Lincoln County
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The principal mountains of Lincoln County are included in the White Pine, Yellow Pine and Pahranagat ranges. The White Pine Range is in the western part of the county, running nearly north and south; is bold, high and snowy, and is well wooded with nut pine, fir, white pine and mahogany. Twenty miles to the eastward are the Pahranagat Mountains, a low range covered with nut pine, and running north and south. In the southern part of the county are the Yellow Pine Mountains, running northeast and southwest, a wide and lofty range, well timbered with yellow pine. Mount Irish is a lofty peak of the Pahranagat Range, rising to the height of 11,000 feet above the sea, and is seamed with ore-bearing veins of quartz. This peak was named in honor of Mr. Irish, Indian Agent for that region in 1865, when the mines were discovered. The Ely Mountains, west of Pioche, running north and south, are rich in mineral veins. The Spring Mountain Range, in the southwest, is a very interesting group, and contains a large area of pastoral lands. There are other groups and hills bearing local names.
The most northern valley in the county is Spring Valley,
which is four miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. It was first
settled in 1867 by William C. Moody and Alma Willett. During the
following year they planted potatoes, and sowed wheat, barley and oats.
The potatoes did well. The grasshoppers devoured the grain, however, but
have not put in an appearance there since. Few subsequent attempts to
raise grain have been made, for the reason that the frosts usually
injure the crops. At one time this valley contained a population of
twenty Mormon families, but only four now remain.
South of
Spring Valley is Eagle Valley, two and a half miles long and half a mile
wide. All of it is capable of cultivation, being irrigated by springs.
At present it is chiefly utilized for meadow lands. Notwithstanding
frequent frosts, large quantities of fruit are often raised in it. It
was once inhabited by twenty-two Mormon families; only seven now remain.
Rose Valley, south of Eagle Valley, is a mile and a half long
and about half a mile wide. It contains no running water, and is used as
a meadow. Eight families formerly inhabited it, but only two remain.
Dry Valley is south of Rose, and is four miles long and half a mile
wide. It was once settled, but the Meadow Valley Mining Company took the
waters from it, and it had to be abandoned.
Next south of Dry
Valley is Meadow Valley, ten miles long and a mile wide, and well
watered. It produces large quantities of vegetables and some fruit. It
was first settled, in 1863 and 1864, by the Mormons, most of whom
afterwards returned to Utah. About twenty-five families now reside in
it, not including the popu!ation of Panaca.
Southward from
Meadow Valley is Meadow Valley Wash, which is ninety miles long, and
occasionally widens out into tracts of tillable land. It is watered by
springs, and is occupied by about twenty families. It extends into Muddy
River Valley.
Muddy River Valley runs north and south, and is
about two miles wide and thirty long. It was settled by the Mormons in
1864, as will be found narrated elsewhere in this work. It is capable of
producing abundantly, as was then demonstrated. At one time it contained
a population of 1,700, but all returned to Utah in 1871, excepting five
families.
In the southern portion of the county, about fifty
miles southwest of Muddy River Valley, is the oasis of Las Vegas Spring.
It is almost in the center of a desert twenty miles wide, and affords
water sufficient for the irrigation of 500 acres. The climate around it
is semi-tropical. Many kinds of fruit thrive vigorously. The old
emigrant road from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles, California, passed
near this spring. The locality has been settled since 1852.
Clover Valley, lying west of the Meadow Valley Wash, is four miles long
and one wide. It is partially watered, is used for meadow land and is
occupied by ten families.
Forty miles west of Las Vegas,
adjoining the line of Inyo County, California, is the Pah Rump Valley,
running northeast and southwest. It is thirty miles long and ten wide,
and is but slightly watered, but when irrigated, produces well in fruit
and grain.
North of Pah Rump Valley is Ash Meadow Valley,
running north and south. It is thirty miles long and ten wide, and is
well watered by springs, but the soil contains too much alkali to be
capable of cultivation. It produces good grass, however. This valley is
inhabited by three families.
Lying between the Pah Rock and
Pahranagat Mountains, fifty miles west of Pioche, is the fertile
Pahranagat Valley, thirty miles long and half a mile wide. Numerous
springs supply it with an abundance of water, and fruit, grain and
vegetables are raised in liberal quantities, and find a ready market at
Pioche and the adjoining camps. Twenty families now inhabit this valley.
