IN EARLY CALIFORNIA1 HENRY M. LEICESTER College of Physicians and Surgeons, San Francisco, California
Tam early history of California, from the days of Spanish and Mexican occupancy through the gold rush period, has a distinctive character. It is therefore not surprising that the development of chemistry in California differed for a time from the development in the. eastern part of the United States. While in its later stages it formed a part of the chemical development of the country as a whole, the earliest phases are sufficiently distinctive to make up an individual chapter in the history of American chemistry. Although the California Indians were among the most primitive natives in all the territories which later became part of the United States they were able to devise a few simple chemical and metallurgical processes. They knew how to leach salt from the soil and crystallize it for purification, they regularly leached the tannic acid from the acorn meal which formed their chief food, and they roasted hematite in the fire to produce a brighter red pigment for their body paints. They were familiar with the properties of a number of minerals, such as cinnabar, steatite, and obsidian, for whicli they found numerous uses. However, they never developed any arts which might be called chemical beyond these very simple ones.2 With the arrival of the Spaniards a civilization based on cattle raising gradually grew up. Hide and tallow production was practically the only industry in Spanish or Mexican California, aside from the simple home workshops in which soap and similar necessities were prepared. The first true chemical industry began in 1846 with the discovery of the New +maden mercury mine, about 60 miles south of San Franc~sco.~Mining was carried on in a very simple manner and the methods for recovering mercury were very crude, but the existence of this mine became of great importance soon after its opening. The operations at New Almaden did not mark the beginning of scientific study of California, however. Many of the ships which touched a t the ports of Monterey or San Francisco (then called Yerba Buena) carried physicians or scientists who left descriptions of the botany and physical characteristics of the coastal areas. More detailed observations began when overland exploring expeditions first reached the coast. 1 Presented before the Division of the History of Chemistry a t the 115th meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Francisco, March 29, 1949. $ H E ~ E R R., F., AND A. E. TREGANZA, Calif. J. Mines and Geol., 291 (1944). "EICESTER, H. M., J. CHEM.EDUC., 20,235 (1943).
Such expeditions usually included geologists with chemical training, and they have left the first records of many areas in which major industries later developed. . One of the earliest notable scientists to visit California was a young geologist and mineralogist who was later to become one of the most influential men of science in America. This was James Dwight Dana, fresh from his studies at Yale, who made a trip from Fort Vancouver in the Oregon Territory to San Francisco in 1841. While passing through the Siskiyou Mountains in the vicinity of Mt. Shasta (or Shasty, as he called it) he noted that the rocks resembled those known to be gold-bearing in other regions. Although this area is rather far from the Mother Lode of the 1849 gold rush, Dana was careful to recall this observation later, when gold was actually found.4 The interest in California aroused on this trip remained throughout Dana's life, and he made many later studies on the geology of the gold regions. In July, 1847, another Yale graduate arrived in San Francisco. This was Chester S. Lyman, a clergyman with a great interest in science and much practical experience as a surveyor. During his later life, he was professor of physics and astrpnomy at Yale."is health had failed in New England, and he undertook the long voyage which finally led him to California. Upon his arrival he found his services as a surveyor in great demand, for the old Spanish grants were overrun by American settlers and squatters and all land titles were in confusion. He therefore made numerous trips through the countryside around Sin Francisco, and his personal friendship with the younger Benjamin Silliman led him to send back to Yale long letters describing what he saw. These letters were published by Silliman in the American Journal of Science and Arts, the most influential scientific publication of its day. In February of 1848 Lynian surveyed the mercury mine a t New Almaden, and in his usual way wrote Silliman a full description of its operation. He concluded the letter with the words: "Gold has recently been found on the Sacramento, near Sutter's Fort. It occun in small masses in the sands of a new mill race, and is said to promise well.""yman was the only trained scientist on the spot a t the time of the gold discovery. During the summer of 1848 he spent some ' D m a , J. D., Am. J. Sci. and Arts, 57, 241 (1849). F. J., "Around the Horn to the Sandwich Islands TEGGAET, and California, 1845-1850. Being a Personal Record Kept by Chester S, Lyman," Yale University Press, New Haven, 1924. " m m , C. S., Am. J.Sci. and Arts, 56,270 (1848).
