Reading's Bar is a historical site in Redding, California in Shasta County. Reading's Bar is a California Historical Landmark No. 32 listed on August 1, 1932. Reading's Bar was named after Major Pierson Barton Reading, who discovered gold on the Clear Creek bar in May 1848, starting a California Gold Rush in the surrounding area. Later he found gold on a sandbar on the Trinity River that started the Trinity Alps Gold Rush. "Historical and Archaeological Investigations of the Horsetown Mining Complex, Shasta County, California." Gold and Lumber: Two Papers on Northern California History and Archaeology. BLM Redding Field Office, Bureau of Land Management, California, by Trudy Vaughan and Eric Ritter, 1992. Reading's gold discovery was a major part of the California Gold Rush and news of the find created a rush of gold prospecting in Northern California, well north of the better-known gold fields of the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Following the Reading's Bar gold discovery, a number of small mining towns grew up on and north of the Clear Creek including: Horsetown, Briggsville, Muletown, Lower Springs, Texas Springs, Middletown, Piety Hill, Igo, Larkin, Jackass Flat, Ono, Bald Hills, Janesville, and to the north Whiskeytown, Shasta, Tower House, and French Gulch.
Reading's Bar Historical markers The California historical marker is at Clear Creek Bridge, on Clear Creek Road, 6.9 miles West of old Hwy 99 West of Redding. Marker was placed there by the California Department of Parks and Recreation working with the Shasta Historical Society, Darrell Moss Historical Fund and Trinitarianus Chapter 62, E Clampus Vitus.
A second Reading's Bar marker is at Douglas City, California, in Trinity County near Readings Trinity River find. The marker was placed there by E Clampus Vitus, Trinitarianus Chapter 62/Trinity County Sesquicentennial Committee in 1968.
Pierson Barton Reading
California pioneer Pierson Barton Reading (1816-1868) came to California in a wagon train in 1843. In 1844 he was given a Mexican land grant, Rancho Buena Ventura. Reading was a member of John C. Frémont's California Battalion in the Mexican-American War and participated in the Bear Flag Revolt. Reading was one of the signers of the Treaty of Cahuenga on January 13, 1847, which ended the war in Alta California. Following the war, Reading became known for his discovery of gold at Clear Creek, near Redding, California.
Horsetown
Just west of Reading's Bar on Clear Creek the mining town of Clear Creek Diggings was formed in 1851 at the site of Clear Creek Road and Clear Creek.Horsetown Clear-Creek Preserve greenway blm.gov The town served the many miners in the valley. As the town grew it was given the name One Horse Town and then changed to Horsetown.Shasta Valley mines, blm.gov Horsetown Clear-Creek Preserve outings blm.gov In 1855, Horsetown covered 36 acres with a population of 1,000, by 1856 it was 2,000. Lots of water is needed for mining gold, so the miners built a small dam on Clear Creek. By October 1849 about 250 men were mining on Clear Creek. The 49er miner, Alexander Andrews at Clear Creek diggings built the Horsetown Bridge near Reading's bar to cross Clear Creek safely. Duffy built Duffy’s Ditch that brought water into Horsetown. A stagecoach road was built from Stockton & Andrews’ Bridge to Horsetown. A second large water system was built in 1855, the Clear Creek Ditch, with 49 miles of flumes.The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History, Smith, Dottie 1991, ReddingHistoric Resource Study, Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, California. Report prepared for United States Department of Interior, National Park Service, Anna Coxe Toogood, 1978, Denver The site of the former Horsetown is now the Horsetown Clear-Creek Preserve, a nonprofit preserve.
Briggsville Briggsville, California was a major mining camp located one mile east of Horsetown on Clear Creek at . It was founded by Benjamin F. Briggs, and was called Breechesburg in its early days. Briggs' wife made it known she could not abide the miners' unkempt habits, and the town was cleaned up somewhat. A toll bridge was built over Clear Creek at Briggsville in 1852 by Briggs and Joel T. Landrum. In 1853 the Briggsville Hotel and general store were built. A stagecoach road was built from Shasta to Red Bluff that passed through Briggsville. A lime kiln and limestone quarry were established in Briggsville in 1855.Tenth Annual Report of The State Mineralogist For The Year Ending December 1, 1890, California State Mining Bureau, Sacramento: State Printing Office, 1890, pp. 627 In 1861 the Briggsville toll bridge became owned by Landrum & Ralston, and was now called Ralston's Bridge. Briggsville's water supply was sourced from the Clear Creek Ditch and reservoir project, opened in 1855. The only remains of the town are two wood-burning stone kilns in Bulgin Gulch that were used to make plaster and mortar. It was first run by Samuel R. Clough and his wife, Debora Clough.Sole Trader, The Shasta Republican newspaper of Shasta, February 20, 1858 By 1866 Briggsville boasted a large Chinese population. Aside from the kilns, nothing remains of the town. The closest city to old Briggsville is Igo, California in Shasta County. Mines and Mineral Resources of Shasta County, California Division of Mines and Geology, County Report 6. Sacramento: California Office of State Printing, Lydon, Philip A. and J. C. O'Brien, 1974
