Cecilville is in southwestern Siskiyou County near the junction of the East and South forks of the Salmon River. Gold was discovered here in 1849 by James Abrams, and the district soon became an important mining center with a population of several thousand persons. Later, from 3000 to 5000 Chinese were reported to have worked the Salmon River by means of flumes and wing dams. Substantial amounts of lode gold have been recovered in the district, the most notable source having been the King Solomon mine, which was active in the 1930s. The region is underlain by slate, greenstone, limestone, and serpentine, with schist to the east. The lode deposits consist of either massive gold-quartz veins or zones of quartz seams and stringers that in places contain high-grade pockets.
Bibliography
Brown, G. C., 1916, Siskiyou County, King Solomon mine: California Min. Bur. Rept. 14, p. 836.
Irwin, W. P., 1960, Geologic reconnaissance of the northern Coast Ranges and Klamath Mountains: California Div. Mines Bull. 179, 80 pp.
Siskiyou County Historical Society, 1957, Guidebook to Siskiyou's gold fields: Siskiyou Pioneer, vol. 2, no. 10, pp. 14-17.
