Historic Resource Evaluation Project - Tuolumne Utilities District

in three months. The dimensions of the race were three feet in width at bottom; three feet
in depth, with a slope at the sides of one foot to each foot in depth. The fluming was
eight feet wide and two and one-half foot in depth (Lang 1882:122, 123).
As early as April 2, 1853, it was noted that the large canal would be speedily opened,
with water let in from a dam on Sullivan’s Creek and soon to be let in higher at or from
Sugar Pine, providing great benefits to the miners (Sonora Herald, April 2, 1853).
The biggest problem, however, and the one that ultimately proved insurmountable, was
the low volume of water to be found in the North Fork Tuolumne, which was insufficient
to supply the ditch all year round. An expedition had set out, however, to survey the
ground and inquire into the practicality of turning the water of the Middle Fork into the
North Fork, so as to increase the supply. Nonetheless, there was believed to be enough
water from the North Fork to supply the ditch for nine months of the year. The
correspondent noted, however, that “the race was often sneered at as being altogether too
large for the purposes aimed at” (Lang 1882:122-123).
By 1853 it was noted that with an abundant supply of water from the ditches of the THA,
the first extended use of sluice boxes forming a continuous flume, often several hundred
feet in length, of the Campo Seco Ditch Company and Messrs. Johnson & Cary came into
vogue. The work proved comparatively easy and the diggings were more extensively
worked than ever before. The growth of Algerine Camp was particularly indebted to the
THA ditch which opened in May of 1853, abandoning the camp at Curtisville when water
ran out (Lang 1882:127-128).
By the following year all was not well, as the THA sold their system of flumes, ditches,
and reservoirs to the Tuolumne River Water Company and ceased to exist. Their name,
however, remained on the ditch system, suggesting that the water was still being used for
hydraulicking, and that, perhaps, was operated by some members of the original
company.
The Republican Water Company (RWC), which took water from Curtis Creek, and the
THA and their stockholders sold their ditches in 1854 to the Tuolumne River Water
Company (TRWC) (Deed Book 2:807, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 813), incorporated April
14, 1853. The TRWC was incorporated for the purposes of carrying, conducting, and
conveying water to different places in Tuolumne for mining, mechanical, manufacturing,
and agricultural purposes by means of canals, flumes, and aqueducts and other structures.
Conducting business in Sonora, its officers were Henry W. Williams, Henry Charles, and
Calvin Park (Articles of Incorporation No. 20; Claims Book 1-7:68).
On March 5, 1857, the TRWC system, along with the Algerine Ditch, Kincaid Flat Ditch,
Union Water Ditch, Montezuma Ditch, and other properties owned by the TRWC, was
deeded by Sheriff James M. Smart to San Francisco financier Jonas Gilman Clark, as a
result of a judgment against the company in the Third Judicial Court and the San
Francisco Court. The properties of the TRWC were first sold at auction on September 3,
1856, to Charles E.P. Wood (a San Francisco attorney), who assigned it to Clark on
Foothill Resources, Ltd. 3.18 TUD Ditch Sustainability Project
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Historic Resource Evaluation Report