Moving Mountains - California
Posted by: 
Volcanoguy
N 40° 44.320 W 122° 59.761
10T E 500336 N 4509747
History sign at the La Grange viewpoint on Hwy. 299.
Waymark Code: WMG2MP
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 01/04/2013
Views: 1
History sign at the La Grange viewpoint on Hwy. 299 west of Weaverville, California. Text of Sign:
MOVING MOUNTAINS
Searching for Gold
Imagine a pile of dirt as big as 6 football fields and two miles high. That pile of dirt use to be where you are now standing. It is called Oregon Mountain. Hydraulic mining dissolved 90% of this mound in the quest for gold. From 1851 until 1933 Oregon Mountain was slowly washed down the Trinity River by “monitors.” This hydraulic mine was the largest in the world.
Building a Highway
The remaining 10% was washed away in search for another kind of gold . . . travel, tourism and trade. The California Department of Transportation liquidated what was left of Oregon Mountain to make a road cut. It took them 5 years of day and night washing with monitors to eliminate the mountain. In 1939 the last segment of Highway 299 was finished. The valley and coast were connected.
Group that erected the marker: U.S. Forest Service
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Hwy. 299
Weaverville, California United States
96093
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Visit Instructions:
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