Page 166 - calmining1890

160 REPORT OF THE STATE MINERALOGIST.*
A short distance above these sulphur banks there is, on the left bank
of the creek, a sharp bluffy point, into the base of which a tunnel has
been driven through metamorphic sandstone one hundred feet, or some-
thing more, for gold.
These sandstones have been generally acted upon to some extent by
mineral waters, etc., and the surface rock is considerably decomposed,
and somewhat impregnated with sulphur. The less decomposed rock
below contains iron pyrites, and the air in the tunnel smells of sulphu-
retted hydrogen.
This tunnel is on the spot known as the Manzanita Claim, and it is
stated to have been immediately below its mouth, and in the bed of
Sulphur Creek itself, that the numerous pieces of cinnabar containing
specks of native gold were found, as stated on page 92, Vol. I, of the
Geological Survey report. It is stated further that none of these speci-
mens were ever found in the creek, or elsewhere above about the locality
of this tunnel, and the inference would seem to be a fair one that they
came from the rocks in this immediate vicinity. This tunnel was, there-
fore, driven in the hope of striking a ledge of similar material, and it is
stated that in the tunnel both cinnabar and gold were actually found;
and, Mr. Clark informed me, that sixty pounds of rock were once selected
from this tunnel which actually yielded $1 1 62 in gold, which would be
at the rate of $387 37 per ton. But I saw no gold here, nor any more
than a trace of cinnabar.
It should be noted that above the Sulphur Springs there is, high up
on the mountain side south of Sulphur Creek, another locality called a
"
sulphur bank," which I did not visit. But little work has ever been
done there, however, and Mr. Clark states that there is not much sulphur
in sight there, although he thinks that what there is is very pure.
Nearly opposite and just below Mr. Clark's house, there is, on the
left bank of the creek, a fine exposure of shaly sandstone, which strikes
north 47 degrees west, and dips 72 degrees southwest, and these sand-
stones are stated by Dr. Hughes, of Lower Lake, to be fossiliferous,
although I found no fossils here.
The belt along which are the excavations of the Colusa Sulphur
Banks, above described, extends southeasterly along the mountain side
to the bottom of the canon, and here, in the very bed of Sulphur Creek
itself, are Simmons' Springs, the hotel and other buildings being about
one hundred yards farther down the canon.
These springs come up through two crevices in the conglomerate bed
—
of the creek. They are close together. Their water is hot I should
think perhaps 150 degrees Fahrenheit — and is a very strong brine satu-
rated with sulphuretted hydrogen, which bubbles constantly from the
crevices. It also contains some iron, and seems precisely similar to the
water of Wilbur's Springs. And here also is, close by, another spring
whose water is cold and pure.
The fossil shells in the collection I made, and labeled " Bear Creek,
below Sulphur Creek," were given me by Mr. Clark, who found them
there; but we found some of the same shells in the bowlders at a point
on Sulphur Creek, about half way between Simmons' Springs and
the mouth of the creek, and they occur in places in the hills south of
Sulphur Creek and west of Bear Creek, as found by Mr. Clark, who
made a trip over there for that purpose. He reports having found
two beds containing these shells, each bed being about two feet thick