Investigating The Lost Tillamook Gold Mine in Oregon's Coast Range
Investigating The Lost Tillamook Gold Mine in Oregon's Coast Range
The legend goes that Indians in the Oregon Coast Range had access to quality gold that they traded with early Oregon trappers and settlers, especially in Gales Creek and Forest Grove. When the mine brought pain to the tribe, the Indians covered it up forever and vowed never to speak of it. A Chinook housekeeper living with the White family on the Trask River floodplain, confided the location to the White’s youngest daughter on her deathbed. There, we get the clue that the gold mine was located in a black canyon where a stream enters into a small lake. I briefly explore the story, history, and possible locations of the mine, including Skookum Lake on private timberland and Blue lake in the Tillamook State Forest using Google Earth and CalTopo.
This video is in no way meant to be factual or a thorough exploration of the story. I don’t endorse trespassing on private property. If you do find the Gold with my tips though, all I ask is 10%. Thanks for watching 🙂
There is quartz everywhere in the tillamook hills, but no one ever finds gold. Ive panned in the kilchis river and a few creeks around it and never found anything.
Very interesting
Roaring River…..all I can say. To take gold, you better take sage. I have rights to a claim close by.. "Ask for it, just don’t walk in and expect".. from a local. Trust me, you’ll notice a difference between "not old enough ground" to being wide eyed. They say the same about the Clackamas River….watch my videos. 😉
On top of that, have you ever seen a mine that BLM covered. But you know it is there? Afterwards, a year later you’ll never know anything was there. You could literally step on it and not know. The Indians, when it was to obvious it was gonna be found……buried it.😉
Maybe. I dont know any coast range gold mines. Gonna visit?
Every stream in Washington and Oregon has gold. This is just another version of Eldorado which was I’m sure a gold vien of prolific proportions for the time but would have been mined out naturally and by people over time. Look to the streams and rivers.
Visited skookum lake over the weekend, highly unlikely for any minerals
Where’s your sources of the stories?
So we heard this story 4 years ago and went to the skookum lake. Got so scared when Bigfoot showed up we left. I’m so surprised that you made this video. Ive been telling this story almost word for word for the last 4 years. When we went looking for the mine we didn’t know it was big foot territory. I was so freaked out by the incident. I went home and googled what skookum translated in tillimook meant…. I’m not sure I’ll ever go back… my whole life flashed before my eyes when I saw that creature.
Yes I am a local and grew up near to scookum as a kid I would explore that area in and the lake would love to sleek about what I found around the area contact me chad about this
Chadrock1973@gmail.com
Talk faster so we can understand.
Can’t hear. Just a warning there’s bigfoot there and they are predators and the most terrifying scream will stop your heart and render your legs useless. Do not be outdoors at night for a second there. It was viscous to a woman and her kid so don’t think it will be nice to you or let you tresspass.
Rather difficult to follow along with your constant random clicking on the map and your hurried narration.
Hey YouTube why won’t you let me comment without scrambling my words ?
It is the blue bucket mine is also has high quality of gold
Been reading about this a bit looking for some more information. I live in Yamhill and am curious about placer mining done it a bit but never found anything in this area. I know there are some actively registered mines and claims around.
I believe it is in stemsin High country armed guards
I wonder if it has to do with the yellowstone hot-spot and the pyrclastic flows described in this excellent lecture. He specifically references Oregon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXEQeTg0Xww
Strange. Theres a skookum lake here in eastern Washington with the same old stories of big hairy forest monsters.
So you just looked it up online and didn’t actually go there? Garbage. Outdoors MY ASS. You were totally indoors.
It’s there .
I hope u got all the info that I sent practically lived up in millcr Fawcett cr area Simmons cr. Area east fork of Trask and tributaries know of other lakes and some others with no water in them anymore get ahold of me my name is Chad . Email me that area where you are talking was my back yard for 25 years
Very interesting
In My understanding a railroad was NEAR two hills DARK " WITH" NO SUN " RAIL ROAD GRADE" CHERRY GROVE Many trails indian trail map was promised 2 me but never got 1 more key " flying M" ranch "&" also KNOW " CADILLAC" SAM grand donde used 2 bring a load of ore every 6 MONTHES " or " so " thanks "4" sqoocum lake info 👌😎
Anyone find gold below or above the skookum lake?
What do you think, is there gold in them thar hills?
Excellent video brother
Well now thats why they made cheese instead.!.
& they never had an Utter catstrafee
Since.
