Gold Bluffs
In spring of 1850, J. K. Johnson and several companions headed north from Trinidad to look for the mouth of the Trinity. In passing up the beach, they saw gold grains in the sand. On their return, only gravel was found. In May 1850, B. Nordheimer, J. H. Stinchfield, Charles D. Moore, and other prospectors started up the seashore from Trinidad en route to the new town of Klamath City. They saw gold flakes in the beach sand, but they were so intermixed with sand that "they could do nothing with it."
That fall, J. W. Maxwell and Richardson went to the bluffs. They found that the gold was only visible under favorable conditions. The bluff, subsequently named Gold Bluffs, was several miles long and several hundred feet high, with but a few feet of sea beach between it and the Pacific. When the breakers came rolling in and the surf beat against the bluffs, quartz was eroded. The gold then became mixed with the sand. When it was brought to the surface by the wave action, they filled their bags. Word soon reached San Francisco.
In December, the Pacific Mining Company was organized with the goal of developing the beach. By February 1851, the population of Trinidad had exploded. In 1853, Lt. George Crook was in charge of a detachment and detailed as an escort to the surveying party. They camped at Gold Bluffs. The premium paid for gold during the Civil War years caused operations to be resumed at the Gold Bluffs. Bur with the end of the Civil War, operations at the Gold Bluffs were shut down. From 1872-1901, sites of the Union Gold Bluffs Placer Mine, in operation from 1872 to 1901, have been identified in the Gold Bluffs Beach area.
