The Discovery Dondero Mine was submitted by Sean Berry-Kelly who also took the photos. Sean writes;
“This is now an abandoned mine, down a 2 mile access road off of Yankee hill road, in Columbia, CA. The mine is flooded about 100 feet in, but there are plenty of stopes and drifts. A cabin, outhouse and big metal ore bin are in the area. There isn’t any vehicle traffic after a mile down the access road, due to a wash out.”
Interestingly enough the mine does not show up on any USGS Historic Topo maps despite being mentioned in dozens of mining journals and newspapers from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s.
Please comment below if you know anything about the history or the Page and Dondero ownership of this mine.
2 Comments
I am a PAGE descendant. Amelia PAGE, who married Victor DONDERO, is my great great aunt. The PAGEs and DONDEROs lived next door to each other, on the corner of Yankee Hill Rd. I love your site. I live in San Diego, but have been to Columbia several times. Have even been in the PAGE house that still stands, but was not aware of all of this. Thank You so much. Will visit, next time up. Jinny
I have some history on the Dondero and Page families, having lived near to the Page house for almost forty years. My family even intermarried with the Donderos in the 1920’s. Victor’s son, Ray, was a good friend…
Do you have any family information or photos to share?