The Former Black Swan Hydraulic Mine is Now a Wildlife Preserve
On the border between Yuba and Nevada Counties is a former gold mining location where nature is reclaiming what was once a stark industrial site. The Black Swan Preserve is located in the blue oak–gray pine savannah belt near Smartsville, CA and it’s at a low enough elevation to be accessible all year. Here the Bear Yuba Land Trust maintains a two-mile loop trail circling a pond and wetland where there was once a hydraulic mine. The trailwas made possible by a partnership between the Bear-Yuba Land Trust and California Fish and Wildlife. It’s the first trail in what will eventually become a larger network of trails accessing more diverse ecosystems in the area.
The trail circles an intact wetland that is critical habitat for the endangered Western pond turtle, as well as bass, and an array of waterfowl including the American Dipper and Belted Kingfisher. Known endangered species on the properties include Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle, Western Burrowing Owl, and Black Rail. Adjacent grassland pastures, rolling hills and meadows provide habitat for bears, bald eagles, mountain lions and deer. Near the confluence of Deer Creek and the Lower Yuba River there is riparian habitat, blue oak woodland, wetlands and groundwater-fed ponds.
Nearby Empire Ranch was an important transportation hub for freighters and stages. Several major roads and trails met here including the Sacramento Road which ran from Parks Bar, through Sucker Flat and Excelsior, then up Deer Creek to Mooney Flat Road, and from there either to the diggings at French Corral, Sweetland and North San Juan or to Grass Valley and Nevada City via what is now known as the Bitney Springs/Newtown Road.
Begin by following the clearly marked trail as it passes through a gated fence with a huge moss-covered boulder just beyond it. Follow the trail as it climbs upslope on a series of gradual switchbacks. As you climb, you’ll notice a lot of rounded gravel in the bank cuts. That’s because 60 million years ago this was part of a gold bearing stream system. When this rich mining ground was discovered in 1853 it was mined intensively for the next thirty-one years and then periodically into the Depression era.
Traversing An Ancient Stream Bed
Soon you’ll stop climbing and the trail begins to follow a ditch, which once delivered water to nearby hydraulic mines. Water, under pressure provided by gravity, was directed by large nozzles at hillsides containing ancient auriferous gravels. The idea was to saturate and collapse the compacted gold bearing soils into a slurry of mud and gravel. This muddy mess, known variously as tailings, debris or slickens, was then pushed to the mine’s sluice boxes where riffles, aided by quicksilver (mercury), captured gold particles in a process known as gravity separation. After sluicing, the debris was pushed by the water cannons, typically called monitors, towards the mine’s drain tunnels and ultimately into the nearest stream course where it continued downstream with no concern for the consequences below. Those consequences included degraded habitat for fish and riparian flora and fauna, rising water levels that threatened levees and inundation of agricultural lands by mine waste, or debris.
Hydraulic mining requires enormous amounts of water and selling water to miners was a lucrative business. Most of the original water companies consolidated into a few powerful corporations who eventually bought most of the existing claims from their clients.
Before long, you will be looking down into a huge excavation where you can clearly see the effectiveness of hydraulic mining. Use caution here and don’t go too close to the edge. The bottom of the hydraulic pit, which once contained a drain tunnel has become a shallow lake and good habitat for plant and animal life. From here the trail slowly descends to the lake at the base of spectacular man-made cliffs where I can assure you there will be birds and amphibians. There is abundant wildlife and there are interpretive signs to enhance understanding of their importance. Elevations range from 900’ above the hydraulic pit to 760’ at the pond and 600’ on Deer Creek.
The Former Mine is Rich with Water Fowl
Northeast of the pond, at the one-mile marker, there is an option to continue north on a half-mile spur road/trail to a rugged part of Deer Creek. This is Department of Fish and Wildlife land, not currently managed by Bear-Yuba Land Trust, so there are no signs. If you want to get to Deer Creek follow the road north for about a half-mile to a bend in the road where it starts to climb. Take the road on your right (northeast) for a short distance to a small meadow/knoll from which you can hear the creek. Walk toward the creek on an unmarked trail that descends to Deer Creek where there is a good view and, with enough water, a waterfall. The creek’s flow is managed by an upstream dam at “Lake” Wildwood. I recommend hiking the whole three miles and re-visiting it in different seasons. If you wander, please note that there are parcels of private property on the hilltop with clearly posted “No Trespassing” signs, please respect them.
The indigenous people have lived in this area for thousands of years. In 1849, when gold was discovered at nearby Rose Bar on the Yuba River, Nisenan people were gathering clover here. There were important native settlements at nearby Empire Ranch, Sucker Flat, Deer Creek and many other places in the vicinity. Gold mining and grazing practices have disturbed so much of the surface that most archaeological evidence of the native people is gone.
