Minerals
The start of the California Gold Rush in 1848 and the sudden influx of miners in search of their fortune spread out across the Sierra Nevada. With so much gold being found in the streams, miners expected that somewhere in the mountains was the “Mother Lode”, the veins of gold in hard rock. This search in the streams and rocks extended all the way south into what is now the Sierra National Forest. This is the reason we have streams named Fine Gold and Coarsegold and place names like Kaiser Diggings; a reminder of dreams and hard realities. Most of the successful gold mining involving today’s Sierra National Forest was between the Merced River and San Joaquin river canyons. In Merced Canyon, clusters of mines were grouped in mining Districts. The Clearinghouse and Hite Cove were named for the richest mines producing in each district, the Clearinghouse Mine and the Hite Mine. Both mines were discovered in the early 1860s. The Hite Mine was named after its discoverer, John R. Hite who became very rich during the 17 years he owned it. It is estimated that from its discovery to 1099, it produced $3 million in gold. In the area near the Jerseydale Guard Station, was another historic mine district resulting from gold discoveries made in the 1870s. Many of the productive mines were converted from public land to private property at that time.
Over the last century to present, gold mining continues intermittently based on the price of gold and the interest of a few motivated individuals. It is only a faint echo of the busy, productive times of our Gold Rush past. A number of today’s claims are held by groups who share the chance to experience the past and the excitement of finding gold during their vacation or weekend excursions. National Forest visitors should be aware that many area where they may think it would fun to try their hand at panning for gold are already legally claimed by others.
Gold mining was halted in 1942 when the United States entered World War II. At this time the Federal government diverted mining equipment and resources to finding metals needed for the war effort. One of those metals was tungsten. Miners turned to the Sierra Nevada again to find many deposits of this metal including scattered deposits within the Sierra National Forest. Garnet Dike Mine in the present-day Kings River Recreation Area was one of them. Most of these small mines ceased operation once the war ended and government incentives were no longer provided. One mine did continue producing tungsten until the late 1980s. This is the Strawberry Mine near Granite Creek campground. While it mined a rich deposit of tungsten, the high pass crossed traveling to and from the mine limited operations to only six months of the year. The area of the mine is a mixture of private property and claims on national forest land.