Camden Saw Mill
By the summer of 1852, Charles Camden decided to expand his mining operations beyond using a gold pan. Flumes, sluices, and long toms were needed to carry water, so Camden thought it would be more economical to build his own sawmill than to buy lumber in Shasta, twelve miles away. By February 1853, Camden finished the mill and began lumber operations. He sold lumber for $50 per thousand feet, which today would cost approximately $1000 for the same quantity.
In 1860, Camden excavated a system of ditches measuring 5 – 6 miles in length, and the extra water was sold to the miners. The sawmill operated only during the winter due to insufficient water flow in the summer. Even though Camden only operated the sawmill part-time, he had frequent problems with mill hands. “Often they would go off on Saturday,” he wrote, “and not come back for several days; orders would come in for sizes not cut and it was imperative for me to take their places and cut the logs in the woods, haul them into the mill and saw them into lumber.” Camden soon sold his saw mill business by 1860.
