The Lost Mine of the Klickitat Indians

The lost mine of the Klickitat tribe, on the Little Klickitat River in southern Washington, was reported to be the richest gold mine on the Pacific Coast. Lewis and Clark saw the gold from the mine being prepared for shipment to England by a Hudson’s Bay factor in 1806. Traders working for the Northwest Fur Company were next to buy gold from the Klickitat Indians.

The gold found was in the form of wire stringers, nuggets and uneven slugs. By 1875 only one aged Klickitat Indian knew of the mine’s secret location. Trying to trail him to the mine and failing, disgruntled white renegades killed him in a fit of anger.