The Gold Rush on the Pacific Beaches
A Tacoma syndicate aims to extract gold and platinum from the sands of Beard's Hollow near Ilwaco.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The B. L. and A. Reduction Company of Tacoma has secured from Judge Briscoe of Oysterville the right for two years to extract gold from the sand in Beard's hollow, on the ocean beach, near Ilwaco. The ocean beach has been thoroughly prospected, and gold has been found everywhere, but not in paying quantities except at the point named, where the sand washed from some hidden reef is very rich in the precious metal. The company claims to own a patent process by which every particle of gold can be saved. Platinum and rhodium are also found in sufficient quantities to make their extraction profitable. By the terms of the contract, Mr. Briscoe receives one-sixth of all the gold extracted and 5 cents per cubic yard for magnetic black sand. The company will build a tramway from Ilwaco to the gold beach and expect to begin active operations in the spring. At Beard's hollow there are said to be two gold-bearing sand strata, one of them thirteen inches below the surface and nine inches thick, and the other two and a half feet down and eighteen inches in thickness.
“The ocean beach has been thoroughly prospected, and gold has been found everywhere, but not in paying quantities except at the point named.”
This reflects the endless cycle of 'get rich quick' schemes that characterized Washington’s frontier economy. Today, Beard's Hollow remains a public destination, far removed from the era of tramways and 'patent' extraction processes.
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