The records in this collection were discovered in the offices of the Western Water Company in 2003, and pertain to Yuba Consolidated Gold Fields. The records dated 1901-1929, include legal documents, deeds, business records, correspondence, reports, acknowledgements, proposals, agreements, financial statements, estimates, propositions, resolutions, and a mining claim patent.

Gold dredging in California began in 1850 when a small river boat was fitted out as a dredge and gravel mining was attempted above Marysville, California on the Yuba River. The first successful gold dredge in California was built in 1898 by Biggs, Butte County resident Wendell P. Hammon, the "Dredger King," and his partner, Thomas Couch, a Montana mining businessman. This first model and those that followed consisted of a floating hull, a digging ladder, an endless chain of buckets, screening apparatus, gold-saving devices, pumps, and a stacker. The California dredge was developed from models used earlier in New Zealand and in Montana, proving to be much more efficient than earlier one-bucket attempts.

1.0 Linear feet 2 Boxes: Box 1; 56 Folders, Box 2; 4 Folders

No restrictions.

Collection is open for research without restriction.