Dreams of Gold

The Mount Baker Mining District

The history of the Mount Baker Mining District started with the discovery of the rich ore of the Lone Jack strike on Bear Mountain in 1897.  This discovery created the Mt. Baker Gold Rush in the Cascade Mountains of Northwest Washington State.  Most were area prospectors from Whatcom County but one would assume that many were disappointed miners returning from the Klondike Gold Rush of 1896.

Dreams of Gold

Dreams of Gold is the history of 12 individual mine operations within the district.  The first chapter deals with the history of the upper Nooksack Valley.  With over 6000 mining claims in the district, only three mines actually produced gold and two operated (Lone Jack and Boundary Red) for many years.  Many mines struggled for a few years to develop and then gave up, however, others like the Gargett Bros. worked for over 50 years to no avail.

This 300 page book contains information from newspaper articles (U.S. & Canadian), assay reports, court records, claim files, sales records, maps, personal papers, personal interviews and many other sources.  This book contains old historical photos, current photos and many from the air.

Inside the book on the back page are removable, detailed maps of the district.