American River Last Chance 20 Acre Mining Claim

Description

Item Description
You are bidding on the Full Price of an Unpatented Placer Mining Gold Claim located  the North/Middle fork American River in California. The Placer Claim is located in Placer County. The Last Chance Mining District has documented records of gold deposits in this area. This claim is located on the North/Middle fork of the American River next to a gravel and dirt road. There is a place to setup camp on the claim, and the claim is located within 15 miles of the town of Forest Hill California. The town of Forest Hill offers full service including Food/Lodging/Gas/Repair shop/Post Office/Bank.
History of Area
This extensive placer-mining district is in eastern Placer County in the vicinity of the old mining camp of Last Chance, 10 miles northeast of Michigan Bluff and 15 miles northeast of Forest Hill. It includes the "diggings" here and at Star Town, Deadwood, and American Hill. Last Chance got its name when a starving miner used his last bullet to kill a deer. The mines in the district were operated almost steadily from the early 1850s until about 1920. There was some activity again in the 1930s, and the El Dorado and Last Chance mines have been intermittently worked in recent years.
The group of hopeful miners embarked on a prospecting quest for gold in the spring of 1850. As the days rolled into weeks without luck, the party began to run low on food and hope. With the prospectors’ ambitions dwindling by the minute and the last moments of their exploration approaching, one of the group’s members said, “This is our last chance” to continue prospecting, but only if they could find some food.
As the men hunted through the forest a goose took flight catching the attention of the hunting party, who quickly took aim. Bang! Down fell the goose to the prospecting party’s delight! As they walked over to retrieve the bird, one of the men noticed an odd-looking rock and called out to the others. As the party drew near and retrieved the rock, they all instantly recognized it to be gold. The party rejoiced and, to celebrate the miraculous find, bestowed the land with the name Last Chance.
As gold was unearthed during the mid-1850s, word traveled far and wide to the eager ears of settlers and prospectors, leading to a community of around 500 people residing within Last Chance during the peak mining season.
This growth could partially be credited to Last Chance’s reputation among miners as a “resort” of sorts in spite of the remoteness. According to the Placer Herald, the area was known for its abundance of beautiful views, saloons and fish and game.
The Placer Herald reported in August of 1862 that “miners, drinking bad whiskey and worse water and continually shaking from ague” would come to Last Chance during the summer months to fish and hunt and prospect till the winter snows drove them back down the divide.
All of which led to helping the small town build 25 homes, a saloon, butcher shop, a store and a sawmill around 1860.
As the miners continued to strike gold, the town continued to develop and by 1884 there were seven saloons and a two-story hotel.
Yet, the bustling mining town hit its gold mining peak during the late 1860s and soon after the gold finds became sparse and sporadic, which prompted settlers to move on to other towns.
While there were still mining, construction and development going on, the population showed evidence of decline and by 1873, there were only 36 voters in that election year and only 26 voters by 1880.
Last Chance had a handful of loyal residents but a fire in 1893 all but forced its last remaining residents to abandon the area. The small mining town was given one more last chance when the area was reopened to hydraulic mining in the 1950s, but it only lasted until the late 1970s. The Regional Water Quality Control Board censured the operation and “ordered it to abate the operation of the monitors,” cementing Last Chance as a ghost town.
Geology
Most of the gold has come from three southwest-trending Tertiary channels. The lowest but youngest is the El Dorado channel, which is steep, only about 100 feet wide, and contains coarse gold. The next youngest is the Sharp Stick channel, which contains clay and coarse boulders. The oldest is the Big Channel which is quartzitic, well-cemented, and up to 800 feet wide. The gravels are capped by andesite. Bedrock is slate and schist of the Blue Canyon Formation (Carboniferous), which encloses some narrow north-striking gold-quartz veins.