Finding Aid to the Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California records, 1863-1924
Lara Michels
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2012
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Finding Aid to the Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California records, 1863-1924
Collection number: BANC MSS C-G 127
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
- Finding Aid Author(s):
- Lara Michels
- Date Completed:
-
2012
- Finding Aid Encoded By:
- GenX
© 2012 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California records
Date (inclusive): 1863-1924
Collection Number: BANC MSS C-G 127
Creator:
Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California
Extent:
6 cartons, 7 oversize boxes, 2 boxes
(12.5 linear feet)
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The records of the Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California, including correspondence, reports, property records, legal
records, financial records, and a few photographs.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Information for Researchers
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for
any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California records, BANC MSS C-G 127, The Bancroft Library,
University of California, Berkeley
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Mariposa Commerical and Mining Company
Mariposa Land and Mining Company--Archives
Mariposa Mining Company of New York
Hydroelectric power plants--California--Mariposa County
Mine accidents--California--Mariposa County
Mines and mineral resources--California--Mariposa County
Mining corporations--California--Mariposa County
Bear Valley (Mariposa County, Calif.)
Las Mariposas Rancho (Calif.)
Mariposa (Calif.)
Account books--California--Mariposa County
Billheads--California--Mariposa County
Cashbooks--California--Mariposa County
Financial records--California--Mariposa County
Leases
Photographs
Reports
Administrative Information
Accruals
No additions are expected.
Processing Information
Processed by Lara Michels in 2012.
Administrative History
In 1863, the Mariposa Mining Company of New York was established to organize mining operations on the 70 square miles of John
C. Fremont's Las Mariposas Estate in Mariposa County, California. The estate encompassed Bear Valley and was encircled by
Mount Bullion on the east and the lower foothills of the Sierra Nevada on the west. The Merced River ran along the northern
line of the property. The Mariposa Mining Company operated, with some difficulty and constant litigation over title to the
estate, until 1874, when it was bought out by the newly formed Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California, which assumed
complete ownership of the Mariposa Estate. This new company owned and managed all facets of life on the estate, including
the mines, water power, quartz mills, mill dams, engines, ore houses, dwellings, and stores. The principal mines on the estate
were the Princeton, Josephine, Pine Tree, Linda, Green Gulch, Mariposa, and Mount Orphir mines. Ore was treated at the Orphir
Mills, located on the Merced River and powered by means of the Benton Dam (and, after 1900, by the Benton Mills hydroelectric
power plant).
Scope and Content of Collection
The bulk of the collection consists of the records of the Mariposa Land and Mining Company of California and its successor,
the Mariposa Commercial and Mining Company. There are also a few records from the Mariposa Mining Company of New York, which
was the first corporation to manage the Mariposa Estate (1863-1874). Included are correspondence (1875-1923) mostly to and
from the company’s manager and secretary; mill reports (1904-1913); assay reports (1869-1913); reports on gold production
and development work on the mines and estate; a large number of leases for tenants on the estate; lists of tenants on the
estate; other documents relating to estate property, including recordings of legal proceedings relating to the disputes over
title to the Mariposa Estate that took place in the period between 1863 and 1874; legal files documenting accidents at the
mines; other legal files; financial records, including annual financial statements, cash account statements, cash books (including
three from the 1860s and early 1870s that show purchases of supplies from local stores and include lists of local Chinese
miners employed by the company), billheads, and mine employee payroll lists from 1887 to 1916; powder reports; materials relating
to the operation of the Benton Mills Power Plant; and two photographs of the Princeton mine and its surroundings.
Container Listing
Series 1:
Correspondence.
1875-1923
Physical Description:
carton 1; carton 2, folder 1-13; oversize box 1; folder 1-6; oversize box 2
carton 1, folder 1-27
Correspondence,
1875-1909
carton 2, folder 1-12
Correspondence,
1910-1923
oversize-box 1, folder 1-5
Correspondence (letterpress books),
1899-1906
oversize-box 2, folder 1-6
Correspondence (letterpress books),
1906-1913
Series 2:
Reports and Administrative.
