S.F. Gaslight Co.

 Here is a gorgeous piece of western blown glass. These ammonia's are a category of collecting in themselves and I love the many colors they represent. This example has the "L" on the base, but "ammonia" is not in a slug plate. I would assume it is an earlier version due to the large applied top.

 Apparently, ammonia was a by-product of the manufacturing process for producing gas for the street gas lights. At least that is my understanding, but not being a chemist, I do not know for sure. It seems that in an age of cholera and other deadly bugs, sanitation was a major concern. This example looks like it is late 1870s, or early 1880s. These come in a myriad of colors with aqua being most prevalent. I have seen examples in every shade of green, amber,yellow, pink and clear with cobalt blue being extremely rare. It is interesting that the cobalt S.F. Gaslight bottles all come with a double roll collar applied top, and have a mold extension making them taller than the regular quart size "fat" style.  To find any colored quart with an applied top is rare, as most of the deeper emerald, yellow, amber and pink specimens have a smaller tooled top. I have seen half gallon sizes, pint and even inside screw thread quarts. Obviously ammonia was a very well used product as there are hundreds of unembossed ammonias found as well.

 I have been very curious for years as to why there are so many colors and styles which were designed for these beautiful bottles. Why are the cobalt examples always the taller double roll style, and the pink specimens always the regular quart size with a tooled top? The deep emerald coloration always seems to come in the tooled style as well. It would seem that these differences were by design, and not by default. Such is the case with the similar U.S.A. Hosp. Dept. bottles...almost the same range in colors, and for as serious of a product as medicines for our troops, one would think that the range of colors is product specific. Such is not the case with ammonia bottles as the product is consistent.
 Many colored ammonias were wrapped in wicker which causes one to think, that these bottles were re-used and needed to appear as part of one's home decor. Every wicker wrapped quart I find, is pretty exciting as you never know what is under that wicker!
 There are some incredible collections of embossed, and unembossed ammonias in collections. let's see your colored ammonias! DM

Cal49er sent along a few pictures of his ammonia's ENJOY!

Thanks for the fantastic pictures!

Sierra County California Gold Rush History

The North Fork Flats
(From Downieville east to China Flat)
 

 

Map of The North Fork Flats

Rick Simi 2008

 

Jersey Flat

Located in what is now Downieville, Jersey Flat was discovered in 1849 and first called Murraysville. In 1850 the Jersey Company acquired the flat and it is reported at least two million dollars was mined here. The first post office in Downieville, opened on October 7, 1851, was located on Jersey Flat. Gold rush structures that are still in use on the flat include the Methodist Church, the Masonic Lodge and the former home and medical office of Dr. Jump.

 

Breyfogle Flat

This flat was located one mile east of Downieville and on the south side of the North Yuba River near Slate Castle Creek. The bench of river gravel below the flat was first mined from March to November of 1850 by the Breyfogle brothers for whom the flat was named. Gold rush pioneer George Hardy built a home at the flat sometime in1851 and it is said that by the beginning of 1852 Hardy and his family were farming a one hundred and fifty seven acre section of the flat.

It is also said the first white male born in the Downieville area, Joel Hardy, was born at the flat on April 28, 1852.

            The area that was first mined in 1850 is now covered by the Lure Resort and any evidence of gold rush activity has been erased. The flat that was farmed by the Hardy family is now the Slate Castle Ranch. Bottles from the 1880 – 1890 periods have been recovered from the flat but I have no evidence that gold rush bottles have been discovered from this area.

            On a field trip up Slate Castle Creek in the 1980’s I discovered a small camp that contained about five structure sites that could have housed cabins. At this site shards of black glass Hostetter’s Bitters were discovered along with other bottles dating from the mid to late 1860’s confirming a small mining camp could have existed during the waning years of the gold rush.

 

O’Donnel’s Flat

This flat was located three and one half miles east of Downieville on the present day road to Sierra City. There is some confusion on the name of this flat. Jim Sinnot in his Downieville book refers to it as McDonald Flat and Katie Willmarth Green, in her book Like a Leaf Upon the Current Cast, refers to it as O’Donnel Flat. Although no large settlement developed here this place is significant for the fact that it is said the Downie party camped and prospected here for several days in the fall of 1849 before making their way to the site of Downieville.

O’Donnel’s Flat was large enough to be a polling place and in 1854 fifty two votes were cast here in the general election and an advertisement from the Sierra Citizen (reproduced at left) shows W.N. Farrin running a general store at about the same time. This place in later years became known as the McCarty Ranch and in 1911 the house at the ranch was destroyed by fire. The State of California Highway Maintenance Station now occupies O’Donnel’s Flat.

