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Goldfield Nevada !
History article !
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Back in the early days of Tonopah, it was not just a mining town but also a place where the old prospectors gathered to find new strikes in the surrounding area. While Oddie and Butler had their fingers in everything in Tonopah there were those who wanted to find something new, but close. In 1902 a Shoshone Indian by the name of Tom Fisherman had come into Tonopah with some gold ore that he found twenty-five miles south around the Columbia Mountain.
Acouple of the first to head south to the Columbia mountain area were Billy Marsh and Harry Stimler. They located five claims in December of 1902. Looking to find the granddaddy of all claims they laid out the foundations for the new camp and called it Grandpa. Some say he called it Stimler, but either way it ended up being called Columbia. They moved down into the flats to build Goldfield. In the following few months nothing of interest was found and most of the claims were abandoned. Then on May 24th, 1903 Al Myers and R. C. Hart, while working one of the abandoned claims hit pay dirt, or better said, Gold. They renamed their claim the Combination Mine. Soon there after Charley Taylor was visiting with his friends Marsh and Stimler who gave Charley one of their abandoned claim they had worked without any results. Charley struck gold, then he tried to sell his claim to a newcomer for 150 dollars but the deal failed. Over the next six years charley produced 1,250,000 dollars in ore. Ten days after the Myers and Hart Combination mine discovery the Tonopah Miner published the news to the world with this headline: SENSATIONAL STRIKE IN GRANDPA DISTRICT.
Soon the world over and everyone who was not already rich in Tonopah was heading for the new boom. Instead of putting the town right on top the mine, they found a more level location between Columbia Mountain and Rabbit Springs, hence Goldfield was born. Lots started at $500 apiece and then soon after were going for ninety times that. There were lot jumpers and squatters putting up shacks in a hurry, everything at the time was a mass of confusion. In just the first six weeks of 1904 Goldfield grew from four hundred to one thousand residents. On April 29th, 1904, the town was officially blessed with its first newspaper, the Goldfield News. Goldfield shipped out so much gold that following summer, a columnist for the London Financial News predicted that Goldfield would crash the market for gold world wide and warned of a forthcoming "gold crisis".
Free Downloads
I got some good photos on our Goldfield trip that I made a sreen saver
for May. #26 on my download page!
Local News in Vegas!
This month started out cool for the best part, but as always the heat is
just starting to climb. Its eleven O'clock pm and still 91 degrees out. I think this summer is going to be a killer with the heat.
Lately the Mexicans have been on the war path. I hear on May first they are all going to walk off work. That means we will lose our entire housekeeping crew.
So far they have not said which way they are walking, maybe south back to Mexico. I will have to keep my thoughts to myself, I do not want to get in trouble with
the staff. How can you fight for rights when you are not legal in the first place, I really do not understand the meaning behind this. Enough!
T he gas prices are going to drive me out of business! I wonder how much camping gear I could get on a moped!
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Book Reviews
This months book is " Los Gringos", by Lieut Wise U.S.N. and published by
Baker and Scribner, New York, 1849. Have you wondered how they talked by in 1849, better yet, do you know how a sailor talked back then. I had to buy a Spanish dictionary and two really old dictionaries just to translate most of the words This book took me the better part of six weeks to read, so I am slow. He tells of his travels around the horn and to California during the disturbances between the United States and Mexico. In great detail he gives the the accounts of the naval forces
during the take over. How they defended the ports all up and down California and even down into Mexico. After the war with Mexico was over they then sailed to the sandwich Island and then on to Tahiti. It is a rather long winded version and 450 pages of hard reading to understand everything in the old English style of writing. I really enjoyed this book even though I never read one like it before. It is packed full of first hand history. This is about as far away from a boring history book as you can get.
| Last Trip Log |
Trip Logs
April 9th,2006
Well this month is going to be busy, so I thought I better get out while I can. Following my plans, Goldfield would be the next trip.
I have my anniversary coming up next weekend and Brenda says we are going to Mesquite for three days. I have not figured out what we are
going to do for three days, but I am taking a few books to read anyway.
The priority for this trip is the Charcoal Kiln up near Dago Joe Springs. The next would be Diamond Field northeast of Goldfield. Then I thought I might
find a few good shots of Goldfield and add it to my site as well, it has a great amount of history. I had no faith in finding this two, but we were going to do our best.
We drove up Indian Springs Canyon, on the east side of Montezuma Range. Tom had said he thought the kiln was right on the road below Dago Joe Springs. I did not see anything, so we ended up at Dago Joes. There is a cabin, some what left of one, and a nice spring, still running. We thing drove up to Brick Springs next up the canyon, no Kiln. I finally ended up at almost the peak and could not find it. We explored the whole canyon on the way down. This took about two hours. I finally gave up and headed down. Wesley finally saw it below Dago Joes right on the road. I don't know how we miss it. Nice little Kiln, I got some good shots. We also stopped at Gemfield on the way out. This was funny, pay on your honor rock hunts. It must be a tourist thing.
Next stop, Diamond Field Nevada. We got lucky, there was two stone foundations left of the camp. After taking my shots we explored around. I found a big foundation at what looked to be a large mine site. Then we found several other foundations and a great view of Goldfield from high up. I got the two big mills out along the high and a ton of photos east of Goldfield. This was awesome, there is enough to take several days if you would want to explore it all.. So after a couple of hundred photos we headed in to down town Goldfield for a few of the old historic buildings. I will have to go back and read up on my history to get the names right when I post them.
This turned out to be a awesome day, we had a ball. It was a little cool and windy up on the mill top, but still awesome. I can not wait to post the photos, I can not show them all but I will pick the best.
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| Personal Notes |
Upcoming Plans !
The better part of what I had planned has gone to hell and back again. We got to Goldfield and it was a great trip. But the May trip to Walker Lake has been canceled, due to my work and the timing just was not right. In other works with the SCIC convention looking me in the face I can not get off for the trip. If it had been two weeks later, I would have made it.
Plan A, after finding the elusive Bennett Pass charcoal kilns, I still have more to explore in the area. I want to check the points around the Comet Camp and the area close to there. This could very well be our next trip this coming weekend.
Plan B, is back to Ely to visit and get the Diamond Range up by Eureka. Diamond Nevada is one of the priority trips for this summer. There is another charcoal Kiln there I have not got to yet.
Plan C, would be a one day trip back to Death Valley for a few more Ghost Towns and a walk up to the top of Lookout to see the camp. God I hope it does not get hot before we get there.
Now everything is subject to change. I never know when I will come across
something new and while it is hot on my mind, have truck will travel!
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