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adera" is the Spanish word for "lumber",
the first industry in the County. Part of the historic Sugar
Pine Railroad remains as a tourist attraction. A huge flume once
ran from the high Sierra Forest area down to Madera. One of the
engineering marvels of early California, its history is preserved
in articles and photos in the County Museum located in the beautiful
old granite Courthouse in Madera. A replica of a section of the
flume is on display. The Raymond Granite Company quarry supplies
granite for some of the nation's outstanding public edifices.
The mountain area is rich in the history of the 1859 California
Gold Rush towns, with such names as Coarsegold, Finegold, Grub
Gulch, Ahwahnee and Nipinnawassee. Panning for gold is still
popular for both fun and profit. In 1855, a portion of Madera
County separated from Mariposa County when Fresno became a County
and in 1856, the rest of Madera separated from Mariposa County
and became a County.
 The growth of the
territory known as Madera County has progressed in waves. The
first small wave of men was composed of a few explorers, soldiers,
trappers, and Spanish speaking settlers with Mexican land grants.
These men came in the first half of the last century, and few
stayed longer than a few months.
The discovery of gold brought the first big
wave of immigrants, most of them placer miners who worked along
the streams that were rich in precious metal, and soon a new
mining era came with the development of hard-rock ledge mining
for gold, silver and copper.
In 1919, a group known as the Gold Chain Council
was formed to get what was then a dirt road of various qualities,
conditions and dimensions made into a State highway. It obviously
was successful, and continues to this day as the oldest highway
association in California.
 The
State Legislature officially named Highway 49 the "Mother
Lode Highway" in 1921. At that time, it extended south only
as far as Mariposa, and the section from Mariposa to Oakhurst
was known as Bootjack Road. In 1969, the State Highway Commission
and State Legislature finally incorporated Bootjack Road into Highway
49. Oakhurst rightfully received recognition and was legitimized
as the southern terminus of the scenic and famous route which
winds its way through eleven counties.
Gold fever hit the hills here in 1849 and
50 but the actual gold rush came more slowly. Previously, no
one had any good reason to explore the mountains and they had
remained virtually uninhabited wilderness.
The records show that one early resident of
the area, Jim Savage, employed Chinese to work the San Joaquin
River for him. At first, Jim was involved in fighting the Indians,
but as the area became more populated, he made friends with them,
even to the extent of marrying at least five Indian girls, one
from each tribe. He is given credit for the discovery of Yosemite
Valley on March 27, 1851, and named it after the tribe which
inhabited it.
 Legend has it that
at one time there were 5,000 residents in Grub Gulch and 10,000
in Coarsegold. However, local records do not confirm these figures.
An 1853 Army report placed a considerable number of Chinese at
Millerton and in Coarsegold Gulch in 1854. Later 2,000 were reported
to have worked in the Raymond area. There is considerable evidence
of Chinese labor in that area; miles of stone walls meander through
hills between Raymond and Mariposa. Local ranchers hired the
Chinese to clear their fields of rocks and to use them for boundary
fences. They were built without mortar and still stand today.
Early Placer Mines
These mines were located around Coarsegold Gulch, Grub Gulch,
along the Fresno River and Gold Creek near Hildreth (southeast
of Oakhurst) and Fine Gold Gulch. The latter community - no longer
in existence - was given this name to distinguish it from Coarsegold
Gulch. Gold found at Coarsegold was generally in nugget form;
that at Fine Gold was more in the form of dust. Millions were
reportedly mined, but no accurate records were kept. Due to the
fact that the gold dust was used as a medium of exchange, the
amount actually taken was probably exaggerated by changing hands
so frequently.
The Coarsegold Area
Here, the oldest and most extensively worked mine was the one
generally known as Texas Flat. In 1855, there were four claims
filed, apparently by some greenhorns from Texas who may have been
the victim of some sharp salesmen with a worked out mine on their
hands. However, the four struck "pay dirt" and made
a fortune. Later the Texas Flat Gold and Silver Mining Company
was incorporated for 1 1/2 million dollars in 1863. No record
exists of its success or failure.
Then, in 1877, a new Texas Flat Mine Company
found a 2 to 6 foot lode, but had insufficient capital and soon
went broke.
Finally, in 1882, a Santa Cruz group erected
a fine stamp mill, but work didn't really get going until 1904.
The mine became one of the deepest in this part of the country,
going down to 900 feet. Before it was shut down, it produced
$185,000 of ore.
Grub Gulch
This community no longer exists. It
was about 10 miles west of Oakhurst on the road from Ahwahnee
to Raymond.
 The Gambetta mine
- also called the Arkansas Traveler - was the first and richest
mine around Grub Gulch. It was discovered in 1880 and produced
$490,000 in ore before it was abandoned in 1904. Close to it
was the Josephine, worked in the 1880's, producing $360,000 in
gold. Also close by was the Mammouth (Woodland or Starlight).
One of the foremen at this mine, Charles Wood, was not only a
good miner, but he and another man made a good living by promoting
mines. Well, Charley found a good, rich vein in the Mammouth,
but left it untouched. Along came an Englishman looking for an
investment. He was shown samples from the unworked vein and bought
the mine. An official State report says "About 1896, a ten
stamp mill was erected by an English Company. Operations continued
only a short time". The mine was finally abandoned in 1914
when heavy rains caused cave-ins.
The Enterprise was also developed in this
area in 1881-82. The first buyer exhausted a rich pocket, sold
out for $20,000 to another miner who found a new vein and got
his money back in two weeks.
In the Hildreth area about $100,000 was taken
between 1880 and 1895. At the present time there is a semi-active
tungsten mine here.
The California Journal credits, what is now
Madera County, with the production of $1,350,000 in gold between
1880 and 1892. Of this amount $958,000 was produced by three
Grub Gulch mines: The Gambetta, Josephine and Enterprise. This
leaves less than $400,000 for all the other mines in the area.
Recent efforts to produce gold have mostly
been limited to small suction dredges. There are two in nearby
streams, both inactive.
One gold activity does flourish here, however.
Gold panning contests are held frequently at Ahwahnee and the
gold panning champion lives in this area.
ALSO SEE  Madera Historical Society
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The Madera Method