 

 

New York Flat

A short distance north of O’Donnel’s Flat a small settlement developed at New York Flat in the early 1850’s and was home to the Louis Barnhardt family and stage and express man John Garnossett. Fires in 1871 and 1880 destroyed these homes. Several small open pontil bottles were found at this site documenting the age of this early settlement. Today two partially caved in basements mark this site.
 

 Shady Flat

One of the mining districts of Sierra County that was laid out in the early 1850’s was that of Shady Flat. This flat is located four miles east of Downieville on the present day Highway 49. D.L. Whitney built and operated a sawmill at Shady Flat in 1855 and the remains of a stone wall which could have been the site of the sawmill still exists. One structure dating from the depression era remains at Shady Flat.

 

Mobile Flat

 By the mid 1850’s a small settlement was started at this flat located about a half mile east of Shady Flat. In 1858 there is mention of Dunham’s Store and Frank Beaver’s place located at this flat. In the early 1870’s a man by the name of Big Bill was advertising as the proprietor of the Shoo Fly Saloon at Mobile Flat. (reproduced at right)

 

Field research indicates that a camp indeed existed during the 1870’s and early 1880’s on the north side of the Yuba River at this site. Although it is said a gold rush camp was located at this site, the flooding of the Yuba River over the years, I believe, has erased any evidence of the gold rush camp. I do not have any confirmation of gold rush bottles being discovered at Mobile Flat.  During the flood of 1997 what remained of Mobile Flat was washed somewhere downstream and today only one caved in basement still remains at this site.

Jim Crow

The supposed settlement that sprang up in the early 1850’s at the mouth of Jim Crow Creek was named after Jim Crow, a Kanaka who was a member of Major Downie’s party that first prospected the North Yuba in the fall of 1849. It is hard to determine how many structures, if any, were located at this site which is now covered by the Shangri La Resort. I have not had any confirmation of gold rush bottles or even pieces of them being found at this site. Shards of gold rush era bottles have been discovered at three small flats located a short distance southwest of this site and these possibly could have been the site of Jim Crow.

 

Crow City

Located about two miles up the river from the supposed site of Jim Crow is a small settlement or camp which the Author contends could have been the site of Crow City. No structures remain, but when the Author visited the area several flats and partially caved in root cellars could still be recognized. The drink of choice for residents of Crow City must have been Old Sachem Bitters and Wigwam Tonic judging by the amount of broken examples of this bottle discovered at this site. As remote and out of the way as this settlement was I can imagine it sits just as I left it twenty some years ago.

Lots of shards of Old Sachem's were found at Crow City

 

Secret Canyon

Directly across from O’Donnels Flat and the present day State Highway Maintenance Station Secret Canyon flows into the Yuba River. It is said that the Major Downie party camped and prospected at O’Donnels Flat in the fall of 1849, but the small flat across the Yuba River at the mouth of Secret Canyon has always been of interest to the Author as a probable place that a part or all of the Downie party of twelve men could have camped and prospected. Documenting this contention is the fact that the amount of open pontil bottles and artifacts that have been discovered at this site by the Author and friends could have been the amount used by a party of twelve men camping for several days or say a week. The other fact weighing in favor of this being the site of Downie’s first camp on the North Yuba is that it is on the side of the river that the party had descended down from Secret Canyon.

            On a trail from the mouth of Secret Canyon toward the ridge about two miles is the site of a small gold rush settlement that is unnamed and is not generally known. This camp or settlement consisted of four to six structures and the bottles and artifacts discovered at the site dated from the late 1850’s to the late 1860’s. Several visits to this site and extensive research have yet to provide a name for this camp. Secret Canyon to this day holds the secret of this small settlement.
 

 

Open pontil utility bottles of the type found at Secret Canyon

 

 

49er Bottle & Antique Show

                                

                              It's just around the corner!

 

                This years Western Round-up Display featuring
                             Cundurango's & Rosenbaum's 

Diggin' News

Here's a couple of pictures sent in from fellow digger and western bitters collector Don Dwyer and digging partner Chris Cumberland. This M. Cronan and several other bottles came out of a small trash pit here in the gold country just last week 

 

 

Nice layer shot of this western fifth

 

 

Some of the bottles recovered from the trash pit

 

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Thanks for the pictures Don and Chris!

