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In the 1850`s several men had come to the Golden State in search of their fortunes. While prospecting in Shasta County in northern California, they crossed the Sacramento River at Cow Creek about 2 miles east of Fort Reading. Then the prospectors followed another creek eastward for about 25 miles when they came upon a high waterfall. There, they found a rich gold deposit sitting above the waterfall. However, this was a dangerous time in the region as Indians, fed up with miners encroaching upon their lands, were often known to attack. Taking from the gold deposit what they could carry, they return to the Fort Reading searching for protection in transporting the gold, but no troops could be found. After that, the men returned from whence they came.
 In the 1870`s, one of the men from this original group, returned to the area in hopes of once again locating the gold. In Redding, he asked around about a creek with a high waterfall and was told there was one on Bear Creek near Inwood. Soon he arrived in Inwood, telling his tale of the Lost Waterfall Mine and spending weeks exploring Bear Creek Canyon. However, after a long search, he finally gave up and headed back east, never to be seen again.
Locals speculated that the country surrounding Inwood in primarily made up of volcanic rock and thought it an unlikely site for gold to have been found. More likely, many believed that the gold might have been found on another waterfall on Clover Creek about 3 miles from Oak Run and 25 miles east of Redding.
So, if you feel lucky, go for it.
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