he retires to a comfortable home, often only a few steps away, for many are working within the limits of their own city lots. At most there is but a short distance to walk, as most of the shafts have been sunk within a few blocks of the town's center.
    Activity has increased to the point where nearly 40 shafts have been opened, with hundreds of feet of tunnels drifting back and forth underground. Just a block from the business district a gigantic dragline is busy scooping tons of rock and dirt into huge flumes.
    Some of the gold-seekers have had strange experiences in their underground delving. Recently two men working in a drift suddenly found themselves battling for life when a lustily swung pick broke through into an old water-filled tunnel, releasing a deluge into the  new shaft.
    The city council has had its hands full regulating the rejuvenated industry. One ambitious searcher was forced to fill in a shaft which, it was discovered, had been sunk in a city street. Others have threatened to extend operations on land where owners were not present to bar intrusion.
    As one councilman declared, it will be a wonder if the city hall--Oregon's first brick building--is not run through a sluice box for the gold in the mortar cementing the bricks.
Oregon Sunday Journal, Portland, January 31, 1932, page C6

"Yours for success,
    "A MEDFORD TOSSER."

Medford Mail Tribune, June 2, 1932, page 9


    G. W. Godward, manager of the Jacksonville Mercantile Company and the Rogue River Valley's only gold buyer, announced this week that already gold receipts have far exceeded those for the entire year of 1931. First five months of 1932 saw more gold weighed up in this city than any like season in this section since the last great rush remembered by the oldest of pioneers. More than $10,000 worth of the mineral has been recovered by small operators nearby and delivered to the local store already this year.
    As was estimated earlier in the season, Godward receives probably one-third of the gold produced in the neighboring hills, and the aggregate, coming in from 50-cent amounts up into the hundreds and in a few reported cases even greater, represents a large chunk of new wealth for Southern Oregon. As has been commented by Delroy Getchell, president of the Farmers and Fruitgrowers Bank of Medford, each ounce of gold produced is like finding that much money in the district. It represents added buying power, foodstuffs and clothing that would have shown up missing had it not been for the natural mineral assets of the region.
    In addition to the Jacksonville gauge of gold produced, which already the first five months approximates $30,000, John Pernoll has been busy all spring and early summer buying lesser amounts of the mineral while Grants Pass banks are reported as handling huge quantities of the precious metal. Mining represents this part of the state's heaviest back-to-the-soil movement and, although many eke but the barest of necessities through the search for the standard of nations, the merest pittance recovered invariably represents that much which otherwise would have remained useless and of no value to humanity.
    Despite the growing shortage of water in the hills prospectors are busy as swarms of ants combing the surrounding mountains, and the back yards of Jacksonville continue to reverberate with the ceaseless putt-putt of gasoline engines as the search continues. And trim waistlines among the miners continue to be the vogue, no doubt caused in part by the eager bending process of ascertaining whether all that glitters is not gold.
Jacksonville Miner, July 1, 1932, page 1 Reprinted by the Medford Mail Tribune, July 6, page 8.


    Frank Taylor and A. R. McIntosh, local backyard miners of experience, have taken a lease on the John B. Renault property bordering on the Jacksonville-Ruch highway near the old brewery, which is eyed with anticipation and interest every time amendment repeal looks likely to the pair. They plan to start mining immediately, and it is thought fair production will be possible.
    The lots are situated close to the McKinney home, whereon not only has a prolific garden dropped from sight, but also colorful gold has been raised in gratifying quantities. Until McIntosh, who is now in a hospital, fully recovers, his son-in-law will take his place at the windlass and will aid in the mining operations. An old barn is being razed to furnish lumber for the needed equipment.
Jacksonville Miner, July 1, 1932, page 4


    A recent article in the Mail Tribune regarding increased amount of gold being brought in to Jacksonville for sale by miners calls forth further report of gold buying in this vicinity. According to F. E. Redden of Redden & Co., his firm has purchased between $3000 and $4000 in gold dust and nuggets from miners since January 10. The mineral is brought in from many sections, Jacksonville, Gold Hill, Galice, Willow Springs, Applegate and Sterling, according to Mr. Redden, who has equipped his office with a large pair of bank scales to properly weigh the yellow treasure.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 11, 1932, page 7


    "Under the spreading chestnut tree" has been modified by Henry and Mark Wilkerson of this city to read "under the spreading walnut tree the village gold mine is digged." The brothers, choosing the coolest spot in town for their mining venture, have sunk shaft and proceeded to remove gold from a lot adjoining the Johnson house on East California Street, Jacksonville's Wall Street, Fifth Avenue and Broadway combined.
    The boys are down to bedrock as this paper goes to press and have already found traces of the metal they seek. Seventeen feet upwards buckets must be hoisted at this point, and the work is being carried on as fast as July temperatures will permit. This latest venture is an example of the happy combination of comfort, convenience and colors attained by the backyard mining interests of Jacksonville.
Jacksonville Miner, July 15, 1932, page 1


    Construction of a gold recovery mill was begun last week near Jacksonville by the Jacksonville Gold Mining Company, operators of the Old Town property. A thirty-ton capacity unit of the mill is nearing completion at the Medford Iron Works and will be installed on a site near Jacksonville and the mine property. Foundation and loading platform are now being prepared.
    Location of the mill near Jacksonville was assured by action of the town's council which some time ago agreed to furnish a free site for the plant, providing the mine company would agree to operate not less than a year.
Medford Mail Tribune, July 24, 1932, page 3


    Has the depression hit you? Do you find it difficult to coin money during the Hoover prosperity era? Would you like pin money; also needle money? We thought so! The answer is--sweep off your own porch first and dig in your own back yard.
    At least, that is what one might decide after observing activities of the John B. Renault Mines, Inc., Ltd., Consolidated and Expanded. For John B., feeling the presence of Ye Terrible Wolf in ye nearby woods, took not only to his heels, but also to his pick and shovel and a slumbering back yard bordering the Ruch highway in this city. Johnny, as the exchange merchant is spoken of, decided that Mother Earth owed him something or other, and he thought it was time an installment on the account was collected. Hence, a pair of diggin's in the Renault yard, wherein the rotund and smiling seeker of precious mineral proceeded to poke about and see what was what.
    Well, you may believe it or not, but the gravels which abound aplenty alongside Jackson Creek yielded treasure--there was gold in them thar holes! And not only gold at $18 per ounce, but dainty little nuggets just the size curious visitors to the city might like to acquire at so much per unit. The plot thickened . . . and Johnny smiled in anticipation of the great influx which the coming celebration will bring. Two mines in one!
    Not only gold, but souvenirs did Ma Earth contain--which should find ready sale at twice their weight, unless the Miner has an exaggerated idea of the treasure's appeal to us mortals.
    Production from the one mine, operated by Frank Taylor and A. R. McIntosh, was so satisfying that this week Johnny was bitten by the doodlebug so hard that he started another hole within a few feet of his first venture and intends to crowd Mother Nature a bit in paying up her account. Renault is down to bedrock as the Miner goes to press.
Jacksonville Miner, August 5, 1932, page 3


    A broad smile, reaching from one ear clear across to the other; lively step with plenty of lift to boot-attired feet, and an unusually beaming demeanor have been a few of the byproducts discovered by Johnny Renault in his backyard mines started a few weeks ago in the center of town. The John B. Renault Mines, Incorporated, Limited and Consolidated, as the venture has been labeled, has prospered to the tune of several ounces of gold daily for more than a week now, and depression has become a lost subject among the trio working the holes.
    It all started some time ago when Renault, Frank Taylor and A. R. McIntosh decided something should be done about this business of all money going out and nothing coming in. They looked to Mother Earth for help and, as proven by yellow sluice boxes, Ma came through. More than two ounces of gold have been cleaned up in a single afternoon at the mines, and it is singular that production seldom varies. Pay is found a foot or so above bedrock in a layer of gravel which seems to be a much later wash than silt and rock which covers bedrock itself, and it is thought pay lies in a rim of a former high channel adjacent to Jackson Creek.
    Renault and his helpers have rigged up quite an outfit for handling dirt and tailings and have appropriated a few O. and C. steel rails for two mine carts which facilitate transportation and save many a sore back. Visitors have thronged to the diggings and experience no difficulty in spotting sizable nuggets which gather in sluice boxes daily.
    "It sure IS a great country," admitted Johnny to a reporter this week as he panned out about $50 worth of the precious mineral.
Jacksonville Miner, September 9, 1932, page 1


    Monday of this week City Marshal Jim Littell advised Paul Winningham and Ernie McIntyre, local miners, to hold up further operation of a mine on city-owned property rented by the Winninghams until the next regular council meeting, when an application should be made for official permission to mine.
    Officials have adopted a more stringent policy concerning mining permits within the city limits so as to safeguard public safety and appearance to an extent, and to secure some sort of a guarantee that the mined lots, for the most part in the center of town, will not be left in an unsightly condition.
Jacksonville Miner, December 2, 1932, page 4


To the Editor:
    Since the establishment of the office of the Southern Oregon and Northern California Mining Association, Inc., in the Medford Chamber of Commerce, a number of stories relative to the gold production of this immediate section have been sifting in. Some of them were brought in as having been told to the field secretary in charge of the solicitation of memberships, who is C. C. Clark. These we felt were reliable, but to verify the other data being told us, some of which had passed through several hands, the secretary of the association, together with Mr. Clark, made a trip this morning to Jacksonville and vicinity in an endeavor to obtain some firsthand information.
    Our first stop was at a shaft started about the middle of October, and, by the way, we saw the first shovelfuls of dirt taken from this hole the day it was started. It is located on a vacant lot fronting on the main street of the town and right in the heart of the business district. It is operated by M. A. St. Clair and his partner, E. Beeman.
    We arrived just too late to see the morning cleanup which was the result of yesterday's work, but in a few minutes Mr. St. Clair and the owner of the lot came from the gold buyer's place of business across the street, and the result of yesterday's work amounted to $12.45. These partners haven't been working steadily, sickness having caused some delays, yet since the middle of October they have recovered from a space in the bottom of this shaft, that would not exceed 18 by 16 feet square and six feet high, a total of approximately $350.
    Twenty feet away, on the same lot, another shaft was in full operation; in fact they were so busily occupied that we got no definite information from them. On the rear of the same lot, another shaft was just being started, and on this same block, taking in another lot about 100 by 100 feet, there were four more shafts in operation.
    We called on Mr. Godward, the gold buyer, who informed us that he bought $80 in gold yesterday and over $100 the day before. While we were talking with him, a tall, angular, gray-haired man came in and announced that he had some gold to sell. He was a man of the old school of miners, no doubt, and about 65 years of age. His gold weighed just one ounce, 11½ pennyweights, or a little over one and one-half ounces, for which he received $26.75. His name was Wm. Haskins; he had been mining on the upper Applegate near Palmer Creek, had been shoveling into a sluicebox, and the $26.75 was the result of a week's work.
    Two more interviews only confirmed the reports of the production from these various shafts at Jacksonville, and a checkup of the number showed about 30 shafts in operation, each providing work for from two to four men. From here we drove up Jackson Creek for about a half mile, and counted seven outfits in operation in the creek bottom, from which all the gold was supposed to have been taken years ago, but if it had, these men would not now be there, would they?
    So, being satisfied that the stories we had been hearing were not mythical or of the fiction variety, we returned home to tell you about it.
Medford, December 21.
"Communications," Medford Mail Tribune, December 21, 1932, page 4


    Early in January two men who had learned of the Southern Oregon and Northern California Mining Association plan to put some of the unemployed to work on the proven placer grounds of this section called upon one of the members of the association for information and financial aid.
    They knew of some ground that they could work where they could make at least a living wage, providing they could get some financial assistance to get there and take care of their families while they were making their first attempt, but, that at the present time they were dependent upon the county for food for their families.
    They were told that, owing to a present lack of funds, the association could do nothing to help them, even though it was one of the plans of the association to do this very thing.
    Their story was, however, so appealing and so plausible to the member of the association to whom it was told, that he asked them how much it would take to get them started and was told that they could make it on $5. He managed to raise this amount for them by borrowing it from a friend.
    Happy, they left, filled the car with gasoline and oil, spent the rest for food, leaving the greater portion of the latter with their respective families, and hied to a place of county-owned property.
    In twelve days they returned, bringing back $20.80 worth of gold, which they sold to a local buyer. They proceeded immediately to return the $5 loan, purchased a few more supplies and were again off to the diggings, returning this time in six days, being compelled to cease operations temporarily on account of snow storms and bringing $15 back with them. At this writing they are probably again at work.
    Names of these men, as well as the man who assisted them, are on file at the office of the association, and the story is told for the purpose of showing that with the mere assistance of five dollars, two families were taken from the "bread line" and rendered self-sustaining and that this same effort might be duplicated many times.
    Tuesday W. H. Maltby, who built a good share of Medford's sidewalks, and a man with considerable mining experience, called at the office of the association and said that there are at the present time 200 men working on the old Sterling mine and that they are producing by hand work alone over $200 per day. Many of them are working on county-owned ground and he stated that he could count thirty rockers in a row in a distance of a hundred feet.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 2, 1933, page 10

    Computation of averages and production of gold on the lots owned by Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Haight in this city, which fronts on California Street, indicates that in excess of $10,000 in placer gold will be yielded.
    The lot, known as the Dip and Bail mine, already has produced with improvised, almost expenseless equipment between $800 and $900 since October 15, according to Mr. and Mrs. Haight, who collected a 20 percent royalty on all gold mined there. The lot measures 100 by 100 feet in area and covers an old gravel river channel.
    Beaman and St. Clair have been lessees of the property and have produced as high as several ounces of the precious metal every day. But a small part of the entire lot has been worked, and comparatively few yards of dirt have been handled, valuations having risen to as high as $50 and more per yard of gravel--the richest known placer ground on the Pacific Coast.
    A survey partially complete indicates that the city of Jacksonville, although a small community, has some of the most valuable property on the coast, in view of the fact that thousands of dollars in native gold lie underneath the greater part of the business district. Alaskan gold fields which produce as much as eight cents of the precious metal to the cubic yard are considered rich deposits, and what Jacksonville lacks in area it makes up for in concentration.
    Another favorable sidelight on the immensely rich deposits of gold which have been uncovered here--and which remain to be uncovered--is the fact that all native gold discovered at one time was in chemical combination with other metals in quartz fissures, and the erosion of ages has oxidized the mineral, broken it free from its quartz parent and washed it down into stream beds and gravel piles, where it still rests in great quantities. The fact that Jacksonville and Applegate deposits have been of such unusual concentration and value has led scientific and experienced miners to the conclusion that the parent deposits of such treasures still remain in the surrounding hills, and it is on this conclusion that Opp and Old Town and lesser properties are being developed.
    The Haight property alone has been producing living wages and income to more than six people, two families, and the property owners for more than six months, and indications point to the continuance of this greatest relief work in Jackson County--sponsored by old Mother Earth herself.
Jacksonville Miner, February 3, 1933, page 6


    Who says miners don't have high ideals?
    Perhaps some of them may not, but the newest development in local back--and front--yard mining would indicate that Jacksonville miners do lean heavenward--or at least build in that direction. Three new outfits fronting on California Street have been built from eight to 12 feet above the average level of such rigging, and furnish an imposing sight to travelers who hurry past with extended necks and open mouths.
    It all started when Beeman and St. Clair, who erected the first stilted equipment on the downtown lot of Mrs. F. A. Haight, got gold-minded and decided Mother Earth had been holding out on them long enough. Soon another rig shot up on an adjoining lot, stilts and all, and now Beeman is across the street building a third sluice box, this time higher than ever.
    It seems that surprising fruition of the work on the Haight property encouraged a renewal of activity in the downtown section, and across the street, on the Dunnington property, Keen and Cotham have been earning beans and bacon--mostly beans, reminded one of the pair--and the Taylor brothers, who purchased the rear half of the lot, have been gouging out color.
    Canaday and Hulse have opened up an incision on the Whillock lot, and are hard at the task of fighting water and hunger, while Gaddy and Lee have been operating a mine on the property owned by Mrs. Gallup (nee Kirkpatrick).
    The Taylors, who work in conjunction with Slim Mero, husky veteran, found it necessary to abandon temporarily their first hole within the fight arena which was erected last summer, and have moved operations a few feet southward till the gentle rains become less irksome. It is thought this portion of the Dunnington lot sold at a premium because of the large grandstand at hand. It is hinted that, should gold production not come up to par, the trio will charge 10 cents a seat for the gallery which always gathers at cleanup time, and make a real cleanup.
    The latter two outfits, however, not being hampered by close quarters and the necessity for carting away tailings or settling residue water, have been satisfied to operate with surface outfits made of old chair rounds, barrel staves, box shook and bent nails. The Dip and Bail mine--on the Haight lot--has found it necessary to not only dip and bail, but also to timber heavily and fight sluice box rubber, a form of clay which makes a practice of robbing boxes when not completely broken up by water pressure before being run.
    Slim Mero, who is accustomed to operating windlass while the Taylors squat at the bottom of the hole chipping away at a cavern that's dimensions would shame a mole, regards with disdain the towering apparatus erected by his neighbors on the opposite side of the main stem, and avers it gives him a stiff neck looking up at them.
    It is laughingly admitted that a miner must be an efficient second-story man to mount the three outfits which tower heavenward, and that after ascending the lofty platform be an aerialist to escape giddiness. All in all, however, it has been demonstrated that sluice boxes built into the air provide higher gold production--one way or another.
    "Values per yard go higher--by almost 12 feet," concluded Beeman when interviewed yesterday regarding purpose of the towering, trestle-like structure he was working on. "Soon be so's a man'll have t'be a carpenter as well as a damn liar with a hole in the ground to qualify as a miner in Jacksonville."
Jacksonville Miner, February 10, 1933, page 1