S.T. Drake's COLOR Run

 

 

The Reno Shootout Drake's

 

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Check out www.peachridgeglass.com for more on the

Drake's Plantation Bitters and other interesting bottle collecting information

Diggin' Season is just Around the Corner

 

 

 

I Can Tell by the Color of the Trees!

Recent Acquisitions

The Bryant's "cone" Stomach Bitters

Congratulations to a fellow western collector on the recent acquisition of one of the rarest and most desirerable of the early bitters bottles - The Bryant's Stomach Bitters cone style variant with pontil base. At this time I do not have any details on the acquisition but thought all of you would enjoy sharing the excitement of adding a very desirable bottle to your collection.

 

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G.N.W. Bryant created what has become one of the most sought after bitters containers in the bottle collecting community. These bottles were manufactured in the east and it is believed distributed exclusively in the west during the years 1857 – 1861. The firm of William Newell & Co, an early San Francisco wholesale liquor house, were the agents for Bryant’s Stomach Bitters on the Pacific Coast.

In his advertisements Bryant claimed his bitters were an unrivaled stomach corrector and had no equal at restoring the vital energy of the entire system. He recommended a half a glass of his wine bitters before meals to impart a keen relish for food.
I believe there are less than a dozen of the cone bitters in original or repaired condition in private collections

The Two Bryant's Products

Bryan't's Ladies Leg and Cone Bitters

Meyer Collection



COMPOUND

FLUID EXTRACT
OF MANZANITA
Drs. McDONALD and LEVY
SACRAMENTO CITY
CALIFORNIA
Circa: 1853

In 1849, a year after gold was discovered at Sutter’s Mill; Richard McDonald opened a drug store at 143 J Street in Sacramento California. McDonald’s first drug store was operated from a wood and tent structure and sometime in 1852 he took as a partner a Mr. Levy. Sometime in 1853 the partners started a traveling drug store to supply remote mining camps with medicinal supplies. McDonald and Levy’s idea of taking a wagon load of medicine and drugs to the miners was not revolutionary but their timing was perfect, few if any early mining camps at that time had a drug store. The traveling drug store was a huge success and by 1853 The Miners Drug Store of Sacramento was firmly established. Levy left the partnership around 1854 and quite possibly the embossed bottle that they are responsible for was made for only one year.

            By early 1860 the R.H. McDonald Co. was primarily a wholesale drug business with a branch office in San Francisco and an agent for William T. Cutter Whisky. One of McDonald’’s best selling products was J. Walker’s Vinegar Bitters and was responsible for the great success of his company. McDonald died in Montreal Canada in 1903.

Relation to Sierra County California

The Compound Fluid Extract of Manzanita bottle produced by McDonald and Levy is said to have contained a remedy for the rash from poison oak or ivy.

Two undamaged examples of the Manzanita bottle were found at the early gold rush settlement of American Hill by the Author in 1993. One whole example was purchased from the Forest City museum by a bottle dealer in the late 1990’s and sold at a Glassworks Auction.  Both American Hill and Forest City are located near the Henness Pass Road, an early wagon road used to reach the gold rush camps in western and southern Sierra County. The discovery of these bottles near a major gold rush road and the abundance of poison oak in that vicinity lead the author to believe that Dr. Levy’s traveling medicine show quite possibly visited the area during gold rush times. The McDonald and Levy extract of Manzanita bottle is considered very rare.

What Happened?

John T. & William H. Daly

John T and William H. Daly, wholesale liquor dealers located in New York City, bottled several types of spirits from the early 1850's and into the 1860's. William Newell and Company, located in San Francisco, were the west coast's sole agents for the Daly brothers products during this period.

William H. Daly bottle

 

There are three variants of the Daly whiskey shaped bottle: the John T. and William H. Daly shoulder embossed, William H. Daly with the John T. slugged out shoulder embossed and the William H. Daly with no slugged out area. The John T. and William H. Daly is, I believe the first and earliest variant as all examples I have examined have a sticky ball pontil on the base.

Shoulder embossing on the Daly's

The William H. with the John T. slugged out appears to be the second variant and the William H. with no slugged out area the third. All three variants of the Daly bottle contained Aromatic Valley Whiskey and were advertised as a "medicinal whiskey"

William H. Daly, listed as sole proprietor in 1859, claimed that "Produced as it is, by a process only known to the manufacturer, and extracted from the choicest grain, which grows nowhere, but in a favored location in the Valley of the Monongahela and contains no deleterious admixture".

Counterfeiting Daly's best selling products, during the gold rush era, seems to have been a problem for Daly, as can be seen by this advertisement from the January 1860 Nevada journal.

