This district is about 10 miles north-northwest of Redding. The French Gulch district adjoins on the west. The Backbone district includes the Squaw Creek area. Although this district is in the Shasta copper-zinc belt, it has been mainly a source of gold. The principal gold mine has been the Uncle Sam, which was worked from 1886 to 1913 and later prospected. It has yielded more than $1 million. Several gold-quartz veins contain free gold and often abundant sulfides. Country rock is greenstone.
Bibliography
Averill, C. Y., 1933, Shasta County, Uncle Sam mine: California Div. Mines Rept. 29, pp. 54-55.
McGregor, Alex, 1890, Squaw Creek mines-Backbone mining district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 10, pp. 639-641.
