The Impossible Road: Incredible Photos of the Otto Mears Toll Road
Established in 1876, Ouray, Colorado was positioned at the north end of the rugged San Juan mountains, in a box canyon that served as the gateway to many rich mining districts. The town would have been the ideal commerce and transportation center for a large part of the region of not for one problematic detail. Continue Reading
Where To Find Gold: The Top Ten US Counties
The western states have produced massive amounts of placer gold since the 1848 discovery of gold at Coloma, California. Placer districts throughout the West were heavily mined almost continuously for over a century by a variety of methods. Despite this previous activity, there is still plenty of gold to be discovered. Thousands of gold placer Continue Reading
Home Sweet Home – Miner’s Cabins of the Frontier West
The rugged individuals that opened the frontier West were prospecting, mining, and attempting to survive in what was a vast wilderness at the time. Many of the basics of survival had to be sourced directly from the miner’s immediate surroundings, and shelter was one of the first necessities of life that had to be addressed. Continue Reading
Introducing the WMH Gold Explorer
The Western Mining History Gold Explorer is an interactive map designed to assist in the location of both historic and modern gold districts in the Western United States. Last updated: November 13, 2019 – added mining town and gold district data layers, added buttons to activate and deactivate data layers. The Gold Explorer is available Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: South Pass City, Wyoming
The first significant gold discovery in the South Pass area occurred in 1867 and a rush was on. South Pass City became the largest camp in the new district, and in 1868 became the second incorporated city in Wyoming. Continue Reading
The Top Ten Gold Producing States
From 1799 through 1965, the United States produced over 300,000,000 ounces of gold, which at the current price of around $1,500 per ounce (as of August 2019) would be valued at over $450 billion dollars. These are the ten states that contributed the most gold to US production during the golden era of mining in the American West. Continue Reading
