Читать книгу Trinity Alps & Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas. A Hiking and Backpacking Guide онлайн

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The Wintu fared far worse than the Chinese. Estimated to have had a population of between 5,000 and 10,000 prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Wintu were nearly exterminated in the mid-1850s, leaving fewer than 1,000 members by 1910. Of the original nine bands of Wintu, only three remain, and there are very few reminders of their former presence within the Trinity Alps.

After the placer gold had been diminished, gold mining became big business. Capital and corporations were required to finance giant dredges, excavate deep shafts and drifts, and build miles of ditches and flumes. Such large-scale mining continued in the area through the 1930s, the most obvious example of which is the La Grange Mine. Water was transported 29 miles from lakes at the head of Stuart Fork in the early 1900s to wash away a big part of Oregon Mountain west of Weaverville. The remains were deposited down Oregon Gulch toward Junction City, the scars still visible along a portion of CA 299.

A few individual prospectors and small-scale placer miners have continued in the old way in an attempt to eke out an existence to the present day. One Mr. Jorstad, who lived in a cabin on the North Fork Trinity River, was an outstanding example until his passing in 1989. A new breed of gold miner has invaded the area more recently, using gasoline-powered Venturi dredges, wet suits, and snorkels to find gold in deep pools, areas that were out of reach to the old placer miners. Existing laws (primarily the 1872 Mining Law) and other regulations allow these miners to continue working existing claims within wilderness areas.