This was one of those events that seemed to happen with a blink of eye and then it was gone. In March 1955 the California Mining Journal featured three articles on the uranium discoveries in Lassen County, or more specifically about four miles north of Hallelujah Junction in the neighborhood of Red Rock. The initial discovery was credited to Carlton A. Brown of Reno in the fall of 1953. What caused tremendous speculation was in 1954 a similar discovery had occurred in Inyo County and those initial prospectors sold their claims for $2 million. As word spread, there was the proverbial land rush to file claims, my family included. By the fall of 1955, it was determined the uranium was of low grade and possessed little value. Interest quickly waned.

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In days of yore, before Prohibition, it was the County Board of Supervisors who granted liquor licenses. At times it was a contentious issue. In 1907, the County Board granted Ed Driskell’s application to operate a saloon at Hayden Hill. The two largest mine operators there, the Golden Eagle and Lassen Mining Company objected, but the County Board ignored their plea. In retaliation, Golden Eagle, shut down their mine. It should be noted that the Golden Eagle was Lassen County’s largest and most productive mine.

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One of the problems that stymied development was water, or specifically the lack thereof. Efforts were made to bring water from Willow Creek, but that was fraught with problems—litigation over water rights. Then there was another dilemma, of finding water in all the wrong places. In the tunnels miners experienced a tremendous amount of water seepage, compounding an already difficult task. The author can attest first hand having had explored the Golden Eagle mine with water dripping everywhere.

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In the 1892 California Mineralogist report on Hayden Hill, it was duly noted that over $2,000,000 in gold had been extracted. It was noted there was a good quality kaolin deposit there as well. However, since it was so far removed from any rail transportation service, that the deposit was deemed worthless. Kaolin historically was used in porcelain, but the majority of it is used in paper manufacturing that gives the glossy paper its sheen.

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One misconception of Hayden Hill was that all the mining took place at Hayden Hill proper where the town and some of major gold mines were located. However, there were small satellite mining communities surrounding Hayden Hill, such as Franktown and Lewiston. Take for instance the California State Mineralogist 1892 report concerning the Juniper Mine. It stated the three miles from the mine, on Willow Creek, the company own a water power and four arrastras eight feet in diameter.

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A subscriber wanted to know about an old abandoned flume at Willow Creek near Hayden Hill. According to the 1938 adjudication report of Ash Creek and its tributaries had this information:

”Diversion 87 is that of the Lassen Mining Company Ditch on Willow Creek. This diversion has a low rock dam which is used to divert to the south side of Willow Creek into an earth ditch and wood box flume three-fourths mile in length.  The ditch is used to transport water to a small power plant. Power is generated to pump domestic water to the Hayden Hill mine. The ditch has  a capacity of 3.5 cubic feet per second which is the average available operating head during the summer months when the entire stream is diverted into the ditch.”

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