North Fork of the John Day river, is there any history of gold?

[Actionman]

I have been spending a lot of time out in Mounument Oregon. The North fork of the John Day river runs through the property. An old timer says there was a mine upriver, but I was searching through records of old claims and mines, and didn't find any history of gold in this area. There is a ton of pyrite (fools gold) in the sands on the bank of the river. But no black sand. Anybody know of any gold in this area, or is this area barren of any meaningful amount of gold?

 

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[Mackaydon]

The lure of gold brought miners to the North Fork as early as 1855. Active mining of the gravel and sands of the river and its tributaries, using a process known as placer mining, began in earnest in 1861 at places such as Otter Bar (near Dale) and above Desolation Creek. Larger-scale placer and lode mining in the 1880s lasted into the 1950s, and one study suggests that the North Fork produced nearly two million dollars in gold by 1914. Placer mining significantly changed the river’s fabric and flow, displacing two to three million cubic yards of river deposits through the use of dredges, draglines, flumes, and floating wash plants. Mining continues on a small scale on the North Fork through recreational panning, handwork, small-scale placer exploration, and small suction dredges. Remnants of the river’s mining past can be seen in abandoned cabins and mounds of tailings piles.
Source: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/north-fork-john-day-river/#.YCtIfGhKiUk
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[Mackaydon]

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[Actionman]

Thanks for the replies. Confirms what I have been finding, I have to travel about 50 miles to the East to get to gold country. I may head over to the Burnt river as GPAA has claims in that area.