Within ten days Carson and a small company had each taken out 180 ounces of gold; they left the area that fall (Carson 1950:8). By the middle of December, 1849, a traveler was to comment: "We passed by Carson’s Creek where there were no miners then, though Jim Carson had discovered gold there previously” (San Andreas Independent: Sept. 18, 1858). In November of 1849, only 29 men voted in the election held in the Carson District. But upon Carson’s return to the area in that year, he commented upon the change:
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On November 22, 1854, the largest mass of gold ever found in the United States, the “Calaveras Nugget,” was taken from the Comstock claim on Carson Hill by four Americans and one Swiss miner. It weighed 195 pounds troy and was valued at $43,534.
In the early '70s there used to be a replica of the 195 pound nugget near the state historical monument for Carson Hill, which was in a wide spot next to Highway 49. Working from memory, it was on its own stone pedestal and the nugget was 2' in length and 18" in diameter. I reckon somebody liked it so much they took it home with them.
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