    Midas' cursing, the lust for treasured gold, is beginning to take its toll of Jacksonville comfort and well-being.
    Just last week Homer Lontz and Nathan Smith were victims of the unruliness of nature, and limped home from their buggy ride to bedrock level on the Burdell property, formerly known as the Gopher diggin's. There were no fatal accidents, although Smith fainted from extreme pain when a huge boulder sat down in no uncertain manner on his thumb.
    Either Lontz and Smith were born under the wrong astral combinations, or there is a jinx on the Burdell lots. Both young miners were injured last week when boulders, which had been whereasing the laws of gravity for some time, lost their battle and tumbled further toward the inner reaches of this orb. Homer's back and Nate's thumb were unfortunate enough to be in the direct path of both boulders, which weighed nearly a thousand pounds each.
    Wednesday it was, when Lontz, working with Mike and Jack Burdell and L. Boone on the lower end of the Burdell property, crouched beside one of the dangerously suspended boulders to light a cigarette. He had been laboring an entire day in the tunnel, and had about come to trust the huge stone when, while he was still in a crouched position, ouch! Down came the granite weight onto the Lontz shoulders, caromed down his spine, barking skin covering each vertebra, and
lodged comfortably over one of Homer's feet. The victim, fortunately, was thrust forward to a prone position and a sledge held the crushing weight from the pinned foot.
    Nathan Smith's trouble occurred last Saturday, on an upper corner of the Burdell homestead, where he was working a hole in conjunction with Don Dorothy. The two were attempting to pry loose a huge stone when Nate, with reckless abandon, failed to provide a safe grip for one of his thumbs and invited the imps of fate to plunge him into excruciating depths of pain.
    When the boulder did respond to the gasping grunts of the laboring pair it retaliated by pinning Smith's finger under its 800 pounds of solidity. When the thumb was extricated from the trap, Smith was taken uptown to the Dorothy home for first aid treatment and, as the Saturday night saying goes, "passed out cold." There were no broken bones, but Nathan appeared in town later that day with his entire arm in a sling. It seems that, however, he was given choice between ridicule and arm discomfort, and in true youthful fashion Smith chose the latter.
    Sympathizers have been casting about for a wheelchair for Smith lest he injure two fingers the next time. Both victims, after a weekend of hot towels, liniment and appropriate reflections on dropping rocks, were able to return to work Monday. 
Jacksonville Miner, February 17, 1933, page 1


    Displaying an unusual desire for pick and shovel work, three Medford apprentice miners early this week started excavation on a 10-by-10-foot shaft in the Jackson Creek tailings.
    Chet Webb, Leonard Christine and Clarence McCrae, the trio of human steam shovels who believe in mining in a big way, all hail from Medford and admittedly are lacking in experience when it comes to scratching Mother Earth for her yellow treasures. Still, they assert, they know gold when they see it, they believe gold is where they find it, and they are darned certain they'll at least have elbow room when they get down to bedrock.
    A few colors were showing up in sample pannings the other day as the oversize shaft neared the three-foot depth mark.
Jacksonville Miner, February 17, 1933, page 2


    There is more gold mining going on in Oregon now than at any time since 1908 is the announcement made here Saturday by Archy B. Carter, mining engineer of Portland, in Southern Oregon representing the state board of engineering examiners, of which he is secretary.
    "The people in general now realize that gold is one of the important resources of this state,'' Mr. Carter stated. "I have never seen anything comparable to the number making money now here and in Northern California from mining. All of them are making enough to keep them out of the bread lines, and many of them are making real money. Gold mining is the only thing which offers a lucrative investment here at the present time."
    Mr. Carter, who is now located in Portland, has spent three years in Eastern Oregon, he said yesterday, and is very partial to the Southern Oregon section. He is here now looking up practicing engineers who are not registered as the state law requires. He will remain in Southern Oregon until March 1.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 20, 1933, page 2


    That the interest in mining in Jackson County is increasing almost daily was very apparent to the writer after the completion of a trip that covered several of the sites of the "old diggin's" from Ashland to Gold Hill.
    Up on Bear Creek, near the Jackson Hot Springs, where much gold was recovered in an early day, several men were seen to be busily engaged in the laborious and, we hope, gainful occupation of working over the old tailings or endeavoring to discover a yard or so of virgin ground that some early-day worker has passed up.
    Rounding a turn on the old stage road to Gold Hill, I asked, "What are all those cars doing down the road there?"
    "They must be miners," came the answer, "that's where Willow Creek crosses the road."
    "Let's stop and have a look."
    We stood on the culvert where a small stream trickled through and counted 16 men in sight. A small six or eight-foot sluicebox was the method of recovery here. Dirt and gravel carried to a water hole and water dipped with a pail to do the washing.
    Not satisfied that we had seen them all, we began a closer investigation. Sounds coming from a hole gophered in the hillside attracted our attention, which we discovered were being made by a man "coyoting" on the bedrock.
    "What are you doing down there?" we asked, by way of opening a conversation.
    "Fighting Old Man Depression," he replied without looking up.
    "Who's winning?"
    "It's a (huh, as he swung his pick) about a (huh) draw I think."
    This was the humorous side. On other faces was a look of grim determination, and in some instances, bordered on desperation.
    Further questioning elicited the information that not many of them were making more than 50 cents a day, and some of them not so much, but this fact stood out prominently that whatever amount they were able to get was better to them than standing in line on commissary day and, if gasoline would only hold out, they might be able, by the end of the day, to "muck out enough to eat on."
    Farther on, a mile or so from the Willow Creek diggin's, was presented a picture that was at once interesting and artistic and could well be used for a Saturday Evening [Post] frontispiece.
    On the side of the road, where a small stream of water ran down the gutter, a boy of some six or seven years, red hat and rubber boots, was busily engaged with a gold pan almost as large as himself.
    It is the tendency of the times and should receive helpful and fitting encouragement, for it could be made to keep every man in Jackson County off the bread line.
    Matters of much import to the mining industry will be taken up at a meeting to be held at the Chamber of Commerce rooms on Friday evening, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. The meeting is called by the officers of the Southern Oregon and Northern California Mining Association.
Medford Mail Tribune, February 21, 1933, page 7


    Demonstrating to the county court that with a small amount of assistance and grubstaking, hundreds of miners in Jackson County could become independent and self-supporting citizens, Dr. J. F. Reddy, local mining man, led a tour of the mining district last week with County Commissioners Ralph Billings and R. E. Nealon as special guests.
    A committee from the Southern Oregon Mining Association arranged the visit to several of the leading gold-digging centers of the county. Dr. Reddy explained the inspection tour, pointing out the advantages to be gained by the county in putting more men to work at recovering the county natural resources.
    The Willow Springs area was the first visited. There the commissioners found 20 men mining within an area of one acre. They were working with small sluices and rather inadequate equipment, but were still able, they informed the visitors, to keep the wolf from the door, and were not asking the county for food.
    One hundred were found digging gold in the town of Jacksonville, once the gold capital of the coast. The men stated that none of them had been forced to resort to the county commissary for their food. The Applegate district also reported very little patronage of the county commissary as a result of gold mining activities, carried on there in a small but paying manner.
    The same condition members of the tour found existing in the Sardine Creek, Foots Creek, Talent, Phoenix and other regions, where men are working industriously and continuously at sluice boxes, getting out small amounts of gold, but enough to keep them supplied with the necessities of life. Most of them, without access to the gold diggings, would be entirely dependent upon county aid, the commissioners were informed.
    Following the tour, Commissioners Billings and Nealon assured the mining association committee that consideration would be given the request for grubstaking some of the miners to aid them in their commendable desire to keep working.
    The plan is to be brought before the county court today.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 6, 1933, page 8


    Arrangements are now under way for a mining demonstration to be held on the Southern Pacific lot, across the track from the Chamber of Commerce, Saturday at 2 p.m.
    R. G. Adams, a university extension worker from Salem, will be present and, with the cooperation of the Southern Oregon Mining Association, will supervise the program.
    Gold-bearing gravel will be brought in from Jacksonville to use for panning, rocking and demonstration purposes. Various gold-saving devices will be shown in actual operation. Panning contests will be staged and prizes offered for the fastest and cleanest panner.
    Mr. Adams will sign up students for a course of free instruction in panning, making rockers, prospecting and general gold recovery from placer deposits. The course is entirely free to all students.
    Here is a chance to learn how to work intelligently at a job that will make you a living. Gold is money, and there is still a lot of it in Jackson County. Come and learn how to provide your own payroll. The cooperation of the Southern Oregon Mining Association is given at all times.
    The regular weekly meeting of the association, at which all members and all others interested are urged to be present, will be held at the Chamber of Commerce on Friday night at the usual hour. Come and get all the information of the field day event.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 9, 1933, page 3


    That a great deal of interest is being shown in the various events planned for tomorrow afternoon by the Southern Oregon Mining Association on the Southern Pacific lot, across the track from the chamber of commerce, is attested by the fact that this morning Miss Alta Pahl of Medford entered in the women's division of the panning contest with a challenge to all woman contestants.
    The rules of the panning contest are: First, begin with a pan level full, second, start on a signal with a pan containing ten colors of placer gold, third, contestant must pan material down to an amount of one teaspoonful or less and fourth, six seconds will be added to the time of panning for each color lost.
    Two judges and a timekeeper will conduct the administration of the rules and determine the winners.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 10, 1933, page 9


    She shakes a wicked pan, when there's gold in "that thar dirt"--Bessie McConochie does. She proved it to 500 spectators gathered on the lot adjoining the chamber of commerce yesterday for the gold panning contest, sponsored by the Southern Oregon Mining Association. Mrs. McConochie won first prize in the women's division by panning the gold from a standard pan, filled to the top with dust, in 10 minutes and 18 seconds. Alta Pahl, who has also searched for pockets in the Southern Oregon hills, won second honors, saving the colors in 14 minutes and 58 seconds.
    Winners in the men's division were A. R. Enyart and J. V. Neff. Enyart panned the gold in two minutes and 32 seconds, and Neff in two minutes and 54 seconds.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 12, 1933, page 1


