2331
Natomas Co. (Gold Dredge) Records, CA, NV, c 1919-1955 [190749]
Currency:USD
Category:Collectibles / Mining
Start Price:2,000.00 USD
Estimated At:4,000.00 - 8,000.00 USD
CURRENT BID
0.00USD+ applicable fees & taxes.
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Live Online Auction Starts In
2025 Aug 09 @ 08:00 (UTC-07:00 : PDT/MST)
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A pickup truck load of original records from the famous Natomas Company, c 1919-1955. The collection contains about 1500 or more large sized equipment drawings, plant plans, site maps and more, as well as a number of production records.
The company ran gold dredges in California, Nevada, Alaska and possibly other places. History of the company has not been fully written, and much of what can be found online has to do with the ultimate byproduct - sand and gravel produced from their screening and crushing plants.
Natomas got its start in the massive gold fields around Folsom, California and the nearby town of Natoma. Later, Natomas dredges went to Oroville. One or more of their dredges can still be seen in Nome.
During WW2, the company was very active with Governmental projects.
The Natomas archive has been exposed and parted out over the years. Sacramento Americana dealer Wendall P. Hammon was the son of the Natomas president, and was given his name. Wendall sold parts of the archive from time to time. Other parts have made their way into various institutional historical archives. This group may be the last of the large groups of Natomas records. It is far from complete, yet offers very important windows into the company's operations, especially since late stage gold dredging is poorly recorded in mid-twentieth century historical works.
The archive shows activity in three Nevada placer sites: Battle Mountain (Greenan placers); Pershing County (Nev-Mont MC); and Manhattan Dredging Co. Of these Nevada operations, it appears Manhattan was the most important, active for more than 5 years. It is unknown if the Manhattan operation extended into the Round Mountain placers. Dredges have been reported in Nevada for more than 100 years, but the operating company or dredge manufacturer is not always mentioned. Production data within this archive is priceless, as it shows number of yards processed, cubic yards/hour, recovery of gold/cubic yard and so on. The Nevada placers were far higher grade than the California-Folsom placers.
Here is what is present in this archive as best as I can summarize (fh):
1. large group of drawings, about 18 x 24" to 20 x 28" or 20 x 30" in blueprint form, all folded in quarters. This was a massive file (six office file storage boxes) for Natomas, and has a specific numbering system of "FP 1" to about FP 1000. Segments remain in order. The date range appears to be approximately 1904 to c 1939. The drawings are mostly of specific parts of the dredges, but may include assembly and other plans. Most do not reference a specific dredge, though many do specify "Dredge No. 2" or others. The majority of the early (pre-1935?) drawings were made by the Bucyrus Company. Later drawings were made by Leland Roosner Co. Some of the drawings for the Manhattan #1 are included here.
2. 1919-1925 annual production reports for Natomas. Fabulous data, all in manuscript form. I(fh) don't know if this has ever been published. They had eight dredges in operation in 1920 alone.
3. Manhattan Gold Dredging Co., 1930s, generally 1936-1939. Blue prints and vellum of equipment, etc., about 500 or more large format drawings.
4. Pershing County, Nev. Nev-Mont Mining Co. property maps, drill reports and more. About 15 18 x 30"property maps and plans. If this property was not mined, somebody better go get it. The drill results were up to 60 cents per cubic yard. ($60/yd3 today)
5. Battle Mountain Placers, Greenan placers. Three account ledger books from the 1940s-50s, about 20 plans and maps, about five bound equipment plans.
6. two unlabeled general ledgers.
Several thousand pieces overall, and an astounding historical record with perhaps most never formally recorded.
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Date:
Country (if not USA):
State: California
City:
Provenance:
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3555 Airway Drive Suite 308, Reno, Nevada, 89511, United States
Previewing Details:
Preview:
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Nevada State Sales Tax
Taxes:
| Tax | Rate | Desc. |
| NSST |
8.375% |
Nevada Sales Tax |
| CSST |
8% |
California Sales Tax |
Buyer's Premiums:
| From (Incl.) | To (Excl.) | Premium |
| 0.00 |
Infinite |
25% |
Additional Fees:
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Live Auction conducted by Holabird Western Americana Collections, LLC (HWAC)
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From: to: Increment:
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$100 $190 $10
$200 $475 $25
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$30,000 up $1000
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