Muletown Muletown, California was a small mining camp founded in 1849. It was located north of Horsetown on Muletown road. Similarly to Horsetown, the camp was first called One Mule Town. The location of the center of the town has been lost to time, but it is known that the town itself was on the north bank of Clear Creek about 2 miles northwest of Horsetown, at about . Clear Creek Ditch supplied water to Muletown. The ditch was four feet wide at the bottom, and six feet wide at the top, with water flowing three feet deep. It ran from the Tower House, (now in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area), then headed south along Clear Creek to Horsetown and the mining towns of Middletown, Muletown, Texas Springs, and Jackass Flat. The Clear Creek Ditch dropped seven feet per mile along its course. A branch ditch fed Horsetown. The Muletown road is a 5.5 mile-long road that runs north–south. Its southern end is the former site of Muletown. By the mid- to late 1860s the easy gold had run out, and many of the town's miners moved on. There was some hydraulic mining, but this was outlawed in 1884. Dredging the creek also began as the easy gold ran out. Drift mining was also used. The town no longer exists.Clear Creek, Swasey and Mule Ridge Trails blm.gov
Lower Springs Lower Springs, California was small mining camp on Salt Creek about 4 miles north of Horsetown at , now the Swasey Recreational Area off Swasey Drive. Clear Creek Ditch supplied water to Lower Springs and opened on November 24, 1855. The largest buildings in the town was the Swasey's Hotel & casino and the Swasey mercantile store, built by Benjamin Swasey from New Hampshire and make is money at the Gold Gulch claim. Benjamin Swasey was born on January 31, 1822, in New Hampshire and he died in Oakland, California on September 19, 1912. The town was built after the gold find at the Lower Springs mining district near Reading Springs (now Shasta). The first wood house was built in 1850. A second hotel opened the Virginia House. A second general store opened in 1854, by the J.D. Dunlap & Company. The town was very anti-Chinese. The town had a general store, a pottery shop, Henry Jones Blacksmith Shop and two hotels, the Virginian House and Swasey Hotel. The Swasey Hotel & casino had two large palm trees in front, new site for Northern California. Swasey Hotel also had a garden, plant nursery and orchards. Swasey sold his plants and crops in the county. From China one of the first orange crops was from Lower Springs. The town had a stage stop for some years. On April 17, 1851, Merady Swan, from Missouri, was killed in native tribe attack, one of many raids. Henry Jones & Company had hard rock mine nearby, also the Old Spanish Mine. Bert Wiser opened the Wiser & Terry vineyard. In 1851 Munroe & Felt of Sacramento hired McCummings to drive a simple Stagecoach to take passengers from Red Bluffs to Shasta, with stops at Lower Springs, Bells Bridge, Canon House (Canyon House), the main office was at the St. Charles hotel. The town no longer exists, but there is a Lower Springs Road.Lower Springs, The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, March 12, 1853Diggings About Lower Springs, The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, April 2, 1853The Lower Springs Road, The Shasta Courier newspaper of Shasta, May 7, 1853
Texas Springs Texas Springs, California is Gold Rush Mining town founded in the 1849. Texas Springs was northeast of Horsetown on Texas Springs Road at . A miner nicknamed Texas found gold here in 1948 and started the dry digging gold rush in the valley. The mining nearby was in Dutch Gulche, Jackass Hill and Spring Flats. In 1857 a dam was built at Texas Springs and some dry digging were able to now used water. In 1958 Texas Springs was given the right to vote and run for offices. Texas Springs had a mixed Chinatown, which had farming, Texas Springs did not have anti-China conflicts. Wm. Weil & Co. general mercantile store and B. F. Koontz Store were the main stores in Texas Springs. Another store open later the Wright-Bedford Store that opened in 1858. In 1859 Wright-Bedford started a daily covered wagon train service for goods and passengers from Texas Springs to Middletown (now Grant) a 5-mile trip north. On November 17, 1958, a fire burned some of the town, including the blacksmith shop, a hotel and some homes. The town repaired after the fire. In 1860 Texas Springs opened two one-room schoolhouses, one was lost to fire. The Texas Springs Rock Quarry was founded in 1894 and stopped in 1903. The Texas Springs Rock Quarry supplied the stones for the Shasta County Courthouse and the rock wall in fornt of the Courthouse. The Texas Springs Rock Quarry rocks were also used for railroad culverts, tombstones, and the trimmings on buildings. The only remains of the town is the Texas Springs Road, the Texas Springs Rock Quarry, a few stone foundations and small Texas Springs Pioneer Cementy, upper and lower Cementies.
Jackass Flat Jackass Flat, California was a small mining town between Horsetown and Larkin (now Centerville). Jackass Flat was founded north of Horsetown after gold was found at Reading's Bar. The Clear creek Ditch Company provided water for the town of Jackass Flat and the surrounding mines, as the water ditch passed by on its way to Horsetown. A road was built from Jackass Flat to Bald Hills, which crossed the Stockton & Andrew's Bridge. A Stagecoach line also used the road opened in 1858. Jackass Flat supplied the nearby tent mining camps in Buljon Gulch-Jackass Hill. Jackass Hill large claim were the Johnson, Lull and Company and G.M. Roach mining.The Dictionary of Early Shasta County History" 2nd Edition, by Dottie Smith
Bald Hills