Mining History Library – Western Mining History

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Life in the Mining Camp at Randsburg (1897 Newspaper)

"The town is located between the Rand group and the mines on the Butte Ledge, and extends across from Rand Gulch on the west to Fiddler's Gulch on the east. There are from 1500 to 2000 people in and around Randsburg, and every kind of business is represented."

History of the Ajo Mining District (1946 USGS)

Ajo is believed to be, after Santa Rita, N. Mex., the first copper district in the Southwest to be worked by Americans.

Recollections of an Electrician at Kennecott

This letter from Wesley O. Bloom was published in the NPS publication "Kennecott Kids - Interviews with the Children of Kennecott." Bloom describes his time working as an electrician at Kennecott for over two years in the late 1930s.

Discovery of the Silver King (1875 Weekly Journal-Miner)

This article from 1875 describes the discovery and early development of Arizona's famous Silver King mine.

The Quicksilver Mines of New Almaden in 1857 (1863 Harpers New Monthly Magazine)

This 1857 report (published in 1863) gives a detailed description of the early works of the New Almaden quicksilver mines.

Down in the Cinnabar Mines - A Visit to New Almaden in 1865 (1865 Harper's New Monthly Magazine)

This 1865 report gives an update on the progress of the New Almaden mines.

New Almaden - A California Mining Camp (1878 Scribner's Monthly Magazine)

Mary Hallock Foote's 1877 description of life at New Almaden offers unique insights into the experiences of those living in the ethnic camps surrounding this renowned quicksilver mine.

Dogs of the Klondike and Alaska (1898 Two Years in the Klondike and Alaska Gold-Fields)

"In the winter they do all the freighting, haul all the wood, and carry the mails. Harnessed tandem to sleds – and I have seen twenty in a single string – they will go anywhere, ninety miles from Circle City to the mines, or a thousand to Juneau..."

Arrival at Circle City (1898 Two Years in the Klondike and Alaska Gold-Fields)

This true account describes what life was like for miners at Circle City, Alaska in 1896 – one of the most isolated mining camps in the world.

The Dreaded Chilkoot Pass (1898 Two Years in the Klondike and Alaska Gold-Fields)

This true account describes the extreme difficulties that prospectors experienced carrying a ton of supplies over Chilkoot Pass on the trek to the Klondike Goldfields.

The Prospector and His Burro - The Day of the Prospector Has Not Passed (1913 The Salt Lake Mining Review)

"And, as for the country having been thoroughly prospected, there is nothing to it, and I am willing to wager a tommyknocker against a power drill that I can go into any old camp in this western country and, by careful prospecting, find a body of pay ore in localities which have been over-run by mining men for a score of years, or more."

The Mining Camp (Comstock Lode 1859-1860) (1883 Comstock Mining and Miners)

This fascinating account of the Comstock Lode in 1859 and 1860 describes the early development of Gold Hill and Virginia City, the difficulties of transporting freight from California, the Pyramid Lake war, and the violence and lawlessness of the burgeoning camps.

The Prospector and His Burro - Claim Jumping (1916 The Salt Lake Mining Review)

"The hermit and I had been playing cards all the evening and while we smoked and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves we little dreamed that a party of five men–desperate-looking characters–were plowing their way up the trail, through the snow, with the intention of driving the old man from his claim and so intimidating him that he would be afraid to complain to the proper authorities or even to come back to his property; a method of obtaining possession of valuable property often practiced in those days."

The Prospector and the Pay Streak (1911 The Salt Lake Mining Review)

"The prospector is happy and he firmly believes the story that he is telling. And some of his acquaintances believe him, and, to such an extent that they are willing to pay him a fancy figure for a share in his find."

The Prospector and His Burro - The Faulty Ladder (1910 Salt Lake Mining Review)

"In all of the cases of criminal carelessness connected with mining operation," continued the prospector, "the faulty ladder generally leads to the greatest number of accidents and deaths; and yet, in many mines, such death-traps are allowed to exist long after they are known to be dangerous,,,"

The Lost Ledge (1869 Adventures in the Apache Country)

This account of the search for a lost silver vein in Death Valley was written in the 1860s and tells the background story of what became known as the legend of the "Lost Breyfogle Mine".

The Prospector and His Burro - Another Lost Bonanza (1909 Salt Lake Mining Review)

"You say you have been thinking of 'lost mines' again, and that you are of the opinion you could go back to a discovery you had made, even if years ago. Well, a burro might do this, but the average prospector can't..."

How an Alcalde Was Once Deposed (1885 Mining Camps – A Study in American Frontier Government)

This fascinating true account from the early 1850s Oregon placer mines describes how miners got justice for an injured fellow through the establishment of a frontier court of law.

George Witherell Hung (1888 Newspaper)

This article recounts the lynching of a murderer from Ironton who was accused of killing two Swedish miners.

The Prospector and His Burro - Stock Manipulation (1910 Salt Lake Mining Review)

"In the mining game, as I have told you before, there are a number of get-rich quick methods that are not sanctioned by Blackstone, or authorized by mine conditions; and yet I can point out a number of mining men, even in this camp, whose properties are not paying running expenses, upon whose stock assessments are regularly levied, and who, notwithstanding these discouraging circumstances, are able to own the highest-priced autos, who are constantly investing in valuable real estate, and who always have plenty of money."