Most histories of the California Mother Lode have focused on the mines around the American and Yuba Rivers. However, the Southern Mines - those centered around Calaveras County in the central Sierra - were also of importance in the development of California's mineral wealth. Calaveras Gold offers a detailed and meticulously researched history of mining and its economic impact in this region from the first discoveries in the 1840s until the present. Mining in Calaveras County covered the full spectrum of technology from the earliest placer efforts through drift and hydraulic mining to advanced...