    "Pork and Beans, Secured and Unsecured" should be the Southern Oregon columnist's heading today, says M. S. Johnson, local hardware merchant and experienced mining man, who recalls the days when Ben Hur Lampman was editor of the Gold Hill News and wrote under the heading "Overdrafts, Secured and Unsecured."
    Mr. Johnson, who is in close touch with miners in this vicinity, says that every creek and nook has an overcrowded population trying to secure pork and beans by mining. Every old cabin and tumble-down shed has been patched up and made into a makeshift shelter. About the only uninhabited building in these parts is W. L. Van Houten's Crazy House on Sardine Creek, and the only reason it is vacant is it makes one so dizzy they can't stay in it.
    Mr. Johnson buys much of the gold obtained by these people and purchases range from 7¢ to $18.00. A fine collection of nuggets, some of which are valued as high as $5,  have been brought in from time to time.
    Five dollars--all in one chunk! Then it's not pork and beans but perhaps a piece of boiling beef and potatoes that comes home in the grub bag.
    Most of the individual miners, says Johnson, are amateurs and they have the crudest way of getting their little pittance, but they are gamely trying to keep out of the bread line, and deserve a lot of credit. Some families do not get over $2.00 a week.
Gold Hill News, March 16, 1933, page 1


    A letter just received at the headquarters of the Southern Oregon Mining Association in Medford says that Mr. Adams, of the state board for vocational education, was to arrive in Medford yesterday to arrange for the organization of a mining class there.
    This course includes free instruction in the use of the rocker and pan, actual work and instruction in the proper way to sample a piece of ground for values, as well as many other valuable bits of instruction that will enable the man or woman contemplating doing this sort of work to proceed with a much greater degree of confidence.
    All persons contemplating this course of instruction should register their names with the secretary of the Southern Oregon Mining Association at the chamber of commerce in Medford, just as soon as possible.
    Following this period of instruction, which will be completed some time during the coming week, the mining association will hold another field day on the Southern Pacific lot opposite the chamber of commerce in Medford, in which a number of rockers, long toms and gold saving machines will be demonstrated, together with panning contests and probably a packing contest. An attempt will be made to so arrange these contests that everybody will get a chance to see every event. A number of good prizes in merchandise will be given to the contestants.
    These contests will be held Saturday afternoon, March 25, and will follow the hog-calling contest put on by the Medford chamber of commerce.
Jacksonville Miner, March 17, 1933, page 3


    O. D. Adams of Salem, state director of vocational education, arrived in Medford last week to complete arrangements for opening of a school in mining instruction here. He appointed a committee to enroll members in a free course in placer mining, panning and recovery of gold. Registrations are being received at the Chamber of Commerce, where the Southern Oregon Mining Association has its headquarters, and the class is expected to open this week.
    Giving of instruction to the 1000 persons now seeking their living in the mountain regions is expected to enable many more of them to become self-sustaining and thus to lessen the unemployment problem facing this county. There are at this time 900 persons out of 1000 mining, who are making enough money to avoid asking aid from the county. They are mining for the most part in a very crude manner, the association members stated yesterday, and even then making money. If they are instructed in the easier processes of locating and recovering gold the earning power of these men will be greatly increased, statistics available from other regions, where classes have been conducted, show. Classes were held in Baker and Grants Pass last year, and it is well known here that quantities of gold are coming in from the hills neighboring the two towns, practically solving the unemployment problem.
    Many inquiries have come to the Southern Oregon Mining Association regarding mining instruction. Those entering the classes will not be asked to pay any entrance or other fees but to furnish their own pans and transportation to the mining sections.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 19, 1933, page 4


    So much interest was shown in the panning contest recently put on by the Southern Oregon Mining Association that another contest is being arranged for Saturday afternoon, March 25.
    Prizes of merchandise will be offered for both the women's division and the men's division. New and more stringent rules will be adhered to and the space arranged so that everybody can see the contestants. There is also a packing contest contemplated if the association can find the time and opportunity to conduct it.
    All persons, and this includes all girls and women as well as all men, should register with the secretary at the chamber of commerce, before the events are called.
    A meeting of the mining association will be held at the chamber of commerce rooms Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. A full attendance of the membership is desired that all necessary preliminary arrangements for this contest may be closed.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 21, 1933, page 1


    O. D. Adams of Salem, state director of vocational education, arrived in Medford last week to complete arrangements for opening of a school in mining instruction in the county. He appointed a committee to enroll members in a free course in placer mining, panning and recovery of gold. Registrations are being received at the Medford Chamber of Commerce, where the Southern Oregon Mining Association has its headquarters, and the class is expected to open this week.
    Giving of instructions to the 1000 persons now seeking their living in the mountain regions is expected to enable many more of them to become self-sustaining and thus to lessen the unemployment problem facing this county. There are at this time 900 persons out of 1000 mining who are making enough money to avoid asking aid from the county. They are mining for the most part in a very crude manner, the association members stated yesterday, and even then making money. If they are instructed in the easier processes of locating and recovering gold, the earning power of these men will be greatly increased, statistics available from other regions, where classes have been conducted, show. Classes were held in Baker and Grants Pass last year and it is well known here that quantities of gold are coming in from the hills neighboring the two towns, practically solving the unemployment problem
    Many inquiries have come to the Southern Oregon Mining Association regarding mining instruction. Those entering the classes will not be asked to pay any entrance or other fees but to furnish their own pans and transportation to the mining sections.
Gold Hill News, March 23, 1933, page 3


    As spring advances and creeks are running full in hill regions of Southern Oregon, mining activities are on the increase, is the report today, many more men picking up a slab of bacon, a sack of flour and taking to regions where some sort of a living can be gained from the ground itself.
    Using for the most part very crude devices, the art of mining being a new one to most of them, they are not making what they should, but are getting by without county aid.
    Up Big Applegate, Little Applegate, Forest Creek. Coleman Creek and Anderson Creek they are going, and in all cases the instruction planned by the mining school to be carried on here by O. D. Adams, state director of vocational education, will bring increased receipts in gold, it is believed by men who have mined.
    Broken picks, shovels and other dilapidated equipment, if any, is to be seen in all the camps where individual undertakings are noted. The miners are cleaning up 25 cents one day, a dollar the next, and on upward, mining association men stated, many times losing as much gold as they save through lack of knowledge in recovery methods. Over 60 percent of the miners, a survey shows, are not skilled in mining processes. When federal aid is brought them, statistics gained from other regions where schools are conducted show, their incomes will be greatly increased.
    Registrations for the school are being received at the Chamber of Commerce, and figures released from Denver, Colo., where eight groups of 30 to 40 men in each are taught daily, show that of 699 men trained to mine, all but 19 succeeded in the new hard-times profession. Only 19 returned to Denver for unemployment aid after receiving instruction in mining.
    In several western states, the Mining Journal states, "the local chamber of commerce has organized classes numbering from 200 to 300 members each. Reports from the secretaries of these chambers of commerce state that in no case has a man failed to make a living."
Medford Mail Tribune, March 24, 1933, page 4


    Big news. Man bites doodle bug!
    Or, rather, men bite doodle bug--for Donald Dorothy and Hubert DeHaas have reopened the (in)famous John B. Renault Mines, Inc. and limited (to trespassing only with permission of owner).
    But, like a rose, the mine by any other name still is just a lot of hard work mucking and a fine trickle of pay dirt down through riffles. The other woman, er, we mean name, is "Once in a While"--exhumed from the sod where it was placed by the Miner a few weeks ago. But this Once in a While comprises simply honest labor, clean gold and talk no more inflammatory than appropriate remarks on the weight of mine buckets, the time of day and hardness of packed gravel. "Politics is left to shift for themselves," warned the pair yesterday as they gloatingly plucked a speck of gold from atop a muck pile.
    The Renault Bonanza Homestake Profitable Once in a While mine, which had been inactive ever since last fall's wet season floated Johnny Renault to the surface, was discovered to not only be drying up lately, but almost too dry to furnish enough water for mining. In fact, it was pointed out, unless the United States goes wet immediately it is feared there will be nothing but cotton pumped out of the hole in another month.
    Not that President Roosevelt's promised beer will serve to dampen the subterranean chambers of the Renault property, but with such a necessity at hand it is believed the miners--the thirsty bums--will not notice whether they are dry mining or not, and what's more, won't give a hang if they have to spit the gravel down the long sluice box. At any rate, it was admitted by Dorothy (who is quite round but nevertheless fits in the square mine hole very well) that "the eternal struggle for existence of we humans, terrible as it might be and tiring, must go on, water or no water. Er, slurp, slurp, will you set down that canteen over yonder?"
    Don and Hubert, the pair now being belled, er libeled, aw, we meant described (excuse us while we gargle away the last traces of THAT affliction), for one whole week now have been flushing the bowels of the earth in their search for an old man's gold that fools sell themselves into gilded cages for, we mean, have been panning for a cold, er, the present standard medium of exchange that silver is swapped 20-to-one for. Take that, you Hemingways.
    We guess we'd better go off on another tantrum, er, tangent. The backyard mining industry has flourished in Jacksonville the past year as it has never flourished before, say oldtimers and Renault, who has been handling his second-hand store and slot machine jackpots on the side, in addition to his mining interests. And the surprising thing, too, it has been noted, is that backyard mining in this city has seen its most prolific production in the last few months, or else there has been a greater influx of liars than calculated.
    In the meantime men continue to bite doodle bugs, er, we should have mentioned it sooner, doodle bugs, among other things, are biting the Jacksonville miners, it is alleged and suspicioned, we have been reliably informed.
    For the windlass must go on! (Curtain, thank God!)
Jacksonville Miner, March 24, 1933, page 1


