Most of the lode gold produced in the county to 1959 came from mines of the Mother Lode which were developed in the early 1850's. Two of these, the Union and Church mines, produced $600,000 in gold before 1868 (Clark and Carlson, 1956, p. 427). The Union was the largest in this district, with a total gold production of $2,700,000 to $5 million ...Web