What can I say, one of the coolest mining camps around. Only 30 remote minutes from Mariposa. The Sweetwater mining camp has a long and well documented history. We visited the camp on a warm May day in 2014. I stumbled on the camp from a post on a motorcycle site. Mining started in the 1870’s and continued to the 1990’s. “Sweetwater” Clyde Foster worked the mine for decades which he got from his father. The mill building itself is now sadly collapsed and only the ore hoppers and a few stair cases remain among the fallen structure. The Chilean Mill Clyde used was revolutionary and processed ore with less cyanide. The mill was pulled from the ruins and is on display at the Mariposa Museum.
The property is still quite fascinating even though much of the equipment is gone. There once was a 2 stamp mill, a 5 stamp mill and a 10 stamp mill used cooperatively by miners in the area. Clyde’s bunk house still stands as well as the compressor shed and the assay office. The house has food in cans and jars along with several mattresses.
Sweetwater Clyde Foster’s ashes were spread near the house with his dog. We did not find the granite marker. We did find a little garden in the front yard with a bench , a tree, and a pair of boots. It almost looked like the spot where Clyde’s marker was but could it be missing? Who would take a marker?
The main mine shaft behind the assay’s shed is collapsed. The entrance was marked with a modern mining claim, good luck! After our return I found quite a lot of history on the camp including a push to have the site listed on the National Register of Historic Places written in a USGS field survey. The document claims six open shafts, two of which are collapsed. We only found one.
Update:
We have returned a couple times now to the Sweetwater mine. Sadly the mill and saw mill have been completely removed and the ground ‘re-mediated’. Turns out we saw Clyde’s missing marker at the Mariposa Museum near his Chilean Mill safe and sound. The bunk house continues to face severe vandalism and looting.
Sweetwater Clyde – Photo courtesy of Rebecca Brooks
9 Comments
The story of Sweetwater Clyde Foster is fascinating and well known around Mariposa!
Only Clydes ashes are at the remains of the Sweetwater Mine where the Lilacs were and the small Sequoia tree. His marker was removed and brought to the Mariposa History Museum, as they feared that scrappers might steal it for the thick brass plate on the front of it. The second shaft you found was most likely the Bear Hole. Below it and to the left was the little Bear hole, which is collapsed. Up on the hill was the location of the Narrow gage Mine which is collapsed. Behind the house was a small tunnel that was only about 25 feet into the hill. another shaft I couldn’t find last year was called the Glory Hole by Clyde. It was a survey hole going straight down, and when he first arrived at the Sweetwater with his dad, he lowered himself into it. Lots of big salamanders scarred him out of it. It connected to the main Bear Hole.
I had a friend that worked at the Sweetwater mine with Clyde for many years. I lost track of him and I sure would like to find out how he is doing. His name is Dave Epley. He lived in Mariposa when I last was in touch with him.
I should add, during our visit to toast a whisky to Clyde on Aug. 31, 2014, the forestry service had cleaned everything out and reforested it, except the house due to a rare bat colony living there. You were lucky to visit what little was left from the scrappers, before everything in your pictures was removed. Roger Cain
I had the pleasure of meeting Clyde and his dog Nugget in Aug. 1990 and spending a week at the mine with him. (Rented the cabin above the mine) I have lots of video of the inside of the home Clyde lived in, as well as his décor of the home as he live there. He was kind to let me record him telling me a quick story about his life of mining. I have video of The original Sweetwater Mine starting with walking in and going back inside a mile or so as well as the mine Clyde was hand digging at that time and cutting timber for the walls of the new mine where he found a gold vein. I also have video where the old shack his brother made when he stayed their to work with Clyde. The area had a bed frame, ice box with canned food inside and glass bottles on what was a table at one time. We left everything as we found it but took lots of pics and video. I also have video and pics of the barn and all the supplies that were there at the time! Clyde even had a working rail car to move the ore at the time. He let me explore the sweetwater mine, The running water spring inside the mine was incredible to see. We visited again in 2005 and it was so different! Some People have no respect for others.
Hi it’s Rebecca, Clyde ‘s great niece, lets get in contact ! Please email me at serendipity @ sweetness . com
I knew Clyde Foster from the time I was about 5 years old and I’m well into my 60’s. My parents also had a mine below the Sweetwater Mine. Clydes wife’s name was Dorothy. She wasn’t much into the mine like Clyde was. There use to be a huge oak tree at the left side of the cabin with running water coming out of the middle of the oak tree. As a child, I was fascinated by that. Down below the house there was a pond where water cress grew abundantly. We would snatch a few sprigs and eat it like candy. Just to the right of the pond was a huge apple tree which grew green apples. We would also eat those and they were the best tasting apples.
Clyde had two helpers and we called them the Fox boys. My mother would bring them levi jeans to wear while they worked the mine. I recall them looking like two mountain men, well they were as they lived down below the main cabin.
I recall Clyde being a surveyor and worked on many dam projects when he wasn’t working the mine. We visited him at the Veterans Home in Yountville. Dorothy owned a record store in Merced and collected many of the black jazz records – the old 78’s. Clyde gave many of them to my mother which she still has, she’s in her 90’s.
By the way, Clydes first dog’s named was Spike.
I first met Clyde, Digger, and a guy named Mike Mulrane back in ’85. I was 15 at the time and my family had recently bought property in Oakhurst the year before. We were doing our usual thing of exploring and came across the Sweetwater Mine purely by chance. We first saw Clyde’s warning signs along the road…”Trespassers will be violated” and “shooting will be reciprocated” (hope I am remembering them right), then came up to the mine where this crazy old guy was yelling at us from the porch of an old cabin sitting on a hill covered in sweetpeas. We stopped and realized he wasn’t actually yelling, but was rather inviting us up for a drink of his famous homemade cider. We stayed for a couple of hours and he gave us a tour of the buildings and the mine. We visited often after that.
In the summer of ’88, Clyde invited my cousin and I to stay for the summer and help with chores around the mine. We fixed water lines (wrapping sections of inner tubes around the leaks and tying with bailing wire), helped install timbers in the mine adit, hauled logs to the sawmill (powered by a mercury boat engine), and just generally kept the place cleaned up. Our payment was an endless supply of spaghetti, occasional access to the bottle of Everclear that he kept on top of the fridge, we could keep any gold that we found, and of course living all summer for free at a wonderful place in the mountains, and memories that I will never forget.
OMG I just found this site. Clyde was my great uncle. Will be contacting some folks here to share photos etc.