The New Almaden Mine, The First Chemical Industry in dalifornia HENRY M. LEICESTER College of Physicians and Surgeons, San Francisco, California
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HEMISTRY and chemical industries developed relatively late in the history of California. Although the coastline of the present state was fht explored by Cabrillo in 1542, and permanent settlements were effected in 1769, i t was not until the excitement of the gold rush was over and a more settled society had been organized, that anything approaching the formal development of chemistry occurred. It is true that the early Spanish settlers, living close to the missions which formed a chain along the coast from San Diego to a few miles north of San Francisco, had, of necessity, manufactured most of their reqnirements on the spot, but the soap boiling, tanning and other chemical processes which they camed on were essentially responses to local and individual needs. It was during the period of Mexican control that the fist steps were taken to conduct a chemical process on a large scale. This was the refining of mercury, which resulted from the discovery of the New Almaden mine, and it may properly be called the &st chemical industry in the west. It offers an excellent example of the difficulties encountered in attempting to carry out even such a simple process as the roasting of cinnabar under the primitive conditions which prevailed in the then remote province of Alta California. The Indians living in the vicinity of the Mission Santa Clara, about fifty miles south of the present city of San Francisco, had long been accustomed to decorate themselves with red and yellow pigments, which they obtained from a spot in the Coast Range about 6fteen miles from the Mission. The place was known to them as the Cave of the Red Earth, and they considered i t the home of a devil, whom they propitiated with offerings of feathers. When the Mission was built, the Indian converts used the pigments to paint the walls. It was clear to the Spanish settlers that some sort of ore lay concealed in the hills, and in 1824 Antonio Suiiol and Pedro Chaboya set up a mill and tried to work the ore for silver. This attempt naturally failed, since there was no silver in the vicinity, and the mine was soon abandoned (1). However, news of the attempts spread, and it was generally known to all Californians of the neighborhood that the "Mine of the Chaboyas' " was located not far from Santa Clara. In the autumn of 1845, the authorities in Mexico Citv became alarmed a t the r a ~ i derowth of the settle-
ment of Sutter's Fort, now Sacramento, and decided to try to buy out the energetic Swiss, Johann Sutter, who was establishing what was almost an independent empire in the heart of the great central valley of California. For the task they selected Captain Andres Castiller0 of the Mexican Army, who had previously shown considerable diplomatic skill in adjusting one of the political disputes which were a characteristic feature of Mexican California ( 2 ) . Although Captain Castillero was thus in military service, he had been trained in chemistry and metallurgy a t the College of Mines in Mexico City, and he retained a great interest in these subjects. He arrived a t Monterey, the capital, in the autumn of 1845, and in November he set out with Don Jose Castro, the military commandant, for Sutter's Fort. During the ride northward, Castillero continually delayed the party while he prospected the near-by hills for signs of precious metals. As the party approached Mission Santa Clara, Castro remembered the old "Mine of the Chaboyas' " and mentioned i t to Castillero. As soon as the Mission was reached, Don Andres hurried off to visit the spot, and after a brief exploration he decided that the mine contained gold and silver. His duty required him to go on to Sutter's Fort, but his interest in the mine remained, and as soon as he had completed his attempt to buy out Sutter, an attempt which failed completely, he hastened back to Santa Clara to make a more detailed investigation (3). In his haste to lay claim to his discovery, Castillero made only a very superficial examination before filing, on November 22, 1845, a formal "denunciation" of the mine as the claim was called in the phraseology of Spanish mining law. He claimed t o have discovered a vein of silver with an alloy of gold. However, he was not entirely satisfied with his conclnsions, and continued his attempts to assay the ore. At this time, Jacob P. Leese, the builder of the first permanent house in the village of Yerba Buena, which is now San Francisco, came to Santa Clara on a visit. He was in time to witness the successful identification of the ore by Castil1-0, and he later told of i t as follows: "He [Castillerol said he thought he knew what it was; if it was what he supposed it was, he had made his fortune. We were anxious to know what it was. He gat up from the table and ordered the servant to pulverize a portion of the ore; after it was ~ulverized.he ordered the servant to brine in a hollow tile
