Panamint City Part 4 - The City!
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- Опубліковано 15 вер 2024
- This is the long overdue fourth and final part to our Panamint City adventure!
This video was filmed at the end of our second and the beginning of our third (last) day in Panamint City. It focuses on the town itself, which includes two mills, historic cabins, workshops, machinery, and pictographs. After exploring the town, we made the long hike down Surprise Canyon back to our cars.
Panamint City has a very fascinating history. Hopefully I can do it justice in this write-up:
In January 1873 Richard Jacobs, Robert Stewart, and William Kennedy were scouting the upper reaches of Surprise Canyon when they noticed a colorful quartz outcropping high on the mountain slopes. Some sources claim that these three men were stagecoach robbers, while others claim that they were well-respected individuals. Outlaws or not, their discovery was significant. Upon investigation, the three men found the vein to be exceedingly rich in silver and assaying over $1000 per ton. They named their find “The Wonder of the World” Mine, and would locate dozens of other claims in the canyon. With news of this discovery, a wave of prospectors arrived in the area, and the Panamint Mining District was formed. This was not the first time mining occurred in the Panamint Mountains, but it was the first time the range experienced a mining boom. In 1858 Mormon emigrants discovered silver south of Surprise Canyon, and in the 1860s prospecting was done around the Telescope Peak area. Due to the danger of Indian attacks, these prospects were abandoned. However, the discovery of the Panamint District brought a significant number of people to this region, and over the ensuing years more major discoveries would be made in the Panamint Valley area.
In late 1873, mining promoter E. P. Raines obtained holdings in the district. He sought investors to finance the development of the mines. He managed to get the interest of Nevada senators John P. Jones and William Stewart, who had both made a fortune off of the Comstock Lode. During this time, the outlook of Panamint was optimistic. There was an abundance of rich ore available at the surface, and it was believed that the pay shoots would continue at depth.
The town of Panamint would continue to grow throughout 1874. This was largely facilitated by a new road connecting the Panamint Valley to Los Angeles. It’s main street extended for a mile down the canyon and contained around 50 buildings along with dozens of small huts and tents. The Bank of Panamint was created and a tri-weekly newspaper called the Panamint News began printing. In late 1874, a 10-stamp mill was completed for the Jacob’s Wonder and Stewart’s Wonder mines. At the same time, the “Silver Senators” and their Panamint Mining Company were beginning to construct a large 20-stamp mill and furnace. The richest ore was shipped all the way to Swansea, Wales at a price of $55/ton to be processed, while lower grade ore was stockpiled in Panamint for the future mill. The ore was said to average around $100 per ton. In December, Panamint reached its peak population of around 2000.
By 1875, Senator Stewart and Jones had purchased all of the principal mines in the district and reorganized their holdings into the Surprise Valley Mill and Mining Company. In June, the massive 20-stamp mill and roasting furnace was complete, and the Wyoming and Hemlock Mines were producing heavily. Unfortunately, Panamint would decline as quickly as it grew. By this time it was realized that the rich ore in the mines did not continue at depth. In the spring of 1876, the major ore bodies were considered exhausted. Most of Panamint’s inhabitants had already left to other mining districts, specifically Darwin. Mining continued until May 1877 when the Surprise Valley Mill and Mining Company ceased operations. The production from the mines amounted to over 1 million dollars, but this did not cover the investment.
Sporadic mining took place in Panamint throughout the rest of the 19th century and production remained small. In the 1920s, the district experienced a small revival. The road up Surprise Canyon was repaired, and a new Panamint Mining Company was organized. The tramway up to the Wyoming Mine was restored, and in 1925 a new adit called the Lewis Tunnel was started. Its goal was to cut the Wyoming vein over 1000 feet below its outcrop. By 1926, the tunnel reached a length of 2310 feet, but it failed to develop any ore and was abandoned. In the late 1940s the American Silver Corporation did work on the Marvel and Hemlock mining claims, but they too failed to produce anything. During the 1970s, Panamint City experienced yet another revival due to high silver prices. New mills were built and modern machinery was brought in. Most of the standing buildings in Panamint are from this era. In 1983, the road washed away, ending Panamint’s last mining era. Now sitting inside Death Valley National Park, it is unlikely that the mines in Panamint City will be reworked again.
Having camped there a few times with my dad between 1967 and 71, then moving to the east coast, this set of vids has been a real treat for me. Thanks for binging us along!
It's nice you got to see it back then. It's definitely an amazing place. Thanks for watching!
The Panamint City area is a careful explorers paradise! It’s far enough off of the beaten tracks to not get trashed. The road being wash away was the best thing to happen to it to keep the riff raff away.
Hopefully it stays that way. It has been getting a lot of visitation in recent years.
@@forgottenmininghistory I hope that it’s only people that care about the history and the preservation of artifacts right where they were last set down for the last time. Thank you so much, Nick and Xavier
Really a great series on Panamint city, very interesting to see and hear about many of the lesser known mines, drifts etc. great job!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the series.