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time at the mines and faithfully reported his experiences to Silliman. l'his report was published7 with a brief note by Silliman himself vouching for Lyman's truthfulness. It should be remembered that a t first, reports of the gold discovery had been received with considerable skepticism in the East, but the sponsorship of the reports by Benjamin Silliman probably convinced many who had been inclined to dismiss the news as a wild rumor. Thus, although Lyman himself did little of a chemical nature in California, the' influence of his reports was great. Another geologist with chemical training, William Phipps Blake, also a Yale graduate, arrived in the gold country soon after Lyman. His surveys did much to determine the extent of the gold-bearing regions, and he served as State Geologist and Professor of Geology at the University of California during much of his later life. I n addition to his studies of the gold regions he pointed out other natural resources of California, such as salt, gypsum, and bitumen. The reports which this succession of Yale scientists sent hack to their former teacher, the younger Benjamin Silliman, impressed him greatly. He published most of their papers, and the files of his journal in the fifties and sixties are full of reports on the geology and natural resources of California. Eventually Silliman himself paid a visit to the state. He evidently liked what he saw, for he made many later trips, served as a consultant for numerous mining companies, and was influential in the founding of the State University. After the discovery of gold there was thus no lack of trained scientists in California, but they confined their activities largely t o surveys and reports. The men who actually worked the mines seldom had any scientific training and the methods used in the first years after the discovery required little scientific knowledge. I n the beginning, simple panning of the streams yielded enough gold for most of the miners. Soon, however, the value of amalgamation methods for recovering larger quantities of the metal was.realized. At once the output of the New Almaden Mine became of great importance. Had there not been a confenient supply of mercury available it is doubtful if gold mining would have developed as fast as it did. I t is also true that there would have been relatively little demand for New Almaden mercury, located so far from world centers, if conditions in California had remained as primitive as they were when the mine was first discovered. The early miners used hydraulic methods almost exclusively. The gravel washed from the stream beds was usually passed over riffles which contained mercury on the bottom, and the gold was recovered by distilling off the mercury. This was the extent of chemical operations for some time, but the hydraulic operations grew ever more gigantic, until the threat of washing away the foothills of the Sierra and covering the farm lands of the great valley with many feet of gravel he-
' LYMAN,C. S., Am. J. Sn'. and Arts, 57, 305 (1849).
came very real. At this point the vast hydraulic systems were forbidden by law, and the miners were forced to turn to less wasteful methods. As early as 1851 a quartz mine was opened in Grass Valley. A few far-seeing men realized that the future of California mining lay in this direction. One of these was James Blake (who was no relation to the geologist), a physician and Fellow of the Royal Society, who had had a distinguished career in England and whose researches on the relation between the atomic weights of the elements and their physiological actions had helped to lay the foundations of thc science of pharmac~logy.~For reasons which are not known he gave up his successful life in Europe to come to America, and finally to California, where he ended his days leading the life of a country doctor in a remote village in the Coast Range. In 1851 he published a series of articles in the Sacramento Daily Union,pointing out that only by quartz mining could any large return be obtained. He mentioned the difficulties that would be encountered, especially by the untrained, and, perhaps not in an entirely disinterested way, he offered the oppxtunity to acquire a license for his patented process of amalgamation in hot water rather than in cold, which he claimed gave better result^.^ Blake was the forerunner of a group of scientifically trained men who soon became superintendents of the various quartz mines which were established in Grass Valley, Mariposa, and other localities. These mines yielded a quartz in which the gold was finely mixed with sulfides of iron or other metals. The ore was crushed in stamp mills and the powdered quartz was passed through sluices-whose bottoms were covered with coarse woolen blankets to catch the heavy particles. The finer particles then passed over amalgamated copper plates or mercury riffles. The gold was subsequently recovered by distilling off the mercury in cast-iron retorts. If the gold particles were very fine, amalgamation in battery was practiced. In this case, the stamps operated in cast-iron boxes, or mortars, into which mercury was introduced from the side through a small opening. I t was very difficult to control the amount of mercury to be added to obtain an amalgam of the proper consistency, and the operators gained a great empirical skill in judging the proper quantities of mercury. At the Mariposa mines the ore was ground in a ball mill and then treated in an airtight chamber with mercury vapor. After cooling, the amalgam was c~llected.'~ All these methods required considerable practical ability, and most of the responsible positions a t the mines were filled by men who had had some chemical HARRIS, H., "California's Medical Story," Charles C Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, 1932, pp. 342-7. 9 B ~J., ~"Scientific ~ ~ ,m d Practical Observations on the Quarte Veins of California." Daily Union Press. Sacramento.
issi.
CRONISE, T. F.,"The Natural Wealth of California," H. H. Baneroft and Co., San Francisco, 1868, pp. 550-61.
AUGUST, 1949
trainmp. Eventually, some of these even wrote books on the-methods of &saying, extracting, and working the gold-bearing ores." However, their knowledge apparently did not greatly impress the general public. H. H. Bancroft, whose massive "History of California" is based upon much first-hand information, dismisses the scientific phases of quartz mining in one short paragraph. He says:
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forced upon those interested of the little value of expert knowledge. No science could be applied to the thousand variations found in ores in different districts, each of which had its peculiarities, and same of which exhibited distinct features in different lodes. As for assays, they were worthless to show the actual value of rocks. The practical miner obtained a knowledge far above the theories of the scientist, and this knowledge, the fruit of experience, and dearly bought with millions of money, is now (1890)heingimparted, asin a great school of mining, to the actual workers in this most special industry of the state.I2
It is probable that much of this distrust of the scientist came from the prevalence of a type satirized under the name of "The Muscular Amalgamator" by a certain C. A. Stetefeldt in a lecture "not delivered a t the California University," but privately printed in 1892. The muscular, amalgamator was described thus:
o ~ r WHZCH s ARE THE LVEHICAL.
