82

falls on Grouse creek averages only about 8 or 10 feet in depth and there
is an abrupt fall into the old cross-channel known as the Waverly channel.
Quartz gulch flows east from the flat at the head of the Waverly pit and
occupies a very steep rock gorge in its lower part where it joins Antler
creek. The valley of Antler creek from Quartz gulch down nearly to the
junction of Grouse creek is a steep-sided rock canyon over 200 feet deep.
Bedrock outcrops in the bottom of it a short distance below the mouth
of Quartz gulch and for 13 miles downstream the valley flat averages only
about 100 feet in width. In the lower part the flat widens and near the
mouth of Grouse creek is 300 to 400 feet wide. A broad flat covered with
tailings occupies the lower part of Grouse Creek valley for nearly a mile
up from the mouth. The lower part of Pleasant valley at its junction
with the Grouse Creek flat is a narrow rock canyon, the old channel
apparently being buried under drift on the south side. St. Lawrence
creek coming from the south joins Grouse creek at the road above the
Waverly pits. It formerly flowed, in its lower part, east down a drift-
filled valley to Quartz gulch. This valley lies between a rock hill thinly
veneered with drift, on the north side, and a steep slope with bedrock
outcropping in places, on the south side; and in its upper part is only a
few feet above the level of Grouse creek. Borings in the valley bottom
near the upper end show the ground to be 30 feet deep. Borings in the
flat along the old Waverly channel, extending from the head of the pit to
the head of Grouse creek, show the ground to have a maximum depth of
about 80 feet.

Gold was discovered on Grouse creek in 1861. The Discovery claim,
as shown by Bowman’s map of Grouse creek, was below the bend and about
half a mile above the Heron claim—which later became the most famous
ground on the creek. ‘‘Grouse creek was mined to a limited extent in
1861-62 and then abandoned until 1864, when the Heron claim was located
onit. After an expenditure of $150,000 the Heron claim yielded $300,000.
Under the supposition that the ground was worked out, it was then sold for
$4,000; but on cutting an outlet 18 inches deeper the claim continued to
yield from 80 to 100 ounces a week throughout the ensuing season. The
creek was again abandoned until 1866 when the lead was rediscovered; and
the Heron, Discovery, and other claims yielded from $15,000 to $20,000 to
the share, raising the creek to the dignity of one of the principal mining
fields in Cariboo for the ensuing season. In 1867, thirty-five mining
companies were at work; a sawmill was in operation, and two respectable
villages sprang up in the valley. The Heron Company, in March, 1867,
paid a dividend of $800 to the share and the Full Rig Company a dividend
of $200 for a week’s work. ‘These companies worked out the lead for 1,000
feet on the channel; above and below them it could not be found. In May,
1867, the Black Hawk and Canadian companies were seeking it by a tunnel
and incline. The Water Witch Company sank a shaft near the middle of the
creek, and drifted into deep ground, causing an excitement, but it proved
to be only an undulation like that in the Hard-up Company’s tunnel.’’!
The Black Hawk claim was just above the Heron ground, and the Full Rig
just below Discovery claim. Above Discovery were the James Tunnel,

1Bancroft, H. H.: ‘‘History of British Columbia’’, pp. 493-494. -