The Hwy '49er Series:
This is a series of caches
meant to highlight some interesting and, maybe even, some more
obscure historical facts about California's gold mining
history. Most of these caches will be placed in the Sierra
Nevada foothills in the general vicinity of Hwy 49, the Gold
Country Highway. Highway 49 starts in the south at
Oakhurst, Madera County, and continues generally
northwest, weaving through many of the gold mining communities of
Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Nevada, Yuba,
Sierra, and Plumas counties
until it reaches its northern terminus at State Route 70, in
Vinton.
An
Invitation:
All local cachers
are invited to add to this series of caches, placing and calling
out new locations of gold mining history along highway
49. New caches can be of any type according
to cache publishing guidelines. It would be great to see this
series eventually run the entire stretch of Hwy 49.
Also, please share any information you may have about the
postings in your logs. There's bound to be some intersting
facts out there that can be shared with
everyone.
A
Warning - Please be careful when caching in any areas of the
foothills. These hills are home to many creatures, including
slithering ones. Please be aware of your surroundings
and keep a watchful eye, especially if you have children with you
while caching.
Bagby,
California: In Memorial of a Mother Lode Town
Bagby, California in it's prime.
Bagby ruins on Jan 2, 2012, the day the cache was placed. A
few old foundations can be seen due to lower lake
levels.
MODESTO BEE,
August 1, 1965
BAGBY HAS FLOURISHED WITH DAMS; NOW ONE WILL BURY
IT
by Lou Evon
BAGBY,, Mariposa Co- Once this was a bustling place,
teeming with life and
the excitement of gold. Prospectors, quartz miners and millworkers
gave opulence to a fine hotel, its saloons, stores and dance
hall.
It even, in its more mature years, enjoyed the services
of a railroad- the only Mariposa County town ever to do
so.
It all began more than a century ago with the mining and
milling operations of General John Charles Fremont in Hell's
Hollow, where Highway 49 now crossed the Merced River. And it will
end in 1967 when historic Bagby is submerged by the water backed up
by the expansion of the Merced Irrigation District's Exchequer Dam,
several miles below here. When this multimillion dollar
project is completed, the lake behind Exchequer will be increased
in storage capacity from the present 281,000 acre feet to 1.1
million acre feet. And
so, the town of Bagby which began with the building of a dam by
Fremont, is doomed by another dam, which will spread water 50 feet
over its remains.
In 1859 Fremont began the construction of a dam,
replacing an earlier one, to generate water power for his new 48
stamp ore crushing mill. The site was called Ridley's
Ferry then. When he
opened the mill, Fremont named it Benton Mills for his father in
law, United States Senator Thomas Hart Benton. The new mill processed ore from
Fremont's Pine Tree Mine and Josephine Mine, opened about 1850 and
among the earliest of the lode mines.
Gravity Run
Quartz was hauled down to the mill in ore cars on a four
and one half mile long railroad track. Propelled only by gravity, the
cars were controlled by a brakeman riding on the cars. In 1962 Fremont's new wooden dam
was washed away by a flood. It was under constant repair
until the winter of
1866-67 when a heavy runoff tore out a 60 foot section. The
condition of the dam, which supplied water for the mill, set the
tempo of the town's
economy. When the dam
was out a number of men were out of work. A new stronger dam was
planned. Meanwhile
Fremont sold his fabulous holdings in 1863. The Mariposa Commercial and
Mining Company , the owner, authorized a new dam, a strong and
massive combination of wood and iron.
10 Tons of Bolts
Smith, Dudley & Company of Coulterville supplied the
required 400,000 feet of lumber. The new dam, "fastened together
with 10 tons of iron bolts", was competed in October of 1868 after
six weeks of construction. It was a 20 foot high and 64 foot
long crib structure.
To match its new dam, the Mariposa company installed new crushers
in the mill and by the following March announced:
"The new mill at this place is in full blast, having 16
stamps (ultimately 60 stamps) crushing about 15 tons of ore in 24
hours."
Using the so called Eureka process, the mill crushed the
quartz. It was further
pulverized in large rotating drums, each loaded with 2,000 pounds
of one ounce cast iron balls. Those
same iron balls years later proveided youngers with sling shot
ammunition.
Used in Slingshots
"We used to dig out the iron balls (from the tainings)
and use them in our sling shots, recalled Mrs. Herman (Winnie)
Freyschlag of Mariposa. She and
her twin brother, Everett Bagby, Mariposa County's current
probation officer, were born in Bagby in 1898.
The town was subsequently named for
their father, B A. (Benjamin Abner) Bagby, the
communitys' first
postmaster and business man. The elder Bagby obtained a patened
claim on the historic site in 1892 and about five years later moved
from Coulterville to establish a business in the community which
bears his name. Bagby, with two
partners, J D Quinn and Marcellus Wilburn, whom he later bought
out, subsequently established a hotel and a store. The latter was
converted into a saloon in 1905 during the construction of the
Yosemite Valley Railroad, which was completed in 1907 and ran from
Merced to El Portal.
