Description
The records of the Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California, including correspondence, reports, property records, legal
records, financial records, and a few photographs.
Background
In 1863, the Mariposa Mining Company of New York was established to organize mining operations on the 70 square miles of John
C. Fremont's Las Mariposas Estate in Mariposa County, California. The estate encompassed Bear Valley and was encircled by
Mount Bullion on the east and the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada on the west. The Merced River ran along the northern
line of the property. The Mariposa Mining Company operated, with some difficulty and constant litigation over title to the
estate, until 1874, when it was bought out by the newly formed Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California, which assumed
complete ownership of the Mariposa Estate. This new company owned and managed all facets of life on the estate, including
the mines, water power, quartz mills, mill dams, engines, ore houses, dwellings, and stores. The principal mines on the estate
were the Princeton, Josephine, Pine Tree, Linda, Green Gulch, Mariposa, and Mount Orphir mines. Ore was treated at the Orphir
Mills, located on the Merced River and powered by means of the Benton Dam (and, after 1900, by the Benton Mills hydroelectric
power plant).
Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for
any use rests exclusively with the user.