"Bottle Brush"
Mooney Flat was first mined for gold in 1850. A ditch to the Mooney Flat hydraulic mines was completed in 1860 and by 1875 all the smaller operations were absorbed by the Deer Creek Mine. There is still a small community at Mooney Flat, which is adjacent to Slack’s Ravine, a tributary of Deer Creek, a tributary of the Yuba River. In the late 19th century the nearby town of Smartsville and the former towns of Timbuctoo and Sucker Flat, all located on the west side of the hill, were adjacent to some of the most productive hydraulic mines in the state. Among them was the Blue Point Mine, which by 1877 produced $13,000 million. As hydraulic mines prospered gravel and mud produced by their activities began covering agricultural land downstream in the Sacramento Valley. After numerous attempts at litigation, infuriated farmers finally stopped the practice of dumping “debris” into streams by the restraints of the Sawyer Decision in 1884. This injunction essentially ended large-scale hydraulic mining. As a result, major investors pulled out while experienced mine managers and engineers left the region. In 1893 the Caminetti Act allowed the resumption of hydraulic mining if the gravel and mud could be restrained by dams. This was an impossible task – the dams created by mining companies in this district were repeatedly cited for infractions and eventually shut down.
An 1870s Map From a Government Publication Showing Timbuctoo Bend and Deer Creek
The State Mineralogist Report for 1893 describes the operations of the Mooney Flat Drift Gravel Mine where they sunk a 200’-300’ foot shaft while employing nine men. They were milling the gravel with arrastras, a 19th century technique introduced by the Spanish. Arrastras utilize draft animals and drag stones, a primitive method, but capable of milling the ore finer than other processes.
By 1904 the Black Swan Company owned the former Deer Creek Mine. Within a four-month period they recovered $100,000 by sinking shafts and tunneling beneath the 40-foot deep lake which eventually caved-in on the workings beneath the lake. According to the Grass Valley Union, “The fourteen men working underground raced for the surface and life.” No one was hurt but the last man out saw his hat blown ahead of him by the blast of air from the cave-in.
"Black Swan" was an expression used to describe an unexpected event with bad consequences, which although unforeseen, appears inevitable with the benefit of hindsight. In 16th century London, Black Swan was commonly used as a statement of impossibility because the presumption was that all swans were white. When Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh discovered black swans in Australia in 1697 the term’s meaning changed to the awareness that a perceived impossibility might later be disproven.
A Gnarly Oak at the Edge of the Hydraulic Excavation
In 1905 the Registry of Mines and Minerals noted that the mining ground “… was claimed by the Excelsior Company and leased to Black Swan who were drifting into the gravel banks.” The Mining & Scientific Press of March 7, 1909 reported, “A controlling interest in the Black Swan mine has been secured by J.A. Sowell, a Yuba County business and mine operator. On August 7, 1909 they reported that, “The Black Swan mine at Mooney Flat is to be reopened. A 150’ shaft was sunk on the property several years ago, but the pumps were drowned out and the company stopped work. The machinery is being overhauled and a larger pumping plant will be installed. A good body of gravel was cut by the shafts and short drifts run along the bedrock.”
Ditch Near the Black Swan Drain Tunnel on Deer Creek
Drift mining is a process that uses tunnels and shafts to get at gold accumulated on the bedrock of the Tertiary channels (ancient rivers). It became popular after the Sawyer Decision, but the work was more difficult and the yield was less. During the Depression over a thousand placer miners worked the bars and benches along the Yuba between Deer Creek and Parks Bar using simple processes that were used during the gold rush.
Between 1933 and 1935 the value of gold rose dramatically but it cost more to mine it. James B. Moffatt tried to reopen the Black Swan in 1938 but “when misfortune overtook his grubstaker” he was forced to suspend operations. On August 25, 1938 The Union reported that the Black Swan shut down due to “Lack of funds.”
Logan’s 1940 Map of the Western Portion of Nevada County, CA Showing Mining Claims shows the 270-acre Deer Creek Placer Mine but in 1942 Executive Order L-208 shut down most of the gold mines in the country. In the same year Camp Beale, an Army Base at the time, exercised eminent domain and appropriated the Excelsior Ditch system. The holdings were returned to private ownership in the 1950s, but after skirmishes in court, Nevada Irrigation District had lost its rights-of-ways.
Larry, Birding
How to get there:
The trailhead is located off of Mooney Flat road just east of Smartsville, CA. From the intersection of Hwy 49 and Hwy 20 near Grass Valley, drive 13 miles toward Smartsville, turn right (North) on Mooney Flat Road. If you see the Yuba County sign on Highway 20, you have gone too far. Once you are on Mooney Flat Road, drive approximately ¼ mile and turn left into small signed parking area.
If you are coming from the Yuba City/ Marysville area, head east on Highway 20 and cross the Yuba River. Immediately after passing Smartsville, turn left onto Mooney Flat road.
Note: Gates keep cattle in and vehicles out – please keep them closed. Keep dogs leashed and mind your children. No smoking, littering or motorized vehicles allowed. Please stay on the trails. Poison oak thrives all year while ticks and rattlesnakes are active in the warmer months.
