The East Mojave Desert
A Brief Summary of the History of Mining
1863-1947

Larry M. Vredenburgh
1995


The 1860s

By late 1859 the Mojave Road was established as a viable wagon road between Los Angeles and the Colorado River. As early as 1861 miners working El Dorado Canyon, on the Colorado River, used the route to a point about six miles east of Rock Spring where the trail to El Dorado Canyon took off. Early in 1863 copper ore was discovered, probably by soldiers from Fort Mojave, in the Dead Mountains 25 miles southwest of Fort Mojave. And the Irataba Mining District was established - named after the Mohave Chief.

In light of the presence of prospectors passing through the east Mojave, the discovery of silver ten miles west of Rock Spring, nearly astride the Mojave Road in 1863 is not surprising. With the March 12 discovery by Charles Hamilton and Francis Austin, the Rock Spring Mining District was established the following month. The district embraced Macedonia Mountain. The townsite of Providence was laid out, and consisted of a string of stone cabins and tents. By March 1864 five mining companies with interest in the district were listed in the San Francisco business directory, but little true work was conducted.

Indians killed a prospector, Moses Little, June 12, 1866 creating another kind of rush of prospectors - out. Camp Rock Spring was established December 30, 1866 by the U.S. Army to protect mail carriers on the Government Road, and slowly prospectors returned.


The 1870s

Just to the north in the New York Mountains, the New York Mining District was organized April, 1870. In June 1872 Matt Palen erected a smelter and in August 1873 the Elgin Mining Company of Elgin, Illinois hauled a mill to the New York Mine. By December the mill was running but was shut by May 1874.


The remainder of the 1870s were quiet in the East Mojave Desert, that is until the discovery of silver at the Bonanza King Mine set off a flood of prospectors who in turn made new discoveries.

The 1880s


George Goreman and Pat Dwyer, prospectors from Ivanpah in the Clark Mountains, discovered rock that assayed phenomenal silver values in the spring of 1880. By spring 1881 J. D. Boyer and H. L. Drew, San Bernardino Business men acquired the mine, and by December J. B. Osborne and N. Hasson had joined them. However, the investment needed to turn the ore deposit into a mine was still a daunting obstacle.


According to one account, Thomas Ewing mining scout for George Hearst asked if it was for sale, and at what price. "There are four of us," was the reply, "and we want $50,000 each." "It's a sale," said Ewing, as quick as a flash and securing a piece of rough wrapping paper, he immediately drew a draft for the amount. It read: "George Hearst, San Francisco; pay to bearer $200,000." Within forty-eight hours the draft was paid through Wells Fargo.


A 10-stamp mill was hauled from Mojave costing in all over $50,000 in July 1882, and a hoist was shipped via Colton. Up to 150 were men employed sinking the shaft and preparing for mill. The mill commenced operations January 1883. At the mill a town named Crow Town grew up at what is the site of Domingo spring. But there also was Providence near the mine, whose structures were constructed of quarried volcanic tuff. On March 11, 1885 the mine and mill were closed down by the owners. When they reopened a week later the labor force was paid $3 a day, fifty cents less. The mill burned July 21 1885. The mine had produced $1.8 million in silver.


At the nearby Kerr Mine, experience mining man Godfrey Bahten constructed a five stamp mill which started in January 1887.


A short distance south of Providence at Hidden Hill, gold was discovered as early as 1882, the Arrow Mining district established, and ore milled in an arrastra.


The 1890s

The early 1890s saw substantial mining activity in the East Mojave desert.


In the early 1890s Isaac Blake purchased the New York Mine, constructed the Needles Reduction Works and by 1893 had 80 men developing the mine. But, the panic of 1893 silenced this silver mine. However the one remnant of Blake's empire was the Nevada Southern Railway. By August 1893 the Railroad reached Manvel. Manvel (later renamed Barnwell) served as the distributing point for a vast area.


