JACKSONVILLE, SOUTHERN OREGON,
    March 12, 1860.

JACKSONVILLE, Southern Oregon, April 8, 1860.

    The Mail has been favored with the following account of the discovery of the rich pocket on Gold Hill by John X. Miller, of Trail, who is now the only survivor of the men who located and worked the ledge.
    "I have read so many different stories about this matter, most of them wide of the truth," said Mr. Miller, "that I would like for once to place a correct account of the transaction before the world. In my travels over the country, on numerous occasions I have had men tell me the story of Gold Hill in such a way that I, one of the principal actors in the matter, would never have recognized these stories as an account of an incident in which I was personally interested if the narrators hadn't said it was Gold Hill they were talking about.
    "But to come down to the story. It was on the 8th of January, 1860, that a man, whose name I never learned (fact is it wasn't considered etiquette to inquire too closely into another's affairs in those days) and Jas. Hayes were hunting horses on the hill where the ledge was afterward found. This unknown man had dismounted and had picked up a piece of float quartz. Just then his horse broke loose from him, and the two followed the animal for some time before they could catch him. The stranger slipped the rock into his pocket and came on to Jacksonville. Arriving there, he discovered that the sheriff was after him for horse stealing. Having been in the habit of irregular dealings in horseflesh, he skipped for Yreka, Calif. At Yreka he met George Ish, and having been befriended by him, showed him the rock and told him where he had found it.
    "At that time Jackson Long and I were running a saloon at the then flourishing camp of Willow Springs. One day who should come down the road but George Ish. As soon as I saw him I knew something was up, whether a season of conviviality or a business proposition of some kind, I didn't know. As soon as he could get me alone he showed me this piece of rock and told me how he had acquired it. It was literally full of gold. We then laid plans for finding the ledge. It was resolved that he and I should commence work on the following morning. In the morning, however, it was concluded to let my partner go while I attended to the business. Ish and Long searched all that day, but found nothing. The next day Long and I had to go to Jacksonville. There was an English emigrant there, whom I had been feeding for several weeks, and I gave him $3 to help Ish look for the ledge that day. They sought all over the hill but could not find the mine. At that time Hayes was plowing for Thos. Chavner in a field at the foot of the hill. They went down to him and asked him if he could show them the place where the horse thief's horse got away from him. He said he could, but didn't want to leave his work. Finally Ish gave him $3 to go with them; he consented, and soon located the spot. Ish stood at the place and looked around a few minutes, then pointing up a hill a short distance, said: 'There, boys, is the ledge.' And there it was, sticking up out of the ground and fairly glittering with gold. In staking out the claims Hayes claimed the right to include his friends, when Ish named me as one of the locators, so he was allowed that privilege, and named his employer, Thos. Chavner. Ish needn't have allowed this, as Hayes was working under salary, but he thought there would be enough for all. The claims were then located in the names of Ish, myself and my partner, Long, the emigrant, Hayes and Chavner, each with a fifth interest, myself and partner being classed as one. These were the original locators of the Gold Hill mine.
    "Before we had done any work at all, the emigrant sold his share to Henry Klippel and others for $6000, and Hayes sold his share to another company for $500.
    "We took out of that hole, from a space about two feet wide and twenty feet long, in the neighborhood of $100,000, working the work with an arrastra. It was the richest rock I ever saw. It wasn't rock with a few streaks of gold in it, as most quartz is, but it was rather gold with a few streaks of rock in it. Besides the amount we took out, I believe we had stolen from us and picked up by outside parties as much more. All this amount really belonged to the ledge, so that it is safe to say that the Gold Hill pocket yielded at least $200,000. The people used to fairly swarm on the hill, and would even come right into the workings and pick up specimens, and as those specimens were all exceedingly rich, a man could pack off a considerable sum in his pockets. One day I was there alone and they got so thick that I had to establish a deadline and guard it with a shot gun.
    "Finally the ledge pinched out. We expended a lot more money and went down about 75 feet, but all the gold was within 15 or 16 feet of the surface. Klippel and others brought a quartz mill from San Francisco at great expense, but they never realized anything, and at last the mine was practically abandoned. I have never sold my interest, neither did Chavner or Ish. The above is the correct story of the discovery of the mine. I know it, because I was right there all the time."
Medford Mail, March 27, 1903, page 2


    The following account of the discovery of the great pocket is taken from the first issue of the Gold Hill Miner, a paper printed by T. K. Roberts and dated May 3rd, 1895:
    "In February, 1859, a youth, while engaged in hunting for horses for the late Thomas Chavner, picked up a piece of quartz from the Gold Hill pocket, which upon examination proved to be wired together with gold. In casting about, every piece proved to be rich. The youth proceeded to Chavner's and made known to him his find.
    "Chavner's quick eye and his ready, practical horse sense suggested to him to make a dicker with the youth. A bargain was soon made, and Thomas Chavner was one of the principal owners in what proved to be one of the richest pocket possessions on the Pacific Coast.
    "Notwithstanding Chavner's circumspection and secretiveness, the news reached Jacksonville during the night or evening of the discovery. The next morning the road between Jacksonville and Gold Hill was lined with excited prospectors. Among the number was George Ish, who in passing Willow Springs, where at that time old Uncle Dan Fisher was carrying on a blacksmith shop, made known to Fisher the discovery of the evening before. Fisher briefly related to Ish his discovery of a quartz ledge one evening in 1852 and directed Ish just where to find it. Ish proceeded as directed and found the ledge as Fisher had described it. Although Ish had promised in case the discovery was as Uncle Fisher had pointed out, that he, Fisher, should have an interest in the find. Ish, however, did not keep his word with the old man.
    "At this time Jacksonville was the metropolis of Southern Oregon, and was one of the most prosperous mining towns on the Pacific Coast.
    "Gold Hill was a great producer. Nearly a half million of dollars were taken from the mine in a few months."
    All that now remains of the famous mine is a shallow depression, near the summit of Gold Hill.
Jacksonville Post, June 4, 1910, page 3


