Gold in Drytown's future? Family-inspired quest for mine riles some in Amador By Peter Hecht Bee Staff Writer (Published July 21, 1999) DRYTOWN -- Somewhere near this tiny fleck on the highway map -- home to 79 people, one motel, a diner, a saloon and many legends of the Gold Rush -- cattle rancher Ronald Matulich chases a family dream born 150 years ago. Matulich, 60, is asking Amador County to allow him to mine the rural hills near Highway 49 using a controversial cyanide extraction method that he believes could glean up to a million ounces of gold from low-grade ore left behind by the forty-niners. His quest reflects the passion of his great-grandfather Antone Matulich, an Austrian tailor who jumped ship in San Francisco in 1849, sold provisions in the gold fields and later worked the mines around Drytown, which was once one of the most bustling encampments of the Mother Lode. He pursues his goal with the grit of his grandfather Savo Kosich, who was killed by a dynamite explosion in the Treasure Mine near Amador City. And he pitches his plans with the wistfulness of his father, Frederick Matulich, who worked Sutter Creek's Central Eureka Mine and -- after World War II closed the mines -- bought up scores of claims near Drytown, hoping that someday gold mining would flourish again. "One of the things that would have made my father happy was to see this mine operating," said Matulich, who is seeking a permit for a gold and slate mining operation on 500 acres about 11/2 miles from Drytown. "He talked about it all my life. It's a personal thing, for sure." Matulich's sense of family destiny excites some residents of the county, which lies 35 miles southeast of Sacramento, who believe a return to mining would bring jobs and restore lost glory to a region hit by a sawmill closure and other economic hardships. His proposal is also inspiring the county's second showdown over gold mining -- and perhaps its sense of self -- in two years. Among the most vocal opponents are fellow Gold Rush descendants, people who've arrived at decidedly different conclusions about the worthiness of mining. Nearly 150 years ago, Judy Bysshe's great-grandfather Duff Dimer Reaves, a mining engineer from Tennessee, came to Amador County, married schoolteacher Maggie Cable and bought the A & B Quartz Mine next to property now owned by Matulich. Reaves' son and grandson -- the latter John B. Reeves Jr., Bysshe's father -- both worked in the A & B mine. Last week, Bysshe and her son, Mark Cable Rains, whose family still owns an eight-acre property that includes four mine tunnels, two shafts and an open pit, appeared at a county Planning Commission meeting to argue against renewed mining. While she now lives in Ojai, Bysshe said her family hopes to build a retreat or summer home on their land and is opposed to a "huge, hot, noisy, dusty pit and piles of naked slag next door." Bysshe and her son, a doctoral candidate in hydro-geology at the University of California, Davis, say the area's lure now comes from its lush natural settings and charming towns, not mining. "Amazingly, 20 years back, we discovered gold in them hills," Bysshe said. "It was not in the ground, but in the pockets of the tourists and in the pockets of the retirees who come here." The debate over Matulich's plan is reminiscent of a showdown last year when Amador County supervisors approved a plan by the Sutter Gold Mining Co. to begin underground gold mining between Amador City and Sutter Creek and to make its Lincoln Mine into a regional tourist attraction. That project has been challenged in a lawsuit over environmental issues. A ruling is expected this summer. Matulich, who opened a slate mine on his property five years ago, seeks certification of an environmental impact report required to carry out plans to expand slate operations and add surface gold mining. He agreed to complete the EIR in settling a lawsuit filed against the project in 1995. His mining plan is drawing intense protests from environmentalists because -- unlike the Sutter Gold mine -- Matulich hopes to uses a cyanide leaching process he says is necessary to maximize gold extraction from low-grade ore. Opponents in the county and elsewhere say cyanide -- long an essential mining ingredient in many Western states -- can seep into rivers and streams, kill fish and wildlife and contaminate aquifers. The issue gained wide attention last year when residents of Montana voted to phase out the use of cyanide in mining operations. But David Sanders, a consultant hired by Matulich, said the project -- in remote hills carved long ago by legendary mines like the "California," the "Pocahontas" and the "Chili Jim" -- will have no negative environmental consequences. Sanders said new technologies have improved the safety of cyanide gold extraction. The project, he said, will have a "redundant" safety net, including extensive water monitoring, heavy-duty storage tanks, gravel, plastic and clay-lined leach pads and emergency drainage ponds that can catch and treat chemical seepage. "What we're trying to do is pick up the gold that was never mined here," said Sanders, who said the operation could produce 136 jobs. "Not a single mine in the Mother Lode ever ran out." On a remote bend of Highway 49, where motorists may barely glimpse tiny Drytown, Chuck Kaffer says there may be no better place for gold's comeback. "I'm all for it," said Kaffer, the 80-year-old owner of the Old Well Hotel and Grill. He delights in legends of the town, which boomed to 10,000 people and 26 saloons in the early 1850s after gold was found in nearby Dry Creek. Kaffer's favorite is the tale of the $80,000 in gold bullion that bandits purportedly stashed beneath the old Drytown Hotel. With a twinkle in his eye, Kaffer says that if the story's true, the treasure would lie somewhere beneath his motel swimming pool. "This is mining country," he said. "California was made because of the mines here." But Linda Lacey, whose family still owns the 1857 Drytown house of her great-grandfather EleazerLeMoine,is troubled by a return to mining. Lacey and other family members have lovingly preserved the red brick home of the U.S. soldier who came to California during the Mexican War, then returned to search for gold and work on the railroad. Lacey and her husband, Laurence, have another home near Dry Creek and fear a mining resumption could contaminate a swimming hole used by their children and grandchildren. "Yeah, this was a mining area," she said. "But things are changing. Maybe people just want this area as a place to live -- and not worry about dust and noise and cyanide." So Lacey, whose great-grandfather is buried in the pioneer Drytown public cemetery, showed up at the Planning Commission meeting to oppose gold mining. Before the same session, Matulich led a visitor to the old Drytown Catholic Cemetery on the opposite side of town, where a tall granite headstone marks the grave of his great-grandfather Antone Matulich. The Amador Planning Commission didn't vote on the merits of Matulich's project. But the panel responded to opponents' complaints and -- in a procedural action -- directed Matulich and Sanders to rework preliminary environmental documents before returning to seek approval. Matulich dismissed protests of the project as "Chicken Little, the sky is falling" and vowed -- with the determination of his mining forebears -- that he'll soon be digging for gold. "I'm just going to keep at it," he said, "until we get it." [email protected] wrote: > There is an interesting and rather lengthy article in today's Sacramento Bee > regarding mining in present day Drytown using updated, but controversial > cyanide extraction. > The article lists several miners from 150 years ago. One was Antone Matulich, > his great grandson wants to do the mining. > If anyone is interested I can send you the article or send it to someone with > a scanner (such as Art) and put it on-line. > Let me know. > Donna > [email protected] > > ==== CAAMADOR Mailing List ==== > Amador County, California CAGenWeb > http://www.rootsweb.com/~caamador/