It was first settled in 1865 by John H. Ely and others.
The
northern part of the county is troubled some with late frosts, but the
southern valleys are exempt from this misfortune. Grasshoppers have
seldom committed serious ravages in any of the valleys, and rarely visit
more than one valley in one season.
At the northern edge of the
county, near the center, is Lake Valley, which is really a continuation
of Steptoe Valley. It is about ten miles long and two wide, runs north
and south, is partially watered by springs, produces hay and grain, and
is inhabited by three or four families.
There is a cave opening into the east side of what is called
Cave Valley, in the northern part of Lincoln County. The valley is
really a continuation of Steptoe, and further south is called Perry
Valley. The opening to this cave is about two and one-half feet by four,
and grows larger two or three rods from the mouth. There are chambers,
some of which are ten or twelve feet high, twenty-five or thirty feet
wide, and seventy-five or more in length. About half or three-quarters
of a mile from the mouth is a shaft, the mouth of which is eight or ten
feet wide, extending across the cave, so that a plank has to be laid
over it to get beyond. This hole has lately been explored, and found to
be about ninety feet deep, and dry at the bottom.
One small
spring of clear water, which runs but a few rods before sinking, is all
the water found in it so far. This cave has been explored two miles or
more, but the end or extent of it has not yet been ascertained.
Chief District is twelve miles south
of Pioche, and throe miles west of Meadow Valley. Not a great many
locations have ever been made, and these have all been abandoned. It is
said that some of the ore taken out in this district produced $100 per
ton.
Colorado District comprises a large area bordering on the
Colorado River, and embracing El Dorado Canon. Mines were first
discovered here in 1861 by Joseph Good and other prospectors from North
San Juan, Nevada County, California, and the district organized. As in
so many other instances recorded, an Indian led the prospectors to the
discovery, and asking for "techatticup," meaning bread, or something to
eat, for his trouble, the principal and most promising vein was named
Techatticup. This was a beautiful white spar vein and carried
considerable silver. Quite an excitement was raised, and for some years
El Dorado Canon was the object of many prospectors, and the shares in
its mines sold for high prices in the market at San Francisco and Los
Angeles. Many locations were made, some bearing silver, others gold, and
others copper. Some of the gold-bearing veins have been worked
successfully, and with facilities for transportation the large
copperbearing ledges would be of great value. The surrounding country is
dry and sterile, cactus and a few thorny shrubs being the only
vegetation. The canon extends to the Colorado River, by which freight is
sometimes brought by steamer from Yuma or the Gulf of California. The
settlement in the district is called El Dorado, and under that head
further particulars are given.
Ely District is situated on the
Shell Creek Range, in this locality usually called the Ely Range, in the
northeastern part of Lincoln County, and was discovered by Wm. Hamlin in
1864, and was then named the Meadow Valley District. Stephen Sherwood
was the first Recorder. But little was done toward developing the mines
till 1868. Late in that year John H. Ely and W. H. Raymond came over
from Hiko, falling in with McCannon and Smith in the vicinity of where
the city of Pioche was subsequently built. They made a re-location of
the mines recorded in Meadow Valley District, changed the name to the
Ely District, adopted laws, laid out a town and settled down to develop
the mines.
From this time the mines were rapidly developed, and
in 1872 twenty-one hoisting works were in operation and 2,000 miners at
work in the district. The net proceeds of these mines has reached the
enormous sum of $20,000,000. The productions in 1876 had exceeded the
assessments by $3,500,000. There have been 1,800 locations made, the
mining record books being kept by the County Recorder.
Among the
principal mines are the Raymond & Ely, Meadow Valley, Huhn & Hunt,
Pacific, Independence, Buliionville. Garfield & Hancock, Alps, Mazeppa,
Washington & Creole and American Flag. The veins are chiefly found in
the quartzite formation, run in an east and west direction with the
formation, and dip south at an angle of between forty-five degrees and
perpendicular. The Raymond & Ely shaft has reached the depth of 1,486
feet; being the deepest in the district. Pacific Tunnel is in 2,800
feet.
