Gin Lin Mining Trail - Applegate Valley, Oregon
Taking the well known
Gin Lin Mining Trail our dogs did find the ticks, we did see lots of poison oak, but no rattlesnakes.
This area had already been deemed by the local miners to have been thoroughly mined in 1881, when
Gin Lin,
a Chinese mining boss, purchased several claims in what was known as
the "Palmer Creek Diggings." The Chinese did not come here with the
idea of staying, or of owning land, as it was illegal for them to do so
back in those times. They came here to make their fortunes and return
to China. Chinese laborers were known for their hard work, as evidenced
by the building of our transcontinental railroad system.
Gin Lin purchased these claims, and the white miners moved on to more profitable diggings, assuming this area to be worthless.
The parking area is surrounded by large, riveted pipes that were used in the hydraulic mining process.
The
entire area is surrounded by "tailings." These "tailings" are huge
mounds of rock that have been culled from the ground, as the
high-pressurized water drew out the gold bearing gravels.
This area housed a series of sluice boxes that were used to separate the gold from the gravel as it coursed over the baffles.
Overlooking
the Applegate River, which began in the Siskiyou mountains. Thousands
of years before this, the river flowed over the area on which we are
standing, leaving the gold that man would eventually live and die for.
Another of
Gin Lin's
hydraulic mining areas shows how the rocks were rounded by the ancient
river. A myriad of these tailing piles can be found throughout this
valley.
There
are numerous shallow depressions to be found all along the trail, which
were "prospect holes" that the miners used in their searches for the
"mother lode." Naturally this was the most sought after source, since
this is where all the other gold would be washed down from. If anything
was detected, they would sink a mine shaft to try to follow the gold
vein inside the mountain.
In
order to successfully use hydraulic mining, a constant supply of water
is necessary. Hundreds of Chinese workers dug ditches by hand to bring
water from the mountains down to the mining areas. Mile after mile of
these ditches can be found leading from major streams, from as far off
as they had to go to find the water. They course along hillsides, which
as you can see was also a good source of water for trees to sink their
roots into, as there are rows of them along all of these ditches.
This
is part of the Palmer Creek ditch that once carried water to further
mining sites located way down the slope. This ditch also continues
north to
Gin Lin's other claims at China Gulch and Flumet Gulch, about five miles away.
At
one time, on this spot, there was a massive wooden structure that was
called a "headbox." Water flowing down the ditch entered this "headbox"
and as it filled, it became a very large reservoir, which when flowing
out to a pipe that lead straight down the slope, created a tremendous
amount of pressure, which was necessary to blast the mountainsides.
These
rocks were carefully placed, as if to mark a gravesite, but no
information was found. It just appears as a lot of graves in those
days, so I included the photo for your imagination (or mine).
The
large pipes, as you see in the distance, carried water from the
"headbox" to the valley floor, where the water was constricted further
by consecutively smaller pipes, culminating at a nozzle, which was
oftentimes referred to as a "giant." The water under such intense
pressure that it could move huge boulders with ease. There is evidence
as you travel through this valley where entire mountainsides have been
washed down. It appears that the only reason that they didn't level the
whole mountain range was when the gravel stopped producing gold.
This
is an example of the large sluices that they built in the ravines and
man-made gullies to wash the gold bearing gravel down. From here it
went through an actual sluice box once the gravel and gold bearing silt
had been reduced in size, with the larger cobbles being cast aside.
The
larger cobbles were carried by the water flow out of the mining area,
and deposited in piles at the end of a wooden flume, which was similar
to a sluice box, but it had no "riffles" as its' entire purpose was to
move discarded materials out of the area. We are walking on these
tailings today. Every few days, the miners would have to extend this
flume that carried the tailings, as the piles grew higher and wider.
What you see, is the end of the mining activity, and you can find these
long, high mounds of cobbles all over the area.
The end of the
Gin Lin Mining Trail is near, and
Gin Lin's end came soon after he finished his mining operations.
Although history is not clear, it was known that
Gin Lin
returned to China each year to select a new bride, and once he brought
her back, he sold the "old model." It was reported that when
Gin Lin
finally completed his mining career, he withdrew over a MILLION dollars
from the Jacksonville bank. After that, he returned to China, and from
there the story turns to rumors. It was reported that upon his arrival
in Shanghai, that
Gin Lin was robbed and murdered on the dock just after he left the ship, but no one knows for sure.
His accomplishments were looked on with envy and hatred by the white miners in a day when the Chinese had no rights, but the
Gin Lin Mining Trail serves as a monument to the man's tremendous accomplishments.
