Approximately one billion cubic yards of gravel were dredged by the Natomas Company.MISSOULA - Aided by a $1.2 million grant, Trout Unlimited and Missoula County will tackle another summer of restoration work within the Ninemile watershed, where they continue to chip away at damage left by past mining activity. Folsom, one of the largest dredging fields in California, has a total output estimated at $125 million. Large portions of the dredged-over areas are now occupied by defense industries, such as the Aerojet-General Corporation and Douglas Aircraft Company plants, and by housing tracts. By 1960 there was only a single active dredge, and this was shut down in Februaty 1962. However, increasing costs, the depletion of dredging ground, and changing land values caused the dredging operations to be gradually curtailed. From 1927 to 1952, several other operators joined Natomas in dredging the district.ĭredging operations were curtailed during World War II but were resumed on a major scale shortly afterward. In 1916, 11 active dredges yielded more than $2 million worth of gold. The company designed and built its own dredges at extensive shops in the town of Natoma. This firm, later known as the Natomas Company, was the principal operator in the district. Most of the dredging companies were merged into Natomas Consolidated of California in 1908. Bucket-line dredging began at Folsom in 1898 and soon became a major industry. A primitive grab-dredger was active at Natoma in 1894. Numerous Chinese worked the region from the 1860s through the 1890s.

Folsom, quartermaster of Stevenson's Regiment. Judah for the Sacramento Valley Railroad and named for Captain J. The present town was laid out in 1855 by T.

The area was originally settled in 1849 and first known as Negro Bar.

The region around Folsom and Mormon Bar was extensively placer-mined during the gold rush, with minor lode mining. The Folsom district has also been known as the American River district. The dredged area is approximately 10 miles long in a southwest direction and up to seven miles wide. It was mainly a dredging field that extended from the town of Folsom southwest along the south side of the American River to Fair Oaks, south through the town of Natoma to Nimbus and then west to the east border of what is now Mather Air Force Base. This district is in northeastern Sacramento County.

Ninemile placer mining dredge piles