Pacific Division Meeting Field Trip Guide for the Blue Ledge Mine

Pacific Division Meeting Field Trip Guide for the Blue Ledge Mine, Siskiyou County, California Field Trip Leaders: Bill Elliott (Dept. of Geology), Kathleen Page (Dept. of Biology), and Steve Petrovic (Dept. of Chemistry), Southern Oregon University Field trip guide written by William S. Elliott, Jr. Southern Oregon University June 12, 2005 Medford Jacksonville Phoenix Applegate Ruch Talent 99 Pompadour Bluff Ashland K L A M Mt. A Ashland T H 5 Applegate o Reservoir W 123 00’ OREGON o N 42 00’ M CALIFORNIA Joe Elliott Creek Creek O U BLUE LEDGE MINE Condrey N Mountain T A I N S 96 N Yreka 0 10 20 km Figure 1: Index map to the travel log and location of the Blue Ledge Mine in Siskiyou County, California. 2 Travel Log Below is a brief travel log that summarizes the geological and historical aspects of the route to the Blue Ledge Mine. Refer to Figure 1 for the location of the communities and routes described in the passages and Figure 2 for a regional geologic map of southwestern Oregon and northern California. Historical information is partially derived from the Southern Oregon Historical Society’s Historic Discovery Drives. The mileages provided are cumulative. 0 miles 0 km Leave the parking lot in front of the Science Building at Southern Oregon University. Travel west on Ashland Street to Mountain Avenue, then turn right heading north. At the intersection with Siskiyou Boulevard (Highway 99), turn left and head northwest toward Ashland. A few blocks beyond downtown Ashland, there are views of the southern part of the Bear Creek Valley. The Bear Creek Valley marks the transition between two distinct geological provinces, the Klamath Mountains to the west and the Western Cascades to the east. The Bear Creek Valley is the result of differential weathering and erosion of the sandstones and mudstones of the Cretaceous Hornbrook Formation. The high relief area to the west is part of the Klamath Mountains and consists of numerous Late Paleozoic and Mesozoic metamorphic terranes with intrusive igneous rocks, such as the Jurassic granodiorite of the Mt. Ashland pluton. The high relief area to the east is part of the Western Cascades, an Oligocene to Miocene volcanic arc predating the High Cascades of southern Oregon. At the far end of town near the railroad trestle, there are several exposures of mudstone of the Cretaceous Hornbrook Formation along Highway 99. 3.2 miles 5.1 km Near the intersection of Highway 99 with Valley View Road, there are several stream terraces to the east of Bear Creek. Approximately 0.5 miles north of this intersection, there are several exposures of metasedimentary rocks of the Triassic to Jurassic Hayfork terrane of the Klamath Mountains in several roadcuts along Highway 99. Beyond these exposures, Highway 99 continues on alluvium derived from Bear Creek. 6.4 miles 10.2 km Community of Talent. Highway 99 continues to parallel Interstate-5 and Bear Creek on Quaternary alluvium deposits. Jacob Wagner was one of the first European settlers to claim property in the vicinity of Talent in 1852 and built a house along present day Wagner Creek. During the summer of 1853, Captain Alden erected a fort on Wagner’s property to protect early settlers from the American Indians. From August 1853 to January 1854, three notable wagon trains arrived and the settlement took hold. The city is named for another settler who came later, Aaron P. Talent. Talent was a carpenter and farmer, and he established one of the first retail businesses, a general store, in the community. Although several previous names were proposed for the town at one time, such as “Vernon” or “Wagner”, the town was named for A. P. Talent. Talent is also the location of the first school house in Jackson County, built in the summer 3 N ASHLAND Blue Ledge Mine Figure 2: Simplified geologic map of the Klamath Mountains in southwestern Oregon and northern California. The Blue Ledge Mine is located within the Condrey Mountain terrane. This figure is slightly modified from Mortimer & Coleman (1984). 4 of 1854 on the banks of Bear Creek about a quarter mile northeast of Fort Wagner. The railroad made its way through Talent in 1884. 9.1 miles 14.6 km Community of Phoenix. Continue on Highway 99 north on alluvium of Bear Creek to South Stage Road. The original town site of Phoenix was settled by the Clover family in the early 1850s. Phoenix, along with Talent and Ashland, were along the main wagon trail through the Bear Creek Valley. 