|
|
Mining on Catalina Island
Steatite
The early Native Americans mined steatite on Catalina ( Pimu ) that
served as an important trade item through out the region. The steatite, also known as soapstone, is a durable yet soft stone that was highly valued for creating carved bowl, pipes and effigies. The evacuation of the native islanders to the Mission system during the early 1800s brought an end to their mining of steatite. Anthropologists and treasure hunters have gathered up examples of the steatite workmanship, and collection across the United States and in Europe hold excellent examples of the Native American use of this soft stone.
Gold
The famous 1848 discovery of gold in California, and the 1849 launch of
the Gold Rush and influx of hopeful 49ers as the early miners were called, changed the future of American and life in the West. Gold has actually been discovered in a small amount in the San Fernando valley in 1842, but it was the discovery at Sutter’s Mill in 1848 that set the nation - and the world - afire with gold rush fever. Immigrants from all over the world came to California to seek their fortune -either from mining directly - or from servicing the miners.
A mine was opened on Catalina in 1860 by Santos Louis Bouhchette, and
operated until 1874, extracting gold, silver and lead from the canyons of northern Catalina. It was called the mineral Hills Mine, and although it promised a gold boom for Catalina, it did not prove financially successful.
Silver
In the mid 1920s, mining activity began again on Catalina, this time at
the Renton Mine in the mountains behind Pebbly beach at a mine on Mount Black Jack. These mines pulled ore out of the mountains that was processed at the Silver Isle 100 ton Flotation Mill to extract silver, zinc, and lead. The operation closed after two years as it failed to be as profitable as expected. But what the mines brought to Catalina shaped her future - it caused an increase in population - up to 3500 people ( 20 % higher than today ). The miner’s families, combined with the workforce handling the island patron William Wrigley’s construction projects, lead to the need for new public building projects and developed a larger resident island population than the island had known before or since.
|