I have the sound up as high as it goes and still cannot make out what is being said.. to bad. interesting story
Have ya gone and checked it out? Lived in Tillamook majority of my life. Definitely wanting to check it out. I’ve heard stories growing up and grandfather found some gold 30 years ago up there panning.
Dude can we please meet and talk please
Can’t imagine how this could be any more boring, maybe with a couple of McDonalds commercials…
An old man told me on his death bed some information on where the mine is
I have done some on the ground prospecting in many of these places. The geology is not right for gold. I am convinced it was shipwreck gold.
Most mineralized deposits have been at the start of North fork wilson and salmonberry River.
That’s interesting. Sometime examine the layout of the small pond on the creek running into Blue Lake at the headwaters of the N. Fk Wilson river.
Like the video
The story goes like this Through the dark woods past a lake and under a water fall. After extensive research and a lot of work I can now say we have found it. It is on government land and will never be fully explored due too the nature of the mine. It is under a waterfall extremely old,and now unstable. Rocks used to block the mine entrance 100 years ago by the indigenous people have shifted due to land slides and now exposed the entrance. With thick quartz veins running directly into the mine entrance. Once very large cedar timbers rotten to ground level lines the length of the mine. It split at 97ft both shafts have collapsed with only one man made item left for us to find 100 years later. The mine is in a wonderful magical place surrounded by beautiful forest. It needs to be protected.
Up close here right now
I am a gold miner…
Lidar Is the most magical tool I have ever stumbled upon!
Take new look 🙂
Ok i live out neer the tillamook forest area and have heard from someone of a abandoned mining town somewhere real deep within these forests anyone know of it?
For refereance if you’d know the round Salmonberry its around those parts.
I’m your 146 subscriber!
Look at map see what mining done here what done Mother planet provides everything you need live knowledge not harm.Leave her alone you violating her by doing it threat all life she’s living being never denied anything man denied all to children of worldwide what she provides to all man raped violated her tools she uses to provide keeping you safe are crimes lose right be here by doing so .
Who wants to go to skookum lake this spring ?? I’m ready , let me know
I would like to know where
Yo my sister used to find pebble sized gold nuggets out here and you even mentioned in the video two of the places she used to go, theres a small cabin out in the woods that is super old, Makes me wanna go back out there, this was about 20 years ago- theres tons of quartz out there, huge boulders-
Geologically speaking, the Tillamook Highlands (AKA Tillamook Volcanics) is really the only region of the Oregon Coast Range that has any gold potential. And it really doesn’t have much.
Several million years after a huge pile of basalt called "Siletzia" got scraped off onto N. American continent (~50Ma), N. America drifted over the top of the Yellowstone Hotspot (which is what generated Siletzia some millions of years earlier, out in the ocean) producing a lot of volcanism, mostly basaltic, but with a tiny bit of dacite and rhyolite. Associated with some of these silicic (higher silica, more evolved, less primitive magma) dikes in the the Tillamook Highlands are some hydrothermal veins containing a tiny bit of silver and gold.
So, could there be, somewhere in that area, a very high-grade gold deposit? If so, it would be very small — like a pocket gold deposit — and would be mined out very rapidly.
FWIW, in the 19th and 20th centuries, prospectors who didn’t know what they were doing were often prone to group hysteria, sometimes merely from finds of shiny yellow copper sulfides. Hordes would descend on an area and stake a bunch of claims, and little to zero gold would ever be found.
If you are a glutton for punishment and you want to do some panning in the Coast Range, or poke around for some exposed, mineralized quartz veins, check out this area:
https://goo.gl/maps/6duwqd3febX6rA2L7
That road was washed out years ago in the vicinity of some of the disbursed camping sites, so you might have to pull over and hike the rest of the way in.
Keep in mind 2 things: 1) You probably won’t recover even a spec of color (but bragging rights if you do), and 2) if you found a little high-grade deposit, you can’t stake a claim because it’s state land (but don’t worry about that, because you won’t.
However, if might well be a good area for rock hounding.
Hey man I just happened upon your video and I always find gold flakes in certain parts of gales Creek further up where I think it’s Jones Creek comes in and I always wanted to follow the water and keep testing pan in gold and you know try to find out that way your video makes me realize that I am right there’s some kind of gold deposit somewhere cuz there’s gold and gales Creek and nobody goes there people look at me like I’m a weirdo when I’m sitting down there panning. Also I’m a weirdo cool video though