Research Database
Mineral King Mining District
Overview
1873-1926
Ford, Johnson Parks 1825-1904; Crabtree, James Abraham 1829-1913; Beldon, Salmon 1832-1884; Loop, Asahel 1821-1892; Goodhue, Suel Langdon 1839-1912; Sinn, Marcus Dietrich 1846-1928
The 15,000 acre Mineral King Mining District was established in the Tulare County, CA, in the southern Sierra Nevada in 1873. Over the course of the decade, at least 763 miners filed more than 254 twenty-acre mine claims and 65 five-acre mill site claims, and the miners, loggers, service providers, and families established at least 11 settlements. The mining district existed as a formal entity until 1889, when administration of mine claims in the area transferred to the county. Mining continued until shortly after the establishment of the Sequoia National Game Refuge in 1926. The district was unique in that up to 10% of the mine claim owners were women. The unusual role of women and the presence of Chinese and other immigrant laborers, as well as the timing of the silver rush makes the study area well suited to research pertaining to spatial and temporal patterns of social structure, gender roles, and ethnic relations, and the adoption and adaptation of silver-lead extraction and beneficiation technologies in the western U.S. in the 19th century.
Context
Although local lore suggests that Euro-American prospectors may have entered the Mineral King valley in the 1860s, it wasn’t until the summer of 1873 that a group of six livestock ranchers and agricultural laborers from Porterville decided to create a mining district and file claims in conformance with the new General Mining Act of 1872 (30 U.S.C. 28 et seq.). On July 26 of that year, Salmon Beldon (1832-1884) and his partner James Abraham Crabtree (1829-1913) staked the 20-acre Discovery Claim on the White Chief Lode, which featured agentiferous sulphide ores (MKMDa: 6). Beldon subsequently helped the other founders to mark the boundaries of adjacent 20-acre claims (MKMDa: 7). Under the leadership of Johnson Parks Ford (1825-1904) the men formed the Mineral King Mining District, which they ran as an independent entity rather than under the jurisdiction of the county or state (Visalia Daily Delta, 13 Sept. 1873). Ford actively marketed the district, and within three days of its establishment on September 12, miners commenced filing notices for mine claims throughout the district (MKMDa: 39).
Assays purportedly indicated that the ore was worth $25 to $42 per ton (Jackson 2006: 37) or as high as $500 per ton (Mining and Scientific Press 28 1874: 217). In additional to the agentiferous sulfides on the founders' claims, aurous and cupriferous sulfides were found in other parts of the district. Accordingly, a mining rush ensued. Before winter snow halted activity in the valley, aspiring miners had filed 65 claims (MKMDa). The district differed from many others of the time in that the by-laws mandated 20-acre mine claims (600 feet wide and 1500 feet long) and 5-acre mill site claims (Visalia Daily Delta, 13 Sept. 1873). The geology of the district resulted in a relatively orderly layout of mine claims, with most of them oriented on a north-north-west, south-south-east axis.
For its first two years, the district’s remote location posed a logistical challenge, compounded by the miners’ limited knowledge, equipment, and capital. The solution appeared to be the capital investment of a limited liability stock corporation. That corporation arrived in the form of the potentially corrupt New England Tunnel and Smelting Company. (Porter 2002: 29). NET&S orchestrated the mining rush 1875 through 1778. The company built a mule road, established a company town, and a camp for Chinese workers. It built a sawmill and a smelter, and started an adit that was to intersect the most promising cupriferous and aurous ores. The company failed in 1878 as the result of mismanagement, difficulty in extracting silver from the ore, and an avalanche that destroyed some of the company structures, including the occupied bunkhouse (Jackson 2006: 34; Porter 2002: 44)
Despite the failure of NET&S (now known as the New England Thieving and Swindling Company), The Honorable Thomas Fowler (1829-1884), Tulare County rancher and politician, was able to excite new interest in Mineral King in 1879. He purchased the Empire Mine, formed the Empire Gold and Silver Mining Company, and funded a wagon road to the district, thereby starting the second mining rush (Jackson 2006: 36-8; Porter 2002: 49). Over the course of the second rush, at least 315 miners filed about 341 claims (MKMDa; MKMDb). A new company town accommodated the population increase. As with the first rush, mismanagement and avalanches contributed to the demise of Fowler's enterprise (Jackson 2006: 78-86; Porter 2002: 71-83).
After the end of the second rush, mining continued at a slower pace, the population declined, and some of the mining camps and settlements were abandoned. Meanwhile, the district was transitioning to a resort community to meet the needs of San Joaquin Valley families escaping valley heat and disease in the summers (Jackson 2006: 93-102). The creation of Sequoia National Park in 1890 prompted a resurgence of interest in the Mineral King valley. Fifty-eight men of the Fourth Cavalry’s Troop K set up a large camp in the district to protect the Park, and a seasonal miner named Arthur Crowley (1859-1931) converted an existing settlement on a 5-acre mill site into a resort (Jackson 2006:99-104; Dilsaver and Tweed 1993:76-77). At the time of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, the resort included a large hotel, a general store, a butcher shop, a post office, a canvas dance hall, at least six cabins, a barn, and stables.(Jackson 2006: 125-30).
