| Show the th e great ore deposits of eldorado BY WILL C HIGGINS nature has its compensations for every ill endured the briar has its thorns but it has its rose as well eldorado canyon in lincoln county nevada may be isolated and its wonderful possibilities may be over shadowed by the mad rush to other nevada camps but no local ity in the west can 0 outrival out ut rival the magnificent ent ore deposits to be found in this district whose east ern extremity borders 11 on the wonderful colorado river and whose history dates back to days before the comstock and such splendid old camps as austin eu reka hamilton and pioche the discovery of t eldorado canyon and what is now known as eldorado district was at a time when the majority of our readers were boys or i young men perhaps t some of them were blooming lassies classies and attractive young women at any rate it was in the year 1861 that a party of cali prospecting party took the indian at his word and inside of three days he had conducted them to near the head of what is now known as eldorado canyon A short distance east ol of the divide probably in the vicinity of what are now known as the black hawk or wall street mines the indian led the prospectors to ledges which were impregnated with sulphate of iron which he had mistaken for gold not discouraged cou raged however the little party of white men began prospecting the country and in due course of time discovered many de posits of ore earr carrying ying gold and silver it was not long thereafter before the fame o of f the discovery spread over mountain and canyon and before the year 1865 over sixty mining locations had been made then mining upon a most primitive scale k M looking out of great wall street mine eldorado canyon photo bj vill C tornia fornia fortune hunters prospecting the region south of death valley camped near the california nevada line here they were visited by an indian who made the remark that in three sleeps he could guide them to a canyon where L there were heaps of gold five of the began the wheelbarrow pla played plaseda yeda a most important part in mining in 1 n i n g operations and the windlass and whim were the only attempts at hoisting wd works ks until within the last five or six years all supplies and provisions came into the district by means of boat the route being the pacific ocean from san francisco to the gulf of california up the gulf to the mouth of the colorado an and d up the colorado to eldorado canyon ores from the mines were shipped out the same way and yet notwithstanding the great e x p en s e attending mining operations in eldorado in those days millions in gold and silver were sent out from the mines of the canyon as far back as the early it took fifty days to make the journey from san francisco to eldorado canyon and the freight rate was per ton just at the time when eldorado district was most flourishing the indians became so hostile and troublesome that the government established a fort at the mouth of the canyon and a company of infantry was stationed there for the protection of the miners at this time the miner was up against it as the saying is he was obliged to work under guard there were no freighting facilities machinery was almost unobtainable and ordinary black powder was worth a dollar a pound finally when the civil war broke out and the soldiers were removed the indians became so threatening that the last of the miners were compelled to build a raft on which they made a hasty retreat to fort mohave A after after fter this epoch in its history eldorado 1 canyon was an abandoned camp and it was not until 1880 that the district again witnessed renewed activity it was in this year that a mr knox of san francisco and barker brothers a banking firm orphila of philadelphia bought the mine for although much of the values remained in the tailings which were allowed to escape into the river about this time occurred the death of mine aline manager W S mills and in in 1896 lie he was succeeded by charles gracey who changed the ore treating process from dry to wet crushing and put in plates however with the exception of an occasional mill run and the sinking of a from the tunnel level in the te chatti cup mine mr gracey has done but little in the way of mine operation or development and today the wonderful wall street the great the unrivaled mocking bird and other splendid canyon properties owned by mr wharton are practically idle and were it not for newcomers who are busy developing and equipping new properties and resu resurrecting I 1 ng old ones of merit and note eldorado canyon with its unrivaled wealth of ore would be dead today with no hope of rejuvenation california descending the road leads hv by the blackhawk with its fine hoisting plant power house and mill to the left is the mocking t bird arid and n further down the afie canyon one passes within a stones stone I 1 s throw of the mighty wall street mine in great al almost most on a level with the road a village of tents might easily be in stalled further on the little town of nelson very admirably located comes into view still further on duncans camp pre a most pleasing appearance and a mile or so still further lands the traveler at the portals of the wonderful cup from