Gold Districts of California

CAMPTONVILLE

Camptonville, in northeast Yuba County and western Sierra County, adjoins the Pike district on the east. Rich gold discoveries were made here in 1850-51. The town was named in 1854 for Robert Campton, the local blacksmith. The Pelton wheel, long used in mining machinery and electric generators, was invented here by Lester Pelton. The old town is now a tourist attraction. A number of moderate-sized deposits of Tertiary channel gravel were mined by hydraulicking. These include the deposits at Young's Hill, Weed's Point, and Galena Hill. They are part of the Tertiary Yuba River that extended southwest from Indian Hill to this district and then to North San Juan. Bedrock is amphibolite, slate, greenstone, and granodiorite.  

Excerpt from: Gold Districts of California, by: W.B. Clark, California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193, 1970. 

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