Welcome to Western Mining History

Featured Mining Town: Eureka, Nevada

Featured Mining Town: Eureka, Nevada

Eureka was both Nevada's second largest city starting in the 1870s, and the state's second most valuable mining center after the Comstock Lode. Sometimes called the "Pittsburgh of the West", Eureka was the West's largest and most important smelting center. Sixteen smelters operated just outside town, treating ore from over 50 active mines.   Continue Reading

Featured Mining Town: Goldfield, Nevada

Featured Mining Town: Goldfield, Nevada

Goldfield, Nevada experienced one of the most dramatic rises and subsequent crashes of all the mining towns of the Old West. Once the largest city in Nevada, today Goldfield only has a few hundred residents.  Continue Reading

Featured Mining Town: Creede, Colorado

Featured Mining Town: Creede, Colorado

Creede, Colorado is one of the West's most notable silver camps. Famous for both it's stunning location and notorious outlaws, Creede remains a popular tourist destination today.  Continue Reading

Miners Cabins: Bottles, Barrels, and Dugouts

Tonopah barrel house

While the miners and prospectors that opened the vast American West are known for the log cabins they often used for shelter, some of the more eccentric dwellings they built are lesser known but equally interesting. "Miners Cabins: Bottles, Barrels, and Dugouts" takes a look at some of the more eccentric dwellings used by early miners.  Continue Reading

An Engineering Marvel: Colorado’s Hanging Flume

The hanging flume is is a five mile section of wooden flume that was built on the sheer cliffs of the San Miguel and Dolores Rivers in the canyon country of western Colorado. Built over a three-year period from 1888 to 1891, the flume was 150 feet or more above the canyon floor and was  Continue Reading

The Impossible Road: Photos of the Otto Mears Toll Road

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

Featured Mining Town: South Pass City, Wyoming

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

Placer mine near Anvil Creek - Nome Alaska

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

Featured Mining Town: Central City, Colorado

Featured Mining Town: Central City, Colorado

Central City was Colorado's most important mining center for almost two decades following gold discoveries in 1859. The city's fame would be overshadowed by Leadville in 1880, but Central City would endure for decades as one of the West's oldest and most resilient mining towns.  Continue Reading