the top of the divide almost to the colorado river a distance of about eight or ten miles the country is heavily miner mineralized and the belt is from five to six miles wide paralleling paralleling each other for great distances there are mammoth ledges enormous ore deposits in some instances the walls of the veins are perfect in many 7 N A A WS e town of nelson eldorado canyon from the north photos photo hj by vill C higgins camp of the deeping eldorado gold mining co with this great mine as a basis the southwest mining company was organized to the was added the mocking bird the wall street the tough nut and other properties of note and these with the were worked in a rather desultory manner until the year 1895 and even under rather questionable management were veritable bonanzas and thousands even millions were taken out in ores by the very crudest methods the panic of 1895 so crippled the barker brothers that their eldorado canyon property was sold at sheriffs sale and these bonanzas were pur purchased chased by mr joseph wharton of of philadelphia one of the creditors 0 and who is now the owner of the bethlehem iron works at bethlehem pennsylvania 1 for several years after this change in ownership eldorado canyon was in a flourishing condition A mill was built on the colorado river and the returns were heavy more about eldorado canyon eldorado canyon is about twenty two miles north of searchlight which is connected with the outside world by a branch of the santa fe railroad to reach it via the salt lake R route P one must go to nip conand ton and take stage for searchlight where a daily stage line lin e sundays excy excepted p 1 te runs I 1 to io the canyon from the divide of the river range a panorama presents itself to the eye of the visitor to the east the canyon extends down to the colorado river which shim mers in the distance like a snake of silver and the whole country is spread out for the inspection of the traveler with every canyon every mountain clear cut and distinct to the right in making the ascent to the divide is nob hill near which are the silver legion the santa barbara searchlight mizpah and other mines once on the divide the visitor can loo look lk into five states nevada arizona colorado utah and cases the ore occurrences are in the forin for of gigantic deposits and the prodigality of veins ledges ore bodies and cross I 1 fissures is oft times bewildering in the old mines the investigator fini finds much that is of great interest from mou tain tops great fissure veins have been fol ft owed down to tunnels funnels driven in from call ca 11 yon levels level s and these veins have bee be gouged out for hundreds of feet along the str strike me and for depths ranging from t fit fi feet and yet the surface ores are from being exhausted in the wall 4 the ore body has been virtually out at the surface the vein was ove ov twenty feet in width here the formation format for matic iol is almost blanket in form and in ore e traction mammoth chambers have bee j formed with pillars of high grade ore S su porting the roof thousands of ton ion 0 rich ore have been taken from these ol 01 wo workings ekings and thousands more of excelle excel let milling and smelting smelling sm elting ores are piled UP III Q ji the dumps and yet the wall street lias aas never been sunk upon to a greater depth than fifty feet and the area of ground exploited is small indeed the same conditions apply to other mines owned by mr wharton as well as to other old time properties in the district to look at them one is impressed with the idea that the mines of eldorado have been but barely scratched as yet there are millions in them and yet they are no better than are some of the new properties now being opened by men from the outside who will give to the world virgin producers and this I 1 at an early day formation and geology I 1 eldorado district lincoln county ne 1 vada is located on the northern end of the t opal range of mountains emmons in the V U S geological survey describes the formation as being a belt of quartz ite gneiss and schist which is flanked here and there by areas of tertiary volcanic skylark rover flagstaff sah sa n juan lone cabin buster and the georgia on the south side of the belt beginning at the west end are the rich hill silver legion mizpah victor queen dandy sphinx togo whale morning star lucky dan sunny south and capitol fissures and veins which parallel each other for great distances the country is interspersed by great porphyry rhyolite and andesite dykes some of these parallel the veins ore making in the contacts in other instances the dykes cut through the veins without in any way disturbing them the mineral bearing zone shows two distinct flows of different ages which have further enriched the primitive ores one of these and the oldest resulted from an eruption on the north side of the belt the other being an in intrusion tru on the south side which came up between the syenite and the range of granite mountains flanking the syenite ways through the center of the blocks on the townsite there is living water and this water is so located that it can be piped over a greater portion of the town nelson is situated nearly in the center of eldorado district the roads