    T. O. Andrews left Saturday for his home at Corona, Cal., accompanied by his brother William of Gold Hill. The latter is a typical prospector of the old school and is now past 80 years old. He is familiarly known in these parts as "Old Billie." He was one of the first discoverers of Gold Hill, and his stories of finding $174 worth of practically free gold beside a stump one morning before breakfast is known to many of the old timers. He was one of the first miners in the Boise basin in Idaho and had one of the 12 richest claims there in the early days. He is now in his second childhood and will spend his remaining days with his brother.--Ashland Record.
"Local News Notes," Gold Hill News, January 6, 1911, page 5


    The Southern Pacific railroad between Tolo and Gold Hill forms a great horseshoe curve around the north of the mountain known as Gold Hill. The expense of maintaining the track over that part of the line is considerable, and the natural wear and tear on the rolling stock in rounding that curve is greater still.
    The proper route for the railroad from Tolo to Gold Hill would be westerly through the gap in the hills at the head of Chavner valley, and thence around the bases of the Granite mountain, the Copper Queen knoll and Gold Hill mountain, to connect with the railroad as located at present at the point where the county road is crossed by the approach to the railroad bridge over Rogue River. Were the route of the railroad changed as proposed, the Southern Pacific would make a saving in time between Tolo and Gold Hill, and would also save much in natural damage to rolling stock, and in the cost of maintaining the track around the north of Gold Hill mountain.
    The removal of the railroad track from the north of Gold Hill mountain would benefit the proposed tunnel through the mountain inasmuch as, with the track removed, a dam could be thrown across Rogue River above the island, northeast of Gold Hill mountain, and thereby an additional fall of ten or fifteen feet could be obtained. It is probable that in the event of the project of tunneling Gold Hill mountain materializing, that the projectors thereof will acquire a right-of-way, either by purchase or condemnation, for a railroad around the south bases of Granite and Gold Hill mountains, and will then prevail up the Southern Pacific to change the location of its tracks between Tolo and Gold Hill.
    The construction of the tunnel through Gold Hill is only a question of time. It will be to the interest of the cement companies that will be located here to have the tunnel constructed, for the vast amount of cement that will be required to construct the dam across Rogue River and to line the tunnel will furnish a home market for the products of their factories.
    Every man, woman, and child in Gold Hill is or should be interested in advocating and pushing forward the construction of the tunnel through Gold Hill mountain.
    Cheap power will result in the development of the mines in the vicinity of Gold Hill, and as a result hundreds of men will find employment and the payrolls will cause the distribution of hundreds of thousands of dollars in Gold Hill. The Braden mine, south of Gold Hill, and the Oxley group, north of the town, will in time become veritable hives of workers delving for gold. The writer will, in a future article, write a description of the geologic formations of these two mines, which constitute direct contrasts one to the other. One is a tunnel and the other a shaft proposition. The geologic history of these two mines are as two pages from the book of nature, in which he who will may read. Nature makes no mistakes; chance has no place in geology; the formation of the enclosing walls of the ledges, the deposit of the vein matter between the walls, the concentration of the ore bodies in these mines are all according to clearly defined geological laws and rules.
    It is to be regretted that the sciences of geology and metallurgy are not taught in the common public schools. A knowledge of geology would frequently prove an open sesame to nature's stores of wealth to many a young man who, now, through a lack of the opportunity to gain such knowledge, can look forward to only a day laborer's reward for his efforts through life.
    There is much more to be said on this subject, which, however, will keep for another article. In the meantime it is to be hoped that the people of the city of Gold Hill will not only come to a realization of the imperative importance of tunneling Gold Hill mountain for power, but will put that realization in effect by working early and late for the consummation of the project.
Gold Hill News, February 4, 1911, page 8  "Capt. Inconnu" subsequently wrote editorials for the News; he was apparently editor Rex H. Lampman.