    Classes in placer mining for small operation will open here Monday on the Southern Pacific lot near the Chamber of Commerce, it was announced yesterday afternoon by E. H. Hedrick, superintendent of schools.
    The present plan is to hold classes from 9:00 to 11 a.m. and from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Each man enrolling in the classes will be entitled to 18 hours of instruction. There is no tuition or other charges to men for the course. All men desiring to take the course are asked to enroll with Mr. L. R. Shurtleff at the Chamber of Commerce as soon as possible. Each man is supposed to furnish his own gold pan, although in a few cases, Superintendent Hedrick said, it may be these can be loaned.
    After the men have taken the course a definite effort will be made to locate them on pay dirt in this county where at least a sustenance can be made.
    The mining school is made possible through federal funds from the vocational education department together with $195.00 appropriated by Jackson County. The school is sponsored by the Medford school system in cooperation with the Jackson County Mining Association.
    Instructors appointed to conduct the classes are George Barton, J. V. Neff, and C. C. Clark. Classes will be conducted in a businesslike fashion, with definite assignments of work to be covered each day.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 26, 1933, page 8


    Classes in which amateur gold seekers may receive instruction have been organized in Medford this week, with 28 men reporting in a class held Monday. A second class will start work Thursday.
    The work is sponsored by the department of vocational education, headed by Superintendent E. H. Hedrick and being conducted by the Southern Oregon Mining Association. The classes are meeting for their preliminary instruction on the Southern Pacific lot near Main Street.
    The first work given Monday was in the use and care of the gold pan. Many of the men tried out their first pan of dirt. One was lucky and got 25 cents in gold on his first try. Tuesday the class was given field instruction on Forest Creek, working on property of the McDonough brothers, who have consented to let the students operate on their property. Field work includes the actual process of rocking, panning and sluicing gold. They will also be taught how to build and operate a sluice box and rocker and the use of quicksilver in the amalgamation of gold. How to trace and locate quartz gold and how to make a valid location of mining property is included in the course.
    Ages of the men in the first class ranged from 17 to 75. The work is new to most of them, but they are enthusiastic about the work, all are intensely interested, and the instructors, Barton, Clark and Neff, report the work to be highly valuable for all concerned.
Gold Hill News, March 30, 1933, page 6


    Extensive plans are being made by sponsors of the local mining school to gain access to deeded land, opening up a larger area to be worked by the men now in training, it was announced today. In the interests of this goal, E. H. Hedrick, superintendent of schools, Dr. J. F. Reddy and R. L. Shurtleff of the Southern Oregon Mining Association visited the Applegate, Griffin Creek and Gold Hill areas.
    Places have already been engaged at Gold Hill for the mining activities, and it is hoped more land in the Applegate district will be opened to the small miners. Prospecting is under way near Gold Hill today to determine the amount of pay dirt. The same program is under way at Griffin Creek.
    Most of the land containing gold in paying quantities is deeded property. Men prospecting this land, it was pointed out by the committee today, do not harm it in any way, and many times open up ledges and veins exposing important quantities of gold, to be worked later by larger concerns. The Buckley property now operated by von der Hellen was used today to illustrate this point. The property was first worked by small concerns, individuals who opened the way to the major activities now under way there.
    Anyone with property which could be opened up to the miners is asked to communicate with Superintendent Hedrick or the mining association, as the demand for more workable dirt is increasing each day. Because of the water shortage, now developing, ground in the proximity of streams is especially desirable.
    About 25 students of the mining school were sent into the mountains today to gain actual experience in prospecting. In the class were two women.
    The project under way here has been made possible by the federal government to aid in the solving of the unemployment problem. The county donated $150 to the cause, and the Medford schools and the Southern Oregon Mining Association are sponsoring the school.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 31, 1933, page 1


    The nearest many people will ever come to heaven, that is, walk on streets paved with gold, is to tread the length of California Street in Jacksonville.
    This surprising fact was revealed this week by G. W. Godward, local gold buyer, who stated that the richest placer deposits on the entire Pacific Coast, including Alaska, probably lie under this city's main street. Gravel-bearing gold in excess of $50 to the cubic yard is being found in adjoining mines at the present time, and the concentrated richness of the soil is contrasted to the many gold fields which yield but six or seven cents per yard of gravel of other sections.
    Had it been possible to have dredged the land upon which the city of Jacksonville is built, it is estimated than an appalling fortune could have been removed within a few weeks. One huge electrically operated gold dredge, of a type developed long since the heyday of Jacksonville's prime, which is operating on Foots Creek has a daily capacity of some 80,000 cubic yards of gravel. This yardage, multiplied by from $25 to $50 per single yard, would produce a tidy sum in the short course of a day, netting more than $3,000,000 each 24 hours in such pay dirt.
    Of course, before a rush is made to this city by sourdoughs, it might be well to point out that several cubic yards of much leaner gravel rests securely atop the richer find, in addition to buildings and pavement. The extreme richness of the California Street gravel--the city's main thoroughfare--lies in the fact that it once was the channel of a sizable stream centuries gone by. The washed boulders of an ancient gold-laden river lie some 15 to 35 feet below the present surface, and are being uncovered by means of vertical shafts and horizontal drifts, which embody much waste labor and ground.
    Present efforts at recovery of this surprising treasure, however, have been limited to some 30 small gopher "backyard" mining activities, and furnish employment for more than a hundred men. Removal of a yard of gravel per day for most of them is considered fair production, and those shafts closest to the paved thoroughfare have met with the greatest success in gold production. It is not unusual, miners have learned to their disappointment, to find yards and yards of the bedrock soil which falls short of such prolific production, and then again there are places in and near the city where even tailings from early-day mining operations yield a comfortable living to workers.
    As concrete evidence of the fabulous wealth upon which the old city of Jacksonville rests is the fact that Godward has purchased more than $4000 worth of gold alone this month--about 20 pounds--figured at $17 per ounce, and estimates that practically all this amount came from within the city's limits. The daily average has been about $150, which makes a substantial payroll for this small city--a payroll which has been increased and enhanced by the depression.
    The McDonough brothers of Ruch, John Pernoll at Applegate and the J. F. Redden company of Medford also have been buying gold in increasing amounts, and it is estimated that about half the gold produced by prospectors and gopherers in this section is sent to the mint direct. In addition to this total additional thousands in values are sent to smelters in the form of concentrates from the nearby hills, and the Foots Creek dredge is reported to be working without pause day and night. More than a dozen gold mills also are busy grinding ore in the immediate vicinity, and a survey of the creation of new wealth in Southern Oregon brings surprising and appalling figures to light. Godward estimates he receives about one-third of the gold produced in the Jacksonville and surrounding mining district.
    An industry which had been abused, exploited and kicked about for the past 20 years, gold mining in Jacksonville is fast regaining its rightful place among the legitimate industries of the state, and has come to the aid of unemployed and destitute as no other single natural resource or charity. It has furnished sustaining employment for more than a thousand men the past year and has been the transfusion which may have saved the business life of an otherwise suffering county.
    Placer gold found in this city generally is of coarse dimension, indicating that it has traveled but a short distance downstream from its original abode in some quartz fissure--outcroppings of which still abound in the surrounding watershed--and gradual erosion and oxidation has deposited the native metal in bedrock riffles where later it was covered by many feet of silt, clay and gravel. Scientific mineralogy suggests that source of this rich deposit, millions of dollars worth which have been removed within stone's throw of the main street, has never been exhausted and, although the mother quartz may lock gold in combination with other minerals, that more millions in values remain for the ingenuity of man to recover.
    In the meantime miners continue to struggle and sweat in their effort to move a cubic yard of old channel gravel while their children play in a street which literally was paved over a foundation of pure gold.
    Great cities may have their almost priceless downtown street frontage, but historic old Jacksonville, dozing away peacefully at the foot of a range of mountains rich in minerals, has its California Street which actually is worth its weight in gold--or more.
Jacksonville Miner, March 31, 1933, page 1


    That classes in placer mining for small operation will begin Monday, April 3, at 9 a.m. on the Southern Pacific lot adjacent to the Medford chamber of commerce was the announcement of School Superintendent E. H. Hedrick of Medford.
    The present plan is to hold classes from 9 to 11 a.m. and from 2 to 6 p.m. Each man enrolling in the classes will be entitled to 18 hours of instruction. No charge will be made, and all desiring to take the course are asked to enroll with L. R. Shurtleff at the chamber of commerce in Medford as soon as possible. Each man is to furnish his own gold pan.
    After the men have taken the course an effort will be made to locate them on pay dirt in this county where at least a sustenance can be made.
    The mining school is made possible through federal funds from the vocational education department together with $150 appropriated by Jackson County. The school is sponsored by the Medford school system in cooperation with the Jackson County Mining Association.
    Instructors will be George Barton, J. V. Neff and C. C. Clark. Classes will be conducted in a businesslike fashion, with definite assignments of work to be covered each day. A general outline of the entire 18-hour course is as follows:
    1.--The mining pan, how to care for it.
    2.--How to use the mining pan.
    3.--How to trace and locate placer gold.
    4--How to trace and locate quartz gold.
    5.--How to build and operate a sluice box.
    6.--How to build and operate a rocker.
    7.--How to make a valid location of a mining claim on a public domain, both quartz and placer.
Jacksonville Miner, March 31, 1933, page 4