to searchlight las vegas and the colorado river leading to kingman arizona passing through the town dennis J callahan of nelson has charge of the townsite business and associated with him in the ownership of the same is J C sheets of goldfield prominently known as one of the leasers leaders of the great combination mine of that place the wonderful wall street ledge passes through nelson townsite and it is the intention of mr sheets at an early day to sink a shaft on the townsite to open up this great fissure most of the supplies lies for the mining operators of eldorado canyon go to nelson as the distributing point nelson has a daily mail and stage line service T 7 Z A aj Z 7 WWI 1 F 2 at the copper prince mine in copper canyon photos by ifill C higgin geo A duncans camp at the flagstaff mine rocks the and gneiss es he states are the oldest rocks in the region and may be precambrian pre cambrian at nob hill four or five miles south of eldorado canyon the prevailing rocks are and and biotitic gneiss es 1 among the miners and prospectors of Eld dorado canyon the formation is designated as syenite and diorite the ore bearing belt is about ten miles in length by six miles wide the mountain ranges have a northerly and southerly trend and the mineral bearing fissures and veins have an easterly and westerly strike cutting the heavy river range the main fissures and ledges of the district in its western portion are the rand mckinley blackhawk quaker city honest miner mocking bird wall street and the deeping beeping in the heart of the belt these veins are covered by a stupendous overflow of ma malapas mal apai lapal east of this overflow these veins are designated as the the fact that the mineral belt is so large and powerful breaking through as it does the river range would indicate great depth and permanency the development of the to the and the flagstaff to more than feet going to prove this assertion the surface ores in character are quartz and tale talc associated with spar occasioned by secondary enrichment the ores of the south side of the belt are chlorides carbonates and bromides with depth the ores change to a complex sulphide carrying gold silver and lead most of the ores of the district whether a complex sulphide or a lead carbonate will pan free gold nelson townsite the townsite of nelson is admirably located and is easily accessible from any portion of eldorado the townsite embraces an area of acres which are platted and laid out in blocks lots and streets the lots are feet in size with alley telephone connections hotel lodging houses store post postoffice office saloon and livery and feed yard the town is located twenty two miles north and a little east of searchlight and is forty five miles southeast 0 of f las vel vegas gas I 1 among the residents of the town and district a movement is on foot to build a wagon road from nelson to jeans a station on the salt lake route and when this is completed it will be a suitable thoroughfare for automobile travel and heavy freight traffic miners and mine owners association the mine owners and prospectors of eldorado are imbued with the progressive spirit which should result in great good to the district they believe in the district and are ardent advocates of the theory that if they do not blow their own horn no one else will wili blow it for them almost every man in the camp is a booster an and I 1 knows that lie he can show the goods to back up his spiel the feeling prevails that what the camp needs to come into its own as one of the greatest ore producing sections of the west is capital for mine development a and nd equipment and that to attract this capital some noise must be made therefore to accomplish this desirable and laudable end an organization has been affected which has been designated as the miners and mine aline owners association of eldorado canyon the membership is not limited and a small initiation fee only is charged and nominal monthly dues enable the officers of the association to maintain an office where inquiries are answered and a publicity bureau maintained the officers of the association are 0 E ellis president L E sowers secretary and dennis J callahan treasurer including the above the membership is as follows thomas owens john coyle C D brown john joliet I 1 W kingsley william burke dark clark alvord thomas jackson aft A 4 I 1 act mob 10 breast of jo 70 ore in the rich hill mine of the santa barbara fine body of afore ore in the dixie girl tunnel of the eldorado searchlight mining minine co photo ay I 1 will fill C higgin hit canyon gold mining co thomas bartonee Bart ogee D L newton H J humphfres Hump hyres samuel wardlow john mcgreer I 1 W allcock herbert westover matt mait sammons N H finney henry babcock steven larando charles chapman william mann george W vierra george freeborn H L harris bruce bardell louis F mccartney D W latham thomas dean herman Wess ellhoff william harper H W T F tracy george bergman william crozier carroll B franc jr timothy nay william erwin charles E egge larry oneil james dolan pat gillespie matt mccarthey W copp E P jeanes charles hudgins peter if anderson derson andrew anderson anderon J X J mcnally clinton fish ed farrell C E van morter john M taylor and peter pemberton |
