Journigan’s Mill was built in the 1930s at a site in Emigrant Canyon that was near several springs. Water is Death Valley’s most precious resource, and mills were usually located where there was access to springs nearby. During the course of the mills roughly twenty years of operation, water would be piped to the site
The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns, built in 1877, are one of the best preserved and largest examples of historic charcoal kilns in the West. The kilns are located in the western part of Death Valley National Park, in Wildrose Canyon. This part of the park is an excellent destination for camping and hiking so if you
The Mackay Mansion in Virginia City, Nevada is one the Comstock Lode’s oldest and best preserved buildings. Built 1860, the mansion was originally the offices of the Gould and Curry Mining Company, as well as housing for the mine superintendent.
Large underground mines often have important infrastructure and facilities built in underground chambers, hundreds or thousands of feet below the surface. Storage facilities, repair shops, and even modern hoist houses can be found deep within the mines. These facilities weren’t often captured in photographs, so it is a rare treat to be able to see
In January of 1895, a warehouse fire ignited a large store of dynamite resulting in a great explosion that devastated several blocks of Butte, Montana, and killed an estimated 58 people. The following account is partial text from the 1895 publication “The Great Dynamite Explosions at Butte, Montana: January 15, 1895” The Fire and Explosions
For anyone familiar with California in modern times, it is difficult to imagine what the state must have been like during the California Gold Rush. The famous gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill happened in 1848, but it wasn’t until 1849 that news of the discovery reached the East Coast and the rest of the world.
The following article appeared in the Colorado Springs Gazette, September 14, 1878 Gipsying in Colorado 1878 It is often asked, which do you admire most, Silverton or Ouray? It is impossible to make comparisons between places so utterly different. Ouray, as I have described, is in the wildest imaginable spot; just room enough, as it
Sumpter, Oregon was settled by prospectors in 1862, making it one of the earliest mining settlements in the Northwest. Sumpter was a remote and isolated town which grew very slowly, and it wasn’t until the 1890s, with improvements in transportation routes and the arrival of a railroad, that Sumpter turned into a mining boom town.
William Andrews Clark Sr. (January 8, 1839 – March 2, 1925) was an American politician and entrepreneur, involved with mining, banking, and railroads. Clark made his first fortune as one of the three “Copper Kings” of Butte, Montana. He was later involved in many ventures including the development of mines and smelters in Jerome, Arizona,
I recently had the opportunity to view the DVD “Desperate Dreams” by Rick Tegeler. The DVD is the result of numerous trips to Nevada with the purpose of documenting the mines and ghost towns of the mining frontier. The following quote from the Desperate Dreams site summarizes some of Rick’s experiences during his explorations: “As