Before the Railroad
However, the town got is present name before the
construction of the railroad. Just before the 1900's it was
referred to as Bagby's or Bagby's Place. In 1901 the construction of
a new dam, on the refurbished foundation of the earlier dam,
sparked new life into the community. By May, 1902, it became evident the new electric plant at
Bagby "had proved to be
indadequate to supply the demands made upon it by their (Mariposa
Companys') mining industries".
Something Positive
But the historic town had something positive going for
it. The rumors that a railroad would be constructed through Bagby
became a reality with the incorporation of the Yosemite Valley
Railroad in December, 1902. Construction began from Merced in
1905 and by 1906 the rails were laid to Bagby.
Everett Bagby recalls the town was a busy
place. He was only 7 years old then, but the memory is more vivid
because "I used to ride on the work trains".
There was no school in town then and Bagby and
his sister were taught at home to read, write and
ciper. "Week after week after
week," recalled Bagby, "I was given a sack lunch and rode the work
trans during construction of the line. "I rode the trains out in the morning and returned with
the engine crew at the end of a working day. Sometimes I got to toot the
whistle. Once in a
while my sister went with me."
Constantly Damaged
This last big dam went the way of the other small dams
before it. Before it
gave way September 4, 1921, it constantly was damaged by the swift
current. Holes
appeared in it, recalls Everett Bagby, before it finally collapsed. Also it was subjected to lumber
scavengers. Only a
small part of its foundation timbers remain. The power house and bridge were
destroyed by fire July 14, 1922. Some houses also were
destroyed. Other Bagby
buildings include a grocery store and safe, the old hotel and a few
other structures. The
settlements' population is 13 and most of these still are looking
for gold.
Post Office Gone
The town's post office ceased operating years
ago. The few
townspeople now gather around the store every morning waiting for
the star route delivery truck to bring the mail. Highway 49 will be relocated 700
yards downstream. A 700 foot long bridge will span the reservoir
over the community, 50 feet below the surface.
Facilities Set
Plans call for a view site and roadside rest
area. Possibly a
plaque will mark the historic site. Its epitaph could well be the
remark of a Bagby resident who prophetically observed when the last
dam was nearing completions in 1901.
"It's said that after the dam is completed a number of
rowboats and a sailing craft will be put on the lake formed by the
dam. It will then be
an ideal spot for a day's outing."
MODESTO BEE,
July 28, 1966
NEW BRIDGE - A BAGBY REQUIEM
BAGBY- The sleek new Bagby Bridge, spanning the Merced
River, opened for traffic and set to be dedicated at 3:30 p.m. Aug.
12, might be termed a monument to oblivion for this
community. Bagby,
which includes a general store, cafe, and a scattering of
dwellings, will be all inundated a year or two hence as the Merced
River Project becomes a reality. This is the reason the new span,
part of a highway relocation project, was constructed
here. It replaces the
old bridge, about a quarter of a mile upstream. This picturesque span is 180 feet
long. Its successor is
1,158 feet. The north
end of the new $1.2 million bridge is 28 feet higher than the
lowest point.
Next Month
It was started last August and officially will be
completed next month, August 12, according to George Amaro,
resident engineer.
Part of its cost is being paid by the Merced Irrigation District,
which also is buying all the Bagby property to be placed under
water when Lake McClure expands from a 281,200 acre-foot capacity to one of 1.1.
million acre feet as a result of construction of a new Exchequer
Dam, which towers over the old one by 180 feet. The new structure, already in
place just below the old one, plus a power house to be installed
there and other features including the new bridge will cost $36
million. Amaro said it
will be necessary to dismantle the old bridge eventually.
The new concrete span
is double-laned but, while finishing work is being completed , is
restricted to one-way traffic during the day. Bagby's population of 25 today
belies its once historic eminence as a bustling mining and milling
community The
bridge which today is being replaced was erected in
1923. But nearly a
score of years before that, a concrete abutment had been laid for
support of a bridge which- until 1945- carried traffic of the
Yosemite Valley Railroad.
Bagby, in its salad days, was known well to Gen. John C.
Fremont. In 1848 he purchased a 44,000 acre Mexican land grant in
which the Bagby area was included. The town was initially called
Benton's Mill by Fremont, in a testimony of affection for his
father-in-law, the famed lawmaker, US Senator. Thomas Hart Benton
of Missouri.
Honor For Fremont Aide
The name change of the town subsequently came about and
was derived from Abner Bagby. As in countless other Mother Lode
hamlets, the gold mining diminished and Bagby saw an exodus of much
of its population. The
milling continued as did the YV Railroad operation. But, in August, 1945, a train of
this historic enterprise made its last run. Bagby and its skeletal population
became observers to the passing parade of motorists who came down
the winding incline from Bear Valley and on toward
Coulterville.
Progress, reflected in part by a high rise bridge, finally has
caught up with Bagby, the former Benton Mills. Yet, some of it will
remain. Soon, the old
YV Railraod depot and turntable here, along with two giant twin
wooden railroad water tanks- memorials to the past- will be
relocated from Bagby to El Portal. They will become a part of the YV
Railroad Museum being established.
The Sources: USGS
Topographical Maps 1:24,000, 1973; Wikipedia.org; Ghost Towns &
Mining Camps of California, Remi Nadeau, 1999;
westernmininghistory.com; mariposaresearch.net; The Modesto
Bee