    Field work for one of the gold mining classes sponsored by the Southern Oregon Mining Association and the state vocational education department is being obtained on the C. E. Gray ranch near this city, where a crew of ten to fifteen men are employed.
    The men are working under the direction of J. V. Neff, an experienced miner, and are placering in what is known as the old Colvig Gulch. All but two of the men are novices at mining, but they are taking hold of the work with remarkable enthusiasm.
    Beginning the work last Friday, they have already cleared a good space along the creek that runs through the gulch, and the first of the week constructed a fifty-foot sluice box, after diverting the water with a small dam.
    The ground is considered as reasonably rich placer ground, and as it has never been worked by the many transient miners because it has been deeded property for many years, the group hopes to make a good showing with their project.
    A test pan Wednesday morning yielded fifteen cents in fine gold.
    The mining association has taken the right to work the property until July 3 of this year, and will use it for field work for many of the men who desire to learn the art of placering gold.
    Mr, Gray has also given the men permission to sink test holes in his field below the irrigation ditch which is thought to be the old river channel, and where the bedrock should yield rich deposits of gold.
    The work of the association is being done with the hope that every idle man in Jackson County will be put to work profitably working the known placer deposits in the county. It is an established fact, men in charge state, that there is plenty of this ground that is rich enough to yield a living, if the men have a reasonable knowledge of how to work it.
    The men, as a group, seem to be very much interested in their lessons, and are glad of the opportunity to be able to do something which will enable them to become self-supporting. Many of them have received aid from the county this winter, and are now anxious to get out and work for their supplies.
Gold Hill News, April 6, 1933, page 1


    "What? No timbers?" or, "Scram, fellas, here she comes!" have been familiar phrases which have replaced the customary greeting among miners of "How's she payin'?" in Jacksonville.
    Early this week several backyard mines have decided to fold up and take a rest, notably those lining California Street, where the precaution of timbering drifts had not been taken. But, like all rules, the cave-in move of terra not so firma has its exception in the purposely caved-in St. Clair diggins on the Haight property here.
    St. Clair and C. Gaddy, who had been working the producer for some time, decided they wanted a slush pond without having to dig one, so they promptly drew straws to see who would go below and knock out the heavy timbers which had been seeing to it that tunnel ceiling and floor did not meet. Gaddy won--or lost--the honors, and went below. "That's one time I didn't go at things backwards, however," reminded Gaddy, still alive and whole-skinned. "I sure didn't paint, or detimber, myself into a corner. I went to the far end of the tunnel and let 'em go as I retreated toward the shaft. Lotsa fun, and didn't smash my fingers once."
    They now have an ample sunken garden in which they are busily planting tailings from another shaft on the same property. Nearby other miners had a similar experience, but not purposely. They had just completed pumping out of their water-filled, untimbered tunnel and were preparing to descend for the day's work when, like the proverbial stock market, the bottom dropped out of almost everything within a couple dozen feet. Their hole was filled, and a phone booth nearby tottered uncertainly on the brink of the cave-in. The hole was later filled and the lot restored to its former appearance. A new shaft will be sunk, "with timbers, you bet," added the miners. They figured the cave-in covered about $600 to $700 worth of gold-bearing gravel.
Jacksonville Miner, April 14, 1933, page 1


    Plans for establishment of a custom mill in the Agricultural Building at the Jackson County fairgrounds, which has already been leased for the enterprise, were announced today by John H. Baldwin of Cleveland, Ohio, who heads the corporation which will carry on the mining activity here.
    Machinery which was on demonstration during the recent mining congress has already been placed in the building, and several shipments of equipment will arrive within the next few days.
    The custom mill will feature the Sutton, Steele & Steele system for dry concentration of ores and minerals and is described as one of the leading gold-saving devices of the day.
    Full details of the system and its installation will be revealed to miners tonight at the meeting of the Southern Oregon Mining Association, called for 7:30 o'clock at the Chamber of Commerce.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 28, 1933, page 11


    In order to "give the little fellow a break," a custom ore mill for Medford and vicinity is being established here by J. H. Boldon of Cleveland, Ohio, who is bringing mining equipment valued at $9000 to the Rogue River Valley. The machinery is being set up in the agriculture building at the Jackson County fairgrounds, C. C. Clark, local mining man, announced Saturday.
    "The effects of establishing this mill here will be far reaching," according to Mr. Clark, who pointed out that those with $10 worth of rock and other small amounts will be able to bring their pay dirt to the mill, which is expected to be operated under a plan of $2.50 per ton, with a 60-percent savings guarantee.
    "The fruit industry here wouldn't be worth much if it did not have packing and cooling plants," Mr. Clark said, "nor would the lumber industry amount to much if there were not mills here. So it is with mining. We need a custom mill."
    He pointed out that with the hills full of small undeveloped mines, such an arrangement makes it possible for the owners to make them self-supporting, finance and operate on a sizable scale. He said the miners here hoped to get along without outside capital by working in this way.
    Among persons who have endorsed the establishing of the custom ore mill are W. B. Robinson, mining engineer, the Southern Oregon Mining Association, Fred Scheffel, city superintendent, George S. Barton, John Opp, E. W. Liljegran and George Schumacher.
    A portion of the mining equipment is in Cottage Grove at the present time, Mr. Clark said, but added that Mr. Boldon plans to move it here immediately. He said through this establishing of the mill they expect to put between 500 and 1000 men to work in the hills.
    "This air float machine is not new, but is adapted to cleaning coal, and one concern cleans 350,000,000 tons annually," Mr. Clark stated.
    He related tests made at the War Eagle mine in Sams Valley, of which George Schumacher is custodian, that showed 60 pounds of quicksilver to the ton and $28.60 of gold per ton in with the coal, and added that this machine was peculiarly adapted to such material, and could also be used for the coal on Roxy Ann.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 15, 1933, page 8


    To the Editor: A few days ago I visited the historic town of Jacksonville, where I was born in 1853, and I found the good old town being literally turned upside down by miners. Buildings are being removed and dwellings left standing alone with mines being developed all around them. One mine is being opened up right alongside of the famous United States Hotel, where President Hayes and party put up away back in the '70s.
    The old brewery is another landmark that is giving way to the rush for gold where the miners of early days used to stop for a glass of beer on their way into town. There is also a new quartz mill crushing ore right on the edge of town. The miners are having varied success, all the way from $1 to $30 per day.
    There are miners scattered out all over the county and taking out gold where there has been no mining done for years and years. The chamber of commerce at Medford and the mining association are doing everything in their power to aid them in the work. Owners of mining property are letting them mine without royalty and it has helped many a family to buy their eats.
    I had the privilege a short time ago of witnessing the cleanup at the celebrated Sterling mine, which was made only after a short run on account of lack of water. It was a great sight, after they removed the riffles, to see the gold as it moved along behind the sand and gravel and see the foreman scoop it up with a small shovel--only a short run, but probably $2000. Mr. Blakely, the owner, told me that the Sterling mine made an average cleanup of $60,000 for thirty years. He said they were going to extend the ditch this summer and would own enough ground to run them another 50 years. Over 200 men have been allowed to mine along the creek on Mr. Blakely's ground free. No royalty, which is certainly very kind of Mr. Blakely, and kept many of them off the bread line.
    Well, things are looking up and we sure have a great President.
Oregonian, Portland, May 16, 1933, page 6


