Welcome to Western Mining History

Featured Mining Town: Salida, Colorado

Featured Mining Town: Salida, Colorado

Salida was less of a mining camp, and more of a supply point for the agricultural and mining operations in Chaffee County. A railroad roundhouse was built to service the trains, and a 65 foot turntable was added and later replaced by an 80 food turntable. This became the largest railroad repair facility between Denver and Salt Lake City, employing hundreds of men.   Continue Reading

Western Museum Of Mining and Industry

Western Museum of Mining and Industry

Western Museum of Mining and Industry (WMMI) is an organization that works to preserve the mining history of the western United States. The 27 acre facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado contains over 5,000 mining-related artifacts. The photos in this post represent just a small part of the numerous fascinating exhibits at this incredible facility. Pictured  Continue Reading

Dogs of the Mining West

Miners cabin at Altman Colorado

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: Randsburg, California

Featured Mining Town: Randsburg, California

Gold was discovered at Randsburg, California in 1895 when the nation was in the midst of a depression. The desert prospectors that converged on Randsburg comprised what was known as a "poor man's camp". Some of them had to abandon their claims out of hunger while others ground the gold out of their ore by hand to come up with the $1.60 fee to file their claim.   Continue Reading

Featured Mining Town: Virginia City, Montana

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

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

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

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