Location and History
Harrisburg or Harrisburg Flat is in east-central Inyo County in Dealth Valley National Monument. It is about five miles north of Wildrose Canyon and nine miles south of Skidoo. Gold was discovered here in 1905 by Shorty Harris, one of the most colorful and best-known "single blanket jackass prospectors" of the Death Valley region. He was also the first settler in Rhyolite, Nevada. Harrisburg, which was mainly a tent city, lasted for only a few years. The chief source of gold in the district was the Independent or Cashier mine, which had an output valued at about $300,000.
Geology
There are several lenticular north- to northwest-striking gold-bearing quartz veins in dolomitic limestone. Granitic rocks also crop out in the area. The ore contained free gold and some sulfides. Much of the ore averaged about one ounce of gold per ton, but the values do not extend to depths of more than 150 feet.
Bibliography
Norman, L.A., Jr., and Stewart, R. M .. 1951, Inyo County, Independent mine: California Jour. Mines and Geology, vol. 47, p. 44.
Waring, C. A., 1919, Inyo County, Cashier mine: California Min. Bur. Rept. 15, pp. 75-76.