The present facilities for working the ores are three
mills, having eighty stamps altogether. Water is furnished by the Floral
Spring Water Company. Freights are brought by wagon from Milford, on the
Utah Southern Railroad, at a cost of thirty dollars per ton. Pioche is
the post-office address for the district.
Since 1876 but little
has been done in these mines, and comparatively little produced by the
district. It is claimed, however, that these mines are by no means
exhausted, and hopes are entertained that Pioche will again be a good
camp. In 1873 it was producing half a million monthly.
Freyberg
District is situated in the northern part of the Pah-Ute Mountains. Ore
was discovered in the fall of 1865; its existence being divulged to
Messrs. Didlake and Aikens, of Pahranagat. The Worthington District was
thereupon organized. Not until the sixteenth of May, 1869, however, was
actual work commenced. In that year a party of prospectors, led by
George Ernst, re-organized the district under its present name. Water,
in the immediate vicinity, is scarce, but there is plenty of it at the
distance of a few miles, and nut pine and fir are in sufficient
quantities for mining. Three springs flow down the west side of the
mountain, and one is situated on the east side near the mines. The
mineral belt is about three miles in length and one in width. Eight
parallel veins, varying from one to five feet in width, have been
counted. They are from thirty to five hundred feet apart, and appear in
the limestone. The principal mines are the Ellen, Shoute, Trident,
Boulder and Neptune. Closely selected ore from the Ellen has yielded as
high as $690 in silver. Selected ore from the Shoute has yielded from
$144 to $800 per ton. The veins in this district dip to the east at an
angle of forty-five degrees in some cases, and of eighty degrees in
others. In the valley, about five miles to the northeast are a thousand
acres of fertile land, having a sufficiency of water.
Groom
District joins Tem Pah-Ute District on the south, and was organized in
1870. It is about ten miles west of Summit Springs, in the same range of
mountains, and includes within its limits Pah-Ute Peak, which has an
altitude of 8,300 feet. Fir and pine cover the western slope of the peak
in the immediate vicinity of the mines. The ore is of low grade,
assaying from ten dollars to sixty-five dollars per ton in silver, and
was discovered in 1870. During the next five years, considerable work
was done, and steam hoisting works were built at one mine. At the end of
that period operations ceased, and no work is now being done. The
formations are of limestone, quartzite and argillaceous shale. Wood and
water are in near proximity to the claims.
Pahranagat District
is situated in the Pabranagat range of mountains, about sixty-five miles
southwest of Pioche. The nearest post-office is Hiko, ten miles distant.
Ore was discovered in March, 1865, by John H. Ely, T. C. W. Sayles,
David Sanderson, Samuel S. Strut, Wm. McClusky and Ira Hatch, all from
Utah, guided there by an Indian. The district was immediately organized;
and 1,000 locations have been made up to date. The veins are found in
quartzite, and run northeast and southwest across the formation, dipping
to the east at various angles. The ores are both free and base, and
contain no gold. The base ores are principally lead. The leading mines
are the Illinois, Green Monster, Black Warrior. North Side, Montezuma
and Castle. The Illinois contains a tunnel 600 feet long, and a shaft
about 250 feet in depth. The Green Monster is developed to about the
same extent. Plenty of nut pine is obtained near the mines; water is
hauled two and a half miles to the mines; the ore is milled at the
ten-stamp mill at Hiko, ten miles distant. Little more than assessment
work is now being done, active operations having been suspended in June,
1871. Freight is hauled from Milfbrd, Utah (the nearest railroad
station, distant 175 miles), at the rate of forty-five dollars per ton.
Only ten miners are now in the district. The records are kept by the
County Recorder. Some specimens of ore once taken from the Illinois
assayed into thousands.
Pennsylvania District is situated in the
range of mountains between Meadow and Clover Valleys, and is about forty
miles south of Pioche. Ore was discovered by a Mormon named
Klingensmith, but no work was done until the fall of 1871. The principal
mine is the Klingensmith, the vein of which is from two and a half to
three feet wide. An incline of seventy-five feet, and a shaft of 200
feet have been sunk in this mine, and low grade ore has been taken out
which has yielded from twenty to twenty-five dollars per ton. The vein
is in quartzite, a largo belt of which runs through the district east
and west. The chief formation is granite. Water is obtained from
springs, although the Meadow Valley Wash, not far away, contains an
excellent stream of water at all seasons of the year. Lumber is obtained
at a saw-mill ten miles distant. The nearest post-office is in Clover
Valley.