Castillero was filled with enthusiasm for his discovery. He distilled a quantity of mercury through gun barrels and sent specimens t o Pio Pico, the Governor, and to most of the leading men of California, claiming he had found a "mine of quicksilver, of ores certainly as rich as were ever seen before, not only in the republic, hut perhaps in all the world (S)." Further specimens were sent to his old teachers in the Cpllege of Now that he knew what he had really found, Castil- Mimes in Mexico City, where the professor of chemistry, lero a t once filed a second "denunciation" on December Don Manuel Herrera, analyzed them, and reported an 3, 1845, this time stating that "he has taken out also average mercury content of 35.5%, with some pieces so liquid quicksilver, in the presence of some bystanders." rich as to he practically pure cinnabar (9). Castillero It is an interesting illustration of the remoteness of the had requested a &hsidy of $5000 to buy retorts and province that he added that he was forced to file the flasks. After some discussion, this sum was granted claim on ordinary paper, since none of the official by the authorities, but the outbreak of the Mexican stamped variety was available in the Pueblo of San War prevented the supplies from ever reaching CaliJose (5). fornia. Meanwhile Castillero formed a company in which the shares were divided between hikeif, General Castro, the Robles brothers, who had helped start the mining, and Father Real, the priest of Mission Santa Clara. He hired William Chard, an immigrant who had just arrived from New York, as superintendent and a few Indians to serve as miners. I n the spring of 1846, he returned to Mexico leaving Father Real in charge of the mine. For a time Chard continued t o extract the mercury by the gun harrel method, but this yielded only onehalf to one ounce per barrel. Under Father Real's direction, he therefore bnilt a large adobe furnace, divided into a lower compartment for the fire, and an upper for the ore. Pipes were built into the upper compartment t o lead off the mercury vapors, but the furnace was otherwise sealed up. The first time this furnace was used, it "got hot and burst," as Chard said, and this method was not tried again. Meanwhile Father Real had obtained several large whaler's try pots from Monterey, and these were brought to the mine. A trough of water was placed The discovery of a mercury mine a t this time was in a hole dug in the ground and iron bars were placed particularly fortunate. Almost the only source of the above it. Parts of an old copper still were put in to metal was the famous mine a t Almaden in Spain, which lead the mercury vapors down into the water. The had been worked very crudely since the time of the ore was then piled on the grating and a try pot was inPhoenicians. In 1831, the banking house of Rothschild verted over the heap. A fire was built around the pot, had contracted with the Spanish government for the and the vapors which condensed fell into the trough entire output of this mine, and the monopoly which below. This method proved more successful, and was they thus obtain4 permitted them to more than used until 1850. Naturally, the vapors escaped very double the price of mercury (6). The Mexican govern- easily, and those who worked near this crude still ment was therefore especially anxious t o obtain a new quickly showed the symptoms of mercury poisoning source of the metal, and Castillero was fully aware of the (10). In 1848, the Rev. C. S. Lyman visited the mine, and importance of what he had discovered. He now attempted a more accurate assay of the sent a description of what he saw to Silliman's Journal ore. For this purpose he used a musket harrel whose (11). The pot method was still in use, though the pots touchhole was plugged with clay. The powdered ore were now surrounded by adobe furnaces. A charge of was placed in the barrel and the muzzle dipped into 400 pounds of ore was heated for a day, the furnace water. A fire was bnilt around the end of the barrel was then allowed to cool overnight, and the next day 50 which contained the ore. The mercury which col- to 75 pounds of mercury were dipped from the troughs. lected in the water was drawn off and weighed. This Lyman, whose letter was dated March 24, 1848, closed crude method gave values for the mercury content of as with the brief sentences, "Gold has recently been found on the Sacramento, near Sutter's Fort. It occurs in high as 30% (7). full of lighted coals; he took some of the powdered ore and threw it on the coals; after it got perfectly hot he took a tumbler of water and sprinkled it on the coals with his fingers; he then emptied the tumbler and put it over the coals upside down; then took the tumbler 05 and went to the light to look at it; then made the remark that it was what he supposed it was, 'quicksilver.' He showed all who were there the tumbler, and we found that it was frosted with minute globules of the metal, which Castillero collected with his finger, and said it was quicksilver (4)."
