Part VII: The Grizzly Bear Mine

The Legend of Oregon's Lost Cabin Mine

Part VII: The Grizzly Bear Mine

By this point in the investigation, several early accounts have described remarkably rich discoveries, cabins built beside productive ground, and unsuccessful attempts to return.

Another story now deserves a place beside them.

Known as the Grizzly Bear Mine, it has traditionally been treated as a separate lost-mine legend. Whether it describes the same discovery as Oregon's Lost Cabin Mine cannot be answered with certainty. Even so, the account contains enough similarities to justify careful comparison.

Like the earliest Lost Cabin stories, it begins during the opening years of the California Gold Rush.

North Into the Siskiyous

According to the historical account, Cox and Benedict left Illinois in 1849 and traveled west in search of gold. After reaching California, they found the principal mining districts increasingly crowded with prospectors. Hoping to improve their chances, they continued north into less explored country.

There they joined Compton, a man familiar with the rugged mountains surrounding the upper Klamath watershed.

Together, the three men traveled into the Siskiyou Mountains, following streams and mountain drainages beyond the better-known mining camps in search of untouched ground.

The Discovery

Several days into the expedition, Compton reportedly injured his leg and was unable to continue.

While he remained in camp, Cox and Benedict explored the surrounding country alone.

During one of those excursions, they noticed a natural depression on a bench above a small stream. As they approached, a large grizzly bear suddenly emerged from the hollow.

After killing the animal, the two men examined the depression more closely and discovered coarse gold scattered throughout the loose earth beneath it.

What had begun as a dangerous encounter quickly became an extraordinary mining discovery.

Before moving on, one detail deserves closer attention.

The account does not describe the gold as being found in the active stream itself. Instead, it places the discovery within a natural depression on elevated ground overlooking the water.

That description is interesting from a geological standpoint.

In parts of southwestern Oregon, including the Althouse Creek district, miners searched not only the creeks but also benches, hillsides, decomposed vein material, and small localized concentrations of coarse gold often referred to as pockets. Those deposits could produce remarkable quantities of gold within a surprisingly small area while nearby ground yielded comparatively little.

The historical account does not provide enough geological detail to identify the deposit with certainty.

In my opinion, however, the setting deserves comparison. Whether the bear hollow exposed weathered gold-bearing material, collected coarse gold naturally over time, or happened to uncover another type of localized deposit cannot be determined from the surviving account alone. Even so, the description differs from the broad stream gravels many people picture when imagining placer mining.

That observation does not place the Grizzly Bear Mine at Althouse Creek.

It simply introduces another comparison that becomes increasingly interesting as the historical record unfolds.

Cabins Beside the Gold

Cox and Benedict returned for Compton.

Together, the three men established cabins beside the discovery and spent the remainder of the mining season recovering substantial quantities of coarse gold from the surrounding ground.

Like the earlier Lost Cabin accounts, the cabins were not described as places where treasure had been hidden.

They were simply where the miners lived while working an exceptionally rich deposit.

When winter approached, the partners packed their gold and returned to Yreka, fully expecting to resume work the following season.

At that point, nothing had been lost.

The discovery had been made.

The cabins remained standing.

The miners believed they knew exactly where to return.

Familiar Ground

Viewed on its own, the Grizzly Bear Mine is simply another remarkable Gold Rush story.

Placed beside the earlier accounts, however, familiar details begin appearing once again.

A small prospecting party.

A remote mountain camp.

Cabins beside exceptionally productive ground.

A return to Yreka carrying convincing evidence of wealth.

And complete confidence that the discovery could easily be found again.

None of those similarities prove the Grizzly Bear Mine and the Lost Cabin Mine describe the same place.

Rich discoveries, temporary camps, and seasonal departures were all common during the Gold Rush.

At the same time, independent accounts deserve attention when they continue describing comparable events within the same region and time period.

Whether that reflects coincidence, shared experience, or fragments of the same historical memory remains uncertain.

The investigation is not yet ready to answer that question.

The Story Changes

The Grizzly Bear Mine did not become a legend because of its discovery.

It became a legend because the miners could not repeat their success.

Illness, death, fading memories, and uncertain directions transformed a prosperous mining camp into another search that ended without finding the rich workings again.

That sequence has now appeared often enough to deserve closer examination.

The next chapter begins placing these independent accounts side by side, asking not whether they are identical, but whether they preserve different pieces of the same historical landscape.

References

Primary Sources

California Historical Society. The Grizzly Bear Mine.

Additional Sources

Hult, Ruby El. Lost Mines and Treasures of the Pacific Northwest.

Hall, Samuel C. Account reproduced in:

Musick, L. W. The Hermit of Siskiyou, or, Twice-Old Man: A Story of the "Lost Cabin" Found, the Fountain of Perpetual Youth Revived, Etc. Crescent City, California: Office of the Crescent City News, 1896.