MINERS REWORK OLD DIGGINGS
"Silverado Canyon.....the name itself almost tells the story of mining days.

It pictures mines and wealth; it portrays tales of hope and faith in search of silver. Along the Silverado, eager miners drove their tunnels, and prospectors combed the mountain side and canyon bottoms, all in search of signs of precious metal. Silverado Canyon, formerly known as Canada del la Madera to the Indians and Spanish Californians, was an already explored canyon when J.E. Pleasants and Sam Shewsbury pioneered in the Santiago Canyon of which Silverado is a branch. Goats were raised at nearly all of the ranches and for years vied with bees as the principal industry.
The sleepy canyon settlements idled quietly until one day in the fall of 1877,
Hank Smith and William Curry came upon silver ore.

The first claim, Southern Belle, remained relatively dormant. Then another mine, The Santa Clara, was located. An article published in the Los Angeles Times heralded the discovery of silver and from that point on, men rushed into the canyon seeking fame and fortune. Creaking wagons, some of which had come across the plains, spring wagons, carts, dilapidated old surries and shiny rigs from livery stables clattered over the rocks at the crossings and sweating horses dragged the outfits into the new found El Dorado. With the arrival of prospectors, new shops, hotels and saloons emerged.
It is in the tradition of the Old Silverado grubberies and saloons that the
Orange County Mining Company was patterned.

The Orange County Mining Company actually sits upon one of the old silver mine sites at the canyon. Relics displayed within the restaurant's interior are genuine artifacts of the mining era.