Purchase our DVD "COPPER & GOLD MINING" for $12.25 (includes tax & shipping).

 2012 - "COPPER & GOLD MINING" third DVD in our series called "Landmarks & Legends". Frontier communities based on precious metals such as gold and silver were short-lived. When the vein ran out, the community often turned into a ghost town....But some of these mining communities got a second chance when base metals for industry, such as copper, lead, and zinc came into demand....and that demand reinforced the development of the American West. Shasta County was one of those areas affected by gold and silver and then base metals, especially copper. This video is not a documentary on mining. It covers only a few of the mines in our county, and were chosen, not by their importance, but by the photographs and stories that folks have shared with us - wonderful photos taken during the Copper Boom in the 1900's. It tells of the "boom" and prosperity at the time, along with the toxic devastation to the lands. Most of the Copper Boom towns lie under the waters of Shasta Lake. Also, folks sent photos/stories about gold mining towns that were just too interesting to pass up. We have enhanced the video with fun, short news quips taken from vintage CA newspapers. A few of the mines & towns are: Walker Mine, Buckeye, Churntown, Quartz Hill, Washington Mine, French Gulch, Iron Mountain, Balakala Smelter, Coram, Mammoth Mine & Smelter, Kennett, Bully Hill Smelter, Copper City, Ydalpom (the Wintu Native American village), Heroult, Afterthought Mine and Ingot. Sample photos below:

Many photographs shown on our website are personal photos and can not be used for commercial purposes in any form. Please contact us for permission of use on any reproduction of any of the photographs within our website. Thank you.