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 Lost
Goose Egg Mine (February 2002)by Anthony Belli "Sailor Jack" was Finnish and knew nothing of mining. Arriving at Newtown, Jack decided to seek his fortune in gold. As a practical joke, the miners convinced the newcomer to file a claim on worthless land. Jack followed their advice, filing his claim on land the miners knew wouldn't yield any precious metal. To everyone's surprise the greenhorn struck a huge bonanza at his claim. Paolo Sioli, in his book History of El Dorado County, published in 1883, wrote (the) "Houx and Sailor Jack quartz mines, are two of the richest quartz mines ever struck in El Dorado County." An unknown miner working the Sailor Jack made yet another rich discovery. At a location above the Sailor Jack, in the area of Goose Neck Ravine, the miner found nugget gold. He announced his discovery, and talk among the other miners was that he found the led gold source into the Sailor Jack. The miner returned to the same area but could not find the spot where he had picked up the nuggets. From that time on this site has been known as the Lost Goose Egg Mine. [NOTE: The Sailor Jack Mine is also known as; The Pinchgut Mine, The One Spot Mine and The Pinchemtight Mine]. From his book, Reminiscences of Old Newtown, by John Gardella, he said an old miner who mined the Sailor Jack, returned to Newtown every summer for about six years in search of the lost mine. The Sailor Jack Mine is located about 1-1/2 miles due North of the ghost town of Newtown, near today's Webber Reservoir. The Lost Goose Egg Mine is one of the many mysteries of El Dorado. * Newtown The area was rich with placer gold. A 36 ounce and 42-1/2 ounce nugget were plucked from the South Fork of Webber Creek, one mile down stream from Newtown, near Weber Creek in Pleasant Valley. Today Newtown is little more than an old stone building and a cemetery near the intersection of Newtown Road and Fort Jim Road (about 8 miles southeast of Placerville). Gold mining began in Newtown in 1848, with about 5,000 miners and merchants … a claim to have been bigger than Placerville at that time. Prospecting miners called it their "New Town." _______________________________ Edited by Stephanie Bishop, El Dorado County, IS Dept. COPYRIGHT 1999 Anthony M. Belli
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On
warm summer evenings, miners around Newtown*
gather at the stone store to drink and talk. The nightly ritual
is called "vegliare" which in Italian means, "to keep vigil."
It is here where men share stories of the past, talk about the days events,
and ponder the question as to the whereabouts of the Lost Goose Egg Mine. | County Home | Accessibility | County Services | Departments | Forms | General Information | HIPAA Privacy Notice | Links | Photo Library | RSS Feed | Search | Tourist Information | Contact Web Team Page last updated: Monday, November 17, 2008 3:40 PM |