North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company facts for kids
Quick facts for kids North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company |
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North Bloomfield Mine, ca. 1891
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| Location | Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park North Bloomfield, California |
| Built | 1866, founded 1874, Malakoff Mine tunnel built |
| Architect | Hamilton Smith, Chief Engineer |
| Architectural style(s) | 7,800 feet (2,400 m) long drainage tunnel through solid bedrock |
| Governing body | State Department of Parks and Recreation |
| Designated | 1972-01-20 |
| Reference no. | 852 |
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The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company was a huge company that dug for gold in California a long time ago. It started in 1866, after the famous California Gold Rush. This company had the biggest and most expensive gold mining operation of its kind back then. It kept working until 1910. However, its way of mining was stopped by an important court decision called Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company.
Today, you can find the old mine where this company worked inside Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park. It's about 16 miles (26 km) east of Highway 49. The company's old office building is still there!
Contents
Digging for Gold: The Company's Story
The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company was owned by 30 investors from San Francisco. These investors were led by a powerful railroad owner named Lester I. Robinson. Another important owner was William Ralston, who was a silver miner from Nevada.
The company needed a lot of water for its operations. It got water from many reservoirs, including Bowman Lake. The main water channel was called the Bloomfield Ditch. Most of this water was used for mining, not for watering farms.
How They Mined for Gold
The company had several mining spots in Nevada County. But the most famous one was the Malakoff Mine. In 1874, the North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company finished building a massive drainage tunnel. This tunnel was 7,800 feet (about 2,377 meters) long and was carved right through solid rock!
After the tunnel was done, the company could dig up a huge amount of gravel every day. They processed about 50,000 tons of gravel daily! They used seven giant water cannons, called "monitors," to blast away the earth. These machines worked non-stop, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. To help them see at night, the company even used a powerful electric light. It was like having a 12,000-candle flashlight!
The Sawyer Decision: Protecting the Environment
The way the company mined caused a big problem. They dumped all the leftover dirt and rocks, called "tailings," into the Yuba River. These tailings flowed downstream and ruined farmland all the way to Sacramento. This created California's first major environmental argument.
In 1882, a farmer named Edwards Woodruff, who owned land near Marysville, decided to sue the company. He was upset about his ruined farmland. This lawsuit was called Woodruff v. North Bloomfield Gravel Mining Company.
A Landmark Court Ruling
The trial began in June 1883. On January 7, 1884, Judge Lorenzo Sawyer made a very important decision. This ruling became known as the Sawyer Decision. It was one of the first environmental decisions ever made in the United States!
Even though the North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company had the world's largest hydraulic gold mine at the time, the Sawyer Decision stopped them. It basically ended this type of hydraulic mining in California's Gold Country. You can still see the leftover tailings from this mining on the river today, in an area called the Yuba Goldfields.
California Historical Landmark
The North Bloomfield Mining and Gravel Company site was recognized as a California Historical Landmark in 1972. It's number 852. There's a special plaque at the park's overlook that tells its story.
The plaque says:
NORTH BLOOMFIELD MINING AND GRAVEL COMPANY
"This was a major hydraulic gold-mining operation in California. It boasted a vast system of canals and flumes, its 7,800-foot drainage tunnel was termed a feat of engineering skill. It was the principal defendant in an anti-debris lawsuit settled in 1884 by Judge Lorenzo Sawyer's famous decision, which created control that virtually ended hydraulic mining in California."
CALIFORNIA REGISTERED HISTORICAL LANDMARK NO. 852
Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Malakoff Citizens' Advisory Committee and E Clampus Vitus No. 10, June 11, 1972.
