History
Legend associates the Monte Cristo Gold Mine with the "Lost Padre" gold mine of mission days. Scholars question that such a mine existed, but the story has nevertheless persisted for over a century. The Pasadena Union on October 29, 1887 made reference to the Lost Padre gold mine and its wealth. It is said that the Indians who manned the mine revolted against the padres and removed all traces of the mine's existence.
The first record of the discovery of gold in Los Angeles county was in 1834. From 1834 to 1838 the San Francisquito Canyon, Placerita Caceta and Santa Feliciana placers were worked by priests from the San Fernando and San Buenaventura missions. The placers of San Gabriel canyon were worked by priests and native Californians until 1848 when gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill by James W. Marshall. Reports of work on gold quartz veins in the Mount Gleason area indicate that the Monte Cristo mine was probably discovered very early.
The Monte Cristo Gold Mine as it is known today first came to light during the Big Tujunga gold excitement of the late 1880s. Just who the prospectors were who located the gold-bearing veins and began the mine is not known. Delos Colby, owner of the Colby ranch on Coldwater Creek, reconstructed the story as he knew it:
When I first came to these mountains about 24 years ago (1891), the Monte Cristo was being worked by Spanish people. They carried the ore up to a crusher driven by a large water wheel. When they left, I tore the water wheel down and carried some of the timber to my ranch.
Colby's story of the large water wheel gains in interest when compared with an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Semi-Weekly News for January 4, 1867:
A new mining district north of the Tehungo (probably referring to Tujunga) and east of the Soledad district has been formed. Gold bearing quartz of great richness has been discovered…. Four large arrastres will be in operation in a few days. A water wheel 60 feet (18 m) in diameter is being erected for the purpose of drawing a twenty-stamp mill.
According to some of the old timers, the paper was describing the beginnings of the Monte Cristo Gold Mine.
Read more about this topic: Monte Cristo Gold Mine
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