    That the famous old Gold Hill, from which this city derives its name and which a pocket said to have contained from a quarter to a half a million dollars was taken in the late fifties, is far from being in the also-ran class as a gold producer was evidenced Thursday when J. A. Perry brought in $2,000 to the Gold Hill Bank and deposited it for shipment to the Selby smelter. Mr. Perry has been working on Gold Hill for the past eight months under a lease from Col. F. H. and Dr. C. R. Ray, the present owners of the hill, and last fall took over $700 from a "bunch" or pocket. The $2,000 which he brought in Thursday was recovered from the rock by means of a hand mortar and pestle, which shows that the Gold Hill ore is rich enough to attract attention in any country, and would probably start a boom if discovered in any country but Southern Oregon, which persistently refuses to have a mining excitement, no matter what happens.
"Local News Notes," Gold Hill News, June 24, 1911, page 5


    "Did you ever hear how Gold Hill was discovered?" said Cy Mulkey. "Its discovery was as much an accident as the locating of the Steamboat mine.
    "Jerome Alexander made his living by gambling at cards. During a time when the cards were running badly he went broke. He had two good saddle horses upon which he secured the loan of a hundred dollars from another gambler named Cavanno [Thomas Chavner]. Both of these men were from Jacksonville. Cavanno started for Portland on a brief trip. During his absence Alexander decided to go out on the range, get his horses and pull out for California before Cavanno returned. Alexander went to George Ish, a rancher nearby and borrowed a saddle horse to go out and find his horses, which were running wild with a band of other horses on Gold Hill mountain range [Blackwell Hill]. Ish had no good saddle horses with the exception of a colt which was not well broken and which was very spirited. Alexander was a good horseman, so he borrowed the colt.
    "After he had located his horses, Alexander had a lot of trouble trying to cut them out from the rest of the band. They would keep looking away and running back. When running the colt at top speed to head off his horses, the colt fell and threw him. Before he could get to his feet his riding horse had run off to join the others. When Alexander had picked himself up, he started off on foot to try to catch his horses. While scrambling over a little ledge to try to cut off his riding horse he noticed a ledge of quartz rock. It looked rich, though he was unfamiliar with gold in the form of quartz, only having seen gold dust. However, he put the piece of the rock in his pocket and continued the chase for his horse. The bridle reins, which were down, finally became entangled and he caught his riding horse, remounted it and drove his own two horses to Ish's ranch. Putting his saddle on one of his own horses, he got ready to go to Jacksonville.
     Just at this time there was a good deal of excitement about the Hicks mine. It was a small but very rich vein. The quartz had been uncovered in a placer mine belonging to Mr. Hicks. As Alexander was leaving, something was said about the Hicks mine. Taking the piece of gold quartz from his pocket he gave it to George Ish, told him just where he had found it and said, for all he knew it might be gold quartz. Alexander pulled out for California with the two horses he had sold to Cavanno.
    "A few days later George Ish took the ore to someone who was familiar with gold quartz and found it was a very rich specimen. Ish at once made up a party of five to go out and hunt for the ledge. They located it at once, for the gold-bearing rock cropped out over all the top of the mountain. They named it Gold Hill, which name it still bears. This was one of the richest mines ever discovered in Southern Oregon, and several million dollars were taken out of Gold Hill."
Oregon Journal, Portland, January 31, 1914, page 4