Silver Springs District is in the northeastern corner of
the county, in the Snake Range Mountains, and was organized in 1869.
Some exceedingly rich ore was found near the surface, in a limestone
formation, and several hundred tons of it yielded $50,000. Two mills
were built, one of which was subsequently taken down and removed to
Utah. Not enough ore could be found to keep the mills in active
operation. Many of the claims have been abandoned, and only a1 few
miners remain in the district. Some of the best ore has been taken from
the Nevada Queen.
Silver King District is in the Lake Valley
range, sixteen miles northwest of Bristol, the latter being the nearest
post-office and stage station. Ore was discovered in 1874, by John Heuss
and Phillip Barton, and a district was organized the same year. Seven
locations have been made; four miners reside on their claims, and the
records are kept by Julius Hoffman, at Pioche. The veins are found
between slate and granite, running north and south with the formation,
and dipping to the west at an angle of forty-five degrees. The ores are
both free and base, the bullion containing about ten per cent of gold.
The principal mines are the Caesar, Ida, Highbridge, Morning Star, and
Schiller. These properties have lately passed into the hands of an
eastern company, and early active operations are contemplated. The ores
are very rich, and the prospects of the district very promising. The
base ores yield from $75 to $100 per ton; the free-milling ores, from
$700 to $1,000 per ton. The Caesar Mine has a shaft sixty feet deep, and
the Highbridge Mine a tunnel eighty feet long. Freight is hauled from
Eureka, 165 miles distant, at forty dollars per ton, and at the same
rate from Milford, Utah, 135 miles distant. Plenty of cedar and nut pine
are close by the mines, and water is obtained from springs two miles
distant. The ores are hauled to Bristol, and worked both by milling and
smelting. No town has been built.
St. Thomas District is a few
miles east of the town of St. Thomas, on Mount Bonelli, of the Virgin
range. Ore was discovered in December, 1872, by a party composed of D.
Bonelli, Lewis Siebrecht, Thomas Belding, and Hans Gottfredsen. A
district was organized January 25, 1873. Eight or ten miners are now in
the district. About fifty locations have been made, most of which have
been abandoned. The formation consists of white quartz ledges in dark,
coarse granite. The veins run sixteen degrees west of south, across the
formation, and dip from twenty-five to thirty-five degrees to the east.
The bullion product of the district contains six per cent in gold and
seventy-two per cent in silver. The principal mines are the Mormon
Ledge, Virgin Queen, Recluse, Belding Ledge, Pacific Mine, Desert
Foundling, Toshoe Foundling, Mica Pioneer, Princess Louisa, Diadem,
Summit Queen, Seventy-Nine and Mountain Beauty. The Seventy-Nine has a
shaft thirty-five feet in depth; the Mica Pioneer a tunnel twenty-five
feet in length. Freight facilities are very poor — -almost prohibitory —
although, if developments warranted, steamboats might ply on the
Colorado River and accommodate portions of the district. No timber is
nearer than seventy-five miles, excepting mesquit for fire-wood. Lumber
is hauled 150 miles. Water is procured from the Muddy River, Rio Virgen
and Colorado River. Mica is found in the Virgin range, but not of a
merchantable quality, the plates being stained and cross-fractured, the
ledges not having been worked to a depth beyond the surface-sliding of
the rock.
Southeastern District is situated about seventy-five
miles north of Las Vegas, in the Las Vegas range of mountains. Ore was
discovered in September, 1870, upon which a district was organized, and
seven locations were made. Only assessment work has been done since
1871. The ore contains a large per cent of copper, and is found in
quartzite and porphyry, and assays from $30 to $180 per ton. Specimens
of native copper are frequently found. Wood is scarce, but a good supply
of water is obtainable at Summit Springs, twelve miles to the northwest.
Timber Mountain District lies north of Yellow Pine, is about
thirty miles square and contains an abundance of wood and water. Ore was
discovered in October, 1869. Fifteen locations have been made, but very
little work has been done. The ore is chiefly galena.
