Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park belongs to the California State Historic Park

California State Historic Park

The State of California operates and maintains about fifty California State Historic Parks, ranging from Shasta State Historic Park, a California Gold Rush-era ghost town in the northern part of the state, to Old Town San Diego State Historic Park in downtown San Diego in the southern part of the...

system, a part of the California Department of Parks and Recreation

California Department of Parks and Recreation

The California Department of Parks and Recreation, also known as California State Parks, manages the California state parks system. The system administers 278 parks and 1.4 million acres , with over of coastline; of lake and river frontage; nearly 15,000 campsites; and of hiking, biking, and...

. Malakoff Diggins is the site of California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

's largest hydraulic mines

Hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining, or hydraulicking, is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material or move sediment. In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold.-Precursor - ground...

. It is located 26 miles (42 km) north-east of Nevada City, California

Nevada City, California

-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...

, in the Gold Rush country; eight miles (13 km) of the road are unpaved and winding.

The "canyon" is 7000 feet (2,133.6 m) long, as much as 3000 feet (914.4 m) wide, and nearly 600 feet (182.9 m) deep in places. Visitors can see huge cliffs carved by mighty streams of water, results of the hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining

technique of washing away entire mountains of gravel to wash out the gold.

History

While beautiful in its own way, the Malakoff mine pit on the San Juan Ridge

San Juan Ridge

The San Juan Ridge is a geographic featureextending approximately east-northeast between the South and Middle Yuba Rivers in the foothills of the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains...

is a testimony to the avarice that was part of the California gold rush

California Gold Rush

The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...

, and to one of the nation's first environmental protection

Environmental movement

The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....

measures.

In 1850 there was little gold left in streams. Miners began to discover gold in old riverbeds and on mountainsides high above the streams. In 1851, three miners headed northeast of what is now Nevada City for a less crowded area to prospect. One miner went back to town with a pocket full of gold nuggets for supplies and was followed back by many prospectors. These followers, however, did not find any gold and declared the area "Humbug", thus the stream was so named "Humbug Creek". Around 1852, settlers began to arrive in the area and the town of "Humbug" sprang up. These miners could not decide how to move the dirt to a place where there was water.

By 1853 miners invented a new method of mining called hydraulic mining

Hydraulic mining

. Dams were built high in the mountains. The water traveled from the reservoirs through a wooden canal called a flume

Flume

A flume is an open artificial water channel, in the form of a gravity chute, that leads water from a diversion dam or weir completely aside a natural flow. Often, the flume is an elevated box structure that follows the natural contours of the land. These have been extensively used in hydraulic...

that was up to forty-five miles long. The water ran swiftly to the canvas hoses and nozzles called monitors waiting in the old river beds. The miners would aim the monitors at the hillsides to wash the gravel into huge sluices. Over time the monitors became bigger and more powerful. Their force was so great they could toss a fifty pound rock like a cannonball or even kill a person. Over 300 Chinese worked on this project and two Chinese settlements existed in North Bloomfield.

By 1857 the town had grown to 500 residents. Locals felt the name "Humbug" was too undignified and renamed the town "Bloomfield", but California already had a town by this name so they renamed the town "North Bloomfield".

In the late 1860s, the towns of Marysville

Marysville, California

Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...

and Yuba City were buried under 25 feet (7.6 m) of mud and rock, and Sacramento

Sacramento

Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...

flooded repeatedly.
The farmers in the valleys complained about the tailings that flooded their land and ruined their crops. Thousands of acres of rich farmland and property were destroyed as a result of hydraulic mining.

By 1876, the mine was in full operation with 7 giant water cannons working around the clock. The town had grown to a population of around 2000 with various business and daily stage service.

In 1880, electric lights were installed in the mine and the world’s first long distance telephone line was developed to service the mine, passing through North Bloomfield as it made its way from French Corral

French Corral

French Corral is an unincorporated community in Nevada County, California, United States, off State Route 49 via Pleasant Valley Road, and northwest of Nevada City....

to Bowman Lake.

By 1883, San Francisco Bay was estimated to be filling with silt at a rate of one foot per year. Debris, silt, and millions of gallons of water used daily by the mine caused extensive flooding, prompting Sacramento valley farmers to file the lawsuit Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company
North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company
The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company of North Bloomfield, California, was established in 1866 and operated a hydraulic gold-mining operation at the Malakoff Mine subsequent to the California Gold Rush...

. On January 7, 1884 Judge Lorenzo Sawyer

Lorenzo Sawyer

Lorenzo Sawyer was an American lawyer and judge who was appointed the Supreme Court of California in 1860 and served as Chief Justice of California from 1868–70. He served as a circuit judge for the U.S...

declared hydraulic mining illegal.

Climate

At an altitude of 3248 feet (990 m), Malakoff Diggins generally has warm, dry summers and cold, wet winters. Weather can change rapidly any time of the year. Rain and snow fall usually from October until April, though there may be thunderstorm activity in the summer as well.

North Bloomfield

The visitor center has exhibits depicting life in the old mining town of North Bloomfield

North Bloomfield, California

North Bloomfield is a small unincorporated community located in Nevada County, California, United States, northeast of Nevada City, California....

, with a past population of 1,500 that served as a supply base for the Diggins. About a block of buildings, some dating to the 1850s, are restored or re-created in a Gold Rush style, including white picket fences. One of the buildings is used as park headquarters and there's a museum with old artifacts, and a model showing how hydraulics worked. In summer, park rangers lead tours through a general store, a furnished home, and a drugstore whose shelves are lined with bottles, boxes and vials of medicines. A church, schoolhouse and other buildings are also part of the tour.

Park facilities include hiking trails, picnic area, swimming and fishing, a campground and rustic cabins that can be rented by campers.

Humbug Days, including a parade and BBQ, is an annual event.

Hiking and trails

Visitors to the 3000 acres (1,214.1 ha) state historic park can hike on miles of trails. The mining pit is unfenced and accessible from the road and pathways that surround it. Hikers can enter the 556 feet (169.5 m) Hiller Tunnel, through which water for the mining operation once flowed. The park also contains a 7847 feet (2,391.8 m) bedrock tunnel that served as a drain. Other hiking includes:

Rim Trail
Diggins Loop Trail
Blair Trail
North Bloomfield Trail

Proposed for closure

Malakoff Diggins is one of the 48 California state parks proposed for closure in January 2008 by California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....

as part of a deficit reduction program since rescinded following public outcry.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Climate

North Bloomfield

Hiking and trails

Further reading

Proposed for closure

See also

External links