Gold Camp Gentleman

James Hague is the subject of McKinney’s newest book, Gold Camp Gentleman, which tells the story of the renowned mining man responsible for building the North Star House and North Star Powerhouse. One is now a cultural center and the other a museum of technology.

Hague was educated at Harvard and the Royal School of Mines in Freiberg, Germany. He came to Nevada County after the Civil War to work as  consulting geologist at the North Star mine. Intrigued by the geological complexities he encountered, and convinced of mine’s potential, he bought the North Star. Hague spent twelve years consolidating nearby properties and planning the powerhouse and a new vertical shaft at the mine. At last by 1895 the expanded North Star became a bonanza and Hague and his investors reaped the profits.

By putting the North Star mine on a permanent footing, Hague created hundreds of  jobs which continued for more than thirty-five years. He helped create the infrastructure which supports Grass Valley to this day and contributed to the industrial might which made America the first global superpower. But the story isn’t all triumph because a toxic brownfield remains as part of North Star’s legacy, too. Hague himself, McKinney will explain, readily acknowledged that he and his “Gilded Age” generation failed to live up to the ideals of their youth.

As he developed his mine, Hague brought talented people to Nevada County. These included the gifted engineer Arthur D. Foote, who built the powerhouse for Hague and then ran the mine, and Mary Hallock Foote, the famous illustrator and author. Hague was responsible for bringing Julia Morgan, California’s first licensed female architect to Grass Valley to design North Star House for the ages.

Hague encouraged younger men and a generation of engineering students and graduates from UC Berkeley, Stanford and other universities who came to Grass Valley to get their start. During his career, Hague may have been the best-known mining engineer in America. A scientific man himself, he knew scientists in America and Europe, including Charles Darwin. He was a friend of Theodore Roosvelt and rode on TR’s presidential train.

To write this book McKinney did research at Searls Library, Nevada City; The Bancroft Library, UC Berkeley; the Beinecke Library, Yale University; Down House (Darwin’s home), Kent, England; Western New Mexico University archives, Silver City, NM; Stockbridge Public Library and Archives, Stockbridge, MA; and The Century Association Archives, New York City. McKinney spent weeks at The Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, which holds the James D. Hague papers and papers of many of Hague’s business associates and friends. The Huntington published Mary Foote’s memoirs, which were an important source for Hague’s biography.

Gold Camp Gentleman is published by Comstock Bonanza Press.