The San Francisco earthquake triggered avalanches that destroyed most of the structures and damaged mining excavations and infrastructure. Crowley rebuilt his resort, however and patented the land. In 1908 Mineral King, which had been part of the Sierra Forest Reserve since 1893, was included in the Sequoia National Forest, and the Forest Service developed plans to increase the area's use as a summer respite. Limited prospecting and mining continued in parallel to the development of summer cabins. Mining effectively ceased at the end of the 1920s, however, with the creation Sequoia Game Refuge in 1926 (Park Service records; Elliott 1994:69).
Sources:
Dilsaver, L. and Tweed, W. 1993. Challenge of the Big Trees. Three Rivers, CA: Sequoia Natural History Association.
Elliott, J. 1994. Mineral King Historic District: Contextual History and Description. Visalia: Mineral King Preservation Society.
Jackson, L. 2006. Mineral King: The Story of Beulah. Three Rivers: Sequoia Natural History
Mineral King Mining District (MKMKa). Mineral King Mining District Records , vol 1 . Visalia: Tulare County Office of the Recorder.
Mineral King Mining District (MKMKb). Mineral King Mining District Records , vol 2 . Visalia: Tulare County Office of the Recorder.
Porter, S.. 2002. The Silver Rush at Mineral King California, 1873-1882. Exeter: The Mineral King Preservation Society.
When Euro-Americans first visited Mineral King in about 1863 (Jackson 2006: 2-5), they found a 165-acre (.7 square kilometer) glacial valley hosting the headwaters of the East Fork of the Kaweah River. A trade route previously used by the Yokut and Western Monache traversed the valley floor, which lies at about 7,800 feet (2,377 meters) in elevation and accommodated at least one seasonal camp (Kamp and Whitaker 1979: 24-6). Sheer 30 to 55 per cent slopes and cliffs surround the valley and rise to peaks that reach 12,500 feet (3,810 meters). The vegetation is primarily upper montane and alpine, with riparian habitats and meadow associated with the numerous lakes, ponds, streams and springs.
Pleistocene epoch glaciers carved the valley, exposing a complex geology comprising marble, limestone, slate, granite, and metamorphosed ash from south-sea underwater volcanoes. In the areas where marble or limestone is in contact with granite and plutonic rock, there are mineralized bands, often containing silver-bearing galena and sphalerite (Lackey and Donahue 2018; Sisson and Moore 2013). Ore-bearing mineralized bands, known as lodes, extend in roughly parallel lines across the region, with the area's extensive karst and hydrothermal cave systems facilitating access in some cases. The valley’s steep, unstable slopes complicated access to the lodes. They also presented hazards in the form of rock fall and avalanches.
Kamp, K. and Whittaker, J. 1979. A Cultural Resources Survey of Mineral King, Sequoia- Kings Canyon National Parks, Tulare County, California. Tuscon: National Park Service.
Lackey, J. and Donahue, B. 2018. “What are the Precious Metals in the Historic Mines of Mineral King?” Poster. Claremont, CA: Pomona College.
Sisson, T. and Moore, J. 2013. Geologic Map of Southwestern Sequoia National Park, Tulare County, California. Washington D. C.: U.S. Geological Survey.
Location
The historic Mineral King Mining District is located primarily on public land in Tulare County, California. It occupies approximately 15,000 acres (60 square kilometers) in three administrative jurisdictions: (SEKI) Canyon National Parks, Sequoia National Forest (SNF), and a private inholding. Specifically, the study area is located in Township 173 South, Range 31 East, Mount Diablo Meridian (sections 32, 33, and 34), Township 17S South, Range 31 East, Mount Diablo Meridian (sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 21,22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 34, 35, and 36), and Township 18S South, Range 31 East, Mount Diablo Meridian (sections 1, 2, 3, 11, and 12) . Comprising about 11,100 acres (45 square kilometers), the SEKI portion occupies the Mineral King Sub-District of the Sequoia National Park District. It encompasses the Mineral King Planning Boundary, the Mineral King Road Cultural Landscape District (National Register #03001063), and portions of the John Krebs Wilderness and the Sequoia- Kings Canyon Wilderness. The National Forest Service portion comprises 3900 acres (15 square kilometers) in SNF, all of which lie in the Golden Trout Wilderness. Approximately twenty-eight acres on the valley floor are owned by the Walt Disney Corporation as a private inholding. NOTE: Specific claim and site locations are protected from public disclosure under 16 U.S.C. Section 470w-3 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended (NHPA) and 16 U.S.C. Section 470h, of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA).
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Claims
| Title | Teaser | Claim ID | Date Range | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anna Fox Discovery | This is a teaser for the Anna Fox Discovery mine claim record. Aren't you fascinated? |
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