Goodyears Bar was one of the first Mining Camps in Sierra County. Goodyears Creek has produced more free gold than any known stream of its size in California. The gravel was so rich, at one time, the claims were only 30 feet square per man. The Mountain Echo ( a Downieville newspaper of the time ) on August 8th, 1852 reads of Brown and Co. tacking out 5 lbs. of gold on their claim. At today's price that would amount to about 24 thousand dollars. G. Keyser and Co. was said to have taken out 19 oz. Much of Goodyears Creek was flumed. September 26th, 1852 issue of the Mountain Echo has an article about the Goodyears Bar Saw Mill and Fluming Co.'s gold take. A Report follows:

• Mon   105 Oz.
• Tue     92 Oz.
• Wed   108 Oz.
• Thur   109 Oz.
• Fri     128 Oz.
• Sat     104 Oz.
• TOTAL 646 Oz.
• Present Value: $258,800. Not a bad week's take

Peter Yore from Sleighville House had a claim at Goodyears Bar which was said to have yielded $2,000. from one wheel barrow load. Many of the creeks and the river were flumed in the spring and summer and when winter came the floods would wash them out. They would have to be built all over again. 

Another company that did well was the Woodville Bar Flooming Co. which took out 209 Oz. of gold from their claim in September 2, 1854. On June 6, 1863, a fine ledge of gold-bearing quartz was discovered near Goodyears Bar by Mr. Burgess and Mr. Hunter The Dec. 12, 1904 edition of the Mountain Messager states "The Brush Creek Mine, in a 90 day run totaled $48,394.08 worth of gold". William Casserly in 1920 found a nice piece of highgrade that yielded $1400. This nugget was found in Goodyears Creek. In 1967, a nice nugget was found in Goodyears Creek weighing 5 1/2 Oz. by Dan Kenny.

Picutured is gold nuggets being weighed, by Cy Rollins, and George Koolery. The author and his friend, George, had fun finding this gold in the 1980's and 1990's. This gold was found below Goodyears Bar where Goodyears Creek flows into the North Fork of the Yuba River. This is still Gold to be found on the short side where the river runs straight and the gold washed down by winter rains is caught in crevices.

Pictured is Mark Helm standing in a hand made drain tunnel at Deadwood. Deadwood is above Goodyears Bar past Saddleback Mountain. By looking closely at the wall of this tunnel, hand made pick marks can be seen. This tunnel is from circa 1860 and before air tools were in use. The miners hand picked this tunnel out of solid rock. The sluce boxes were laid down in the bottom of the tunnel to catch the hydroliced gravel from Deadwood.

Pictured is two hydrolic monitor nozzles for canvas hoses. circa 1860. These nozzles are owned by the author. These nozzles were used to funnel the flummed water pressure onto the ancient gravel deposits. The water knocked down the banks and was channeled into sluice boxes where the gold was extracted. See the top of this page where the water is spraying from a nozzle similar to the ones displayed.

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www.GoodyearsBar.com is where the North Yuba flows. We love the history and the life in Sierra County, California