    A few years ago, when newspaper men wrote up Jacksonville, Or., they dwelt on its historic past. But Jacksonville has turned its back on the past and is courageously facing today and the problems of today. Though it lost the county seat to Medford, and though it is off the line of the railway, its citizens are pointing with pride to the fact that, in spite of the depression, there is mighty little call from the citizens of Jacksonville upon the community chest.
    When I visited Jacksonville recently I found that the men who could not get a job at their regular occupation were making jobs for themselves. All over Jacksonville you will find shafts sunk on vacant lots and in back lots and men heaving away at the windlass, bringing up dirt to be rocked or put through the sluicebox. I stopped to pass the time of day with Fred A. Haight, at 4th and California streets.
    "We ran a tunnel under the back porch here," he said. "It is about 12 feet to bedrock. Out of this little dab of ground, 10 by 20 feet, I have washed out $35, some of the nuggets running from 10 cents to as high as $2."
    Mrs. Haight, seeing my interest in the matter, brought out a small bottle of coarse gold dust and put into my hand two small nuggets, one weighing $1.37, the other $1.57, both of which had come out of her back yard.
    I next went to a lot that had been offered for sale at $600 with no takers. A shaft was sunk to bedrock, and $1500 in gold was taken out without any real injury to the lot, for the shaft can be filled in again, and the lot is as good as ever.
    I dropped in to see Fred Hoesly. He said:
    "I came to Oregon 37 years ago. At first I worked on the railroad, but for the past 25 years I have lived here in Jacksonville. I bought a half-acre here on which is a small house. I have leased the mining rights on my lot and I am present twice a day when they make the cleanup, to get my percentage of the gold recovered."
    "I bought the old Taylor hotel property about two months ago," said Charles H. Christner. "This old building is well built, but it is too large for  a residence, and there is no demand for a hotel here; so I got it at a very low price. I have mined in Arizona and also in Old Mexico, and, to tell you the truth, when I bought this old place I didn't buy it with any intention of running a hotel. As you can see by the dump of gravel in the yard, I am mining on this lot. I am down 24 feet, to bedrock. We are tunneling along bedrock and striking some pretty good pay dirt. So far, I have taken out about $800. I understand that the lot across the street from me has yielded over $2000. This mining on the lots here is like eating your cake and still having it, for after you have tunneled all under the lot you can fill up your shaft and sell your lot for as much as you paid for it. Some of these days some lucky miner is going to strike some old unworked channel of a former creek bed and strike it rich. Of course, millions of dollars were taken from the vicinity of Jacksonville in the old days, but for years every time a well has been dug in Jacksonville you could pan colors out of the dirt that came from bedrock; so there's a lot of gold unrecovered within the city limits of this old mining camp."
    When I visited G. W. Godward, one of the merchants of Jacksonville, he showed me a number of good-sized nuggets.
    "I don't know how much gold is recovered in the back yards of Jacksonville," he said. "I suppose some is taken to Medford and sold to the banks. I buy about $4000 worth of gold dust a month. I pay $17 an ounce for it. Anywhere from 40 to 60 men keep busy sinking shafts and digging tunnels in the city limits of Jacksonville. Usually the owner of the lot receives about 20 percent of the gold recovered. Four thousand dollars a month doesn't seem like a great deal of money, and yet, if the taxpayers had to dig up $4000 a month toward supporting the men who are out of work it would look like a lot of money. Probably the men who are working don't make over $2 or $3 a day, but that's a whole lot better than depending on the community chest."
Oregon Journal, Portland, September 27, 1933, page 8


    Up in the mountains beyond Jacksonville, a relief project, the largest perhaps in the county, is continuing unnoticed by the public gaze, it was reported here yesterday by a friend of Fred Blakeley, well-known mining man of Portland and Medford.
    The project is the working of the Sterling mine, a property well known throughout the coast. There are 200 men now working in the mine, and the gold they find is theirs. That is the opportunity Mr. Blakeley has given them to establish their independence during trying times, and at the same time keep things moving at the mine.
Medford Mail Tribune, November 6, 1933, page 7


    Banks in this territory are now in the field to buy raw gold from miners of the adjacent streams and hills outright at a price to be in nominal comparison to the world price, according to information received from bank officials.
    This action is in accordance with President Roosevelt's executive order of October 25.
    Gold will be bought from miners on a basis of $25 per ounce outright and in any quantity, officials said, it being only necessary to procure the name and address of the miner, the name of the mine and information as to whether placer or quartz gold. No affidavit is required of the miner, this buying move carried on just as it was when banks bought the gold outright at $17.
    The price has been set at present at $25, since the government price on gold, 1000 fine, is ranging around $31 and $32 per ounce. This difference is made to make up for the non-purities to be found in nearly all raw gold. The same difference was used before the price of gold soared, banks buying at $17 when the market price was $21. Local bank officials report gold of this district is from 700 to 850 fine on an average.
    Only one affidavit is required in shipping the gold, which is made out by the bank and sent together with a complete list of names of miners whose gold is included in the shipment to the mint, or Federal Reserve, to which the gold is sent.
    The new ruling greatly simplifies marketing new gold, and still enables the miner to profit by the recent increase in price.
Gold Hill News, November 9, 1933, page 1


    The muchly publicized gold hoarder is back again.
    At least, that is the report emanating from gold-buying headquarters in Southern Oregon, for the sourdough producers have been hearing over the radio and reading in the newspapers that the price of the yellow metal likely will increase till it is double the former price, or more than $40 per ounce for 1000 fine metal.
    The greater part of the mining fraternity, however, is finding it necessary to market gold at regular intervals due to small capital--for which the average miner is famous. They are content to receive the $25 or $26 from local gold buyers and use the silver and currency rather than to watch an accumulation of gold gather in their glass bottles for any length of time. It is thought the larger producers, with several thousand dollars worth of the metal on hand, are the ones who figure to profit most by "hoarding" their metal for a month or so.
    There is another angle to waiting for a higher price that the gold accumulators in this section may be overlooking, however. The increase in the value of gold is intended, very obviously, as a means by which prices may be boosted on other commodities, and of lessening the purchasing power of the silver dollar. If miners should await the ultimate high of gold, they at the same time would await the dollar's weakest buying strength. It is thought by many that to market newly mined gold at current prices would result in as great, or greater, actual buying power, although the total sum of dollars received might be somewhat less.
    There still is some confusion in many quarters as to why such a great gap exists between the RFC price for gold and the sums miners receive. It has been explained on many occasions that this spread is made necessary in several ways, most prominent among which is the fact that raw mined gold is seldom more than about four-fifths pure gold. Then there are smelting, transportation and insurance charges, as well as a small margin retained by buyers when gold is shipped through them. Like in the marketing of any other commodity, handling and refining or milling charges are deducted from the product.
    Although unemployment added much impetus to the mining situation in Southern Oregon last year, this winter is expected to see even greater concentration in the mineral belt due to the higher price now offered, which is in excess of 50 percent increase. Gold returns, despite the holdouts, have been increasing steadily during the last few weeks, and with more rains an even greater gain in production is anticipated. Hardware stores report heavy increase in sales of miners' equipment and accessories.
Jacksonville Miner, November 24, 1933, page 1


    Miners who have been permitted for a number of months to operate the Sterling mine, up in the Applegate country, have been asked to desist from exploration and mining operations and to vacate the property, it was reported here today.
    Notices asking them to withdraw from the project have been posted, carrying the signature of Fred J. Blakeley, president of the Sterling Mines, Inc.
    The notices state that the undersigned expects to commence operation of the properties himself on a large scale in the immediate future. Any men wishing to continue work at the mine are asked to apply to Mr. McCormick.
    It was rumored here today that negotiations were under way for sale of the property.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 17, 1934, page 8




    Takes to Mining--Hugh Bieberstein of Central Point has joined the mining throng at Jacksonville, it was reported here today, and is bringing gold from a backyard mine in the pioneer town.
"Local and Personal," Medford Mail Tribune, March 28, 1934, page 5


    Arguments were heard this morning by Circuit Judge H. D. Norton in the suit of the Medford Water, Power and Development Company and the Sterling Mining Company, "to restrain and enjoin" R. E. Banks, Roy Hines, H. A. Turnbough and 63 other named defendants from further "squatter" mining on the Sterling mine property.
    Decision in the matter was deferred by the court until the first of next week to afford the defendants time in which to show title to the land involved. The court said title to the land was a vital point that needed to be cleared before a decision could be rendered.
    The defendants contend that some of the land on which they are mining is county property, some homesteaded, and some is private property. They further set forth that they were given permission to gold mine on the Sterling property by Fred J. Blakeley, president of the Medford Water, Power, and Development Company, and Sterling mine operator.
    The plaintiff holds that any promise by Blakeley is not binding beyond the life of the corporation, that title in the land involved has been cleared, and that the Sterling mine would resume operations today, and the company now holding it desired an early decision so it could go ahead with development plans.
    The Medford Water, Power, and Development Company was formed in 1928, and its plans went awry when the depression came.
    Most of the 66 defendants named in the enjoinment suit were present in court this morning.
    In the early years of the depression, gold mining was revived, and the Sterling mine area became a Mecca for many. About 100 people are now in the district engaged in gold mining on a small scale. Some have been so engaged for four years. One of the squatters said this morning, "There is just enough in it for existence." Some days "were fair and others nothing--just like playing a slot machine."
    Some of the miners say they have homesteaded the land involved, and have a title to it.
Medford Mail Tribune, March 29, 1934, page 1


    An injunction enjoining and restraining "gold mine squatters" from further operations on the Sterling mine property was granted this morning by Judge H. D. Norton in favor of the Medford Water Power and Development Company.
    The Sterling mine was recently purchased by an eastern syndicate, and according to attorney Porter J. Neff, they plan immediate working and development of the property. The syndicate representative, DeFord MacCormick, is in charge now.
    The injunction suit was filed against R. E. Banks and 70 who have been engaged in prospecting on the property for periods ranging from four years to three months.
    According to attorney Neff, a six-ounce nugget was found by one of the squatter prospectors last Saturday. At the prevailing fixed price of gold its value is close to $200.
    The injunction came up for hearing last Friday, and the court delayed a decision to enable the defense to produce evidence in support of its contention that the land the squatters were working was county-owned or homesteaded land. The mining company held that the land belonged to the Sterling company.
    The defendants further stated that they had been granted permission to mine the land by Fred J. Blakeley, former lessee of the mine. The plaintiff held that any promise or permission made by Blakeley was not binding upon the new operators.
    The court held that the only question was who owned the mined land, and showing of a title was necessary by the squatters not to come under the trespass provisions.
    Attorney Porter J. Neff this morning said that the prospectors had "evidently struck a pretty rich streak," and that "thousands of dollars had been removed in the past three or four years."
    The squatters themselves said they were "making only a bare living and the best of luck is not much."
    With the start of the depression in 1929, gold mining was revived and dozens of people went to the hills with pans and shovels to seek a livelihood. At one time it was reported 500 people were engaged in gold prospecting in the Applegate district, and the Applegate River and tributary streams were lined with camps. Many came from outside states.
    The Applegate mining activity was followed by a renewal of gold mining in Jacksonville, a half dozen rigs being set up on the lots of the pioneer town.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 5, 1934, page 1


