Humbug is in north-central Siskiyou County about 10 miles northwest of Yreka. Humbug Creek, which /lows into the upper Klamath River, was extremely rich during the early days; it is credited with an output of nearly $15 million. The town of Humbug City, which was founded in 1851, has largely disappeared. Some dragline dredging has continued until the present time. The gold-quartz veins were fairly productive, the Eliza, Spencer, Hegler, McKinley, and Mono mines all having yielded substantial amounts of gold. The veins range from one to five feet in thickness and contain free gold, pyrite, galena, and smaller amounts of other sulfides. Several high-grade pockets have been mined. Country rock consists of greenstone and granite with smaller amounts of schist and slate.
Bibliography
Brown, G. C., 1916, Siskiyou County, Humbug Creek district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 14, p. 824.
Irwin, W. P., 1960, Geologic reconnaissance of the northern Coast Ranges and Klamath Mountains: California Div. Mines Bull. 179, 80 pp.