At the same time that all of Blakes's energy was being poured into the East Mojave, the ephemeral but thriving town of Vanderbilt literally sprang up overnight. Gold was discovered by Paiute Indian Bob Black in January 1891. In 1892 M.M. Beatty a relative of Black staked the first claims. Beatty and Allen Green Campbell began developing the Boomerang Mine. Simultaneously, two miners from Providence, Richard C. Hall and Samuel King filed claims which became the Gold Bronze mine. Two other Providence miners Joseph P. Taggart and James H. Patton joined them in June 1892. By the time of a significant strike by Taggart that fall, the camp consisted of perhaps 300 men and a camp consisting of a store, boarding house and several saloons. In March 1893 Campbell's mill started, and the Gold Bronze mill by May 1894.

In April 1894 water was struck in the Gold Bronze shaft, in June the Boomerang mine hit water. Upon hitting the water, the character of the ore changed and the mills were unable to recover the gold. The mines and town began their decline and by 1897 were essentially finished.


At Hidden Hill in the south portion of the Providence Mountains, some rich highgrade gold was discovered February 1894, and a 2-stamp mill was erected 1895 by Monaghan and Murphy, two Needles merchants.


The 1900s


The Nevada silver discovery at Tonopah in 1900, and the gold discoveries at Goldfield (1903) and Rhyolite (1904) stimulated renewed prospecting throughout Nevada and Eastern California. Within the east Mojave numerous older mines were reactivated in the wake of these discoveries, and some new discoveries were made.


Gold discovered in the western Castle Mountains on December 19, 1907, transformed the area into the thriving town of Hart. In January there was a stampede to Hart with people leaving Needles and Searchlight "in automobiles, buggies, wagons and on bicycles and burro." Many came from Goldfield. By thee end of the month there was telephone, and an estimated population of 200. In May 1908 a small mill capable of processing 8 tons (a day?) was installed by the Big Chief mine. The Oro Belle Mine with a main shaft eventually 860 feet deep, produced very little gold, and never constructed a mill. Much of the town of Hart burned December 1910.


In late summer 1908, high grade gold was found 28 miles southwest of the new boom town of Hart. This discovery, the Lost Burro, was made by D. G. Warfield and Mark Neumayer. The townsite of Gold Valley was laid out. At the mine a 100 foot deep shaft was sunk, ore was worked in an arrastra. By 1910 a small stamp mill was operational.


On the north end of Gold Valley the mine camp of Out West drew some attention. In 1909 the camp consisted of a stone house and 3 frame-tent houses.


The New York Mine was revitalized in 1907 as the Sagamore Mine by N. P. Sloan. A mill with the capacity of 50 tons per day was erected in 1908 - but shut down after 6 weeks.


In 1906 there was a serious, yet failed attempt to reactivate the Bonanza King Mine. A ten stamp mill was erected. The mine operated one year. There were additional attempts in the late 1910s and in 1924.


The California Gold and Copper Company led by the able hand of Albert Cram, of Riverside appears to have been little more than a stock scam. Cram filed the first mining claims southeast of Vontrigger Spring in 1902 at the height of a copper rush that lasted until 1907. A huge mill was constructed as was a company town with homes for the miners. Investors continued to be milked until 1915 when operations were suspended.


In the old Rock Spring District, the Macedonia Mine (one of the original locations) was renamed the Columbia. In December 1910 a 5-stamp mill was installed.


In 1913 there was yet another attempt to reactivate the gold mines at Hidden Hill. A substantial camp was erected and some beautiful pockets of free gold were found. All told up to 1920 perhaps $100,000 had been recovered from the mines here.


In 1925 a camp named Vontrigger sprang up at the Getchell mine, owned by J. L. Workman and Senator Getchell of Nevada. This camp located in the Hackberry Mountains consisted of 30 tents. The mines were worked intermittently in the 1930s and early 1940s.


The biggest thing to happen in the east Mojave was the Vulcan iron mine in Foshay Pass. The claims here were patented as early as 1902 with only minor development. There was a small camp here in the 1920s. However between December 1942 and July 1947 over 2.6 million tons of iron ore was mined and shipped to the Fontana steel mills. A camp was constructed to house 65 men near the mine and another 35 men lived with their families in trailers at Kelso.


This Paper was published as:


Vredenburgh, Larry M., 1995, A brief summary of the history of mining in the East Mojave Desert, 1863-1947, in Robert E. Reynolds and Jennifer Reynolds eds. San Bernardino County Museum Association Quarterly Vol. 42 no. 3, p. 83-84


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