Featured Mining Town: Downieville, California
Downieville, California was settled at the convergence of the North Yuba and Downie rivers. Originally known as The Forks, the town was the site of some of the richest placer gold diggings ever discovered. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Pioche, Nevada
Pioche, Nevada was the site of a significant silver rush in the early 1870s. Located at an extremely isolated region hundreds of miles from the nearest rail link, Pioche nonetheless became one of the of the largest towns in the Nevada. This was also one of the most lawless and violent mining camps in the West, notorious for frequent acts of murder and armed conflicts over the mines of Treasure Hill. Continue Reading
Goldfield, Nevada: The Arthur Allen Albums
Photographer Arthur Allen captured many important scenes from Goldfield, Nevada's peak years - from the budding camp that was just a collection of tents in the fall of 1903, to the thriving community that was described as "The World's Greatest Gold Camp", and was Nevada's largest city by the middle of the decade. "Goldfield, Nevada: The Arthur Allen Albums" presents over 100 photos of the city, the mines, and cultural events that occurred during Goldfield's boom years. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Leadville, Colorado
Leadville, Colorado was one of the world's greatest mining cities. The camp grew to be a fabulous city in the clouds built on a mountain of silver. Continue Reading
Death Valley’s Harmony Borax Works
Death Valley's Harmony Borax Works operated during the 1880s. The borax operations of Death Valley made the "20 Mule Teams", the wagon trains that hauled the finished borax across the desert, famous in American culture. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Jerome, Arizona
Jerome, Arizona was a major copper mining city located on an improbably steep location on the side of a mountain. This billion-dollar camp was once the fourth largest city in Arizona. Today, Jerome is a popular tourist destination. Continue Reading
The Western Miner: A Photo Collection
While many romantic tales have been told of the prospectors that discovered the quartz leads that would become great mines, and of the mine owners and entrepreneurs that built empires of industry in what was a vast wilderness, it was the miner that ultimately did the difficult and dangerous work that extracted the great wealth of the West. Continue Reading
Featured Mining Town: Telluride, Colorado
Telluride was the hub of one of Colorado's premier mining regions. This historic mining town is located in a magnificent box canyon and today has become a popular resort area. Continue Reading
A Fortune in Gold: Ingots of the S.S. Central America
A vast fortune in gold ingots were lost to the sea in 1857 with the sinking of the S.S. Central America. Much of the gold has now been salvaged from the wreck, and in addition to the value of the bullion, the ingots serve as an important historical record of the private assayers that operated in California during the 1850s. "A Fortune in Gold: Ingots of the S.S. Central America" examines some of the stunning gold ingots that have sold at auction in recent years. Continue Reading
Lost Mines of Arizona
From The Mineralogical Record, Volume 14, No. 5, September-October, 1983: "The mountains and plains of Arizona are vast, complex, well mineralized and largely uninhabited even today. No one would dare to suggest that Arizona has given up all its secrets, and that no deposits or mineral occurrences remain to be found..." Continue Reading
