The Great California Quicksilver Rush

- Melissa Barrett

The 27 line eastbound bus bore down Blossom Hill Road as it traced its trail through the Almaden Valley. The late summer /early autumn sun slanted across the cloud puffed afternoon sky. Silvery fruit trees shimmered on the roadside as the carriage shimmied down the sun-drenched avenue, and a handful of passengers amiably commented on the agreeable weather. I was traveling to the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park, a picturesque California landmark figuratively down the street from where I live in Los Gatos. The humming road ahead intersected the Almaden Expressway. To my right, the Cinnabar Hills showed smudged outside oily windows. It was another beautiful blue South Bay day.

The California couple cuddled in the spacious back bench. She wrapped her black-denim jeaned leg around his and divulged all her knowledge of local history in one short, naive phrase. She said this: "I like to go to San Francisco. San Francisco is a lot of fun. It has a lot of history. San Jose has no history." The bus rocked across Almaden Road.

A vast variety of people take mass transit every day to traverse the "Valley of Heart's Delight"; many shuffle between work and work. Natives, transplants, and immigrants ride to and back as they live out their version of the American Dream. Some labor, others innovate. Some succumb, others triumph. All stake their claim to the "Silicon Valley". Accents from Mexico and Vietnam mingle on mass transit, and white businessmen sneak sushi on the driver's blind side. The Native Americans were here before multiculturalism, diversity, and technology defined Santa Clara Valley. The couple on the bus missed an important destination. The very road under our wheels led to an integral piece of California history; it led to the New Almaden Quicksilver Mine.

Almaden Road in San Jose was an Indian footpath before Spanish priests claimed Santa Clara Valley for Dios. The beaten path wound toward the Cinnabar Hills; it led to a sacred supply of vermilion. The native Ohlone and Costanes tribes mined vermilion from the mountainside, ground the red rock, mixed the red dust with tallow, and then used the mixture to paint their faces and bodies in bold blood colored strokes. Vermilion was traded with tribes as far North as Oregon. Perhaps the natives realized that the coveted vermilion caused the maladies that plagued them; their ritual cosmetic caused skin irritation, retarded growth, excessive salivation, and pockmarked skin. After a fatal makeshift mine collapse, the Indians denounced the rich red area as "demon-holes" [7]. Still, in 1784 they excavated what they called "mohetka" to consecrate the walls of the Franciscan Mission Santa Clara [12]. In 1824 the sacred mohetka, and the Indian footpath, led to the world's richest mineral deposit of cinnabar.

The site of the New Almaden Mercury Mine nestles in the hills to my right, and a quick transfer to the #13 bus transported me down to the New Almaden Quicksilver Park. Strip malls stretch ubiquitously along this paved thoroughfare. Golden hills flecked with wildflowers roll out toward the Los Capitancillos mountain range. How laconic this valley must have been in the days before the industrial revolution! But wait, when the Mine opened in 1845, industry thrived here independent of modern advances. The industry was gold mining. The woman on the bus may have pronounced San Francisco history superior simply because of its gold rush legacy, but as park visionary Kitty Monahan insists "We probably would not have had the gold rush we had if not for New Almaden." [6]

You may wonder what vermilion, cinnabar, mercury, quicksilver Ðall beautiful, yet deceptive names Ð has to do with gold mining. Ed the bus driver tells me the rocks are cooked until mercury oozes out of them. "Silver bubbles out of the red" he instructs, sounding nothing like a metallurgist, "the vapors can kill you". Ed's from back East. Allow me to elaborate on the alchemy used to create this metal named for the wing-sandaled Roman god: The vermilion rock is mined as cinnabar, a sulfur and mercury mix. The mercury - the quicksilver - is then extracted. When applied to gold and silver ore, quicksilver rarifies the precious metal. Poisonous mercury, the heaviest metal, the only metal liquid at room temperature, was essential in gold refining. And gold mining was essential in the founding, settling, and statehood of California.

Almaden Road was the wagon route that pioneer driven mule teams used to haul quicksilver to mining camps in the Nevada Comstock, and the California Mother Lode. The mercury taken from New Almaden freed the New World gold mines from Spanish quicksilver domination. When gold was discovered in 1848 in Caloma, California, the New Almaden Mine had been in operation for 27 months and swiftly became not only the first mine of any kind in California, but the richest. The foot-beaten path became a well-beaten one, bustling with business and miners for and from the Mine. As the town of New Almaden grew in population and prestige, the New Almaden Mine became a popular tourist stop, only a nine hour stagecoach ride from San Francisco in 1849 [2]. But I'm getting too far ahead of the story; I should start at the beginning of this rapid journey.