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small masses in the sands of a new mill race, and is said to promise well." The discovery thus casually mentioned led t o the great California gold rush of 1849, but the gold mines then opened up would not have been nearly as easily operated if a supply of mercury for amalgamation had not been located so close a t hand. During 1846, most of the shares in Castillero's company came into the possession of the English firm of Barron, Forbes, and Co., of Tepic, Mexico. They gave the mine its present name of New Almaden, and attempted to send a shipment of retorts, but the ship which carried the supplies was captured by the United States and the cargo seized. However, after the Mexican war ended and California became a state in 1850, the mine was rapidly developed. Tunnels were driven into the hillside, and the various levels were connected by notched logs, which were preferred t o ladders by the Mexicans and Indians who worked as miners. The ore was carried by mule trains to the furnaces, which were set up about two miles below the mine entrance (12). I n 1856, Dr. Ruschenberger of the U. S. Navy visited and described the mine (13). The furnaces a t this time were built of brick, and consisted of eight to ten chambers (see illustration). In the first chamber, a wood fire was built. A brick lattice separated this from the next chamber, in which a 10,000-poundcharge of ore was piled. The following chambers, which acted as condensers, had alternate openings in the upper right or lower left corners of the partitions which separated them, so that the vapors followed a winding path through the structure. A sloping gutter along the floor led off the condensed mercury. At the end of the series of condensing chambers the fumes passed through a shower of water, and were then vented through tall chimneys. Fourteen such furnaces were built in the open, protected only by a wooden roof, to prevent poisoning of the operators, but even so, salivation was common, and the workers had t o be changed frequently. The process was far from efficient, for Ruschenberger noted that the troughs which led off the waste waters were lined with mercury, and that the waste water itself contained very finely divided mercury, apparently, from his description, in colloidal suspension. The New Almaden Mine quickly became famous throughout Calif~mia,and very few of the eastern visitors who made trips through the state and returned home to write of their experiences, failed to include a chapter on the New Almaden, which they considered one of the wonders of the state, and equal in interest to the Yosemite or the big trees. In 1859it became still more famous, since a very complex law suit developed from the confused state of Castillero's claim and the conflicting interests of several claimants, includmg the United States Government. Practically every wellknown figure in California testified a t one time or another during the three years which the case lasted. The mine itself was closed during this period. Even after the Supreme Court had rendered its decision, the
matter was not settled. President Lincoln was dragged into a political scandal and open warfare nearly broke out between two companies which claimed or occupied the property. At last, in 1863, the matter was settled, and the mine was once more opened (14). A railway was built to bring the ore t o the furnaces. Cornish miners were brought from England to increase the efficiency of operation, and the little town pf New Almaden in the canyon a t the foot of the mine hill became a prosperous community. I n 1875, when the highest grade ore was practically worked out, Robert Scott invented the vertical shaft furnace which bears his name, and which permitted the mine to work lower grade ores a t a profit. This furnace became standard throughout the world for the recovery of mercury until the invention of the rotary kiln in 1918. By then, however, the New Almaden was practically worked out, and in 1930 it was finally abandoned, after having produced 1,066,000 flasks of mercury during its operation (15). Most of the machinery was moved away, and the
From Hulihings' "Scanrr of Wonder in California"
THETYPEOF ROASTER EMPLOYED PROM 14.W-1876
only relics left of the mine were the little cemetery high up on the hillside, and two tall brick chimneys which had formed part of the furnaces. At the present time the demand for mercury has caused a resumption of work on the old creek bed in which much of the waste rock was dumped, and the tailings are being worked again, but this is apparently only a temporary condition, and i t is unlikely that the mine will ever attain again its former importance. REFERENCES
(1) United States us. Castillero. U. S. District Court. Northern District of California, No. 420. Transcript of the Record. San Francisco 1859-61. Testimony of Sufial, p. 409. (2) TAYS,"Captain A n d m Castillero, Diplomat," Calif. HhW i d Sac. Quarterly, 14,2 3 0 6 8 (1935). (3) Reference 1. Testimony of Castro, p. 2613.
(4) Reference 1. Testimony of Leese, p. 1102. (5) Reference 1, p. 795. (6) MUSPRATT."Chemistry, theoretical, practical and analytical as applied and related to the arts and manufactures," Mackenzie, Glascow, Edinburgh, London, and New York, 1862, Vol. 2, p. 573. (7) Reference 1, p. 51. (8) Reference 1, p. 1169. (9) Reference 1. p. 1165. (10) Referencp 1. Testimony of Chard, p 1069. (11) LYMAN, "Mines of cinnabar in upper California." Am. 1. Sci. and Arts, 56, 270-1 (1845).
(12) BARTLETT, "Personal narrative ot explorations and incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua connected with the United States and MexiFan Boundary Commission during the Years 1850, '51, 52, and '53." D. Appleton and Co., New Ynrk, 1854, Vol. 2, pp. 53-70. (13) RU~CHENBERGER, "Notes an the mercury of New Almaden, California," Am. J. Pkarm., 28, 97-101 (1856). (14) S m ~ s ,"Abraham Lincoln and the New Almaden Mine," Calif. Historical Soc. Quarterly, 15, 3-20 (1936). (15) T~Y~on,"Quicksilver." California,Mag. of Pa& Business, 27, No. 3, Part 1.20-22 (1937).
