Dogs of the Mining West
Most dogs on the western frontier were considered working dogs, but as the photos in this collection demonstrate, they were also reliable and cherished companions to miners and prospectors. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Virginia City, Montana
Virginia City, Montana is one of the West's richest and most notorious historic gold camps. In the five years after the first gold discovery an estimated $30-$40 million in gold was recovered here. Also abundant were the murders by road agents, with around 100 travelers killed between 1863 and 1864. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Victor, Colorado
Victor, Colorado was known as the Cripple Creek district's "City of Mines". One third of all the gold mined in the district came from the mines at Victor. Continue Reading
Where to Find Gold in California
With over 22,000 historical mine locations in the USGS MRDS database of mines, California has more gold mines that the next top four gold states combined. California was also the largest gold producing state up to 1965 with over 100 million ounces produced. In recent decades other states have overtaken California in total gold production, Continue Reading
Where to Find Gold in Arizona
WMH Gold Maps for Google Earth Pro are designed to locate areas with high potential for finding placer gold. A core feature of these maps is the highlighting of townships that contain both active placer mining claims and historical gold mines. The screenshot below uses data from the Arizona Gold Map and shows gold-bearing PLSS Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Weaverville, California
Weaverville was the primary settlement in Trinity Alps region of Northern California. Settled in 1850, Weaverville was a significant placer mining town with thousands of residents, including over 1,000 Chinese. Today the town is home to numerous 1850s era historic buildings and California's oldest Chinese house of worship. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Bannack, Montana
Bannack, Montana was the site of the first gold rush in the Montana Territory. The town had up to 5,000 residents by the summer of 1863 and briefly served as the territorial capitol in 1864. Today the ghost town of Bannack has been preserved as a state park. Continue Reading
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
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
Miners Cabins: Bottles, Barrels, and Dugouts
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
