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The Ikeda Mine
The Ikeda Mine was one of the most unusual early mining ventures on the coast of British Columbia. Located on the southeastern shore of Moresby Island (now part of Haida Gwaii), it was developed by Japanese entrepreneurs at a time when nearly all of British Columbia’s mining industry was controlled by British, Canadian, or American interests. Continue Reading
The Black Oak Mine
The Black Oak Mine, located near Soulsbyville, California, was a gold producer that operated intermittently from 1878 through the 1920s. These exclusive photographs were provided by a descendant of the mine’s superintendent. Continue Reading
The Lot Jumpers of Goldfield, Nevada
Although claim jumping is often associated with Western mining districts, another form of land speculation was also common: town lot jumping. In booming mining camps, town lots could be extraordinarily valuable, placing them beyond the reach of many newcomers. To secure housing, or in some cases simply to seize something of value, squatters occupied land belonging to mining companies, townsite developers, and even lots that had already been legally sold to private individuals. Continue Reading
The Valley View Mine
The Valley View Mine, also known historically as the Whiskey Hill Mine, Whiskey Diggings, and Harpending Mine, was one of the more unusual metal mines in the western foothills of Placer County, California. Unlike the region’s better-known quartz gold mines, Valley View produced primarily copper, with secondary gold, silver, lead, and zinc. Continue Reading
The Mines of Boulder County, Colorado: Photographs by Joseph Sturtevant
Joseph Sturtevant, also known as “Rocky Mountain Joe”, was a professional photographer based in Boulder, Colorado. During his time there, the mining industry in Boulder County was thriving, and he documented much of it in photographs throughout the 1890s and the first decade of the twentieth century. Continue Reading
The Stonewall Mine
The Stonewall Mine, located approximately seven miles south of Julian, California, was the largest gold producer in San Diego County, with total production estimated at approximately two million dollars. Although mining activity at the site began in the 1870s, its most productive period occurred between 1886 and 1892. Continue Reading
The White Pine Silver Rush
Deep in what was a vast wilderness in eastern Nevada, the White Pine district experienced one of the most intense and short-lived mining excitements in the history of the American West. What began as a modest discovery in the mid-1860s escalated into a boom that drew thousands of miners, speculators, and investors to the heights of Treasure Hill. Continue Reading
The Farwell Ditch
This little-known history of the Farwell Ditch in the Hahn’s Peak Mining District (located approximately thirty miles north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado) was provided by author Nolan Farwell, a distant relative of John V. Farwell, for whom the ditch was named. Continue Reading
Seven Troughs, Nevada: The Long Tunnel
Seven Troughs was a well-known Nevada gold mining district that saw its most productive years from 1907 to 1917. By the 1920s the district was largely idle, until an ambitious tunnel project was proposed to make mining economical once more and revive the district. This is the story of the “Long Tunnel” at what is now known as the Tunnel Camp site. Continue Reading
The Belcher Mine: 1870s Mining Methods of the Comstock Lode
Using the fascinating ca. 1876 illustration of the Belcher mine workings by T. L. Dawes, this article examines some of the mining methods employed in the mines of Nevada’s Comstock Lode. Continue Reading