While the term mercury belonged to the language of science, quicksilver was the term commonly used by capitalist and miners. This book is the complete history of the New Idria Quicksilver Mining District. New Idria was once a thriving community lost away on the eastern slope of Central California's Coast Range. Measured by total production, New Idria was the world's fourth largest quicksilver mine, and for a time the world's largest producer. Today it is a decrepit ghost town-population zero. This book tells in detail how an 1852 silver mining scam led to discovery of rich cinnabar deposits,...

San Benito Mountain and Joaquin Rocks are two very different places tied together by the same ridge. San Benito Mountain is the highest peak in California's Diablo Range. It is the crown atop a huge serpentine zone surrounded by public land in the historic New Idria Mining District. Joaquin Rocks, also on public land, are composed entirely of sandstone that form three monolithic pinnacles that crown an ancient sacred Native American landscape. This book provides important historical background about the various places-names in the regions and the activity that marked their place in time-in...

Joaquin Murrieta: The True Story from News Reports of the Period describes Joaquin Murrieta through various newspaper accounts reported during the period contemporary with this famous character. Joaquin Murrieta was a notorious bandit during California's Gold Rush era. This is the only book to include a large compilation of the various documented accounts under a single cover. The reader is given the evidence to examines without extraneous commentary and allowed to determine for themselves the truth about Joaquin Murrieta. No other book provide such an extensive compilation of documented...