    (Arrangements have been made by the Bureau to publish information regarding the various mining districts in Southwestern Oregon, giving brief description of the more important mines and prospects. A different district will be covered each week.)
    The rich pocket from which the town of Gold Hill takes its name was discovered in 1859, and it is recorded that $400,000 was taken out of this strike during the first year. During the seventies placer mining continued somewhat less actively, about half of the miners being Chinese. In 1884 placers on Galls Creek were notably successful, while gold-bearing gravels on Foots Creek were profitable throughout the decade. During the nineties the output of the placers decreased, but work continued on many creeks of the district. During the first decade of the twentieth century placer mining continued on Foots Creek, Galls Creek, Sams Creek and Pleasant Creek. On the whole the production of the placer mines has maintained for a long time, but is slowly decreasing.
    Among the more important quartz mines are:
    The Sylvanite mine is located three miles northeast of Gold Hill and is owned by the Oregon-Pittsburg Mining. Company, of which L. H. Van Horne is superintendent. Over 3000 feet of workings, including tunnels, drifts, crosscuts, shafts, etc. Elevation 1360. Hanging wall slate; footwall limestone. Several thousand tons of ore are blocked out with average value of $9.65 in gold, 16 ounces silver, and about 7½ percent nickel. The property is equipped with a ten-stamp mill and accessories.
    The Gold Ridge mine is located in the NE ¼ section 3, T. 37 S., R. 3 W., at an elevation of 2100 feet above sea level. The property is equipped with a two-stamp mill, plates 2½x8 feet, and 7-h.p. gas engine. The work of further development of the property is now being done. The average value of the ore is $10 in gold. The mill is in operation. Owned by the Gold Ridge Mining Company.
    This mine is located in the SW ¼ of sec. 30, T. 36 S., R. 2 W., at an elevation of 1730 feet above sea level. It is opened up by two vertical shafts to a depth of several hundred feet with levels opened each way at each 100-foot depth. The property is equipped with two Nissen 1500-lb. stamps and two 10-foot amalgamating plates, rock crusher, and Standard concentrating table. Development work has been carried on for some time past and several thousand tons of ore with an average value of $15 have been blocked out. The property is owned by the Millionaire Mining Company, of which S. E. Heberling is superintendent.
    The Gray Eagle is located in SE ¼ sec. 29, T. 35 S., R. 3 W., on the east side of Sardine Creek at an elevation of 1850 feet above sea level. The vein is opened up by three adits on the hillside, the main adit being nearly 400 feet in length with over 300 feet of that distance on the vein, which is chiefly quartz and varies from 9 to 12 feet in thickness. Beneath a fault which strikes north 60 degrees W. and dips 34 degrees NE., but produces but little offset, the vein is locally 35 feet wide. It is said to carry $22 in gold at this point where a winze has been sunk 85 feet deep and a raise extended to the surface. The property is equipped with aerial tramway from the main adit to a ten-stamp mill on Sardine Creek which has a 30-h.p. and 10-h.p. gas engines, two amalgamating plates each 4½x10 feet, rock crusher, and two concentrating tables.
    The property is being developed by the Millionaire Mining Company in connection with the work at the Millionaire mine.
    Located in SE ¼ sec. 19, T. 34 S., R. 2 W. at an elevation of approximately 1700 feet above sea level. A crosscut entry is in about 200 feet. A total of approximately one mile of underground development work has been done, and several thousand tons of ore are blocked out. Owned by W. P. Chisholm.
    On southeast slope of Blackwell Hill near top of grade on Pacific Highway. Has a quartz vein shown by an adit opened by approximately 350 feet of tunnel, and a shaft 185 feet deep which yielded free gold at a depth of 100 feet. Vein from two to three feet wide where stopped. Values run in neighborhood of $62 according to the owner, Elmer Davis.
    In secs. 19 and 20, T. 35 S., R. 3 W., on the left fork of Sardine Creek at an elevation of 2400 feet. Approximately 500 feet of tunnel work done, with active development now being carried on. Vein varies from 15 to 20 feet in width, and it is said the average value is $20. Property in hands of Wilvan Mining Company, with L. R. Van Der Bogart as superintendent.
    Located in see. 19, T. 3 S., R. 3 W., at elevation of 2600 feet. Discovered in 1904 by J. R. McKay. Operated under lease 1907 by J. E. K. Kirk. Property opened up by approximately 500 feet of tunnel work. Average value of the ore $7.00. Owned by W. P. Chisholm of Gold Hill.
    Located 1½ miles southwest of Gold Hill; 400 feet of development work; average assay on vein $7.95 per ton in gold. C. E. Barges and Tom Cook, Gold Hill, owners.
    This property is located 2 miles north of Gold Hill; 200 feet of work done, all in ore. Average value $19.45 in gold. Tom Cook, C. E. Barges and E. Derwent, owners, Gold Hill.
    Located two miles east of Gold Hill; 150 feet of work done; gold values $2.80 per ton, copper 2½ percent. T. Cook and E. Derwent, owners.
    Located 3½ miles NE of Gold Hill. Not developed; prospected by open cuts and drifts. Nickel and tungsten values. Owned by Mrs. C. M. Crocker and Nicholas Addington.
    Located 2½ miles north of Gold Hill; 150 feet of work; high-grade shipping ore; owned by Harris and Son.
    8 miles north of Gold Hill; 150 feet of prospecting work; owned by Grey, Norton, Myers and Derwent.
    Five miles north of Gold Hill. Developed by 500 feet of tunnels and crosscuts. Said to carry gold, silver, nickel, copper, palladium and platinum.
    See. 24, T. 36 S., R. 3 W. 500 feet development work; owned by Tom Lawrence.
    Sec. 24. T. 36 S., R. 3 W. 300 feet work done; owned by J. H. Gribble.
    Sec. 24, T. 36 S., R. 3 W.; opened up by tunnel 276 feet long, owned by Guy D. Kenney.
    Sec. 24, T. 36 S., R. 3 W.; opened by 550 feet of development work. Owned by B. F. Groves.
    The famous Gold Hill pocket is near the top of the hill of that name in SW ¼ of NE ¼ sec. 14, T. 36 S., R. 3 W., at an elevation of 2000 feet, about 2 miles from the city of Gold Hill. The outcropping rock was so full of gold that it could scarcely be broken by sledging. The gold in the pocket went down only 15 feet and occurred in a fissure vein. It is said that this pocket produced at least $700,000.00.
Medford Mail Tribune, May 24, 1924, page 3


