Arrangement note
Biographical/Historical note
Access Restrictions
Usage Restrictions
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Scope and Contents note
Material Cataloged Separately
Preferred Citation note
Processing Information note
Publication Rights
Title: Sucker Flat Mine Stereographs
Identifier/Call Number: MSS.303
Contributing Institution:
California State University, Chico, Special Collections, Meriam Library
Language of Material:
English
Container: 1
Physical Description:
0.2 Linear feet
1 Folder with 8 Stereographs
Date (inclusive): Between 1870 and 1871
Abstract: The stereographs in this collection contain photographs from between 1870 and 1871. They show hydraulic mining performed by
the Gold Point Mining Company, Blue Point Gold Mine, Union Claim Mine, S.C.H.M. Company, and Rose Bar Claim at Sucker Flat,
Yuba County, California.
Language of Materials note: English
Alternate Form of Material: No other forms of material.
creator:
Mains & Shippy Photographs.
Arrangement note
Original
Biographical/Historical note
These stereographs depict images from the Sucker Flat Mine, Yuba County, California. The first hydraulic mining in the California
decade of the Gold Rush (re: 1849-1860) was done at the Blue Point Mine in Sucker Flat near the town of Smartsville (Yuba
County), California. It was here that the first large scale primitive methods of washing auferious gravels began. Because
of the primitiveness of the water hoses, nozzles, and engineering used, the easy gold played out. Later (1864-1871) hydraulic
mining technology was perfected, allowing for stronger penetration into gravels (and the greater loss of soil to the rivers)
and mining again brought people to Sucker Flat.
These images depict the new mining operation, the town, and the day that the corporation (Blue Point Mining Company) was robbed
(1871). Millions of dollars in gold were pulled from the ground at Sucker Flat, much of it shipped east to supply Union soldiers
during the Civil War and the Indian Wars that followed (1865-Wounded Knee).
Mains and Shippy were transient photographers moving from place to place throughout the west
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research without restriction.
Usage Restrictions
No restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Purchase, 1984
Scope and Contents note
The stereographs in this collection contain photographs from between 1870 and 1871. They show hydraulic mining performed by
the Gold Point Mining Company, Blue Point Gold Mine, Union Claim Mine, S.C.H.M. Company, and Rose Bar Claim at Sucker Flat,
Yuba County, California.
Two of the stereographs show a safe that was used by the mines at Sucker Flat. In one of them a man is standing next to a
safe at Sucker Flat, and the following is written on the photograph, "Great clean up of the Blue Point Gold Mining Company",
which portrays the robbery in 1871 of the Blue Point Mining Company. These stereographs are all from the series, "Scenes in
California".
Material Cataloged Separately
Each stereograph has been cataloged separately and filed with the Historic Photograph Collection.
sc16764 -sc16771
Preferred Citation note
Sucker Flat Mine Stereographs, MSS 303, Special Collections, Meriam Library, California State University, Chico.
Processing Information note
Processing of the Sucker Flat Mine Stereographs was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered
by the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The [ABC repository] was awarded a Cataloging Hidden Special Collections
and Archives grant from 2010-2012, "Uncovering California's Environmental Collections," in collaboration with eight additional
special collections and archival repositories throughout the state and the California Digital Library (CDL). Grant objectives
included processing of over 33 hidden collections related to the state's environment and environmental history. The collections
document an array of important sub-topics such as irrigation, mining, forestry, agriculture, industry, land use, activism,
and research. Together they form a multifaceted picture of the natural world and the way it was probed, altered, exploited
and protected in California over the twentieth century. Finding aids are made available through the Online Archive of California
(OAC).
Publication Rights
The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary
property.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Blue Point Gold Mine.
Gold Point Mining Company.
Rose Bar Claim.
S.C.H.M. Company.
Union Claim Mine.
Hydraulic Mining--California--Yuba County--Photographs.
Mines and mineral resources--California--Yuba County--Photographs.
Sucker Flat (Calif.)--Photographs.
Uncovering California's Environmental Collections Project
Yuba County (Calif.)--Photographs.