Beegum Creek
Beegum Creek is located in California
Beegum Creek
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
Physical characteristics
Mouth 
  coordinates
40°21′56″N 122°44′41″W / 40.36556°N 122.74472°W / 40.36556; -122.74472

Beegum Creek is a stream located in Shasta and Tehama counties, southwest of Redding in the U.S. state of California.[1] The stream cuts through Beegum Gorge and runs 16 miles (26 km) before it empties into Cottonwood Creek.[1]

The creek derives its name from nearby Beegum Peak, so named due to its shape.[2] Bee gum is a term originating in the American South, which in the 1850s was used to describe beehives in a hollow gum tree or made of boards.[2]

Ecology

Beegum Creek is a habitat for many threatened and sensitive species of fish and wildlife, such as Chinook salmon, steelhead, the California red-legged frog, and the foothill yellow-legged frog.[3] The area surrounding the creek is characterized by oak woodland, grassland, and chaparral,[4] and is home to the northern spotted owl,[3] as well as osprey and bald eagle.[4]

Mining history

The Beegum area attracted prospectors and miners during the California Gold Rush, most of whom were disappointed.[5] In 1916, Joseph Selvester and James Wilson established a prospect on the South Fork Trail, where they found mixed manganese oxides.[6]

According to the Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS), the Beegum Creek placer mine is a producer of gold, platinum, osmium, and iridium.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Beegum Creek
  2. 1 2 Gudde, Erwin Gustav (1998). Bright, William (ed.). California Place Names (4th edition, revised and enlarged ed.). University of California Press. p. 31. ISBN 0-520-21316-5.
  3. 1 2 "Northwest California Integrated Resource Management Plan" (PDF). U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management. August 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  4. 1 2 Rait, Ken (July 20, 2017). "Remote but Facing Threats, Northwest California Needs Conservation". The Pew Charitable Trusts. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  5. Smith, Josie (2016). Tehama County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781439658666.
  6. Bradley, Walter W.; Huguenin, Emile; Logan, Clarence August; Tucker, W. Burling; Waring, Clarence A. (1918). Manganese and Chromium in California. Vol. 76. Sacramento: California State Printing Office. pp. 90–91.
  7. "Beegum Creek". United States Geological Survey, Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS). Retrieved November 10, 2023.
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