Considered the most
productive mine in Southern Tuolumne County, the Longfellow is now the
only mill left in Big Oak Flat. Although it is severely decayed, it is
still an historical landmark in Tuolumne County. The mine has a long history,
operating from the early days of the California Gold Rush to the middle
of the 20th Century.
The Longfellow was
originally known as the Butler Mine. In the 1860s it was acquired by Dearborn
Longfellow and has carried his name ever since. By 1899 the Longfellow
had produced 24,200 ounces of gold. But in those early days, digging was
relatively near the surface. It was too expensive to dig shafts deep into
the rocky ground.
The hard rock mining
boom began in Tuolumne County about 1895 and lasted to about 1914. In
this period the Longfellow took on new life. Instead of digging near the
surface, miners working for the Longfellow Gold Syndicate of Boston dug
shafts deep into the earth. The shaft at the Longfellow was about 450
feet deep. Shafts were typically angled at 45° to 70° so that
ore carts, or skips, could run on a track to easily carry material out
of that part of the mine and into the mill. You can see an ore cart like
those used in the Longfellow near the front entry to our museum.
Working underground
was hard, dirty, dangerous work. As much as 50 pounds of dynamite would
be used in a single blast, displacing many tons of rock. The blasters,
or powder men, were skilled workers who knew where to set the dynamite
charges and just how much powder was "enough." After the blast,
other laborers would come in to remove the loose rock and load it into
the ore carts.
Tax records show
that by 1909 the Longfellow Consolidated Mining Company had charge of
a stationary boiler and hoist, compressor and receiver, mining cars and
blacksmith tools, four concentrators, miscellaneous buildings, and a 20-stamp
mill.
With the outbreak
of World War I, hard rock mining declined. Once again the Longfellow fell
into a slump. On several occasions the mining company and its subsequent
reorganizations were in default of taxes.
In August 1935 rehabilitation
of the Longfellow and its neighbor, the Mack Mine, was unmderway, directed
by engineer Larry Edlefsen and site superintendent W. B. Diehl. Sonora
newspapers reported:
"A crew of 12
men is employed in the present work, but when general operations get underway,
a much larger force will be on the payroll, as it is the asserted intention
to run the mill on a 24-hour basis and work two shifts in the mine.
Right from the start,
operations are to be carried on simultaneously through the main Longfellow
crosscut tunnel, which is 730 feet long and the 600-foot Jacobs shaft
of the Mack Mine. The Longfellow entry is already in first class condition,
and the east drift therefrom, 170 feet in length, which will be extended
immediately a distance of 125 feet to the Jacobs shaft, connecting with
the latter at the 300-foot level, has been cleaned out and repaired. The
Jacobs shaft has already been reconditioned to the depth of 300 feet,
a headframe has been erected at its mouth, and an electric hoist and a
large compressor with air storage tanks at three convenient locations
are about to be installed. Most of the ore above the Longfellow’s
main adit level will be conveyed to the mill through that opening, then
material from below the 300-foot level will be taken out through the Jacobs
shaft.
Ball mills are to
be added to the 10-stamp plant on the property to increase capacity to
approximately 125 tons per day, and it is asserted that the tonnage of
ore now available is sufficient to insure the continuous operation of
the plant at that rate for a long time while additional reserves are being
developed. The stamps will be used as primary crushers and the ball mills
will reduce the ore from these to the desired fineness. Particular attention
is to be given to extracting the fines during the process of milling and
flotation will be the chief method of recovering the values contained
in that ore. Further enlargement of the plant is contemplated, states
Superintendent Edlefsen, when ore reserves warrant such a step.
Buildings to be erected
soon will include an addition to the mill, an assay office, a superintendent’s
office, a change house and a machine shop. A blacksmith shop is already
on the property and is equipped with an Ingersoll-Rand drill sharpener.
All machinery will be electrically operated.
During their most
active period, the Longfellow and Mack were operated as separate minds
and each had a 20-stamp mill. The property, as at present consolidated,
consists of these two well-known former producers and the Wooten, Nonpareil,
Pauper’s Dream, Little Wonder, and other claims. The operating company’s
main office is in the Foreman Building, Los Angeles."
Despite the initial enthusiasm, the Longfellow did not return to full operation until late 1936. As recently as 1948 the existing mill was operational, but by 1970 the mill and mine were long abandoned. They stand today as a relic of an earlier period of South Tuolumne County history.
