Blue Mountain City and Mitchell Mill by Alan H. Patera and Wally Motloch (Western Places Vol 9-3)

Blue Mountain City and Mitchell Mill by Alan H. Patera and Wally Motloch
Western Places Volume 9-3

Even people familiar with California mining camps may not have heard of Blue Mountain City.  It blossomed later, after the Gold Rush, and was further east than the main camps and the well-traveled routes between them.  Little was written about it in its heyday; it was difficult to get to then, and nearly inaccessible today by way of Forest Service roads.  Yet, there it was, a town with hotels, stores, a post office, and a brief flurry of mining activity, chiefly about the Heckendorn mine.

The first time I heard of Blue Mountain is when I was exploring the post office sites of Calaveras County.  Most were pretty easy to get to, but Blue Mountain was a puzzle.  I could see the mountain of that name on the map, but even the best maps showed a squiggle of roads in the area, and I didn't know exactly where the post office had been located.  The people I talked to that might know the location didn't.  So I visited all the other sites in the county, including Mitchell Mill, and Blue Mountain remained a mystery.

Therefore It was fortuitous that I met Wally Motloch, who not only had an interest in the area, but had actually been to Blue Mountain City and found the Heckendorn mine.  I quickly signed o to a visit to Blue Mountain, and with great personal pleasure the venture has resulted in this publication.

Paperback 29 pages