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HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF Placer MINING IN CALIFORNIA 71

island extending from Capt St. Lucas at the Tropic of Cancer to
latitude 45 degrees north, and it was not until after Father Pergert's
map was published at Manheim, in 1771, that California was re-
lieved of its insular character.
Early Discoveries of Placers: At different times between 1775
and 1828, small deposits of placer gold were found by Mexicans
near the Colorado River. In 1802 a mineral vein, supposed to con-
tain silver, was found at Alisal, in the district of Monterey. In
1828 a small gold placer was discovered at San Isidoro, in what is
known as San Diego county.
Forbes, in his history of California in 1835, says: "No minerals
of particular importance have yet been found in Upper California,
nor any appearance of metals."
In 1834 the placers of San Francisco, Placenita and Castiac and
the San Feliciana, forty-five miles northwest from Los Angeles,
were discovered and were worked by the San Fernando and San
Buenaventura Missions between the years of 1834 and 1838, under
the supervision of Francisco Lopez for the San Fernando Mission
and Jose Bernudes for the San Buenaventura Mission.
In the latter part of 1838, Francisco Garcia was piloted to and
shown by Francisco Lopez the placers of San Feliciana.
Garcia then returned to Sonora, Mexico, in 1839, and in 1840 came
back with thirty Mexicans, Gambacinos ( placer miners) and during
the latter part of 1840 and the fore part of 1841, took from the
San Feliciana Gulch two hundred and twelve pounds of gold avoir-
dupois weight, weighed by D. W. Alexander, who in the year 1855
made an affidavit to this effect. At the time above named gold was
taken from the Gulch, it was named the San Feliciana by Garcia, and
has retained its name to the present day. ,
Jose Salazar, one of the men brought from Sonora, Mexico, by
Garcia returned to the San Feliciana in the latter part of 1841,
and from one tunnel took forty-two thousand dollars, after which
he remained at the San Feliciana Ranch, now known as the New-
hall Ranch, and married the widow of the late Jose Antonio Del
Valle.
After the rush of 1855-6 to Kern River, Slate Range and Cerro
Gordo and what is now known as Randsburg, many of these people
drifted into the San Feliciana, Castiac and San Francisquito. Dur-
ing the years 1857 and 1858 there was not less than six thousand
people mining for gold in the last named places.
In 1854 W. W. Jenkins and Sanford Lyon, at the instance of and
with Francisco Lopez, visited the oil springs, from whence the
Mission San Fernando took the oil in rawhide bags to the mission,
where it was distilled for lightng purposes.
We also visited all of the gold fields ref erred to, and obtained all
the information and history in the possession of Francisco Lopez. In
the year 1858, W. W. Jenkins and Cyrus Lyon purchased from Jose