End of the Argonaut

The 2,000 home-grown citizens of Jackson, Calif. this week got shocking news: the fabulous Argonaut gold mine will close down within a month; its 225 miners must look for other jobs. Reason: guns, tanks & ships are not made from gold; WPB has turned down all appeals for needed supplies and equipment.

To Jackson the Argonaut is an institution, a legend, the town's chief claim to a niche in history. Grizzled, bourbon-swigging, pistol-packing prospectors first struck the Argonaut about 1848, were soon whooping it up in the noisy, ramshackle saloons & cafes of nearby Jackson. Broken and empty bottles so cluttered the muddy, wagon-rutted streets that the town got its first name: Botilleas. On the great oak that stood on Main Street more than ten men were strung up. When nearby Double Springs was made county seat in 1851, civic-minded Jacksonians dashed over on horseback, hijacked the county seals, papers and archives. Every election was a horse race, fast riders hit every town and camp, voted so often that ballots outnumbered voters 3-to-1.

A historymaker, the Argonaut was also a moneymaker. Deep in the heart of the incredibly rich Mother Lode vein, its 6,000-ft. shafts have carried up over $19,000,000 in gold since 1850. Much of this went to Jackson barkeepers, storekeepers and bawdy-house keepers, helped keep the town going when the expected factories and payrolls never appeared. Now the show is almost over.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.