Captain Don Andres Castillero, a Mexican military diplomat and congressional representative, is credited for keenly estimating the mining wealth of the hills in November of 1845. Castillero quickly inspected the region while on a mission to buy Sutter's Fort in the North, but hastened back to Santa Clara Valley to further investigate the terrain; the Mexican authorities offered a rich reward for a California quicksilver find [12]. Upon beholding Mission Santa Clara, Castillero enlisted Indian guides to aid him in "discovering" the source of the mercurial mine, and promptly filed for legal ownership. Unfortunately, the Captain never enjoyed the fruits of his find, as decades of eloquent politics, wily litigation, and cunning theft denied him and his country any rightful ownership.

In 1846, the Mexican alliance of the Barron-Forbes Company bought controlling interest in New Almaden from Castillero, who disappeared from history shortly after making his contribution. That same year, the American flag raised by Commodore Sloat in Monterey marked the end of Mexican dominion in California; Mexico and the United States skirmished over ownership of the Southwest and California. In 1848 the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, the US bought Upper California from Mexico for $18,000,000 [7], and California attained statehood. The U.S. government promised to honor Mexican land grants, but gold was discovered on the American River in Caloma. Then came the miners, Forty-niners, Americans and immigrants alike, farmers, businessmen, pioneer wives and children, traveling on foot, mules, and wagon wheels to stake their claims in the Golden State.

Years of litigation followed as the US attempted to wrest control of the mine from the Barron-Forbes Company. In May of 1863, President Lincoln sent federal troops to New Almaden in an aborted, misguided move to seize the mine for Union possession. Finally, fourteen years after purchasing the mine on speculation, the Barron-Forbes Company surrendered New Almaden to the American owned Quicksilver Mining Company for $1,750,000. Natives and new citizens worked side by side in the dirty mines, affected only by the politics of the land. In 1851, all but two miners at New Almaden were Mexican. By the 1870's, English, Irish, and Chinese could be counted among the shadows toiling in the black void, or moving in and out of the mining villages [12]. California grew rich from the sweat of their labors, and America grew rich from California. During this time the road leading to the mine transformed into an expressway.

In the 1850's, when the mine was in its heyday, Almaden Road was the site of many saloons, and New Almaden was home to many interesting people [8]. Frank Debenny, a former French soldier, was the proprietor of Napoleon's, a high-class cantina that offered booths and billiard tables alongside dreams and cigars. Mrs. Faull's restaurant overflowed with coffee and prospecting talk [12]. The road, the mine, and the surrounding property were privately owned, and the mining company strictly regulated the behavior in the communities.

An article written for Harper's Weekly Magazine in 1864 describes Almaden Road as having " . . . been built at great cost, as it is handsomely graded and finished, and, like every other part of this valuable property, intended for all time." Blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, weighers, and sifters plied their trades along the route. A hotel catering to visitors " . . . might be recommended but for the outrageous prices demanded. Competition is out of the question . . . " Business details were closely guarded as, "Visitors are amused with interesting anecdotes about the miners, the process of smelting, and the danger of poisonous vapors, but few are able to obtain any reliable data, or statistics of the business." [9] Mining company policies and practices sired innovation and provided satisfactory wages and protection for the miners and their families, but it also exerted stifling political control.

A record of a visit to New Almaden in 1880 provides an unflattering description of the town and its owners, The Quicksilver Mining Company. Written for the Directory of San Jose, the report warns that the land, businesses, and inhabitants " . . . are controlled by the powers that be, to such an extent as to scarcely credit belief." The author and his entourage attempted to visit the Mine and summarize community life. Instead, they were burdened by limited accommodations, excessive tolls, opposition to "strangers", and the necessity of having to obtain permission for every aspect of the visit. The resident superintendent, J.B. Randol, is referred to as "the 'great king'", while telegraph operators and toll takers are his "enslaved puppets". Furthermore, a member of New Almaden,

The directory man was concerned, not with the health risks inherent in working the Mine, but that a worker would be " . . . deprived of his individuality." [10] Taxes, tolls, and inflated store prices ensured that workers would earn a barely adequate existence, and incessant sulfuric fumes compounded the chronic health problems elemental to the miners.

Workers in the mine " . . . become feeble at an early age, and suffer the most cruel maladies. They generally die a premature death." They were able to work only one week out of four, owing to the poisonous fumes that produced "Pale, cadaverous faces and leaden eyes . . . " Surrounding vegetation wilted and died, livestock salivated and sickened, and gold coins and watches galvanized and turned white. "In such an atmosphere one would seem to inhale death with every respiration" reports Harper's Weekly Magazine. Still, nearly one thousand miners and their family members populated the Mine lands, and New Almaden boasted more people than the city of nearby San Jose [9].