CAUTION 

It has come to my knowledge, that parties in San Francisco have resorted to the base artifice of attempting to forage my label, with some slight alterations using the name "Delays" instead of "DALY'S AROMATIC WHISKEY" and also using the name "Cumberland" instead of "MONONGAHELA"

These bogus labels have been put on bottles of entirely different shape from mine, containing the commonest trash and packed in cases intended to imitate and branded similar to the genuine, using the name "Delays" instead of "DALY'S" Dealers in the inferior as well as consumers are cautioned not to be imposed on by this bogus article. Particular attention is called to the shape of the bottle, which is unlike any other, and also th the name "WILLIAM H. DALY, NEW YORK" blown in each bottle.

I have no fears of this or any other spurious article interfering with the sale of my "AROMATIC VALLEY WHISKEY" but I cannot allow such a base fraud to be practiced upon honest merchants and the unsuspecting consumer without noticing it.

 

Wm. H. Daly

Sole Proprietor

New York

 

There it is in a nutshell, one of the reasons that manufacturers, proprietors and sole agents had their names embossed on their bottles and sought out unusual shapes to bottle their products in. This counterfeiting was not unique to the Daly brothers. Udolpho Wolfe's Schnapps, Dr. Rosenbaum's Bitters, A.P. Hotaling,s Cutter brands are a few that immediatly come to mind of the many products that were being fraudulently copied and pawned off to the public as the genuine article. 

 

 

 John T. is slugged out on this example

 

The Daly bottles are usually pretty crude and often filled with hundreds of seed bubbles and swirls in the glass. These bottles are considered common and collecting all three variants of this whiskey is an affordable and very nice addition to a gold rush collection. “Any real gold rush bottle collection has a Daly’s”

 

The Daly’s Aromatic Valley Whiskey was a very popular brand of whiskey in Sierra County during the gold rush era. The majority of early Sierra County merchants purchased bulk whiskey and bottled it on site in any container that was available for sale to patrons. These “bottled on site” whiskeys were often flavored and watered down with whatever was handy at the time. A bottle that had the agents name embossed on the glass and was sealed at the distillery or warehouse where it was bottled guaranteed the buyer “Genuine Goods” that were not tampered with.
 

Examples and shards of this bottle have been found in almost all of the camps, settlements and towns located in the North Yuba, Over North and Alleghany area. Three whole examples were found in Brandy City. The author found a dark green example sticking out of an eroded bank at Excelsior in 1988. A mint example of the William H. with the John T. slugged out was found at the site of the early gold rush settlement of Little Grizzly in 1982. Other camps in which the Daly has been found include: The Sierra Buttes Mine, Independence, Chaparral Hill, Downieville and Morristown. Of all the gold rush camps in Sierra County Monte Cristo, by far, has produced the most examples of the Daly bottle.

 

 

 





Alleghany, Sierra County California

Located on a sloping hillside Alleghany developed from several mining settlements that were begun in the early 1850’s. Alleghany became a town in 1853 when some of the people of these earlier mining settlements gravitated to a location better fitted for a larger community. These early settlements included Smith’s Flat ; north of the site of the Sixteen to One Mine, Kanaka Flat; two miles southwest of Alleghany, Cumberland; northeast of Alleghany and Kanaka City; a mile and a half northeast of Alleghany. Before “Alleghany” became the name of the town the settlement was called Jericho and Alleghanytown. The first miners to settle at the location of the town were from the Allegheny region of Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1853 several of these miners began the running of a drift tunnel which they named the Alleghany Tunnel, spelling the name with an “a” instead of an “e” to distinguish it from the region in Pennsylvania. This being one of the first and most important tunnel workings the town dropped its earlier names and adopted the name Alleghany.

Early advertisers often embellished the size of a client’s establishment.

               Alleghany doesn’t have a large enough piece of flat ground to accommodate this structure.

 

            Smith’s Flat; later to become part of the town of Alleghany, was quite possibly the earliest area mined at Alleghany. Starting sometime in 1851 the hydraulic and ground sluicing workings were yielding gold and quartz nuggets ranging in value from $1000 to $5000. Drift tunnels were run from Smith’s Flat underneath the ridge between Alleghany and Forest City during 1853 to reach the ancient river channel to further exploit this gold bearing region. From the mid 1850’s to the beginning of the 1860’s the placer deposits  around Alleghany were becoming worked out and attention turned to the discovery and development of lode mines.

