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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