Green Cabin Mine, Tourmaline Queen Mountain (Pala Mtn; Queen Mtn), Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USAi

Regional Level Types
Green Cabin Mine	Mine
Tourmaline Queen Mountain (Pala Mtn; Queen Mtn)	Mountain
Pala	Town
Pala Mining District	Mining District
San Diego County	County
California	State
USA	Country

Setting:
Located in the S2SW4SW4 Sec. 14 and the N2NE4NW4 Sec. 23 T9S R2W SBM, about 1.75 miles north-northeast of Pala, the workings are situated low on the east side of Tourmaline Queen Mountain, along the extreme northern part of the Stewart pegmatite dike.

History:
The Green Cabin mine was first located by L. H. Doss of Valley Center in the early 1900's, and was initially developed by several shallow cuts made into the Stewart pegmatite outcrop.

By 1939, Tucker and Reed described the main workings as consisting of two tunnels measuring 30 and 35 feet respectively, an open-cut, and a smaller shaft approximately 15 feet deep. The mine was considered to be idle, and was soon abandoned by Doss. The mine was relocated around this time by Margaret S. Moore and Mildred S. Wear of Pala (daughters of Frank A. Salmons), naming the new lode mining claim in his honor. This claim was part of the Tourmaline Queen group of claims.

The main workings were described in 1947 by Edward R. Swoboda as a bench cut measuring 40 x 20 x 12 feet with two underground drifts heading north 50 degrees by 60 degrees west. The northern adit was reported as caved for the first 20 feet back, but the tunnel could be examined via the southern adit. The northern tunnel pegmatite was described as rich in sprays of muscovite and coarse graphic granite, with good pocket zone chiefly along the footwall, consisting of a quartz and microcline core zone.

The southern tunnel was described by Swoboda as heading north 40 degrees west for 30 feet, then a slow bend to the north for 20 feet, then 12 feet beyond the bend heading north for 6 feet where it connected with the north tunnel. Garnet rich bands of line rock were reported. Pockets were reported as fairly common, with production mainly consisting of a small amount of gem tourmaline and quartz. In 1951, Jahns and Wright described these underground workings as the North Star mine.

In 1963, Weber reported that the claim was still being managed by F. D. Fitzsimmons of Pauma Valley as late as 1960. Several years later the claim was permanently abandoned. Ultimately the government lot was sold off, and the northern portion in Sec. 14 became encumbered by private land, while the southern portion in Sec. 23 is within lands managed for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

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References