Tem
Pah-Ute District, formerly known as Sheridan District, is situated about
fifteen miles west of Crescent Mill, in the Tem Pah-Ute range of
mountains. The nearest post-office is Tem Pah-Ute. Ore was discovered in
December, 1868, by D. Service and William Plumb. A district was
organized on January 28, 1809. The mines are in a sharp, abrupt hill
about six miles long, the eastern side of which shows a belt of
calcareous slate, capped with limestone, which extends down to the low
spurs on the western side. Along the whole length of the western slope
of the hill a belt of quartzite crops out which is from 50 to 100 feet
in length. A vein bearing silver appears at several points between the
slate and limestone, running north and south with the formation, and
dipping to the east. The ores are free-milling. The principal mines are
the South End, Colchis, Old Abraham, Balbec, Savage, Inca, Bagdad,
Silver Peak, Blue Bell, Wyandott and Cliff. The shaft of the Inca is 250
feet deep; a tunnel pierces the Colchis, South End and Old Abraham
Mines. Ore from the Balbec shows rich chloride, and specimens have
assayed very high. Running parallel with the first vein described is
still another one, a thousand feet to the west. For upwards of two miles
it shows from a foot to ten inches in width, and dips to the east at an
angle of forty degrees. The ore carries antimony, arsenic and copper in
small quantities. Selected specimens of ore from this district, carrying
lead, antimony and copper, have assayed $874 per ton. Five miners are
now in the district, and the number of locations is 150. As high as
fifty miners were formerly at work, but when the ten-stamp mill at
Crescent was taken elsewhere, operations ceased, Excavations are still
being made in the tunnel, but no ore has been taken out during the past
year. Plenty of wood and water can be had in the Naquintah range of
mountains, eight miles distant. Considerable ore has been hauled to
Tybo, eighty miles to the westward. The records of the district are kept
by D. Service.
Wheeler District is situated in the extreme
southern section of the county, in the Mountain Spring range of
mountains. Very little work has every been done in it; no ore taken from
it has ever been reduced; and all the claims in it have been abandoned.
Yellow Pine District is situated in the extreme southwestern
corner of the county, in the Mountain Spring range of mountains, and is
thirty miles southeast of Las Vegas. Ore has boon discovered, thus far,
in only one locality. It crops out on the west side of an almost
perpendicular cliff 150 feet in height, and near the summit of the
mountain. Rich deposits of argentiferous galena, lying almost
horizontally, and varying in width from one to five feet, crop out about
thirty feet from the base of the cliff. Long before a white man ever
entered Lincoln County the Indians moulded bullets from ore procured
from this vein. The Mormons did the same when preparing to resist Albert
Sydney Johnston's occupation of Utah in 1857. For this mine an English
company is said to have once paid $100,000. No work is now being done.
The district is well wooded and watered. Here were the Potosi mines of
former times.
Salt Mountain, three miles south of St. Thomas, is a ledge of solid crystalline salt, which, aside from its material value, is of remarkable interest from the fact that it contains traces of pre-historic man. It crops out along the points of the low hills threequarters of a mile west of the Rio Virgen, is 75 or 100 feet in width, and dips slightly to the west. Trachitic tufa incases it on either side. The canons from the hills to the westward of it cut through it to the depth of 50 or 60 feet. It is worked on the sides of these canons, and is so hard as to require blasting. The tufa is a light chocolate color, and has stained the salt. The altitude of this mine is 1,100 feet above the sea, and about 300 feet above the level of the Rio Virgen. Another body of salt, of a similar character, crops out on the face of a hill on the east side of the river, about three miles south of the first described deposit. It can be traced, at intervals, for a distance of four miles to the southward, in the low hills about half a mile from the river. This body of salt is estimated to be about nine miles long, including the opening where the river i)asses it. Two miles west of the mouth of the Rio Virgen, on a bench of ground, is a natural salt well, with a funnel-shaped opening about 300 feet in diameter. The sides descend at an angle of about 30°. The water is seventy feet below the level of the opening, has a temperature of about 70° and is very salty. Its depth has not been ascertained, but it is known to be more than seventy feet deep. To mine the rock salt costs about five dollars per ton, and it costs about eight to ten dollars per ton to deliver it at navigable waters.
Extracted, 2021 Aug 25 by Norma Hass, from History of Nevada, published in 1881, pages 476-492.
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