    "My uncle, Captain James Blakely of Brownsville, lived to be 101 years old," said Mrs. Dan Richards when I visited her recently at her home in Gold Hill. His son, William Blakely of Pendleton, has just celebrated his 60th wedding anniversary, so he, too, is getting to be something of an old-timer. I went from Brownsville to Prineville in 1879. In 1882 we came back to Western Oregon, settling here in Gold Hill. My husband served as justice of the peace here for many years. Having lived here in Gold Hill for 40 years or more, I have heard from the older settlers about the lively times they had here in 1860 and 1861, when the big gold strike was made here."
    Probably the largest pocket of gold ever found in Oregon was at Gold Hill. The lead found there was not a milling lead, but was what is termed a "pocket" lead. This one was like the pocket on the Fowler ledge at Applegate.
    The first quartz prospecting done in Oregon was on the left fork of Jackson Creek, just above Farmer's Flat. Sonora Hicks and his brother found a pocket on this lead and took out around $2000 in a couple of hours. The owners of the adjoining claim, Maury, Davis and Taylor, bought the Hicks claim and put an arrastra to work crushing the ore, but did not realize much more than had already been taken out.
    A small unnamed butte near Fort Lane, now known as Gold Hill, was the site of the next discovery. In January, 1860, a man known as "Emigrant" Graham discovered rich quartz on the side of Gold Hill. With George Ish, Jim Hayes, Tom Chavner and Jack Long he began to gather up the loose float on their claim. Henry Klippel picked up a small bit of float weighing but 13 ounces that was so rich it yielded over $100 in gold. Within a short time the whole hill was staked and men were working like moles or digger squirrels getting out the fabulously rich ore. Morgan Davis started a store and saloon near the new strike. Jim Hayes sold out his interest to Henry Klippel, John McLaughlin and Charley Williams for $5000. Graham sold his claim to Klippel and John E. Ross for $5000. They put in two arrastras, and from the claims they had purchased for $5000 each they took out over 1000 ounces of gold each week, which at $16 an ounce meant $16,000 in their weekly cleanup. Klippel, McLaughlin and Williams sent to San Francisco in the late spring of 1860 and purchased a 12-stamp steam quartz mill which was shipped by boat to Scottsburg and thence packed to Gold Hill. The bill for freight by water and packing was $2600. With this mill they worked over 100 tons of waste ore from the dump of the two arrastras, realizing over $10,000 therefrom.
    The mill was located at "The Dardanelles," and the ore was hauled to the mill from Gold Hill. The refuse, or waste quartz, had yielded over $100 per ton, so it was supposed the pay ore would be rich; but it ran only $3 to the ton. For six weeks careful record was made, and the ore produced only $2.40 to the ton, so the mine and mill both suspended. Over $150,000 was taken from a small pocket 22 feet long, 10 feet high and three feet wide, but that ended it. It was thought it would become richer with depth, so a tunnel was started. Jacob Ish, who owned the land, started suit to contest the mineral rights. Ish had taken it up as a homestead when he found how rich it was, and after long and expensive litigation he lost his suit and the owners proceeded to develop the property, but never secured any more ore of value. Later the stamp mill was moved to Vannoy's Ferry, and still later was used to run a sawmill at Parker's, on Big Butte Creek.
    "The man who really discovered the rich gold quartz on Gold Hill," said Mrs. Richards, "was Jim Hayes. He was herding horses for Tom Chavner. They bought Hayes out for around $5000 or, if the way they tell the story to me is correct, they practically froze him out. Hayes held out on them one gunnysack of ore that he had picked up at the grass roots. He buried it at the foot of a tree. Later he could not remember whether he buried it at the base of a madrone or a pine tree. He went back to the Willamette Valley and bought a ranch near McMinnville. Years later, when the mining excitement had died out, he came back to dig up his sack of specimen ore. He couldn't find it and concluded that someone had discovered it and taken it. He died not long after that. Some years ago a Canadian, Bob Ferguson, settled here and rented the old Marksberry place. A pine tree standing close to a madrone had blown down, so he went out to work it up into cordwood. As he started to cut near the ground he noticed the upturned roots had thrown up a lot of rock of a different kind. He got a pick and shovel and shoveled out a wheelbarrow load of gold quartz. Dr. Ray of Medford had bought the place. When he heard that Ferguson had found this long-buried sack of treasure he put in a claim for it, so Bob turned over $3000 worth of the gold quartz to Dr. Ray. My husband met Bob, who was on the way back to Canada, and said, 'Too bad you had to lose that rich ore you found. Three thousand dollars is a lot of money for a poor man to lose.' Ferguson said, 'Don't waste your sympathy on me. I am no longer a poor man. What I turned over to Ray is nothing to what I kept for myself.'"
Fred Lockley, "Impressions and Observations of the Journal Man," Oregon Journal, Portland, September 16, 1924, page 10


    Mr. William Hay, who came to Gold Hill in 1867 [sic], told us one afternoon the following brief stories of early days in this district. . . .
    One day in the year of 1860, Mr. Chavner sent James Hay after his horses. When he reached the top of the hill he sat down to rest, and idly running his hands through the sand he saw gold. This is how Gold Hill got its name.
Joseph Boyce Kellogg, age 12, "Sketches of Pioneer Days," Gold Hill News, July 8, 1926, page 4


    On the opposite side of the river from Gold Hill lies the wooded mountain which gave our little town its name.
    One day Mr. Hay was sent after Mr. Chavner's horses and, being tired with the effort of climbing the hill, he sat down and was idly running his hands through the dirt when he discovered some gold in the dust. That is why our town was called Gold Hill.
Thelma Williams, age 13, "Sketches of Pioneer Days," Gold Hill News, July 8, 1926, page 3


