Description
The collection includes reports and correspondence concerning the Wide Awake Quicksilver Mine, and its owner A. A. Gibson,
as well as photographs depicting mine operations.
Background
The Wide Awake Mine produced mercury from rock that contained the mineral cinnabar. The Wide Awake Mine was located in the
Sulphur Creek Mining District, Colusa County and was once known by the name, old Buckeye mine. A. A. Gibson, who was then
the superintendent and general manager of the Abbott Quicksilver Mine, saw potential in the old Buckeye mine which had been
closed for many years. A. A. Gibson began his career in mining as a driver of a dump cart and has worked in every position
connected with mining. Mr. Gibson had a well-merited reputation as a successful miner and caused his name to be linked in
ventures with some of the most prominent mining capitalists on the coast, among them being Major Rathbone of San Francisco.