The correspondence of John T. Ryan (1891-1934) documents the activities of a Tuolumne County, California, quartz and placer gold mine owner. The bulk of the correspondence deals with Ryan's attempts to find financial backers to help him develop the Ryan quartz and placer mines, a failed joint venture (1912-1913) with M.S. D'Albergaria of Oakland, California, and dealings with mining supply and equipment companies. Additionally, the correspondence reveals aspects of Ryan's personal life, including correspondence from friends and family, his attempts to get a female "pard" (companion) to venture to his out-of-the-way location in the hamlet of Confidence, California, as well as attempts to barter mining claims for personal items.
John T. Ryan Correspondence, 1891-1934 (MSS 679)
Extent: 0.4 Linear feet (1 archives box)
John T. Ryan (ca. 1855-1934) was a mine owner in Tuolumne County, California. Ryan was born in New Jersey, the eldest son of seven children, to Irish immigrants, Dennis and Susan Ryan. The family came to Sonora (the county seat of Tuolumne County located one hundred thirty-three miles east of San Francisco) around 1856, where Ryan's siblings were all born. Dennis Ryan operated Ryan's Saloon in the rough and tumble gold-mining town and the saloon was still under family ownership as late as 1913.
Ryan attempted to exploit the Ryan mines located thirteen miles east of Sonora in the tiny Sierra Nevada mountain hamlet of Confidence (elevation 4,200 feet). The early days of easy gold mining, when loose gold could literally be found on the surface of river beds, was long past. Therefore, Ryan engaged in digging and blasting deep shafts into the quartz rock that contained veins of gold. The rock was then brought to the surface and crushed. Finally, the gold had to be separated out by using moving water or leached out by using arsenic or mercury. This type of mining operation was expensive and explains why Ryan had to continually seek financial investors.
Although Ryan appeared to have remained close with siblings and friends, there is no evidence he was ever married and had children, and the date and whereabouts of his death are unknown. Additionally, there is no evidence that Ryan was able to successfully exploit his mines, but it is not clear if this is because of a lack of financing, or if the mines were simply not rich in ore (the quartz mine was never assessed at more than $100 value), or if the name he gave his home, "Never Hurry Land," was reflective of his work ethic. The correspondence does, however, document the difficulties in attempting to mine California gold long after the shimmer of the earlier and easier "gold rush" mining days had faded.
The John T. Ryan Correspondence reflects the life of a post-"Gold Rush" California mine owner as he struggled to exploit quartz and placer mines in Tuolumne County, California. The correspondence is arranged in two series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, and 2) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS.