Death Valley
Historic Resource Study
A History of Mining 		NPS Logo

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COVER

PREFACE

Volume I — Part 1 of 2

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS — Volume I (Parts 1 and 2)


I. INTRODUCTION TO DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL MONUMENT

A. Summary of Mining Activity
  1. Stow Beginnings
  2. A New Century Brings Renewed Interest in Metallic and Nonmetallic Resources
  3. Attempts are Made to Regulate Mining Within the National Monument
  4. Validity Tests and Stricter Land-Use Regulations are Imposed
  5. Controversial Aspects of Mining in NPS Areas
  6. Death Valley National Monument Mining Division

B. Setting
  1. Land of Varied Attractions
  2. Weather and Temperature
  3. Topography
  4. Panamint Range
  5. Amargosa Range
  6. Roads and Trails
  7. Water Hoies
  8. Tourism

C. A Note on Historical and Archeological Resources of Death Valley
  1. Limited Scope of Present Study
  2. Archeological Research and Fieldwork


II. EARLY MINING DISTRICTS IN THE OWENS AND PANAMINT VALLEYS

A. Coso, Russ, Telescope Peak, and Argus Mining Districts
  1. Darwin French Expedition
  2. S. G. George and New World Mining and Exploration Company Expeditions
  3. Indian Depredations and Crude Mining Methods Hinder Development

B. Lone Pine Mining District
  1. Rise and Fall of Cerro Gordo
  2. Reopening of Cerro Gordo

C. Panamint Mining District
  1. Panamint City
  2. Ballarat

D. New Coso Mining District
  1. Darwin
  2. Revitalization of the Darwin District

E. Lookout and Modoc Mining Districts
  1. Short Existence of Lookout
  2. Modoc District Supported by George C. Hearst

F. Summation


III. INVENTORY OF HISTORICAL RESOURCES: THE WEST SIDE

A. Southern Panamints and West Side Road
  1. Panamint Mining District
    a) Formation and Establishment of Boundaries
    b) The District's Future Seems Assured
    c) Mining Activity Spreads in Southern Inyo County
    d) Interest in the Panamints Spreads to Nevada
    e) Consistent Production Continues into Late 1900s
    f) Impact of Panamint and Other Early Mining Districts on Southern Inyo and Death Valley History
    g) Panamint City
    h) Personalities
    i) Sites
      (1) Wonder (of the World?) Mine, Bob Stewart Lode, Mina Verde, and Sunnyside
      (2) Ino, Jim Davis, Hill Top, Alta, Comstock, Gold Star, World Beater, Big Bill, Elephant, Florence, Gem, General Lee, Gold Note, Golden Terry, Little Till, Lookout, Mammoth, and Summit Mines
      (3) Mohawk Lode
      (4) Silver Queen Lode
      (5) Homestake Lode, Home Stake Lode
      (6) Sheba Lode
      (7) Sun Set Mine
      (8) Nellie M Mine
      (9) Star of the West Mine
      (10) Christmas Lode
      (11) Christmas Gift Mine and Co., No. 1 Mine
      (12) Exchequer Lode
      (13) North Star Mine
      (14) Argenta Lode
      (15) Uncle Sam Lode
      (16) Magnet Mine
      (17) Grand View Mine, Anaconda Mine
      (18) Willow Spring Mine
      (19) Mountain Girl Mine
      (20) Black Rock Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4
      (21) New York, Idaho, and Dolly Varden Mines
      (22) Republican Mine
      (23) Cooper and Mountain Boy Mines
      (24) Valley View Mine
  2. Gold Hill Mining District
    a) History
      (1) Taylor Quartz Mine and Mill Site
      (2) Gold Hill Quartz Mine and Mill Site
      (3) Death Valley Mine
      (4) Treasure Quartz Mine
      (5) No. 1 (No One) Mine
      (6) Silver Reef (Reefe) Mine
      (7) Ibex Mine
      (8) May Mine
      (9) Breyfogle Mine
      (10) Oro Grande Mine
      (11) Beckerton Mine.
      (12) Georgia Mine
    b) Present Status
      (1) Gold Hill Area
      (2) Panamint Treasure Claim Group
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (1) Gold Hill Area
      (2) Panamint Treasure Mine
    d) Related Sites
