Watson
From page 1
holes. In addition, most of them
are on private property whose
owners don't take kindly to such
trespasses. In any case, most of
them have been sealed up and are.
flooded with ground water.
There is an old legend about the
first discovery of gold on the Is-
land that has been haunting Cata-
lina history books for more than
a century. In 1832, a man named
George C. Yount was on a seal ot-
ter hunt along the leeward coast of
Catalina. During one of his visits
to shore he claims he came across
a "ledge of gold-bearing quartz."
He grabbed himself a chunk of the
material (which he later claims he
los0, but for some reason wasn't
impressed enough at the time to
look for more.
Over the ensuing 20 years,
Yount returned to the Island
three times to try to find this
lode once again, but to no avail.
The tales of his purported discov-
ery, however, propelled Catalina
Island into the world of large-scale
mining--an episode that lasted
nearly a century.
The true mining history of
Catalina doesn't so much start
with Yount's discovery, but with
our own mini-Gold Rush in the
Civil War era; an interesting in-
terlude in Catalina's history com-
plete with its own gold rush town
called "Queen City" at the Island's
West End. The "rush" didn't'last
for long, however, due mostly to
the fact that no one was finding
any gold along with the fact that
the Union Army decided to evict
all the miners so they could set up
their operations at the Isthmus.
In the late 1800s, a British min-
ing syndicate mined for silver in
(where else?) Silver Canyon and
mining got another big boost dur-
ing the Wrigley'era in the 1920s.
The •Blackjack Mine, for ex-
ample, reached its heyday during
the Roaring '20s. Lead, silver and
zinc were extracted from the mine
and carried by ore cart along a pre-
cipitous skyway down to the pro-
cessing facility at White's Land-
ing where the finished material
was then taken by barge to
the mainland. (I remem-
ber many years ago talk-
ing to a former Blackjack
miner who told me that
their transportation to and
from the worksite each day
was a thrilling ride aboard
these carts. That alone
would make the hours of
underground toil and labor
worthwhile!)
Catalina's mining era ended in
1927 with the closure of all mines
on the Island, due mostly to the
collapse of prices on world metals
markets. But as noted earlier,, the
above-ground workings still exist
and much of the labyrinth of tun-
nels they left behind still lie hid-
den beneath the topsoil.
A widely-known mine on the
Island's East End that was shut
down in the 1920s still has a num-
ber of rusting mining carts strewn
Smoking
Frorr age 1
"Our medical providers will work
with any potential in-patients who
smoke to provide them with smok-
ing cessation tools," Sampson said.
The smoking ban at the Medical
Center reflects a nationwide trend
at hospitals to forbid smoking any-
where on their grounds. "We are
joining with other hospitals to take
steps to protect our patients and
their families from the dangers of
second hand smoke," she said.
The Santa Catalina Island
Company congratulates the
Avalon High School seniors that
have parents working for them or
are their employees:
-Yadira L. Bastida-Tovar
Jamie L. Boyd
Natalie M. Campazzie
Allan N. Casillas
Juan L. Cisneros
Katherine E. Delehant
Devin P. Eubank
Jacob B. Long
Humberto Macias
Sadie M, ParsOns
Evelyn B. Pedroza
Brian Rodriguez
Rachel F. Sillas
Ashley N. Taylor
Jim Watson
Columnist
about. Its ancient: wooden tow-
ers with their wire, rope running
off into the undergrowth are still
there, entangled in vines and rot-
ting away in the jungle like some
abandoned colonial operation in
the Belgian Congo.
I remember talking
to one adventurous
former resident of the
Island who told me
of a camping trip she
took one time into an-
other one of Catalina's
mines.
This particu-
lar mine was one of
those partially sub-
merged mines where a portion of
her subterranean adventure took
her through an underground pool.
Knowing this ahead of time, she
packed her goods in a dry bag and
set off.
After entering the mine and
successfully fording the under-
ground reservoir, she set up camp
in a little recess. I remember her
telling me she sat up all night in-
side her little dome tent absolutely
terrified because "something" was
in the mine with her--something
"big." She refused to go to sleep or
step out of her tent for fear Of en-
countering whatever creature was
sharing the cavern with her that
night.
The whereabouts of most of the
Island's mines are well known,
thanks to good old-fashioned re-
cord-keeping. However, some of
these caverns apparently escaped
this diligence as evidenced by a
fascinating discovery I made sev-
eral years ag0--a discovery not
made on Catalina Island, but in a
used book store in Long Beach.
NEXT WEEK: THE MOST
MYSTERIOUS MINE OF ALL
Got a weird story about
Catalina? Send it to us at
ed@cinews, us or mail it
to Mysterious Island, c/o
Catalina Islander, PO Box
428, Avalon, CA 90704.
We've partnered with HealthStream, a national
organization with an excellent reputation for
collecting informationabout patient experiences.
They may be contacting you via telephone about your
experience at Catalina Island Medical Center.
• The survey will take about 10 minutes.
• Your answers are confidential.
• The survey can be conducted in English or Spanish.
• Your privacy will be completely respected.
• The person who calls is not a medical professional and
caller ID will identify the call as Healthstream Research.
• If you have any questions about the survey, please call
(310) 510-0700.
Catahna
Island Medical Center
(31o) 51o-o7oo
lOO Falls Canyon Road
PO Box 1563, Avalon 90704
www.ClMedicalCenter.org
Nos hemos asociado con HealthStream, una
organizaci6n nacional con una excelente reputaci6n para
la recopilaci6n de informaciOn sobre las experiencias de
los pacientes. Es posible que ellos se pongan en contacto
con usted por telfono para preguntarle acerca de su
experiencia en el Centro de Salud de la Isla de Catalina.
• La Encuesta se Ilevar unos diez minutos.
• Sus respuestas son confidenciales
• La encuesta podria Ilevarse a cabo en Ingles o Espafiol.
• Su privacidad ser completamente respetada.
• € La persona que llama no es un profesional de la salud y el identificador
de Ilamadas los identificaran como HealthStream Research
• Si tiene cualquier pregunta sobre la encuesta, por favor Ilame
al (310) 510-0700.
Catalina
Island Medical Center
(31o) 51o-o7oo
loo Falls Canyon Road
PO Box 1563, Avalon 90704
www.CIMedicalCenter.org
THE CATALINA ISLANDER Friday, June 22, 2012 i 9
