California Gulch

California Gulch is a valley between Mount Sherman and southern Leadville in Lake County, Colorado.[1]

Mining

In April 1860, one of the richest discoveries of Colorado placer gold was discovered at California Gulch, the site of Oro City.[2][3][4] Another rich discovery was made at McNulty Gulch along the headwaters of Tenmile Creek.[5] By 1872, California Gulch placer mining yielded more than US$2,500,000 (equivalent to $49,465,278 in 2015).[6] In 1877, lead was found in California Gulch, which led to construction of a smelter that year, and soon after the founding of the town named Leadville.[7]

Grand or massive mountain, from near mouth of California Gulch, Sawatch Range. Photograph by William Henry Jackson, 1873.

Superfund site

It was classified a Superfund site in Colorado due to soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater contamination by lead, arsenic other metals and acidic mine drainage, and liquid and solid waste and sludge from mining, milling and smelting.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "California Gulch, Lake County, Colorado". October 13, 1978. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ Robert Leaman Brown (1991). Colorado on Foot. Caxton Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-87004-336-9.
  3. ↑ Ben H. Parker Jr. (October 1974). "Colorado School of Mines Quarterly". Gold Placers of Colorado, Book 2. 69. p. 17.
  4. ↑ S.M. Voynick (1992). Colorado Gold. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company. p. 23. ISBN 0878424555.
  5. ↑ S.M. Voynick (1992). Colorado Gold. Missoula: Mountain Press Publishing Company. p. 24. ISBN 0878424555.
  6. ↑ USA House of Representatives (1872). "Mining Statistics West of the Rocky Mountains - Condition of Mining Industry - Colorado". Executive Documents of the House of Representatives During the Second Session of the Forty-Second Congress 1871-1872. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 364.
  7. ↑ Charles William Henderson (1926). Mining in Colorado: a history of discovery, development and production. Government Printing Office. p. 10.
  8. ↑ "California Gulch". United States Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

Coordinates: 39°13′27.96″N 106°20′58.09″W / 39.2244333°N 106.3494694°W / 39.2244333; -106.3494694

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