Spanishtown was the first community built on the hills. Small, neat homes with porches and yards lent a semblance of permanence to the transitory town. The Roman Catholic Mexicans constructed numerous shrines to "Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe"- Our Lady of Guadalupe- in the Mine and in their homes. The second settlement, Englishtown, rose from the labors of the Cornish miners. Edward Hazen, the first Methodist minister to the Mine, consoled the mostly Welsh workers, although his employment may have been more for " . . . his compliant disposition . . . " toward Mine policy, than for the salvation of souls [10]. The Hacienda, later to be known as the town of New Almaden, was built by the Company for private use, and the area became the focal point in the social life of the occupants of the mine. The Casa Grande, an enduring brick structure that at one time served as a bordello, contained the office of the first Mine manager, Henry Halleck.

Tucked in the Casa Grande today is the Quicksilver Museum. Every October the Museum is the focal point when New Almaden celebrates New Almaden Days and Pioneer Day. Almaden Expressway gives way to a one- lane road that snakes to the Museum. Million dollar home, apartment, and townhouse construction abuts former one- room officer's dwellings. Outside the Quicksilver Museum on Pioneer Day, camptown fiddles and twangs music fills the air, performers dance and sing, horse drawn carriages plod past historical landmarks, and men in breeches happily demonstrate panning for gold. During New Almaden Days the Museum vividly recreates life as it was at the turn of the century in New Almaden; knowledgeable volunteers dress in Victorian period costume, and entertain curious visitors. A few actors represent historical figures from the Mine, dispensing facts wrapped in imagination. Caught up in the reverie, I "interviewed" Mr. Henry Halleck, his wife, Elizabeth, and the Reverend Edward Hazen about their lives in New Almaden.

The players portraying the Hallecks eased into their characters and eagerly told me their stories. Mr. and Mrs. Halleck emigrated overland to California from the East Coast, along with many other commodities and luxuries destined for the Mine. Mr. Halleck was an engineer trained at West Point, and became a captain during the Mexican American War. Later, Captain Halleck was named Secretary of State. "...I wrote a good bit of the California constitution (as Secretary)", boasted "Mr. Halleck". He started a law firm in S.F. "...which was the largest law firm in the state until the time of the Civil War", and his firm represented the mine in litigation during the years that "...the title was under siege." This representation led to his appointment as the Mine manager. In 1861 he was made a Major General in the Union Army, never to return to New Almaden. During his tenure at the Mine, Mr. Halleck designed the Casa Grande, importing materials from Europe and New York [4].

Elizabeth Halleck, a granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton, preferred to live in San Francisco. When asked if she liked life here in New Almaden, she sniffed, "Not really. I'm an Easterner and so I like the sophistication in San Francisco, and I really don't want to have anything to do with those ragamuffins and villains that live up on the hill." She came down to San Jose occasionally, mostly on the weekends for the "country and fresh air." Mrs. Halleck felt uncomfortable around the "foreigners" and "immigrants", and avoided any contact with the "primitive" local people [3]. Some truth lies in her opinion, for New Almaden included gamblers, thieves, and illiterates hunting quick fortune.

The conversant actor posing as the Reverend Edward Hazen informed me that the Methodist Minister hoped to restore the miners to the faith, organized the Temperance League, and built the first Methodist church on the hill for the Cornish families. A circuit rider, his territory included Los Gatos and Berryessa, in addition to New Almaden. In 1860 the good Reverend ministered to eighteen Mine congregation members. Rev. Hazen liked life here in Santa Clara County. Schooled in an Indiana seminary, he thought he'd be working as a missionary among the Indians, but instead ended up at the Mine preaching to immigrants, and doing what he described as, "Very satisfying work". His wife did not like New Almaden, as seems to be the case with most genteel women, and chose to stay at their home in Santa Clara. "Rev. Hazen" said that he would be sad to leave New Almaden when his mission was completed, but he also was confident that he would,

The Rev. Hazen, and other employees of the Mine who chose to stay in the Valley after the Quicksilver Mining Company went bankrupt in 1912, spawned generations of native Californians.

The Quicksilver Mine endured many busts and enjoyed several booms in the ensuing years. Cyanidation techniques displaced mercury's role in gold and silver refining. During World War I and World War II, the Mine provided scarce mercury for warfare, but its importance in modern history waned. Speculation kept the Mine nominally operational up until the 1960's; cinnabar was still plucked from the hillsides by local fortune seekers. After it was named a National Historic Landmark in 1975, Santa Clara County purchased 3,750 acres of the Mine for $4 million, renamed the land New Almaden Quicksilver County Park, and opened its riches to the public.