1869-1915
Physical Description:
carton 2, folder 14-33; carton 3, folder 1-14; oversize box 4, folder 5; oversize box 7, folder 1-3
carton 2, folder 26
Report of Assays,
1869-1871
carton 2, folder 27-33
Assay reports and certificates,
1893-1908
oversize-box 7, folder 1-3
carton 3, folder 1-6
Assay reports and certificates,
1909-1913
carton 3, folder 7
Gold production and bullion deposits,
1895-1914
oversize-box 4, folder 5
Production statements,
1900-1909
carton 3, folder 8
Ore data and bars,
1902-1915
carton 3, folder 9
Report on the Princeton Mine,
1901
carton 3, folder 10-13
Mine development work,
1899-1907
carton 3, folder 14
Applications for employment,
1905-1906
Series 3:
Property.
1861-1918
Physical Description:
carton 3, folder 15-18; carton 4, folder 1-21; oversize box 2, folder 7; box 2, folder 2
carton 4, folder 16
Abstract of title of the Louis Trabucco Garden near Bear Valley, Mariposa County, Calif.,
1861-1887
carton 4, folder 17
Leases/tenants on the Mariposa Estate,
1878-1914
box 2, folder 2
Tenants on the Estate account book,
1889-1890
carton 4, folder 18-19
Property records, assorted,
1874-1918
carton 4, folder 20
Deeds and mortgages,
1861-1875
carton 4, folder 21
Mining Claim application for Grays Flat Placer,
1875
oversize-box 2, folder 7
Record of legal actions regarding land and property of the Mariposa Company and the Mariposa Estate,
1864-1881
Series 4:
Legal.
1902-1924
Physical Description:
carton 4, folder 22-24; carton 5, folder 1-7
carton 4, folder 22-24
Mine accidents, legal documents,
1902-1924
carton 5, folder 1
Mine accidents, legal documents,
1905
carton 5, folder 2-6
Legal documents, assorted,
circa 1902-1905
carton 5, folder 7
C.W. Langan vs. Mariposa Commercial and Mining Company,
circa 1915
Series 5:
Financial, Insurance, and Supplies.
1863-1919
Physical Description:
carton 5, folder 9-33; carton 6, folder 1-30; box 2, folder 1, 3-5; oversize box 3; oversize box 4, folder 1-4, 7-8; oversize
box 5; oversize box 6
carton 5, folder 8
List of shareholders,
1908
carton 5, folder 9
Shareholder records for the Mariposa Mining Company,
1863-1865
oversize-box 5, folder 1-5
Journal entries,
circa 1902-1914
oversize-box 6, folder 1-4
Journal entries,
circa 1908-1911
carton 5, folder 10-23
Statement of accounts,
1899-1917
box 2, folder 5
Statement for the year,
1904
oversize-box 4, folder 1-3
Monthly cost sheets,
1905-1906
oversize-box 4, folder 7
Receipts and disbursements,
1906-1911
carton 5, folder 24-33
Payroll lists and summaries,
1887-1916
oversize-box 3, folder 1-8
oversize-box 4, folder 4
Petition for deductions from payroll for relief of injured worker's family,
1902
carton 6, folder 3
Receipts for hauling concentrates,
1905-1913
carton 6, folder 4-16
Financial statements,
1881-1910
carton 6, folder 17
Statement of the Alice Mine,
undated
carton 6, folder 18
Cost sheet for the Dam on the Merced River,
circa 1900
carton 6, folder 26
Trial balance sheets,
1906-1909
carton 6, folder 27
Commercial contracts,
1903-1905
carton 6, folder 29
Merchandise segregation,
1910-1916
carton 6, folder 30
Financial, miscellaneous,
circa 1902-1914
carton 6, folder 31-33
Insurance,
circa 1908-1911
carton 6, folder 34
Equipment correspondence,
1899-1906
carton 6, folder 35
Assessment lists and inventories,
1873-1914
carton 6, folder 36
Supplies received and consumed,
1877-1905
Series 6:
Benton Mills Power Plant and Powder Reports.
1877-1911
Physical Description:
carton 6, folder 37-45; box 1, folder 1-5
carton 6, folder 37-40
Powder reports,
1877-1905
carton 6, folder 41-45
Benton Mills Power Plant,
1902-1911
box 1, folder 1-5
Benton Mills Power Plant,
1902-1911
Series 7:
Photographs and Other Pictorial.
circa 1900-1915
Physical Description:
box 1, folder 6; oversize box 4, folder 6
oversize-box 4, folder 6
Maps, drawings, and specifications,
1900-1915
