The hill below Golden, Oregon still shows the deep scars of sluicing from the bygone days of hydraulic gold mining in Oregon. A great portion of the hill was scoured off with pressurized water, the mud and rock sifted for flecks of gold. Millions of dollars worth of gold were mined here in from 1890-1920.
I munch on my melting Snickers bar, squinting in the springtime sun, and trace the ruts with my eyes.
Golden, Oregon General Store
It’s a ghost mine now.
Nearby is a deserted campsite, probably from a drifter or two; maybe they were panning for gold. Plastic bags, cereal boxes, and empty cans are strewn everywhere.
A ghost campsite now.
Up in the town of Golden all that remains are a few wooden buildings, one of them a small church with a steeple, and some wooden tombstones, which were actually placed here for an episode of the TV series, “Gunsmoke.” There are signs that people come here from time to time; some footprints, a dead battery.
It’s a ghost town now.
A kiosk on the site has some history. Golden was originally known as “Goldville” and was established in 1890 by a man named William Ruble.
The first post office was established on January 10, 1896; Schuyler Ruble was the first postmaster.
As its name implies, Golden was established due to the placer gold mining. William and Schuyler Ruble invented the Ruble elevator and patented it in 1890, increasing gold recovery.
But before that, the gold was first mined here by hundreds of Chinese who, the kiosk says, “Left.”‘ Hmm, wonder why they left by the hundreds on such short notice.
I hear the ghost voices of Chinese people on the breeze. Like water on rocks: distant, indistinct.
It’s quiet here. The pebbles grind under my feet for the descent to the creek where the hill was scoured. More debris and ghost campsites. Despite the sun breaking the clouds, there is a profound sense of failure all around me. Like dreams blasted away under pressurized water, sifted and separated in sluice boxes, and in the end, nothing is there.
If you would like to see Golden, Oregon. Get off Interstate 5 at Wolf Creek. Follow the signs or ask at the gas station. They will know where it is, though they will not have been there.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Grant Walker. Grant Walker said: My little trip to Golden, OR: http://www.roguereporter.net/?p=131 [...]
yah, the Chinese ‘left’ the shrimping and crab business here in SF probably around the same time. Except they didn’t leave, but they had to find other ways to work. Now, of course, Chinatown is a #1 attraction in the tourist trade here. Thing is, it’s a real neighborhood, and I think tourists are a little taken aback at how BUSTLING and, well, Chinese it is.
It really is like entering into another place altogether.
ooops….I’m starting to write my own blog.