Bob Amyx, a founder of the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park Association, lives at the foot of the Mine hill. Abandoned mining tunnels riddle the land below his California style ranch house. Mr. Amyx, with his tireless devotion to the residents of New Almaden, was instrumental in establishing the Mine, and its property, as the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park. An interview with Mr. Amyx unleashes criticism of environmentalists. The park has experienced opposition and is currently closed until December 1998, due to fears of mercury poisoning. In the early 1970's, the federal government banned mercury amalgamation because of poisoning risks. The Department of Health Services placed the entire property on the state's Superfund site list in 1982. Mercury poisoning severely damages the nervous system and kidneys. It can cause neurological damage, motor and mental impairment, blindness, deafness, intestinal problems, and speech disturbances [11]. Repeated exposure brings death. Mercury must be ingested in order to cause damage; it must be either eaten, or breathed into the lungs. According to Mr. Amyx, it is the dust on the park trails that worries environmentalists.

Dusty trails radiate in several directions from the entrances to the park. A stroll on one of the mine trails enriches the casual hiker with an abundance of wild turkeys, rattlesnakes, deer, and bobcat. Green, spiny, serpentine rocks jut jaggedly above fields of yellow and purple wildflowers. Close inspection of the golden grass reveals native spiders and butterflies. Signs posted at the mouths of closed trails silently warn walkers of dangerous mercury contamination in the soil. In this serene setting, dump trucks and bulldozers rumble, moving earth from one hill to the next. At a cost of two million dollars to the previous owners, this action attempts to cover mercury-contaminated areas with two feet of topsoil. Mr. Amyx is cynical of this technique.

The amiable Mr. Amyx feels the cleanup project is a perfect example of the cure being worse than the disease, as the technique employed exposes more mercury laden dust than it covers:

He is weary of "the big fuss" wrought by "zealots". Although he has been retired for 10 years and is still called on to deliver depositions, "I don't remember nothing" he jokes in recounting testimony concerning mercury poisoning. A record check conducted by Mr. Amyx at a local hospital reveals no deaths due to mercury poisoning. Mr. Amyx thinks all the fuss brought about by environmental "purists" is a lot of "hooey", for he has been playing on the local golf course, and living in the area for the past 60 years, and knows of no adverse affects. "Guys pick up their golf balls out of the water, lick them off, and nobody's ever been affected, in any way" he chuckles [1]. At a robust 86 years old, Mr. Amyx is still healthy; he is a living testimony to the safety of the area. Pieces of cinnabar can still be spotted alongside rutted park footpaths. Once active mine shafts are filled in, but an ancient structure looms still over an abandoned hollow on the Senador Mine Trail. The park is easily accessible to curious history seekers either by car, bus, bicycle, or foot. If you listen closely, you can hear the ghosts of miners, and the echo of pickaxes, that long ago occupied this pivotal, precious place. A prideful shiver shakes me as I survey my adopted home from atop a hill. Viewing my expansive, range ringed Valley, I understand why conniving generations quarreled over its possession. The myriad riches of the Santa Clara Valley extend far beyond the ancient riches I now stand above. Jealously coveted, bitterly fought over, and hotly disputed, the New Almaden Quicksilver County Park is a thriving nugget of American history and Californian scenic beauty.

Return to Projects

References

1. Amyx, Bob. Personal Interview. 19 Oct. 1998. [back]

2. Arbuckle, Clyde. History of San Jose. San Jose, CA: Smith & Mckay, 1985. [back]

3. "Halleck, Elizabeth". Personal Interview. 17 Oct. 1998. [back]

4. "Halleck, Henry W". Personal Interview. 17 Oct. 1998. [back]

5. "Hazen, Reverend Edward". Personal Interview. Oct. 1998. [back]

6. Kramer, Pamela. "Resurrecting History: Almaden Treasures Shine In Reopened Park Museum." San Jose Mercury News 1 April 1987, 4:1. [back]

7. Lanyon, Milton, and Laurence Bulmore. Cinnabar Hills: The Quicksilver Days of New Amaden. Los Gatos, CA: Lanyon and Bulmore, 1967. [back]

8. Loomis, Patricia. "Almaden Road." Quicksilver County Park News. Jan. 1988: 4. [back]

9. M'Clintock, John, D.D, and Geo. R. Crooks, D.D. "The Quicksilver Mines of New Almaden." Harper's New Monthly Magazine Vol. XXVII-No.157.-C: 1864. [back]

10. Monahan, Kitty, ed. "A Directory Man Visits New Almaden, 1880." Quicksilver County Park News Summer 1998: 4. [back]

11. Phelan, Sarah. "Mercury Madness." Metro 4 Dec.4-10 1997, p8. [back]

12. Schneider, Jimmie. Quicksilver: The Complete History of Santa Clara County's New Almaden Mine. San Jose, CA: Zella Schneider, 1992. [back]

Return to Projects