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T ~ WROLZ I X E ~ BS I P P L ~ m m n o ~ n m . o rnr Z"TIII0 TrCII"IC*LITlE,, FYI %'BE " S l P m m m "110 A R E A B O U T TO 11119
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THE GOLD REGION OF CALIFORNIA,
NEW-YORK: VAN HDRDEN br AMERMAN. PIIINTEBS. No. MI Wzrrl~r.rrlr=r.
-
As a manager of men he has excellent qualities: he can knock a fellow dawn and swear a t him like a sea captain. Saci+lly he is intimate with Tom, Dick, and Harry; m d the millionaires Brown, O'Flaherty, and Schultze have the most exalted opinion of his skill and ability. Although he has a great contempt foi science and for "scientific cusses" as he calla us, he can make good use of scientific nomenclature. He talks freely of highly metalliferous limestones. and ohrenoloeicd oeriods.. . . In amdleamation the
1848.
booklet was published in December, 1848, when the news of the gold discovery had spread everywhere, and many parties were preparing to set out for California as soon as proper provisions could be made. The preface of tke book is very frank. It states, "As this potmh, lime, sal-ammoniac, nitre, gum cateehu and sage brush book is intended.. .for immediate use, it has necestea. Potassium oyanide is a gift of the gods, and is always kept sarily been written in great haste, and consequently exposed to the air so that it will gain strength." without that care which should be used in the publicaThe excitement of the gold discovery aroused every- tion of a work on any scientific subject." In 39 pages one, from trained scientists Iike'Dana and Blake, to the this booklet discusses methodk. of analysis of gold, simple miner with his pan, who is wmmonly remem- apparatus and tests for various metals, methods of bered when the gold rush is mentioned. The repercus- amalgamation, and simple assay apparatus. The sions of the discovery extended far beyond California, reason for the publication appears a t the end where and men of varying scientific ability in the East were there is found a "catalogue of prices for apparatus and chemicals described in this work, and for sale by the drawn into the whirlpool. A most interesting example of the effect of the excite- author." The complete outfit cost $120. A similar work is the 222-page book with the comprement was the appearance of books designed for those setting out for the mines. These books were distin- hensive title "A History of the Precious Metals from guished bot,h by their pretentious and encyclopedic the Earliest Periods to the Present Time with Directions titles, and by the haste with which they were written. for Testing Their Purity and Statements of Their A n excellent sample is the pamphlet whose title page is Comparative Value, Estimated Cost, and Amount at illustrated here. Internal evidence indicates that this Different Periods; together with an Account of the Products of Various Mines; a History of the Anglo " K~~sTEL, G., "Nevada and California Processes of Silver and Mexican Mining Companies, and Speculations conGold Extraction," Frank D. Carlton, San Frrtncisco, 1863. cerning the Mineral Wealth of California," by J. L. "BANCROFT, 1%.H., "History of California,'' History Co., San Comstock, M.D., author of "Philosophy," "Geology," Francisco, 1890,Val. 7, p. 643. ' 8 STETEFELDT, C. A,, "The Muscular Amalgamator," printed "Mmeralogy," "Chemistry," etc. (Belknap and Hamfor the author, San Francisco, 1892. The pamphlet states that ersley, Hartford, 1849). The author states in his preface, "As the preparation of this volume has occuthe lecture was prepared in 1881.
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pied only a few weeks, it may, and probably does, contain many errors, which we shall be glad to correct on their heing pointed out in a friendly manner." In addition to these purely literary efforts, a flood of new methods for improving assaying, amalgamating, and mining were proposed. These included the Plattner chlorination process, actually used a t Grass Valley, for separation of gold as the chloride,IOthe Eerden Gold Quartz Machine, a rotating bowl containing heavy iron halls to crush the ore. in the presence of mercury,14 the Wurtz "magnetic" amalgamation method, in which small amounts of sodium added to the mercury "greatly enhanced adhesion, attraction or affinity for other metal^"'^ (hence the name "magnetic"), or the M ~ C u l l o hmethod ~~ of refining gold with
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zinc, which was recommended by the well-known chemist James Curtis Booth, then melter and refiner at the United States Mint in Philadelphia. All these proposals clearly reflect the great impact of the California discoveries on the whole nation. For many years gold mining was the most important industry in California. It alone demanded scientific skill, and to it were attracted almost all the scientists who came to the state. Although they concentrated their attention on gold, they did'not fail to note the presence of other resources, such as copper, borax, salt, and petroleum. It remained for future generations to develop these industrially, hut the scientists who came to California because of the gold pointed out the fields which later became of great importance. They were instrumental in founding the colleges and universities vi-hich placed chemistry in California on a l4 "Report of the Officers and By-Laws of Berden's Gold solid basis. After the days of the gold rush, chemistry Quart5 Machine Manufacturing Co.," New York, 1853. '"'Statement of the Wurte Amalgamation Co. of New York," in California merged with chemistry in the rest of the country, and its development is a part of the general New York. 1866. 16 ,f professor R. 8.McCulloh to the Seoretary of the story of chemistry in America, hut for a time at least, Treasury upon Refining Gold ~ i t hzinc," id^^^ and CO., it followed a path which was both unique and fasPrinters, Washington, D.C., 1852. cinating.
