1. Campo de los Pintos Camp, North Fork San Gabriel River at Crystal Lake. Photo courtesy APU’s Roger Dalton Collection.
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4. Top: Mountain Charlie’s Grave at the mouth of Little Rattlesnake Gulch, East Fork San Gabriel River. Date unknown. Photo from Roger Dalton, APU Collection.
20. Sedley Peck explaining his Ersatz Mine to Walt Johnson and Gus Meier, San Gabriel Canyon, 1941. The mine is located at Camp Follows. Roger P. Dalton Collection, APU.
25. Left: Lunch at Crystal Lake off the North Fork of the San Gabriel River. Roger Dalton on the right. Right: Pose during deer hunt San Gabriel Canyon. Dates unknown, approximately pre-1910. Roger Dalton Collection, APU.
52. Early History Tongva Indians lived in the Los Angles area at least 8000+ years ago (based on stone age finds from the Monrovia Nursery Excavation, Azusa, CA.) Indians were hunter-gatherers, seafaring, and considered peaceful Spanish conquistadors converted the indians in the 1770s, with many living and working at the Mission San Gabriel (originally located in the Whittier Narrows). Tongva did not mine, but learned from the Spanish. There were several violent indian uprisings in the late 18th-early 19th centuries. Unknown family in the San Gabriel Canyon. Date unknown. Likely Tongva Indians. Roger Dalton Collection, APU.
53. Key Years 1835-Discovery of the Monrovia/Duarte Placers 1850-Birth of Winnall Dalton 1850s-Same Monrovia placers re-worked, and again in 1889-$75,000 taken 1854-Placer gold discovered by Strunk under a boulder at the entrance to the SGC 1854-Capt W. Henninger led a prospecting group though the entire SGC 1860-Zapatas Silver Mine Discovered and Claimed 1861-Whitney Geological Survey of Canyon Entrance (flooded) 1862-Flood wipes out the mining camp ‘Eldoradoville’ 1863-1874 Various Hydraulic Mining along the EF SGR 1880s-Development of the Victoria and Kelsey Silver Mines in the main SGC 1884-Death of Henry Dalton 1888-Birth of grandson Roger Dalton 1889-Birth of Sedley Peck 1891-Follows Brothers arrive in SGC 1900-100 to 150 active placer gold claims 1928-Sheep Mt. Wilderness closed to mining 1929-Fight between mining company and Pasadena Water Company in main SGC 1951-Death of Roger Dalton (age 68)-no blood heirs 1968-Death of Lt. Col. Sedley Peck (age 79) at Camp Follows from a bullet
55. Henry C. Robert’s Store, Downtown Azusa, CA. From left to right. On horseback Bates Persinger, on foot in front of burro, Don Rosencranz, in front of store-Billy Baker and H.C. Roberts, standing to the right of the carriage-Phil Devain De Survey, Chas Roberts on horseback. Date unknown, c. pre-1915. Roger Dalton Collection, APU.
56. Roger P. Dalton (left) and Sedley Peck (right) posing at Camp Follows in front of the famous Henry Roberts Hydraulic Monitors along the East Fork of the San Gabriel Canyon. August 22nd 1941. Roger P. Dalton Collection, APU.
62. Monrovia/Duarte Placers Pasadena Star April 3rd, 1889: 40 claims, Bliss Land, North and East of Monrovia Pasadena Star April 24th, 1889: Mining 1.5 miles east of Monrovia Diamond Flats may have been developed in the very early 1900s. On microfilm at the Pasadena Public Library, basement.
64. According to Henry Robert’s wife, and her son Fred, a Mr. Strunk discovered placer gold under a large boulder, high and dry, on the western side of the SGC entrance in spring 1854. The property was later acquired by Roger Dalton (Mountain Cove). Stunk had a son and wife and later became very religious (to make up for previous sins), and mined along the upper EF.
65. 1951 Water Data: Morris Reservoir to Mouth of San Gabriel Canyon Map by Roger Dalton Roger’s Creek Hoag Ranch Dalton Ranch Ferris Ranch Old Road Old Wagon Road El Encanto Henry Roberts
66. “Captain” William Henninger Born in Virginia July 1817, died 1894 Note: A private in the Union Army during the Civil War earned $13/month.
67. Thomas George Driver (1832-1891) “Tom Driver, working on a claim below the Narrows on property which is still being mined By the San Gabriel Mining Company took out $350 in 2 hours.” –Sedley Peck “Los Angeles Star. VOL IX. LOS ANGELES, CAL., SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1859. Page 2
70. Thomas George Driver (1832-1891) “Potter and Driver ran tunnels and a shaft into the hill, very rich, gouge made under massive Boulder and they returned after lunch and found that the rock has settled. They had a foreboding of something was going to happen while looking for timbers to support the rock. The hillside slid in covering the site entirely. In later years tried to locate the spot but failed.” Source: Roger Dalton interview with William Potter, APU Roger Dalton Collection, Folder 5. What happened to Tom Driver? Tom left the SGC in the 1860s and headed north to Kern County. $25,000 in gold was stolen by a dentist partner, and Tom spent the next 10 years hunting him down. He eventually returned to Fenton, MO, married twice, and had an heir. Some of his gold was passed on.
71. Devil’s Canyon Devil's Canyon Susanne Canyon Burro Canyon 26. Burro Canyon Mines 27. Nugget Alley Lode and Placers X X 28. Shoemaker/Chinese Vertical Lode 27 26 28 X X X X
74. Hydraulic Mining at what is now known as Camp Follows. C. 1870s. Roger Dalton Collection, APU.
75. Hydraulic Mining at what is now known as Camp Follows. C. 1870s. Roger Dalton Collection, APU.
76. Cecil-Graham Hill: Hydraulic Mining Roger Dalton writes: “Their main operations centered on the old Cecil Graham claim, which later identified itself as just Cecil Hill. Many small bars or terraces were worked as the water ditch progressed down stream towards the larger deposit, which was the objective (thus helping to finance the project). The venture proved expensive and a failure; for when they reached the anticipated pay-dirt, they found the gravels honeycombed with coyote holes, dug by the Mexican ‘gambucinos’ shortly after the discovery in 1854. The gambucino has an uncanny way of following the pay streaks in the gravels, much as a gopher follows the bulbs in a tulip bed.” *78oz=6.5 lbs, 78oz/26days=3oz/day*$17.50/oz=$52.50/day in gold
82. Sedley Peck’s Lost Gold This was told to me by Bernie McGrath, who learned of it while living at Camp Follows: “Sedley Peck hid a large cache of gold somewhere at Camp Follows. And when he died, the location of this treasure was lost.”
83. Top: Sluicing along the East Fork of the San Gabriel Canyon, 1907. Bottom: Napping along the San Gabriel River. Date unknown. Roger Dalton Collection, APU.
103. Resources: Website: Mines of LA County-VERY USEFUL! “A British Rancho in California.” Jackson “Up and Down California, 1860-1864.” William Brewer “Azusa the First 100 Years.” Wes Kloepfer. Copy in Azusa Public Library’s Special Collection Room. Roger Dalton Collection, APU Special Collections. “The Old San Gabriel and Some of Those Who Made Its History.” Cornelius Smith, Trails Magazine, 1936 (Azusa Public Library Call Special Collection 979.4S 1936).
104. Major Thanks to: Bernie McGrath Kevin Brown Paul Robinson Hugh Blanchard (deceased) Steve Baker Backpack Dave RECON John Heitz (deceased) Tom Driver Randy Seden Jeff Runnells Ken Otto (Librarian APU Special Collections) Bill Frank (Huntington Library)
