Welcome to Western Mining History

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

Featured Mining Town: Irwin, Colorado

Featured Mining Town: Irwin, Colorado

Irwin, Colorado grew into a spectacular city of 5,000 residents in just six months after rich silver discoveries. The great production from the mines could only be maintained for a couple years, and by 1883 Irwin was already in steep decline.  Continue Reading

What is a Ghost Town? WMH Town Classifications Explained

While there is not one official definition of what a ghost town is, there has been much discussion on the subject. Wikipedia’s basic definition is as follows: A ghost town is an abandoned village, town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due  Continue Reading

The King Solomon Mine

Full view of cyanide mixing works at the King Solomon mine.

The King Solomon mine, a monolithic structure from a bygone era, stands alone atop the Rand Mountain range, a silent witness to the joys, sorrows and deaths of those who sought the riches from beneath the earth. Cindy Nunn's new book Abandoned California: King Solomon Mine is a history of the mine from its beginnings until shut-down.  Continue Reading

Rich Gold Deposits of Plumas County

Map Showing Mining Territory Tributary to La Porte

The following article describing the early history of Plumas County gold districts and a resurgence of mining in the mid-1890s appeared in the San Francisco Call on July 18, 1895. The map image was published with the article, all other images were added from separate archives. Plumas is county of rugged mountains, holding in their  Continue Reading