    Ouster notices in accordance with a temporary injunction granted 10 days ago by the circuit court have been served upon squatters mining the past two years upon the  property of the Sterling mine. R. E. Banks, and 74 others, were named as defendants in the action.
    The mine property was recently taken over for operation on an option by a syndicate of eastern capitalists, according to attorney Porter J. Neff.
    All the miners, with exception of two or three, have left, according to the attorney.
    The sheriff's office reported that last week they sold auto licenses to a number of the squatters, so they could return to their homes in Washington, California and other western states.
    The squatter miners worked the land for three years under permission granted by Fred J. Blakeley, of the Medford Water Power and Development Company. The depression caused a return to gold mining. For the most part the squatters were from other sections. The returns fire reported as good, bad and indifferent, as usual with mining. Some of the squatters said they were making a bare living. Others reported the returns were "better than wages." Within the past fortnight one of the squatters found a nugget that netted close to $200, it was reported.
    The court, in granting the temporary injunction, excluded a small portion of the mining land upon which the title was doubtful. A hearing upon a motion to make the injunction permanent is scheduled for an early date.
    The Sterling Mining Company yesterday filed a suit against A. E. Brockway of Jacksonville, tendering Brockway $244, the amount he has paid on purchase of a portion of the land on a county foreclosure sale. Brockway agreed to make the purchase on the payment plan. The mining company holds the purchase was void, and the county was not within its powers in selling the land for delinquent taxes.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 17, 1934, page 2


    Application for a temporary injunction enjoining A. E. Book and others from mining on property belonging to the Sterling Mining Company was filed yesterday in circuit court by the mining company.
    The complaint sets forth that Book and other defendants are mining under a county road that passes through the property,. endangering the road, and trespassing on nearby property. It is also set forth that "considerable gold is being removed," which belongs to the mining company.
    The suit is one of several recently instituted by the mine company against squatter-miners. Seventy-six were named in one temporary injunction and restrained from further operations.
    The Sterling mine was recently taken over by a Chicago syndicate on an option to purchase.
Medford Mail Tribune, April 24, 1934, page 4


    SALEM, Ore., May 18.--(UP)--Mining operations--large and small--today dotted the Oregon scene as steeply rising gold prices, low production costs and unemployment combined to bring a boom to Oregon gold-seeking activity.
    It was revealed in a United Press survey today which showed 57 mining corporations with a combined capitalization of over $5,000,000, have been formed since January 1, 1933. Five corporations with stock of no par value also have filed.
    Additionally, hundreds of jobless men and women have encamped along rushing Oregon rivers and streams in an effort to separate the heavier gold particles from sand and gravel. Their earnings in most instances pay their expenses and leave them spending money.
    The Oregon gold rush of 1933-34--greatest since those of the '50s and '60s--is also evident in a perusal of water filings. Water is essential in carrying away sand and gravel in nearly all operations.
    The state engineer issued permits for appropriation of 994.30 second-feet of water from Oregon streams for gold mining in the last 16 months. A second-foot of water amounts to about 27,200 gallons in an hour. This means permits would result in aggregate use for mining of nearly 28,044,960 gallons of water hourly.
    Lane County has experienced a mining boom particularly in the Blue River, Winberry and Bohemia districts. Water permits for appropriations of 17 second-feet from Lane County streams were issued, and nine mining corporations with an aggregate capitalization of $1,200,000 have been organized.
    The Rogue River Valley in Josephine County is perhaps the center of most mining activity. Leavings of old mines, bars once worked decades ago during one of the West's greatest gold rushes, and near strikes are being combed thoroughly for "color."
    Mining is being carried on principally in southwest and northeast sections and in Lane County. Water permits were issued in 14 counties and incorporations in 15.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 18, 1934, page 11


    For 60 long years Miss Stella Levy has resided on the old place in the center of Jacksonville and watched, with mild disinterest, the coming and going of dozens of backyard mines across her fence. The lure of gold to her was a foreign thing; she was too busy with her flowers and pets.
    But early this week, while A. O. Van Galder and Screwball Turner were cleaning out the Levy well--which had gone dry for the first time in these same 60 years--the well-known lady was watching the operations when a gold nugget, probably worth about 30 cents, was found. It came up in a bucket of muck and was picked out by Van Galder, who gave it to the owner.
    And now, after all these years of immunity, Stella Levy has been bitten by the Doodle Bug. Her precious find discovered accidentally while cleaning out a well is being exhibited to every passerby with the enthusiastic pride akin to a veteran sourdough.
Jacksonville Miner, July 13, 1934, page 1

    David Dorn of Jacksonville, miner, was treated at the Sacred Heart Hospital for a fractured ankle sustained Wednesday afternoon in a mining accident at Jacksonville. Hospital attendants reported the accident occurred when an ore bucket on which Dorn was descending a shaft in one of the "back-yard" mines broke, giving him a fall of about 16 feet.

    Aladdin's wonderful lamp, the mere rubbing of which brought forth a genie eager to endow his master with piles of gold and precious stones, has unfortunately disappeared; but the residents of a certain little American town now have "the next best thing." They can get up from their breakfast tables, step off the rear porch into a gold mine in their own back yards, and immediately set to work separating the yellow metal from the gold-bearing sands and gravel!
    For these fortunate folk there is no wearisome prospecting up lonely mountain gulches and by the sides of rushing streams, no more cooking over sputtering campfires far back in the hills, no more driving of reluctant burros over rock-strewn ridges and endless deserts. "Gold," says the old mining adage, "is where you find it," and these people find it in their own gardens!
    These lucky gold-seekers are residents of Jacksonville, Oregon, a thriving townlet of close on eight hundred inhabitants. Tucked away in the low foothills of the Pacific Coast Range mountains, in the extreme western part of the United States, this historical old mining town is once again the scene of much activity. Gold was first discovered here accidentally in the winter of 1851 by James Clugage and Jim Poole, who were operating a pack train between Yreka, California, and various points in Oregon. Since that far-off time nearly thirty million dollars' worth of the yellow metal has been recovered.
    The methods followed by the Jacksonville "backyard" miner, in contrast with the highly complicated and expensive processes usually employed in gold mining, are simple in the extreme. The only equipment necessary is a pick and shovel; a handmade windlass; a garden hose; a washing and sluice box; muscle and the willingness to use it; and--last but emphatically not least--a plot of land containing gold!
    The Jacksonville miner first digs a hole about four feet square down to bedrock, which is usually found twenty-five to thirty feet below the surface. Directly over this shaft he sets up a simple windlass, operated either by hand or machine, and a washing-box. A bucket, made by cutting an old oil drum in half, is then lowered into the hole by a rope fastened to the windlass. The miner is now ready to start actual operations.
    The crew below--usually two or three in number--fill the bucket with gold-bearing gravel, which is found in a layer within eighteen inches of the bedrock. As this "pay dirt" is removed, tunnels six feet in height are driven in various directions in order to provide sufficient room for the workers.
    To prevent "cave-ins," pine or fir posts are used as props, with three-inch planks across the tops wedged against the ceiling of the mine. A recent decision of the Oregon State Supreme Court permits tunneling under all streets within the village, so that the ground beneath the houses may soon resemble a rabbit warren.
    When the bucket is filled, it is hoisted to the washing-box by the windlass, operated by the above-ground crew. Directly from three to five yards of sand and gravel have been accumulated in the washing-box--an average day's work for four or five men--a hose is turned on and the material washed out through the sluice boxes. These, constructed of wood, are about forty feet long, ten inches wide, and eight inches deep. Riffles, resembling ordinary metal door-matting, are placed in the bottom near the lower end.
    As the material passes through the boxes, the gold--nineteen times heavier than water, and eight to twelve times heavier than the sand and gravel--is trapped by the riffles. If the water is put through with too much force the fine or "flaky" gold will be carried away and lost.
    The amount of gold recovered at each operation varies from day to day, according to the richness of the strata. Some days produce nothing; others yield from a quarter ounce to a full ounce; but occasionally the reward will be two or three ounces--not too bad, considering the present price of gold. There are now about twenty-five "outfits" working in Jacksonville, and the total weekly output runs somewhere from $1,500 to $3,000. This gold is of an excellent quality, the grains ranging in size from a pinhead to a kernel of corn.
    The development of so unusual and profitable a type of mining, which would undoubtedly cause the greatest excitement in any other community, is accepted by the citizens of Jacksonville as a matter of course. It is simply another incident in the series of peculiar happenings marking the history of a pioneer town which has, from its very beginning, known the ups-and-downs that inevitably accompany close association with the mining industry.
    Jacksonville is to be congratulated on this latest development for more reasons than one. "Backyard" gold mining not only brings much welcome grist to the mill in these days of depression, but it solves the problem of what to do with youngsters leaving school; there is always a job for willing hands somewhere round the shaft top.
    The old-time prospector, of course, was an incorrigible wanderer, but the Jacksonville specimen, with a "strike" in his own garden, has no excuse for faring far afield. The womenfolk certainly complain that the men bring a lot of mud and gravel into the houses; but so long as they bring gold as well the ladies are probably well content.
The Wide World Magazine, London, November 1935, pages 166-168