Occidental Gold Mining Company

The Occidental Gold Mining Company was incorporated in 1877 to mine gold in Grizzly Flat, in the Iowa Hill Mining District, near Colfax, Placer County. The Company was always a closed corporation and its stock was passed to descendants. When the Company's principal place of business was transferred from Sunny South, Placer County, to San Jose, Santa Clara County in 1899, this change, plus frequent assessments, served to "lose" many of the original stockholders. However, when the Company dissolved in 1973, the secretary was Amy June Jorgensen and the vice-president Clifford Smith; both were descendants of John Smith, an early stockholder. Jorgensen donated the corporate records to CSL some years after the dissolution date.

There are four periods of mining activity documented in these records. From 1899-1902 the mine was operated by the Company and yielded $4641.12, insufficient justification to continue operation. The principal correspondents during this period were William Cameron, president and superintendent of mining activities, and Niles E. Wretman, secretary. In 1934, the Company initiated a policy of leasing mining rights in return for royalty payments. The first lease was to Denman Dorr, who mined the Occidental through adjacent claims as the Lebanon Consolidated Mines. After extensive underground work, Dorr connected to the old Cameron tunnel just as WW II mining restrictions forbidding development were enacted. Old ground was worked until Dorr's death in 1946. Major correspondents of this period include Denman Dorr, Edward Solinsky, an attorney representing Lebanon Consolidated, and Wretman.

In 1949 the mine was leased to John Carston, L. L. Anderson, Rodney Morrison, and Melvin O. Henderson, who did obtain gold, but not in paying quantities. In order to finance a larger, and hopefully paying operation, the board of directors levied an assessment on shareholders in 1954. This resulted in a coup, a new board of directors, and the effective end of the lease. Major correspondents in this period are Carston and Wretman; minor correspondents are John W. Dorr (son of Denman Dorr), Anderson, and Henderson.

In 1956 Cameron Gold Inc. was formed by J. W. Dorr, Wretman, Henderson, and Norman Decker. It leased the Occidental, doing primarily "exploratory sampling," until the lease was terminated in 1959. The major correspondents for this period are Henderson, Dorr, Wretman, and Abigail O. Dennis, secretary of the Company.

Logging operations took place in 1945, 1950, 1952, 1954, and 1962. Prior to 1962, the logging was handled by the mine leaseholders and information regarding early loggings will be found in the mine reports and correspondence. During the early 1960s collaboration between Clyde Simpson and Occidental resulted in the 1962 logging operation. Major correspondents at this time were John G. Jorgensen, Dennis, and Simpson.

In 1972, unable to put the property to productive use, and with property taxes and other costs rapidly eliminating the corporate savings from the 1962 logging, the corporation elected to sell the property and dissolve.

From the description of Records, 1877-1973; bulk 1898-1973. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122332336