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EAGLE'S NEST MINE: Placer County California, THE
Mineralogical Record, Jan/Feb 2004 by Leicht, Wayne C, Cook, Robert
Since 1982, the Eagle's Nest mine has been a more or less consistent source ofßne crystallized gold specimens, with the exception of recent years during which legal challenges have diverted financial resources to litigation instead of production. At present, the mine is in full production with the expectation that it will produce additional fine specimens of crystallized gold in the future.
INTRODUCTION
Specimens of crystallized gold from what is now known as the Eagle's Nest mine first came to the attention of the mineral collecting community in a brief article in the Mineralogical Record's, "What's New in Minerals" column (Leicht, 1982). At that time, specimens were simply labeled as coming from the Michigan Bluff Mining District in Placer County. Since that time, substantial numbers of beautiful gold specimens have reached the market. The present owner/operator has purchased and leased other claims in the immediate area and has consolidated them under one name: the "Eagle's Nest mine." Consolidation of many claims under one name is not unprecedented in California. The 16 to 1 mine in Sierra County, the Red Ledge mine in Nevada County (8 claims), and the Sonora mine in Tuolumne County all encompass numerous claims.
EARLY HISTORY
Historically most of the mining in Placer County has been placer, both from recent stream deposits as well as from old Tertiary channels which bisect the County. Placer and drift mines (a "drift mine" is an underground mine exploiting ancient river gravel) were particularly rich and were mined intermittently since the early 1850's. Lode mining in the Michigan Bluff District began shortly after the discovery of gold in California but was never as important as the alluvial deposits. The site of the original discovery of gold at Coloma in El Dorado County is less than 20 miles from the Eagle's Nest mine. One of the earliest reports of lode mining near Foresthill can be found in the American Journal of Science and Arts, written by William F. Blake (1855); he states that ". . . interesting octahedral crystals have been found in the claims of the Messrs. Diedesheimer . . . 2,500 feet above the level of the river." From his description it appears that these crystals of gold must have been found in either the Michigan Bluff District or the adjacent Foresthill District.
During the California gold rush, Michigan Bluff was a booming town of several thousand citizens. It was originally settled by immigrants from the State of Michigan and was simply called "Michigan" until the town was physically moved to a higher bluff when gold was discovered beneath the townsite. It is now better known as the town where Leland Stanford started his career as a lowly store merchant in 1853. he became part of the "Big Four," which included C. Crocker, C. P. Huntington and M. Hopkins, and together they financed the Central Pacific Railroad. Later he became Governor of California and founded Stanford University.
Early lode mining in the County was obviously overshadowed by the extensive placer, drift, and hydraulic mining in the area. There were never any rich deep mines like those in Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Nevada, Sierra, or even the tiny County of Amador. Almost all the lode mines in the Michigan Bluff District were small "pocket" mines where the gold was found in narrow stringers near the surface. Often pocket mines do not produce enough gold to be commercially profitable from the sale of bullion alone, but if the gold is crystallized it can be sold at several times its bullion value to collectors. Other pocket mines in the Michigan Bluff District include Ford's mine (inactive) and the Golden Sheaf mine (mined briefly at the turn of the century). In the past, Placer County has been the source of some of the finest crystallized gold ever found in California, from mines on both sides of the Foresthill Divide which bisects the County, separating the North and Middle forks of the American River. The famous Golden Bear Nugget was thought to have been found at the George Hill mine near the town of Yankee Jim's, Placer County, some 10 miles from the town of Foresthill (Bradley, 1922). Some of the claims which make up the Eagle's Nest mine were located shortly after the turn of the century and in the early literature were referred to as the Garbe and deMaria mine (correctly written as DeMaria). At that time the mine was operated by Mr. Louis Garbe and Mr. Clement DeMaria, as partners. Around 1921, Mr. John (Jack) Greenwood joined the mining venture. Jack Greenwood was a relative of Louis Garbe and also of the family after which the town of Greenwood in El Dorado County is named. he is also the grandfather of the present owner's late wife. Jack Greenwood had a long history of successfully operating gold mines in both El Dorado and Placer Counties. When Jack was associated with the mine several large pockets of gold were found.
After Clement's death, his son, John R. DeMaria, assumed the family's interest in the mine. Records of production during this period are sketchy, but the Thirty second Report of the State Mineralogist, published in 1936, states that for "many years this mine has been noted for occasional 'pockets' of coarse crystallized gold." It also states that the present operators (presumably John R.) "professed to be at a loss to recognize any sure sign of 'pay.'" Obviously John R. was not the miner his father was; his wife stated that during the period from 1938 until he ceased active mining operations he found only "colors" (traces of gold)! She later stated that her husband had personally mined less than one ounce of gold on their claims in 40 years! Obviously the DeMaria family relied upon others to do their mining and were content to collect royalties from their claims.
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