Gem of the Southern Mines
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Columbia has proven to be one of the richest area in California's Gold County. More than $1.5 billion in gold at today's prices ($87 million in the 1860s) was removed from the area around Columbia.
Gold was first discovered on March 27, 1850, when Dr. Thaddeus Hildreth, with his brother George and a handful of other prospectors, made camp near here. Miners streamed in to share the wealth and before the month was out Hildreth's Diggings, a tent and shanty town housing several thousand miners, was created. Its original name was soon changed to American Camp and then to Columbia.
The first year was almost the last for the new town. Water, indispensable for mining placer gold, was in short supply. The area had no natural streams, only gulches carrying runoff from rain and snow. So, in June 1851, the Tuolumne County Water Company was formed to bring water into the area. The Tuolumne County Water Company's rates were high, so the miners formed the Columbia and Stanislaus River Water Company in 1854 to build a 60 mile aqueduct to supply the mines. The new system was not fully completed until 1858, when the more easily worked gold deposits had been exhausted and the miners were beginning to move out. Because of this, the Tuolumne County Water Company managed to acquire the new system, which cost over $1 million, for under $150,000.
Hydraulic mining was important at Columbia. Using monitors, or nozzles, to shoot water at high pressure, miners blasted loose the gold bearing gavel and washed out the gold. This method was very destructive. The area around the main parking lot was ten feet or more below the earth's surface before the miners arrived.
Meanwhile, Columbia's tents and shanties were being replaced with more permanent structures. Streets were laid out, and by the end of 1852 more than 150 stores, shops, saloons, and other enterprises were going strong. There was also a church, a Sunday School, a Masonic Lodge, and even a branch of the Sons of Temperance. Columbia was one of the largest cities in California, with an estimated population of 25,000 to 30,000.
With improved water delivery to Columbia, miners began to employ more efficient mining methods in their quest for gold. In some places, open pit placer mining operations removed more than 60 feet of dirt and washed it through a system of sluices to remove the gold. Using water power, the miners hoisted gravel from deep placer deposits to higher ground, where it could be processed using hydraulic methods. The result of their efforts left surreal sculpted bedrock formations, visible today below the main parking lot. The diggings were enormously productive, at times averaging $100,000 or more per week.
Gold from Columbia helped to finance the United States government and the Union Army during the Civil War. As mining dwindled in the late 1860s, Columbia began to decline. Miners tore down the vacated buildings and mined vacant lots in search of gold in the crevices of the bedrock on which the town was built. In the 1870s and 80s Columbia's population dropped from its peak to about five hundred.
However, unlike many mining settlements, which have long since succumbed to fire, vandalism, and the elements, Columbia has never been completely deserted. Through the years it has retained much the same appearance as when miners thronged its streets. So, recognizing an opportunity to preserve a typical Gold Rush town as an example of one of the most colorful eras in American history, the California State Legislature in 1945 created Columbia State Historic Park.
Geology
Columbia lies in a preserved Tertiary valley with pre-volcanic features. It is a flat valley that is underlain chiefly by the Calaveras Formation (Carboniferous to Permian). The Calavera Formation has numerous deep potholes and cavities, which contained enormously rich gravel. Several very large nuggets and gold masses were taken here, including one that weighed over 50 pounds and several weighing more than 300 ounces. Slow degradation of the area in pre-volcanic times tended to concentrate coarse gold in this flat basin. It is south of the main Tertiary Stanislaus River. Vertebrate fossils also have been found in the gravels.
Stake Your Claim
This Earth Cache will take you prospecting for Gold around this living ghost town. In order to log this Earth Cache you will need to complete at least 3 of the following:
1. N38 02.007 W120 24.021 What type of gold is described here and what is its significance to mining at Columbia?
2.What four types of Mining Implements are pictured here and what determines which a prospector would use?
3. N38 02.022 W120 24.033 What type of Mining Implement is found here and what is it used for? 4.What type of rock surrounds the miner's cabin here and what was its unique contribution for California? (Hint: See the quarry display in the Main Museum)
5.N38 02.134 W120 24.055 What is the name of the mining feature described at this location and what was it used for?
6. N38 02.035 W120 24.043 Pan for gold and post a photo of you or your party with their riches.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)