    GOLD HILL, Or., April 9.--(Special.)--The story in the Oregonian last Monday of Kap Kubli's gold strike at Gold Hill in an old mine that belonged to his father and had not been worked for 25 years is not an exception, but the rule with the old-time producing gold mines in this region.
    The passing generation has forgotten these old-time properties, which 25 years ago stabilized the annual production of the stream of gold that poured from the mines of southwestern Oregon and made Rogue River Valley famous by its production of over $20,000,000 of virgin metal by the pioneer miners up to the close of the last century.
    That these properties are not exhausted by long production and will produce again with the resumption of mining is evidenced by the many new strikes announced in these old diggings in the Gold Hill district the last few months. These strikes do not startle the old-time miner in this region, and many of these new rich finds are scarcely announced in the home towns. He knows that the old mine will respond again with new ore bodies on being drained and drifting and crosscutting commenced.
    Kellogg and Donegan, old-time mine operators of Gold Hill, owners of the Bertha mine, situated on the opposite side of the Foots Creek canyon from the Kubli, knew 25 years ago that there was still much wealth untouched in the Bertha. Many years were lost in correcting a doubtful title. Since the first of the present year, however, after a few hours' work in cutting into a wall in the lower workings, a large body of rich ore has been uncovered.
    The Bertha was a heavy producer during the late '90s, and made the discoverer, Alex Orme, ex-sheriff of Jackson County, now deceased, wealthy overnight. The Bertha in after years was the apple of the eye of Ed Schieffelin of Tombstone fame, who died on his way back to Gold Hill, his boyhood home, avowing that he would spend a portion of his fortune in sinking a shaft 3000 feet deep on the pay shoot of the old mine and recover another Tombstone fortune.
    Just across the canyon on Galls Creek, opposite the Kubli, is situated the Bill Nye mine that made a fortune each for several of its owners. Only last year the present owner of this property, George Blanchin of Paris, France, came back after an absence of nearly 20 years to live again on his property, and in retimbering and cleaning out the caved drifts uncovered a large body of rich ore in cross-cutting through a wall in the lower works. The owner of the property has done his best to keep the richness of the mine a secret until he shall be able to reopen it again.
    South of the Bill Nye on the same ridge is the Revenue Pocket diggings, which gave up many thousands 30 years ago to the discoverers, the Rhoten brothers, famous pocket hunters in this region. H. A. Ray, an old-time miner of Gold Hill, now a resident of Medford, recently reopened the Revenue Pocket and milled 40 tons of an old dump on the mine which netted better than $100 per ton.
    Just over the hill from the Bill Nye south of Gold Hill on Kanes Creek and the Blackwell districts are the Gold Ridge, Braden, Roaring Gimlet, Millionaire and the Gold Hill pocket, all formerly producers. The Gold Hill "pocket," two miles northeast of Gold Hill, is near the top of the hill of that name, at an elevation of about 2000 feet.
    It was discovered in [1860]. The outcropping rock was so full of gold that it could scarcely be broken by sledging. The crystallized quartz associated with the gold was not honeycombed, as it generally is where sulphites have leached out of the rock, leaving sprays of gold in the cavity. The free gold in this pocket went down only 15 feet and occurred in a fissure vein, striking about south 20 degrees east, dipping about 80 degrees east, with a gash vein cutting the fissure nearly due east and west and dipping vertically.
    The fissure vein averages fully five feet between walls, with one to two feet of gangue on the footwall, which contains some calcite and quartz, mixed with a little sulphide of iron, in spots containing free gold. A mass of micaless granite, about five feet wide by possibly 200 feet long, outcrops in the footwall side of the fissure. The country rock is pyroxenite.
    This pocket produced at least $700,000 the first several years after its discovery. That the ore bodies of this famous mine are not exhausted is evidenced by the fact that it was only last year that the owners, the Rays of Medford, with Sam Sandry, engineer, now in charge of the Kubli, drifting on a new level of the Gold Hill pocket, cut a large body of rich telluride ore.
    Such is the character of a long list of old-time producing mines in this vast region of Southern Oregon, as has been just cited in the Gold Hill district, which will be numbered in the producing list on the general resumption of the gold mining industry in this part of the state.
Oregonian, Portland, April 10, 1927, reprinted in the Gold Hill News, April 14, 1927, page 1


    January 8, 1860, James Hayes and another man whose name has been forgotten, or possibly was never rightly known, were hunting some stray horses on this hill where the famous ledge of gold was found.
    The stranger had dismounted and was examining a piece of float quartz he had picked up, when his horse broke away and both men were obliged to follow him some distance before they caught him.
    However, the stranger put the piece of quartz into his pocket and brought it to Jacksonville, where he learned that he was wanted by the sheriff and he left immediately for Yreka, taking the piece of quartz with him.
    At Yreka he met George Ish, who had at one time befriended him. So he showed him the sample of quartz and told him as nearly as he could where he had found it.
    Ish left at once for Willow Springs where John Miller and Jack Long were running a saloon. He showed them the piece of quartz which was very rich in almost free gold, and the day following, Ish and Long searched for the ledge but without satisfactory results.
    The next day Long and Miller went to Jacksonville, where they met an English emigrant. With the help of three dollars he was persuaded to help Long and Ish look for the sought-for ledge. For hours they searched but found nothing. James Hayes was plowing for Thomas Chavner at the foot of the hill, and Long approached him, asking him if he remembered seeing two men on horseback near there recently, and one of the horses getting away from its rider. He said he could show them the place, but he was reluctant about leaving his work.
    Again money talked and for three dollars he pointed out the place.
    Ish stood for a moment at that point and looked about him and then pointing to a ledge nearby said, "There boys, is the ledge," and so it proved to be, glittering in the sunlight.
    When the claim was staked out, Hayes claimed the right to include his friend and Long, his partner, so the claim was located in the names of George Ish, James Hayes, Thomas Chavner, the emigrant, John Miller and Jack Long, the last two being named as partners and each owning a fifth share.
    The English emigrant soon sold his share to Henry Klippel and others for $6000 and departed. Hayes sold his share for $5000.
    From a space two feet wide and twenty feet long about $100,000 in gold was taken, and probably as much more was stolen. The ledge simply pinched out and although they spent much money working it and buying machinery, the gold was all in this narrow ledge and within fifteen feet of the surface and the mine was finally abandoned, but Gold Hill remained as a town on the Southern Pacific railroad, and the Pacific Highway.
Gold Hill News, June 2, 1932, page 1