            By the late 1850s’ Alleghany had become a full fledged town with all number of business houses. Hotels, general merchandise stores, saloons, a bank, attorneys and an express office

run by Langton & Company were but a few of the commercial enterprises in this gold rush town.  The late 1850’s and through the 1860’s was a time of limited production from the mines of the

Alleghany area. Discovery and development of the areas hard rock mines was underway and large amounts of capital was being invested in the various mining ventures but gold production declined during this period.

            Beginning in 1870 and continuing well into the 1930’s mining activity “took off” with one discovery after another of important mining properties. The Oriental, Kenton, Plumbago, Rainbow, Osceola, Dreadnaught and Red Ledge were but a few of the mines producing large amounts of gold. Then in 1907 the greatest of all mines in Sierra County, The Sixteen-to-One, was discovered. The Sixteen-To-One has over the years produced a conservatively estimated thirty six million dollars in gold, over twice the production of The Sierra Buttes Mine, Sierra County’s second greatest producer of gold.

            Alleghany today has a population of about one hundred and twenty permanent residents and only one operating business, a saloon. The Sixteen-To-One Mine, in continuous operation since 1907, is still producing gold today.

 

 

  

Gold rush settlements of the Alleghany - Lafayette Ridge area

The 16 to 1 Mine Alleghany California

Last year we visited the 16 to 1 mine in Alleghany California. Mine operator Mike Miller headed a tour for members of the Sierra County Planning Commision and invited guests.
Thought you might enjoy the pictures from the tour. By the way some really early bottles have been recovered from the 16 to 1 property and surrounding area.

 

Sixteen to One portal

 

 

Looking out from the portal

 

 

Miners, mining cars and mine operator Mike Miller (in straw hat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Y" at the 800' level

 

 

Sign with the bell signals

 

 

Looking out of the shaft

 

 

Sierra County Gold!

 

 

 

Some ebay Offerings

While surfing ebay this evening I noticed several nice western bottles up for auction.

 

This beautiful Owl Drug is being offered by the seller  jarguy

 

 

A very nice African Stomach Bitters is available from the seller privywitch and............ here's three western whiskies being offered by privywitch for your consideration

 

 

 

 

 

How about this stunning Old Pioneer Whiskey from Leisalu

 

 

 

 If your looking for a nice western bottle to add to your collection and can't wait til December for the Auburn Bottle Show here's a nice sampling of what's available online - - - Good luck bidding!

 

 

 

 

Dudley; do right?

Here's a quickie follow up to Rick's past couple of posts.

 

I was able to locate Dudley & Co., the apparent sole proprietor of Dr. Harvey's Blood Bitters in San Francisco almanacs starting in 1889, the same year as his now infamous advertisement appeared.

 

 

1889 Langley S.F. Directory.

 

However, no record in 1889 McKenney Directory.

A little more in terms of concrete evidence appeared by way of Dudley's first name (no not "do right") and his place of residence; Oakland. Additional listings appear for Dudley & Co. from 1890 - 1892.
 

1890 Langley S.F. Directory.

 

1890 S. F. Accurate Index Directory.

 

 

1891 Langley S.F. Directory.

 

1892 Langley S.F. Directory.

 

 

 

Looks like Dudley did indeed "do right" for a very short period in time. And then, as quick as he surfaced, he disappeared.

Not listed in the 1893 Langley S.F. Directory. Not listed in the 1893 S.F. Telephone Directory.

No reference to Arey and or A.A. Dudley & Co. is present in either in prior or subsequent directories.

The 1899 Sanborn Fire map clearly shows the 111 Minna Street address, but instead of a patent medicine dealer occupying the location, it shows a Syrup Manufacturer. Oddly enough, 113 Minna boldy lists it's occupancy as a "Patent Medicine Fact...

 

 

With Dudley gone, one wonders who picked up the slack and if Dr. Harvey's Blood Bitters continued to be manufactured at 113 Minna in plain paper label bottles.

 

Regardless, this area was one of the first to turn into a big black spot on the ground the morning of April 18th, 1906...

A quick post script.

I picked up Arey's trail in the Oakland directories. He is listed as a "chemist" in 1889, residing at 1222 Franklin in Oakland. No mention of him for a few years until he resurfaced in 1903 as a Real Estate salesman living at 166 E. 15th St. There is no mention of him in society directories and no record of him ever having a telephone. This indicates that he lived a pretty meager lifestyle and, like the used car saleman of today, was an opportunist always looking for greener pastures. Pastures that seem to elude him.