Location
This district is in the Mother Lode belt in northwestern Tuolumne County. The Carson Hill district lies to the north and the Jamestown-Rawhide district to the south. It includes the Jackass Hill and French Gulch areas.
History
The streams and rich surface placers were worked during the gold rush. The area was known as Mormon Gulch in 1848 but was renamed for Judge Anson H. Turrle, who built the first log cabin there. The Gillis brothers came here from Virginia City and it was in their cabin that Mark Twain srayed for five months in 1864-65 and Bret Harte for a night. A replica of the Gillis cabin is now a tourist attraction. This area became a well-known pocket-mining district during the 1860s and was mined almost continuously until World War II. Some work has been done at the Gross and Street mine since then.
Geology and Ore Deposits
A northwest-trending belt of amphibolite traverses the central portion of the district. Phyllite and slate are to both the northeast and southwest and serpentine lies to the south. Although this district lies between the Carson Hill and Jamestown districts, where large ore bodies were mined, most of the output here has been from small, rich pockets. These pockets occur in quartz veins and stringers and contalO native gold, abundant pyrite, galena, and tellurides. The country rock adjacent ro the veins commonly contains disseminated pyrite and ankerite.
Mines
Albion Cons., Alta, Anti-Chinese, Arbona, Ball, Bown, Cardinelle, Chilena, Gagnere, Gross and Street, Marryatt, Norwegian $200,000+, Patterson, Tarantula, Toledo.
Bibliography
Eric, J.H., Stromquist, A. A., and Swinney, C. M., 1955, Geology and mineral deposits of the Angels Camp and Sonora quadrangles: California Diy. Mines Spec. Rept. 41, 55 pp.
Logan, C. A., 1949, Tuolumne County, Gross and street mines: California Jour. Mines and Geology, vol. 45, pp. 66-67.
Nolan, T. B., 1929, Norwegian and Chileno mines: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 157, pp. 77-78.
Ranlome, F.L. 1900, Mother Lode district folio: U.S. Geol. Survey Geal. Atlas of the U.S., folio 63, 11 pp.
Turner, H. W., and Ransome, F.L., 1897, Sonora folio: U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlal of the U.S., folio 41, 7 pp.