    Gold Hill, the butte on the east edge of this city, from which the town takes its name, is to see renewed mining activity, according to Jack Hayes, part owner of the old Fredenburg mine on that hill. Mr. Hayes and Eber Davis are giving a 5-year lease to the property of H. H. Russell of Eugene, who plans to erect a 20-ton mill on the site. The deal awaits only the signature of Mr. Davis, who is now in Douglas County, where he has cinnabar properties. The mine is near the place where the famous pocket of gold was found which led to much mining activity here, and the founding of the town.
Gold Hill News, September 22, 1932, page 1


    The first quartz mill introduced in Oregon was during 1860. The rich gold diggings in quartz which gave up $700,000 practically on top of the ground two miles from the town of Gold Hill on the Rogue, known as the "Gold Hill Pocket," had but recently been found, and the owners of the diggings were operating an arrastra reducing the quartz which was worth $1 per pound.
    The old mode of reducing ore, with its cumbersome drags, lazy mules and primitive makeup generally, was not modern enough for the wealthy mine owners, although they were dividing 1000 ounces of virgin gold per week, so they let a milling contract to the late Henry Klippel, one of the mine owners, who took two partners and left for San Francisco to order modern mill equipment.
    The equipment consisted of a 12-stamp mill of the design then in vogue, which had low iron mortars. It was shipped by water from San Francisco to Scottsburg, at the mouth of the Umpqua River, and hauled by team to Gold Hill. The shipment included steam boiler and engine. The freight and hauling cost $2,000, and the total cost of the plant equipment was $12,000 f.o.b. San Francisco.
    The first run of the mill was on 100 tons of ore not rich enough to be reduced by the arrastra, and it yielded $100 per ton. The next mill run, taken down deeper on the vein, to the surprise of the mill operators, yielded only $3 per ton, probably due to the baseness of the ore and poor amalgamation. Another run was made which lasted six weeks on this rich base ore, and being carefully conducted yielded but $2.40, and mine and mill suspended operations.
    The mill had been set up and operated on the river opposite Gold Hill where the railroad bridge spans the stream, and on the outskirts of the mining camp, Dardanelles and rival town of Gold Hill, when the railroad was built through this valley during the early '80s. After the work ceased the mill was leased to Yreka miners who again attempted to mill the rich base ores of the Gold Hill diggings, but failed.
    Later in 1863, the mill and power equipment was sold for $5,000 to Jewett Brothers and Douthitt and removed to the famous Jewett mine out from Grants Pass. The mill proved a failure at its new stand, and later the boiler and engine for a number of years were used in operating the Parker sawmill out on Big Butte Creek, owned by the late pioneer physician, Dr. Joseph Parker, and sons.
    Henry Pape came over from Yreka in 1860 and erected an 8-stamp quartz mill at the forks of Jackson Creek out from Jacksonville, and crushed ore from the newly discovered Davenport pocket mine and several other rich quartz veins nearby. He was to have $8 per ton for crushing the quartz. About 100 tons of ore was reduced from the Davenport diggings which yielded from $45 to $75 per ton.
    These rich free-milling ores of the neighborhood after a few months were exhausted. Pape soon after sold an interest in his mill to a company by whom it was operated some months longer on rich ore hauled from other mines in the district. In less than a year after its inception the boiler and engine went the sawmill route, which the mill battery was removed to Wagner Creek out from Talent and saw service at the Anderson and Rockfellow diggings operated by water power. The steam equipment saw service for many years in saw mills operated on Forest Creek timber.
    Several years later Charles Drew and Samuel Bowden put up the third quartz mill introduced into the region on the right fork of Jackson Creek out from Jacksonville to crush ore on the vein of the famous Old Town mine. This mine was reopened two years ago and made more famous when the strike of rich telluride on the 250-foot level was made, which will probably result in making this old-time diggings one of the richest and largest yielders of gold in this region again.
    While the Town mine, now known as the Midas, was first located as a placer in the spring of 1852 by a pioneer miner named Town, following the discovery of gold at Jacksonville in the winter of 1851-2, it became a quartz diggings in the early '60s when Bowden uncovered a pay shoot on the vein which yielded $60,000 not deeper than 30 feet from the surface of the ground. Later Johnson, a prospector, uncovered another pay shoot near the surface of the ground farther down the hill, which gave up $30,000.
    After several years operation with the Drew and Bowden quartz mill, with more or less success crushing surface ores, the boiler and engine were installed in the Karewski flour mill at Jacksonville, while the stamp mill was later installed and operated at the Klippel and Baumle quartz mine on Jackson Creek operated by water power.
    These three mills were the forerunners of the thousands and thousands of stamps which pounded and banged the ores of southwestern Oregon in later years. The height of the industry was reached from the early '90s to about 1906 with a decline which was verging to a general resumption at the beginning of the world war in 1914, when there was nearly a total suspension of the gold industry, world wide, with all the mighty mining energies of the region turned to the production of copper, chrome, manganese, quicksilver and other war metals.
Medford Mail Tribune, January 23, 1933, page 4


