Gold Mines of Los Angeles County

It is with deep sadness and regret that we wish to inform you our beloved husband, loving father, fearless explorer and fine friend Hugh Blanchard passed away on Sunday, November 23rd 2008 after an accidental fall while hiking in the Castaic Mine area.  He did not suffer that we know of and he never regained consciousness.  He lived a long full life and died doing what he most loved.

We would like to thank his friends that were with him during his last adventure for all of their efforts, and to all of his friends we thank you for your good companionship and many, many happy memories over the years.  To all who met Hugh through this website, we thank you for touching him through this site and making his life an even fuller one.

Please spare a thought, a song or prayer for him when you are looking at the mountains, the flowers and the wilderness he loved so much.

We will all miss him dearly.

This site consists of several articles on hard rock mining primarily gold mining mostly in Los Angeles County. My intent is to preserve local mining history. Several of these articles have appeared in the Lookout, the publication of the Hundred Peaks Section of the Sierra Club and the Explorer, the publication of the local chapter of the National Speleological Society.

My sincere appreciation to John W. Robinson who has contributed so much to local history with his several books and trail guides on local mountains including much information on mining history.

My thanks also to the many individuals that assisted me in this search. They include Dell Quick, Dan & Betty Veelik,  Roger Brown, David Lew, Richard Collier, Kevin Copley, Curt Wheeler, Eric & Mike Bull, Dave Bowman, Daven Gray, David Aitkin, Frank Toothaker, Troy Phipps, and Jason Marmor. Most of them are members of the Southern California Grotto of the National Speleological Society. I am sure there are others whose names I have inadvertently omitted.

Also my deep indebtedness to Bil and Robin Lane, my son-in-law and daughter for producing this web-site for the computer challenged writer.

Questions, comments or concerns regarding this site? Contact us.