Blue Bucket mine

[tapoutking]

Anyone here familiar with this story?

I recently bought a book that was printed in 1951 that told about it.

 

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[Kentucky Kache]

http://gesswhoto.com/bluebucket.html

 

[tapoutking]

Thanks for the link!

 

[maui]

thanks much for the link, very interesting story.
take care and be safe out there. ron

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Howdy!

A while ago I posted "Oregon's Lost Blue Bucket Diggins - A Scarce Pioneer Account of the Legend." You can find it a few posts down from this one. It's a reliable version of the story.

Probert's bibliograpy lists 3 pages of Blue Bucket sources and references. Many of these, of course, simply repeat the work of earlier authors. Drago's Lost Bonanzas is usually a reliable place to start - and this book has the advantage of being easy to obtain.

Along with Bancroft's Histories I would suggest checking the references I cited in the above post. You're welcome to send me a PM if you'd like detailed bibliographic citations.

Personally, I think this is one of a handful of "lost mine" (well, in this case, probably a lost diggings or placer) yarns with truth at bedrock.

Good luck to all,

The Old Bookaroo

 

[Oroblanco]

Tag post please ignore

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

K oro, you are ignored. snicker

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[Tuberale]

Been researching this one for several years. There is a better source than any mentioned above. "Terrible Trail: Lost Meek Wagon Train of 1845".

Just found a diary of a woman on a branch of the 1845 train that left Ft. Boise and went to CA. Along the way she found Au too. They stopped at Sutter's Mill, mentioned their gold, and were told to not tell anyone, as negotiations were on-going at that time to make CA part of Union, and finding Au in CA would have increased the price and produced a stampede. Did anyway. Kind of wonder if that didn't have at least some effect on the legend.

Anyway, after Sutter's Mill announced in Jan. 1848 (not '49 as often stated), she returned to the site with her new husband, and they removed several thousand $'s worth from the original site: mostly placer deposit. Then moved to OR, bought a nice piece of property, and farmed for 50-60 years. Died in OR. But may have been the first finder of Au in CA.

As for the Meek Train of 1845, discovery of Au probably near the headwaters of the South Fork of the John Day River, north of Wagontire Mountain. Train was out of water at this point. After finding a tiny spring on Wagontire Mountain, the train send scouting parties north to try to find more water, but most of the train near dying. South Fork water was found, and the entire train moved north as fast as they could. Train remained here for several days recovering before continuing. Oregon Trail not well established at the time, and Stephen Meek was sort of trailblazing it. Realizing the south had little water, moved the successive trail north where is runs today.

Ironically, the South Fork site is about 40 mile south of John Day, where millions of Au removed a few years later. But as far as I can verify that wasn't found until the early 1860's, and even then it was a fluke of prospecting when small amounts of Au found while a company on the way to another gold strike stopped for a few hours, and one of the company found some good color.

 

[Old Bookaroo]

Tuberale: Would you give us a reference for that diary? Sounds quite interesting - thanx for posting it.

Hard to believe the discovery of gold in California would raise the value. One would think more gold would, if it had any influence on the price, push it down instead of up.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Oroblanco]

Tuberale: Would you give us a reference for that diary? Sounds quite interesting - thanx for posting it.

Hard to believe the discovery of gold in California would raise the value. One would think more gold would, if it had any influence on the price, push it down instead of up.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

Hola amigo,
I think he is referring to the purchase of CA and - or Russian America rather than the price of gold here. There were rumors in circulation at the time that the Russian representatives were testing the waters about selling their possessions in America and thought the USA a good possible buyer, so if the existence of precious metals deposits were known in the Russian territories it would drive up the price that the Czar would demand.
Oroblanco

 

[Old Bookaroo]

OB:

I'd call that a definite possibility. I would think in 1848 there were other territories, closer to the USofA east of the Mississippi River, that were being considered as new states.

In any event, I'm guessing the diary records what the writer was told - and that was, indeed, a long time ago.

It would be interesting to read the entire work.

Good luck to all,

~The Old Bookaroo

 

[Oroblanco]

Hola amigo,

By 1848 the lands east of the Mississippi were all owned by the USA, (Louisiana Purchase 1803) as well as a large swath on the W side; it is a complicated history with the Russians relenting all claims south of 54'40 but conflicting US/Brit claims continued, and Russia still had Fort Ross in CA, which they looked to sell as mentioned; interesting part of history;
http://books.google.com/books?id=KPKT30PV-NEC&dq=russian california&pg=PA11#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Country

The Russians sold their Fort Ross to an American named John Sutter; famous for the discovery of gold at his mill. <For anyone interested in Sutter's version of that event, here is an article:
http://www.sfmuseum.org/hist2/gold.html>
Oroblanco

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

ORO, ***** Having been born & raised in nortern Calif, I have been to these areas often. Yer making me homesick. sniff

Don Jose de La Mancha