CALIFORNIA MINING PAGE

Slumgullion - California gold-rush miners used this term to describe the mud left at the bottom of the sluice box used for gold panning.  Interestingly enough, the term also described their dinner on many a night - a thin watery stew composed of leftovers.

Mining History in Southern Sierra Nevada and Mojave:

http://vredenburgh.org/mining_history/pages/west_mojave_desert.htm 

California's Internment Camp History

The Presidio of San Francisco…

Was home to both the Buffalo Soldiers and Pershing.  Founded by the Spanish in 1776, this longest continually occupied fort in North America has operated under three Armies.  Parts of the original Spanish adobe wall comprise the Officers Club at the top of the parade ground. Just yards away are cannons that served in the Philippines, currently marking the spot where Pershing’s house burned down – killing his wife and son (s?).  Her ghost is said to be one haunting the Officer’s Club.  The Buffalo soldiers served as Roosevelt's personal guard upon his visits to the Presidio.  Some amazing stories ring throughout this post, one of the most expensive real estate parcels in the world…

City takes possession from Feds: San Francisco Mint

 The old lady will again begin producing little pieces of stamped bits.  In this case, unfortunately, the daft and specious pos pot metal shows the heights from which she has fallen and plumbs the nadir of depths to which she will sink by producing small fiat trinkets compared to her precious stature of previous renown associated with tall and grand transfer of ingots into currency.  Yes, what was once one of the major storehouses in the world of precious metals and a cornerstone of the US economy will now be in , ahem, production once again.  Not sure which fate is more representative of the current economic picture, that the mint remains no longer silent as she has been the last couple decades, or that she will open again in the shadow of her former glory as a titan of fountain in her youth and now proffer nothing more than a quizzical glimpse through the window of her stamps into the quaint and historical period of the past whence real money flowed through American commerce.