An Old Stage Stop Community along the Elk City Wagon Road

Located off Hwy 14. Newsome creek is fine trout fishing.

Click to enlarge                                   Newsome Creek Mining Co 1938

Clearwater Nuggets
Volume IX Issue 6 NorthWest Gold Prospectors Association Clearwater Chapter December 2006
Page 4
Newsome Placer
by Mike Crooks
The Newsome House Placer (Newsome
Creek, Newsome Creek Mining Co,
Newsome Creek Junction; Newsome
Dredging Co; Warren Creek Mining Co;
Idaho Dredging Co; Idaho Gold Dredging Co;
Newsome Creek Mining Co; Ferris and
Marchbank) is located in the creek centered
on T30N, R7E, sec 30.
In 1931, the Newsome House Placer
Company had completed repairs on the
Buckeye ditch and had installed a Hendy
hydraulic elevator for the purpose of mining
the creek gravel underlying the flat at
Newsome. According to R C Racer, in
charge of operations, the gravel is about 10
ft thick and has an average gold content of
30-40¢/yd³, and in some places it prospected
over $1.00/yd³. The gold is coarse and the
larger pieces well rounded. Racer said the
gold on the west side of the flat rests on a
clay bed, whereas on the east side it rests on
gneiss bedrock (IGS P-40).
In 1932 it was announced that the old
townsite of Newsome was to be placered.
The site had not been mined in the old days
as the site was more valuable as real estate.
Operations were starting where 35 acres of
flat were to be mined by a hydraulic lift and
sluice boxes. Roundtree & Ziedrich,
experienced operators from San Francisco,
had taken the land under option. The
enterprise was called the Newsome Placers,
post office at Golden, Idaho (MT 18AUG1932).
In 1936 it was announced that the interests
of the Warren Creek Mining Co in the
Newsome Creek Placer region had been
purchased by E T Fisher and E F Baumhoff
of the Idaho Dredging Co of Warren. They
stated the 12,000 yd³ dredge at Warren
would be dismantled at once and put into
operation on Newsome Creek in 60 days.
Fisher had a Caterpillar bulldozer at Fall
Creek to reconstruct the road from the Elk
City highway to Newsome House.
In 1937, Idaho Gold Dredging Co reported an
average test of 28¢/yd³ on their ground.
There was over 3,000,000 yd³ available for
dredging (SC 2JAN1937). In September the
Newsome Creek Mining Co of California
started installing a 3 yd³ floating dragline to
handle 5000 yds³/day. Twenty men were
employed. Two 175-hp engines were to
supply power (SR 10SEP1937). The 2½ yd³
floating dragline with wash-plant cost
$80,000. L N Ellis is superintendent of the
project (SC 6OCT1937).
In 1938, the nearly 4000 oz gain in gold
production in the Newsome District resulted
from steady operation of the dragline and
washing plant by Ferris and Marchbank
(Newsome Creek Mining Co). The dredge
treated 634,933 yd³ of gravel from April 5 to
November 30 (MII 1939).
In 1939, the Newsome Dredging Company
had a very successful year of dredging on
Newsome Creek (MII 1939). The company
operated its 3 yd³ dragline and washing plant
from March 25 to December 31 and treated
841,901 yd³ of gravel. At the end of the year
the property was acquired by Ferris Mining
Co. In July of 1940, the Newsome Creek
Mining Co moved its plant to Unity, Oregon
(MII 1940). Operations were suspended owing
to exhaustion of profitable gravels (MII 1941).
Years of operation were 1901, 1937-42, and
1949. Production was more than 10,000 oz of gold and more than 1000 oz of silver (IGS
M&P ECQ 1991).
References:
IGS Idaho Geological Survey
MII Mine Inspector of Idaho Annual Report
MT Mining Truth
SC Spokane Chronicle
SR Spokesman Revie