      (1) Arrastre Spring
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  3. Butte Valley Mining District
    a) History
      (1) Warm Springs
      (2) Mysic Mill Site
      (3) Queen of Sheba Quartz Mining Claim
      (4) Golden Eagle Claim
      (5) Emigrant Mining Claim
      (6) Hidden Treasure, Golden Treasure, and Bunker Hill Claims
      (7) Nutmeg Mine
    b) Sites
      (1) Anvil Spring
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
          i) Anvil Spring and "Geologist's Cabin"
          ii) Butte Valley Stamp Mill and Environs
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
          i) Anvil Spring and "Geologist's Cabin"
          ii) Butte Valley Stamp Mill and Environs
      (2) Greater View Spring
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (3) Russell Camp
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (4) Willow Spring
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (5) Squaw Spring
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  4. Anvil Spring Canyon
    a) History
    b) Present Status
  5. Wingate Wash
    a) History
      (1) Location, and Derivation of Name
      (2) Chloride Cliff Trail
      (3) Twenty-Mule-Team Borax Route
      (4) Mining Activity
      (5) Epsom Salts Monorail
      (6) Development of Manganese and Lead-Silver Deposits
      (7) "Battle" of Wingate Pass
    b) Present Status
      (1) Epsom Salts Monorail
      (2) DV Group of Silver-Lead Lode Mining Claims
      (3) Wingate Pass "Battle" Site
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (1) Epsom Salts Monorail
      (2) DV Group of Silver-Lead Lode Mining Claims
      (3) Wingate Pass "Battle" Site
      (4) Twenty-Mule-Team Borax Route
  6. Panamint Mine
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  7. Warm Spring Canyon Talc Mines
    a) Growth of Talc Mining in the Region
    b) Growth of Talc Mining in Death Valley
    c) Sites
      (1) Grantham, Warm Springs, Warm Springs West, Warm Springs Nos. 2 and 3, and White Point Mines
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  8. Warm Spring Camp (Gold Hill Mill Site)
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  9. Pink Elephant Fluorite Claim
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  10. Other Mineral Deposits in Warm Spring Canyon
    a) Barite
    b) Fluorite
    c) Wollastonite, Feldspar, and Mercury
  11. Montgomery (Panamint) Mine
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  12. Carbonate (Carbonite) and Queen of Sheba Mines
    a) History
      (1) Clarence E. Eddy Locates Original Outcrop
      (2) Jack Salsberry Tackles a Multitude of Problems
      (3) Progress of the Carbonate Lead Mines Company
      (4) New Sutherland Divide Mining Company Takes Over
      (5) Waning Years
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  13. Galena Canyon Talc Mines
    a) Sites
      (1) Bonny Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (2) Mongolian Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (3) Mammoth Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (4) Death Valley Mine (White Eagle Claim)
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  14. Hungry Bill's Ranch
    a) History of Indian Ranching In and Near Death Valley
    b) Hungry Bill and His Family
    c) Hungry Bill and Death Valley Mining
    d) Mining in Johnson Canyon
    e) Hungry Bill's Homestead
    f) Present Status of Hungry Bill's Ranch Site
    g) Evaluation and Recommendations
  15. Hanaupah Canyon Mines
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  16. Trail Canyon Mines
    a) History
      (1) Death Valley Wonder Mining & Milling Company
      (2) Wild Rose Mining Company
      (3) Trail Canyon Mining Company
      (4) Old Dependable Antimony Mine
      (5) Tungsten Mines
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations

B. Emigrant Wash and Wildrose Canyon
  1. Thorndike Camp
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  2. Wild Rose Mining District
    a) Early Activity
    b) First Locations
    c) Formation of District and Establishment of Boundaries
    d) Mining Companies and Further Locations
    e) Heliograph Dispatches
    f) Settlement of Emigrant Spring Brings Need for Road to Keeler
    g) More Properties Located Throughout 1940s
    h) Historic Wildrose Station
    i) Sites
      (1) Wildrose Canyon Antimony Mine
        (a) History
          i) Possible Site of Earliest Mine Location in Monument
          ii) Antimony Mining in the Region
          iii) Development of the Monarch, Combination, and Monopoly Mines and the Kennedy Claim
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (2) Wildrose Spring Cave House
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (3) A Canyon Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (4) Nemo Canyon Mines
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations


    End of Volume I, Part 1


    Beginning of Volume I, Part 2

      (5) Christmas (Gift) Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (6) Bald Peak Mine.
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (7) Argenta Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (8) Napoleon Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (9) Harrisburg
        (a) History
          i) Shorty Harris and Pete Aguereberry Strike Ore on Providence Ridge
          ii) The Area Fills Up Rapidly
          iii) Cashier Gold Mining Company is Formed
          iv) A Multitude of Claims are Located in the Area
          v) A Mill Appears Imminent
          vi) Litigation Over Aguereberry's Eureka Mine
          vii) Cashier Mill Opens for Business
          viii) Waning Years
          ix) Mines in the Harrisburg Vicinity
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (10) Jordan Mine
      (11) Star of the West Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (12) North Star Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (13) Journigan's Mill
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (14) Mill Site North of Journigan's Mill
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (15) Gold King Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (16) Tiny and Sunset Mines
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (17) Cabin 1-1/2 Miles Southeast of Skidoo
      (18) Blue Bell (Garibaldi) Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (19) Skidoo
        (a) History
          i) Ramsey and Thompson's Great Discovery
          ii) E. A. Montgomery Acquires the Property
          iii) Granite Contact Mines Company
          iv) A Townsite is Established
          v) A Communications Link to Rhyolite Needed
          vi) The Skidoo News Arrives
          vii) Conditions Continue Promising
          viii) Leases Opened on the Skidoo Mines Company Property
          ix) The Townsite Expands
          x) Transportation Problems Arise
          xi) Continuing Activity by the Skidoo Mines Company
          xii) Skidoo Continues Systematic Development
          xiii) The Skidoo Pipeline is Finally a Reality
          xiv) The Hanging of Joe Simpson
          xv) The Skidoo Mill Supports the Town
          xvi) A Fire and Litigation Bring an End to Mining Activity
          xvii) Revival of Mining in the Area in the Later 1900s
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
          i) Skidoo Mine and Mill
          ii) Del Norte Group
          iii) Skidoo Historic District
      (20) Saddle Rock (Saddlerock) Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (21) Nellie Grant and Uncle Sam Mines
      (22) Junietta, Blizzard, and Virgin Mines
      (23) Tucki Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (24) Telephone Spring
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (25) McLean Spring
      (26) Lemoigne Mine and Junction Camp
        (a) History
          i) John Lemoigne Arrives in Death Valley
          ii) Lemoigne Properties
          iii) Lemoigne Castle at Garlic Spring
          iv) Controversy Surrounding Lemoigne's Death
          v) Later History of the Lemoigne Mine
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations

C. Cottonwood Mountains
  1. Hunter Cabin
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  2. Ubehebe Mining District
    a) Copper Veins Attract Attention
    b) Boston Capitalists Become Interested
    c) Rising Copper Prices Benefit Ubehebe
    d) Townsites are Discussed and a Mining District Formed
    e) Ubehebe Copper Mines and Smelter Company Determines to Construct Railroad into Area
    f) Work Continues Despite Panic of 1907
    g) Mining in Ubehebe Hampered by Isolation and Transportation Problems
    h) Variety of Metals and Nonmetals Contribute to Ubehebe's Production Record
    i) Other Ubehebe Properties
    j) Sites
      (1) Ulida Mine and Ulida Flat Site
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
          i) Ulida Flat Site
          ii) Ulida Mine
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
          i) Ulida Flat Site
          ii) Ulida Mine
      (2) Goldbelt (Gold Belt) Spring and Mining District
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (3) Ubehebe Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (4) Lost Burro Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (5) Lippincott (Lead King) Mine
        (a) History
        (b) Present Status
        (c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (6) Ubehebe, Keeler, and Quackenbush Talc Mines
        (a) History
          i) Ubehebe (Stone Pencil) Mine
          ii) Keeler (White Horse) Mine
          iii) Quackenbush (Gold Belt) Mine
        (b) Present Status
          i) Ubehebe Mine
          ii) Keeler Mine
          iii) Quackenbush Mine
        (c) Evaluations and Recommendations
  3. Skookum Mining District
    a) Death Valley Gold Mining Company Working Property Near Sand Spring
    b) World Exploration Company Enters Area
    c) Demise of Mining Operations

D. The Valley Floor
  1. Presenting Death Valley to the World
    a) Resorts Open in the 1920s
    b) Tourism Increases When Area Becomes National Monument
  2. Stovepipe Wells Hotel
    a) History
      (1) Old Stovepipe Wells
      (2) Eichbaum Toll Road Brings Visitors to Death Valley
      (3) Construction of the Resort Begins
      (4) Easter Sunrise Celebration the First of Several New Tourist Services
      (5) Toll Road Abolished After Creation of National Monument
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  3. Furnace Creek Inn
    a) History
      (1) Pacific Coast Borax Company Foresees Tourist Potential of Region
      (2) Union Pacific and Santa Fe Railroads Encouraged to Promote Death Valley
      (3) Furnace Creek Inn Opens to the Public
      (4) Sightseeing in the Valley
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  4. Furnace Creek Ranch
    a) History
      (1) Greenland Ranch Supplies Food to Borax Workers and Serves as Mule Train Depot
      (2) Pacific Coast Borax Company Takes Over Ownership, and Ranch Becomes Friendly Oasis for Prospectors
      (3) Precautions Necessary Because of Unbearable Summer Heat
      (4) Indian Population
      (5) Ranch Contemplated as Health Resort
      (6) Official Weather Station
      (7) Date Growing Introduced
      (8) Ranch Turned into Tourist Resort
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  5. Nevares Cabin and Homestead
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  6. Corduroy Road
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
  7. Shoveltown
    a) History
    b) Present Status
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations

E. Furnace Creek
  1. Borax Mining in Death Valley
    a) Early Production in Region Limited
    b) Harmony and Eagle Borax Works Process "Cottonballs"
    c) Discovery of Colemanite Revolutionizes Industry
    d) Pacific Coast Borax Company Turns Attention to Calico Mountain Deposits
    e) Borax Mining Returns to Death Valley and the Lila C.
    f) The Death Valley Railroad Shifts Activity to (New) Ryan
  2. Furnace Creek Wash
    a) History
      (1) Early Mining Districts
      (2) Development of Area by Pacific Coast Borax Company
    b) Present Status
      (1) Dantes View Road Sites #1 and #2
      (2) DeBely Mine
      (3) Corkscrew (Screw) Mine
      (4) Monte Blanco
      (5) Gower Gulch
    c) Evaluation and Recommendations
      (1) Importance of Borax in Death Valley Mining History
      (2) Variety of Cultural Resources Present
      (3) National Register Nominations

APPENDIXES

A. Mining Laws of the Panamint Mining District, 1873
B. Establishment of Rose Springs Mining District, 1888
C. Organization and Laws of Monte Blanco Borax and Salt Mining District, 1882
D. By-Laws of Death Valley Borax and Salt Mining District, 1883


Volume II

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS/LIST OF MAPS — Volume II (Parts 1 and 2)


IV. INVENTORY OF HISTORIC RESOURCES--THE EAST SIDE

A. The Bullfrog Hills
  1. Introduction
  2. Original Bullfrog Mine
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  3. Miscellaneous Bullfrogs and Tadpoles
    a) Bullfrog Extension Mining Company
    b) Big Bullfrog Mining Company
    c) Bullfrog Fraction
    d) Bullfrog Apex Mining and Milling Company
    e) Original Bullfrog Extension
    f) Bullfrog Red Mountain-- Rhyolite Bullfrog
    g) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  4. Bullfrog West Extension Mine
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  5. Gold Bar Mine
    a) History
    b) Miscellaneous Gold Bars
    c) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  6. Homestake-King Mine
    a) History
    b) Miscellaneous Homestakes
    c) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  7. Las Vegas and Tonopah Railroad
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  8. Leadfield
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  9. Miscellaneous Bullfrog Hills Properties
    a) Happy Hooligan Mine
    b) Currie Well
    c) Mexican Camp
    d) Phinney Mine
    e) Strozzi Ranch

B. The Funeral Range
  1. Introduction
  2. Chloride Cliff
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  3. Keane Wonder Mine
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  4. Johnnie Cyty and the Big Bell Mine
    a) History
      (1) Big Bell Mine
      (2) Cyty's Mill
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
      (1) Big Bell Mine
      (2) Cyty's Mill
  5. South Bullfrog Mining District
    a) History
    b) Death Valley Lone Star Mine
    c) Capricorn Mine
    d) Howard Little Exploration Company
    e) Monarch Canyon Mine
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    f) King Midas Claim
    g) Keane Springs and Townsite
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  6. Echo-Lee Mining District
    a) History
    b) Lee, California
    c) Hayseed Mine
    d) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  7. Echo Canyon
    a) Inyo Gold Mine
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    b) Schwab Townsite
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    c) Echo Townsite
    d) Miscellaneous Echo-Lee District Sites
    e) General Echo-Lee District Recommendations

C. The Black Mountains
  1. Introduction
  2. The Greenwater District
    a) History
    b) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
      (1) Greenwater, Furnace and Kunze
      (2) Greenwater Springs
      (3) "Coffin" Mine
  3. Greenwater District Mines
    a) Mines and Mining in Greenwater
    b) Furnace Creek Copper Company
    c) Greenwater Death Valley Copper Company
    d) Kempland Copper Company
    e) Greenwater Death Valley Copper Mining Company
    f) The Greenwater Boom
  4. Greenwater Suburbs
    a) Willow Creek and Gold Valley
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    b) Rhodes Springs
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    c) Virgin Springs
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  5. Miscellaneous Black Mountain Properties
    a) Desert Hound Mine
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    b) Ashford Mine and Mill
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    c) Confidence Mine and Mill
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    d) Bradbury Well

D. South Death Valley and the Ibex Hills
  1. Introduction
  2. The Ibex Springs Region
    a) Ibex Hills Gold and Silver Mining
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    b) Ibex Springs Area Talc Mines
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    c) Ibex Springs
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  3. Gold and Nitrate
    a) Amargosa Gold Placers
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    b) Amargosa Nitrate Mines
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
  4. The Saratoga Springs Region
    a) Saratoga Springs Area Talc Mines
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations
    b) Saratoga Springs
      (1) History
      (2) Present Status, Evaluation and Recommendations


V. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TREATMENT OF DEATH VALLEY MINING SITES

A. General Proposals
B. National Register Properties
C. List of Classified Structures

ENDNOTES

GLOSSARY

BIBLIOGRAPHY


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Last Updated: 22-Dec-2003