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In 1849, miners from Texas camped in a pleasant creek bed in the foothills. While getting water from the creek, one miner spied the glitter of gold. After finding several nuggets, they named the place Coarse Gold Gulch. Other Texans found gold nuggets about a mile away, and soon started the first deep quartz mine, the Texas Flat Mine. Placer mining (panning for gold) played out rather quickly. But deep quartz mines began operating in places such as Grub Gulch, Hildreth, Finegold, and Zebra. Of the 67 deep mines in Madera County, 24 were located near Grub Gulch, including the Gambetta Mine, the Enterprise Mine, and the Josephine Mine. Official records are vague, incomplete, and scarce, but from 1880 to 1899 between $1.5 million to $15 million in gold was produced by Madera County mines. Gold mining continued well into the 20th Century, but the towns that supported the mining activities are mostly gone. Many mine locations are nearly impossible to find now. Dedicated September 11, 2021 E Clampus Vitus Grub Gulch Chapter 41-49
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