10.4 miles 16.6 km Intersection of Highway 99 and South Stage Road. Turn left onto South Stage Road, which will skirt the southern edge of Medford. South Stage road continues on alluvium of the Bear Creek Valley and transitions to low rolling hills underlain by sandstones of the Cretaceous Hornbrook Formation. Exposures of the sandstones of the Hornbrook Formation may be seen in several exposures along South Stage Road to Jacksonville. In the early settlement of the valley, several skirmishes occurred between settlers and the natives. These incidents are referred to collectively as the “Rogue River War”, which lasted five years from the first successful settlement on Wagner Creek to the last battle in October 1855. The extraction of natural resources and the consumption of timber by the miners and settlers resulted in the decimation of fish habitat, primarily from hydraulic mining practices. After the war ended in June of 1856, the remaining native peoples were moved to a reservation near Table Rocks, two buttes north of Medford capped by a Miocene lava flow of the High Cascades. Fort Lane was built near Lower Table Rock and the Rogue River to protect the natives on the reservation. Unfortunately, local hostilities did not end and the Table Rock Reservation was dissolved. The natives were then moved to the Grande Ronde Reservation on the Oregon coast. Medford owes its origin in the early 1880s to the decision of the Oregon & California Railroad to construct a rail line on the alluvium in the middle part of the Bear Creek Valley. Initially, the community was called Middle Ford for the location at which the railroad would cross Bear Creek. The name Medford was proposed by the first railroad engineer, David Loring, who was from Medford, Massachusetts. The railroad reached Medford from Portland in January of 1884 and the town was incorporated on February 24, 1885. Over the 20th century, Medford has grown from a small railroad town to the largest city in southern Oregon with a population of over 68,000. Medford became the county seat in 1927, moved from the community of Jacksonville. 17.2 miles 27.5 km Community of Jacksonville. Approaching Jacksonville, South Stage road crosses the nonconformity separating the Cretaceous Hornbrook Formation from the underlying Triassic to Jurassic Hayfork terrane of the Klamath Mountains. Locally, the rocks of the Hayfork terrane are 5 composed of metavolcanics of andesitic to dacitic tuffs and volcanic agglomerates. Gold was discovered in the Oregon territory in Jackson Creek at Rich Gulch in 1851. Soon after, miners and settlers flocked to the Bear Creek Valley and the Klamath Mountains in search of gold. Several thriving mining camps emerged along the creeks and drainages of the Klamath Mountains. By early 1852, the bustling camp near Daisy and Jackson Creeks was transformed into Jacksonville, a town with numerous shops, saloons, banks, and gambling halls. Soon after, Jacksonville became the county seat and the hub of commerce in southern Oregon. In addition, vineyards were planted in southern Oregon near Jacksonville by Peter Britt in 1858. Britt’s vineyards covered approximately fifteen acres, producing a quality wine under the Valley View Vineyard label. Unfortunately the viticulture industry in southern Oregon substantially decreased after Britt’s death in 1905. Shortly thereafter, Oregon led the nation in prohibition legislation beginning in 1916. In 1884, the Oregon & California Railroad bypassed Jacksonville to follow the alluvial plain of the Bear Creek Valley toward the Siskiyou Summit. Medford became the primary link between the north and south stretches of the railroad. Jacksonville became the home to wealthy merchants who built grand mansions in the 1870’s and 1880’s. Jacksonville remained the county seat with the opening of a new County Court House in 1884. By the 1890's, agriculture replaced mining as the main industry in the Bear Creek Valley and the county seat was moved to Medford in 1927. At the far end of town, South Stage Road merges with Highway 238. Along Highway 238 there are several exposures of metamorphic rocks of the Triassic to Jurassic Hayfork terrane. Highway 238 follows Poorman’s Creek to the floodplain of Forest Creek to Ruch. 25.3 miles 40.5 km Town of Ruch. At Ruch, turn left onto Applegate Road (County Road 10). This road parallels the Applegate River to the south through metamorphic rocks of the Triassic to Jurassic Hayfork terrane of the Klamath Mountains. Approximately one mile from the intersection of Highway 238 with Applegate Road, the Wisnovsky family started the Valley View Winery in 1972, growing grapes and wine with a label similar to that of Peter Britt’s design. This winery marks the first production of wine in southern Oregon since the early 20th century. 33.4 miles 53.4 km One of the three remaining covered bridges in Jackson County, the McKee Bridge spans 122 feet across the Applegate River. The McKee Bridge was built in 1917 by the Jason Hartman Company of Jacksonville and once served a mining and logging route between Oregon and California. Ore from the Blue Ledge Mine was transported by wagon to the town of Copper and then by truck along the Applegate River to Jacksonville, and then to Medford.

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