My wife and I and 3 other couples hiked up there in the spring of 1973, when I was working at Lockheed Aircraft Co. in Palmdale Ca. There were a few jeeps (CJs) and a few other people up there (at the "City") so the road wasn't totally washed out like it is in more recent photos and there wasn't any sign of any recent mining going on ! We explored a mineshaft south of the square smokestack that was about 30 feet tall and 30 feet wide that went straight back (heading south) for at least a quarter mile. Never made it to the end of the mineshaft ! There were ore cart tracks laid way back there ! We weren't able to explore as much as we wanted due to bad cases of blisters on several of our feet ! A very memorable couple of days even though it was 49 years ago ! Got blisters on the tops of our feet coming back down ! "Wonder hussy" has been up there a couple of times more recently and has postings on UA-cam ! Well worth the hike if you're a strong hiker ! It's a proverbial killer of a hike ! Happy trails !!
All of the newer equipment got stranded up there when the big flood completely decimated the road !! ( when they resumed working it the mines in whatever year)
Thanks for the comment! We show the mine behind the smokestack in this video. It's called the Lewis Tunnel and it goes back roughly 2300 feet. The tracks have since been removed. The hike is definitely worth it if you can make it!
@@forgottenmininghistory Does the Lewis Tunnel actually go to someplace or is it a dead end ? was it actually a mine or did it have another purpose ? That is the portal that has been cement blocked over with a door in it ? Wished we knew about "Water Canyon" and were able to explore more after a hike like that ! (killer hike) Love the place (Panament City) and always wished I could return sometime !! Thanks for your info ! Dave Kissner
The really bad flood occurred in 1984, that took out the road completely. @@debbiekissner9112
Good to see you. When you don't post anything for a while you have me wondering if you are stuck in a hole somewhere.
Glad to be posting again!
Very nice place to explore. Then the fast pace in the tunnel was cool 😎 👌, Then going back to the town and what few things left was very good 👍
Glad you liked the video, Ronnie!
Thanks for sharing this history whith us. Very intressting videos.
Glad you enjoyed them!
My wife and I rode our motorcycles up there in the later part of the 1960s. There was a car parked at one of the "Houses" in down town Panamint city. This was shortly after the Manson farce so we were carrying handguns in case we faced something we didn't want to see. There was some people associated with the car so we turned around and got out of there.
I've heard that some of the mine owners would chase people away around that time. It's cool you got to see it in the 60s.
Nice to see your video again
Thanks!
Great shots of the old equipment
Thank you!
HAPPY NEW YEAR! ANOTHER FANTASTIC EXPLORE,FROM MAINE,THANK YOU
Happy New Year!
Binge watched all four episodes and really enjoyed it...great footage and research, very well done!
Awesome content, thanks
Great series guys. Neat history too. There sure are alot of mines up in them hills. Thanks for the history on the Panamint area and I love the old smoke stack. Miner's seem to leave alot of equipment behind, but it's a living museum.
Glad you enjoyed the series!
Nick, I really appreciate that you were able to find the time to edit another one of your excellent videos featuring your best friend Xavier!
great to see you back, Nick.. Hope college is doing well and we will hear more from you in the coming months...Good to see Xavier also..👍
Everything is going well! I'm working on some videos that should be out soon.
Thank You for sharing your experiences..Its amazing how well some of the stuff held up over the years..Loved the view looking up through the chimney...Great Job!..I really enjoyed watching it..
It is amazing. Some of these structures are almost 150 years old. Thanks for watching!
WOW what amazing stuff great video thanks 👍
Thanks for watching!
Good explore, keep them coming. Been a bit since your last video on Panamint.
More to come!
Beautiful! You don't see buildings that well preserved much these days!
Thankfully some of these cabins are taken care of.
Awesome video 👍 interesting to see the outside of a mine and the hole city that drove the mine...
Glad you enjoyed it!
Very cool overview! Great video!
It’s been such a long wait. Glad to see your back, you find some of the best mines and artifacts. Nice conclusion to this Panamint series. Excited to see more of your explores!
Thank you! I appreciate it
Great series!! Cheers!
Awesome series mate. Glad to see you back!
Thanks!
that was a good job of covering the town
Thanks for watching!
Warms my heart.
hammed steak :)
I hope they preserve this historic site .
the first problem happen in 1926 the drift run out, and the 2nd thing is lack of water for the process of the ore. 2 major fall backs of the mine.
Beautiful display of history. It’s hard to experience what they where working. It takes bravery to re-experience. So inspiring!
Suprising a few buildings left to explore
The hen way is the most important part of the machinery. Very rare to see a working he way set up like that.
Thank you.
Humans just never cease to amaze me.... make swiss cheese out of mountains and then invent something that sticks to heavy metals and make it float?!?! Crazy....
Nice
@1:02 is the rock building your standing next to in the beginning!
I did notice that. It very well could be!
I wonder how much the carpenter made building all those buildings? Was it more than the miner’s?
I'm not sure. Miners generally had a higher wage than a lot of jobs at the time. A highly skilled carpenter would probably make more though.
There is a stack like that in Mayor Arizona. Cannot be demolished because of the Environmental risk
Just looked that up. Pretty neat
How did they get all the equipment to such a remote site?
Mules, wagon trains, and a whole lot of effort.
How is the rattle snake population in this countryside ? Do you see them frequently, occasionally, or rarely ?
The white powder is probably lime or soda for cyanidation
So if you camp there do you just park at the beginning and walk up. I would be worried my car would be missing some stuff.
Yes, there's always a risk of something like that happening. Just don't leave anything valuable behind.
👍👊😎
Historic building was the bank
I hope you don't run into something evil below these old ass mines like dragons that do exist!