This Historic Resource Study is the culmination of a
two-year-plus research project focusing on the mining history of Death
Valley National Monument. Its purposes are manifold:
1. to comply with E. O. 11593 with respect to the
monument's mining history, emphasizing hard-rock mining, by producing an
overview of the various mining phases in the valley and by completing
individual narratives of each camp and mine;
2. to identify sites with sufficient integrity to
justify their nomination to the National Register, and to thus hopefully
correct an imbalance on that official listing by adding sites and
structures significant in the very important theme of westward mining
expansion;
3. to provide needed information relative to the
significance of historical structures and sites located on patented or
valid mining claims to ensure that their continued existence is not
jeopardized by further mineral development;
4. to gain for monument interpreters information
that has not heretofore been compiled on the area's cultural,
historical, and industrial heritage, and thus influence future park
interpretive programs and visitor-use plans;
5. to enable park management to determine methods of
treatment or disposal of surviving relics of the valley's mining past.
This involves questions pertinent to visitor safety, such as which
dangerously-exposed shafts and adits may be capped, and which
dilapidated, unsightly structures are not deemed sufficiently
significant to warrant expenditure of time and money in their
stabilization or restoration
6. to furnish a sound reference base for future park
planning efforts; and, last but not least,
7. to dispel or at least qualify as many as possible
of the myths and legends concerning the monument's history that have
been promulgated by generations of writers and that have no basis in
historical fact.
The writers sincerely hope that they have succeeded
in fulfilling these objectives in a helpful and satisfactory manner.
In 1975 a team of National Park Service
professionals assembled to prepare a List of Classified Structures for
the Western Regional Office. Utilizing Ben Levy's 1969 history study of
Death Valley to determine the scope of the project in that particular
area, the team then proceeded with an on-site survey of the monument in
December of that year. During the next six months they performed
research in mining journals and other sources as time and projects
permitted, under the guidance of the regional historian. On the basis of
this entire effort a revised estimate of the scope of the research
problem in Death Valley was made, resulting in the funding of this more
thorough mining history.
The amassing of data for this report has been an
exhaustive and time-consuming task made bearable primarily by the
enthusiastic cooperation of many individuals and institutions. The
writers would first like to extend their thanks to former Superintendent
Donald M. Spalding and to Superintendent George Von der Lippe and the
various members of their staff who made our visits to the park pleasant
and profitable during the course of our research and fieldwork. Chief
Ranger Richard S. Rayner arranged several times for rangers to serve as
chauffeurs and guides into some of the more remote sections of the
monument, and their familiarity with the area and willingness to
traverse miles of rugged terrain probably saved both writers from
becoming additional "Death Valley victims." Robert T. Mitcham, mining
engineer, and Anne Madsen, then of the mining office, contributed
information from their vast files and knowledge of the area, in addition
to xeroxing services, that greatly facilitated the research effort. Mr.
Mitcham's knowledge of all aspects of the park's mining operations is
indeed impressive. Also to be thanked is Virgil I . Olson, Chief
Interpreter, who freely lent negatives from the visitor center
photograph file for use in our report and assisted in other ways with
interpretive information
Several private individuals were also consulted, who
were either frequent visitors to the area or else are engaged in
personal research on some facet of the valley's history. They were all
most generous with their time and knowledge of the region, and include
William G. Fiero, University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and Richard E.
Lingenfelter, University of California at San Diego.
Many institutions also provided assistance, and the
authors would like to thank the staffs of the California Historical
Society; the Bancroft Library; the California State Bureau of Mines and
Geology; the California State Library; the Nevada State Library; the
University of Nevada-Reno Library; the Colorado School of Mines Library;
the University of Colorado Library; the California Secretary of State's
Office in Sacramento; the South Dakota Secretary of State's Office in
Pierre; the Office of the Nye County Recorder and Auditor in Tonopah,
Nevada; the Office of the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder, Independence,
California; the United States Geological Survey Library in Denver; and
the National Archives and Records Service of the General Services
Administration, the Library of Congress, and the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, Washington, D.C.
On several occasions, certain individuals stood out
from the crowd in their enthusiasm, interest, and expertise. Chief among
these was Guy Rocha, Curator of Manuscripts for the Nevada State
Historical Society. A special debt of gratitude also goes to Ruth
Larison, the overworked Librarian of the Denver Service Center, who
spent much time and effort in securing research material and microfilm
copies of early mining papers and journals for our perusal.
Finally, we wish to acknowledge the guidance and
moral support offered by our colleagues Gordon Chappell, Western
Regional Historian, San Francisco, and Erwin N. Thompson, Senior
Historian, Pacific Northwest/Western Team, Denver Service Center, on
this study, our first research project for the National Park Service.
Linda W. Greene
John A. Latschar
November 1979