    "My father, James Hayes, one of the discoverers and original owners of the rich quartz mines at Gold Hill, in Southern Oregon, was born in New York state shortly after his parents arrived from Ireland," said Mrs. Olive Bell when I interviewed her recently at Philomath. "My father and his stepfather could not live in the same house, so my father, who was in his teens, went to a neighbor who was planning to cross the plains to Oregon and this neighbor gave him the job of driving his stock. This was in the spring of 1852. Father had no money to buy a saddle horse, so he walked across the plains, driving the cattle.
    "When Father got to the Willamette Valley he worked for the next few years at whatever he could find to do, and in 1859 was working not far from The Dardanelles, at what is now known as Gold Hill. At Big Bar, near Gold Hill, there was a placer gold excitement in 1852. A good many miners tried their luck there, without much success. In January, 1860, while Father was hunting for stock near Fort Lane, which was not far from Table Rock, his saddle became loose, and he got off to tighten the cinch. He was riding a buckskin cayuse. He happened to see a fragment of hard, white quartz with a streak of yellow through it. He picked it up. It turned out to be very rich in gold. Father reported his find to the man he was working for and showed him the piece of quartz. Father, his employer and one or two other men located a claim on this hillside, which turned out to be very rich. Father sold his interest in the claim to Henry Klippel, John McLaughlin and Charles Williams for $5000 in cash.
    "Father hadn't had much schooling, so he went to Jacksonville and invested part of his money in going to school. He loaned $2000 to a man in Jacksonville, taking a mortgage on a building. He was paid $50 a month interest on his loan. The loan wasn't repaid until the Civil War had been going on two or three years, and the man paid Father in greenbacks, which Father sold at 50 cents on the dollar, so he got only $1000 back for his $2000 loan.
    "Father was married on October 20, 1861, to Caroline Hinkle, at the home of Michael Walker, on Bear Creek. The Rev. Ben Musick, a Presbyterian minister, married them. Father was 23 and Mother 16 years old when they were married. I was their first child, born at Jacksonville on August 10, 1862. When I was a year old we moved to a 640-acre farm two miles north of Independence. When I was 6 years old Father traded this place for a ranch 12 miles southwest of Corvallis. When I was 12 I attended Corvallis College, which was started in 1864 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The Rev. W. A. Finley was the first president. The Rev. Joseph Emery was the next president. In 1871 the people of Corvallis bought 35 acres for the college, and its name was changed to Corvallis Oregon State Agricultural College. It is now known as Oregon State College.
    "In 1872 an Episcopal church was started at Corvallis, known as the Church of the Good Samaritan. Bishop Benjamin Wistar Morris and the Rev. M. Babcock started the church. Mr. Babcock was the first minister. We had moved to Corvallis in 1869, and not long after the Episcopal church was started Mr. Babcock started a school, which I attended.
    "I was married on May 14, 1882, at Corvallis, to Thomas Bell. He was born in Platte County, Missouri, on January 20, 1855. For 13 years we ran a grocery store at Corvallis. When Dr. Fara and William Grover owned the waterworks at Corvallis my husband was the engineer. Later, the waterworks was purchased by the city.
    "We had two children. One of my boys, R. W. Bell, who is a mechanic, lives at Corvallis. My husband died five years ago. I am visiting here in Philomath. I still call Corvallis my home."
    The original owners of the Gold Hill lode, near Fort Lane, were James Hayes, "Emigrant" Graham, Thomas Chavner, George Ish and John Long. Shortly after James Hayes had picked up and reported the discovery of the rich quartz float, veined with gold, there was a rush of miners from Jacksonville and elsewhere and Gold Hill was staked with claims. Much rich gold quartz was found on the surface. Morgan Davis started a trading post, and a restaurant and hotel was started. James Hayes was one of the first of the original owners to sell. Graham sold his interest to Henry Klippel and John E. Ross for $5000. A quartz mill was purchased at San Francisco by Klippel, McLaughlin and Williams. This mill was shipped to Scottsburg, whence it was brought inland to Gold Hill, the freight alone costing $2600. It was a 12-stamp mill. The various claim owners had discarded something over 100 tons of quartz as being too low grade to handle in an arrastra. This discarded quartz yielded $100 a ton when handled by the newly installed mill. The mill was located at The Dardanelles. Something over $150,000 was realized from the discovery of James Hayes and his partners in a pocket 22 feet long. Later, the mill was moved and converted into a sawmill.
Oregon Journal, Portland, July 3, 1935, page 6