Tarnished Gold. Mark Eudey stands in front of the frame of the once rich Kennedy gold mine in Jackson, Calif. Eudey owns the mine. But he bought it for the 600 acres of rolling land he got with it. Eudey, now 70, was superintendent of the mine when it was one of the big producers of Amador County. Before it was shut down in 1942, Kennedy produced 45 million dollars in gold ore. Now it lies neglected, probably still rich in ore but not worth the cost of mining it. Throughout Amador County, mine frames stand as neglected reminders of the years after California's Gold Rush. Those years live in the pages of Mark Twain, Bret Harte and other writers. The mines lived on after the romantic period of the writers' stories was dead. And then the mines died, too. With cost of materials and wages more than doubled, Eudey doubts whether the miner's day will return in Amador County. The gold may still be there for the working, but the golden prospects are tarnished.

Associated Press · [ca. February 1956]

[Information from item housing] Gold: Includes Mining