Deadwood is in central Siskiyou County about 10 miles north of Fort Jones. It was an important town from 1851 to 1861 and a stop on the California-Oregon stage line from 1851 until 1886. Hooperville, a few miles to the west, also was an important early-day settlement. Deadwood, Cherry, Indian, French, and McAdam Creeks all yielded large amounts of placer gold during the gold rush and were later dredged. Cherry Creek is believed to have been worked six different times. Snipers and part-time prospectors are still active in the district.
The principal lode-gold mines here are the Franklin, Cherry Hill, Golden Eagle, New York, Mt. Vernon, and Schroeder mines. The Golden Eagle has a total production of about $1 million. Some of these mines have been intermittently worked in recent years. The veins occur in greenstone with some slate and contain free gold and varying amounts of sulfides.
Bibliography
Brown, G.C., 1916, Siskiyou County, gold mines: California Min. Bur. Rept. 14, pp. 825-865.
OBrien, J.C., 1947, Siskiyou County, gold: California Jour. Mines and Geol., vol. 43, pp. 428-453.
Siskiyou County Historical Society, 1957, Guidebook to Siskiyou's gold fields: Siskiyou Pioneer, vol. 2, no. 10, pp. 80-82.
