skidoo mill

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SKIDOO MINEDeath Valley National ParkPark Route 38 (Skidoo Road)Death ValleyInyo CountyCalifornia

PHOTOGRAPHSPAPER COPIES OF COLOR TRANSPARENCIES

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATAREDUCED COPIES OF MEASURED DRAWINGS

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORDNational Park ServiceU.S. Departrnent ofthe Interior1849 C Sl. NWWashington, DC 20240

HAER No. CA-290


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Locat ion:

Date o fCons t ruc t ion :Present Owner:Present Use:Sign i f i cance :

H i s to r i an :Pro jec tInformat ion:

HISTORIC AMERICAN ENGINEERING RECORDSKIDOO MINE

Death Val ley Nat ional Park, Cal i fo rn ia HAER No. CA-290Th e Skidoo Mine i s loca ted on the west s ide o f th ePanamint Range nea r i t s nor thern t e rminus in Inyo County,C a l i f o r n i a .1907-1908Department o f th e I n t e r io r , National Park Serv iceNon- inte rpre ted s i t e in Death Val ley Nat ional ParkTh e Skidoo Mil l i s assoc ia t ed with the opera t ions o f th eSkidoo Mines Company, Death Val ley ' s most success f u l goldmine. Although th e mil l shows s t r u c tu r a l de te r io ra t ion ,th e mil l i s otherwise a wel l -preserved example of theCal i fo rn ia Gold Mil l , an ore p rocess ing system onceemployed ubiqu i tous ly th roughout Western gold f i e l d sdur ing th e nine teenth and ear ly twen t i e th c e n t u r i e s .Paul J . WhiteTh e Skidoo Mil l was recorded as p a r t of an i n i t i a t i v e byth e His to r ic American Engineer ing Record (HAER) todocument North Amer ica ' s hard- rock mining h e r i t a g e . HAERrecorded the mil l s t ruc tu re dur ing th e summers o f 2000 and2001, with funding provided by Death Val ley Nat ional Park(DEVA) and HAER. The record ing team cons i s t ed ofa r c h i t e c t s Arin St ree te r , Cr i s ty Fle t che r , Nancy Hung, andJohnny Yu, with l a rge- format photography conducted byGianfranco Archimede (Michigan Technolog ica l Univers i ty ) .Richard O'Connor, Senior His to r i an a t HAER, superv i sed thep r o j e c t .


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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

LODE-GOLD MINING IN CALIFORNIA TO 1906MILLING PRINCIPLES AND CALIFORNIA PRACTICEA LIFE HISTORY OF THE SKIDOO MILLA.B.

Discovery and Development: Th e Skidoo Mines CompanyDepression-Era Mining and th e Del Nor te Years

MILLING TRADITIONS AND MINING TRANSFORMATIONSCONCLUSION

REFERENCES CITED

Skidoo MineHAER No. CA-290

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INTRODUCTION


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Today 's t r a v e l e r to th e Skidoo Mines, a place once t i t l e d " the Queen ofth e Panamints , , , l might e a s i l y dr ive p a s t th e t u r n o f f . From a r ou te t h a tnego t i a t e s Emigrant Canyon on th e wes t s ide of th e Panamint Mountains anunpre tent ious d i r t road l eads eastward in to th e sagebrush with littleind ica t ion of a r a t iona le . At th e road ' s terminus , however, upon a highp la teau 5,700 f e e t above sea l eve l (and 5,982 f e e t above th e f l o o r o fne ighbor ing Death Val ley) , a re abundant s igns o f mining ac t i v i t y dat ing fromth e 1900s to 1970s. Flanking a former town s i t e a re mine workings t h a t ex tendnor thweste r ly for near ly tw o miles in l eng th and one - qua r t e r of a mile inwidth . In add i t ion to bui ld ing foundat ions , ore b ins , and t r a i l networks ,sur face f ea tu res inc lude over 30 a d i t s ( tunne l s ) , 50 shaf t s , and in excess of10 0 pr ospec t s i t e s a longs ide t h e i r assoc ia t ed s p o i l p i l e s . 2 On th e south s ideo f a narrow ravine wes t of "town" i s an except ion to th e genera l absence o fs tand ing s t r u c t u r e s - - a s i x - l e v e l gold mil l ing f a c i l i t y miss ing a roof andsome wal l s , bu t f o r th e most p a r t , complete in i t s i n t e r n a l c i r c u i t r y .

These remnants prov ide a l o c a l example of a l a r g e r pa t t e rn o f pr ec ious metal mining t h a t began with the d i scovery o f gold depos i t s in mid-n ine teen thcentury Cal i fo rn ia and spread even tua l ly throughout most s ta te s west of theMiss i s s ipp i . As th e West ' s e a r l i e s t ex t r ac t ive indus t ry to be conducted a t anin tens ive s ca le , meta l mining brought widespread popula t ion s h i f t s and majorlandscape t r ansformat ions . With th e course o f 15 0 years , th e once pr eva len tt r aces o f gold mining have faded to place names, se t t l ement pa t t e rns , andt r a n s p o r t a t i o n networks . Direc t reminders can, however, still be found inl e ss popula ted regions , such as southeas te rn C a l i f o r n i a , where cur ren t ,mothba l led , and forsaken mining ven tures remain conspicuous.

In comparison with th e h i s to ry o f gold mining in C a l i f o r n i a , Skidoo wa sa l a t e bloomer. I t s ore depos i t s were discovered around th e turn of thetwen t i e th cen tury , and th e mines would see i n t e r m i t t e n t work over th e nextseven ty years . Within t h i s pe r iod , Skidoo became Death Val ley ' s mostproduct ive gold ope r a t ion , and h i s t o r i ca l l y th e only gold mine in th e reg ion

1 Rhyo l i t e Herald, P ic to r i a l Supplement, 1908.


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(page 4)to pay div idends . In common with th e ma jor i ty o f lode-mines, both in thegenera l v ic in i t y and throughout th e West, mining ac t i v i t y a t Skidoo a lsoinvolved t he cons t r uc t ion of a mil l ing f a c i l i t y to process o res o n s i t e . Indesign and implementat ion, th e Skidoo mil l opera ted from pr inc ip les t h a t hadar i s en from f i f t y years o f exper ience on C a l i f o r n i a ' s gold f i e ld s . By th emid- twent ie th cen tury , however, gold mining and mil l ing had undergones i g n i f i c a n t r ev i s ions . This accoun t o f Death Val ley ' s golden matr ia rchcen te r s on th e h i s to ry of th e mil l , th e mine ' s most notab le enduring f ea tu re .In add i t ion to documenting even t s l ead ing to i t s cons t r uc t ion , th e m i l l i sa l so viewed in terms o f i t s changing as soc ia t ion with th e t r ad i t ions andt r ansformat ions o f C a l i f o r n i a ' s gold mining i ndus t r y .

LODE-GOLD MINING IN CALIFORNIA TO 1906

When John Ramsey and John Thompson discovered th e Skidoo ore depos i tupon a high r idge in t he Panamints in 1906, C a l i f o r n i a ' s prospec tors werewel l accustomed to seeking gold in "them t h a r h i l l s . " Th e r i ch p lacerdepos i t s ( typ ica l ly r ive r gravel s ) t h a t had lured th e 1849 rushers werel a rge ly exhausted by th e mid-1860s, and while gold was still presen t , it wasinc reas ing ly harder fo r miners to win p r o f i t s using th e panning methods t h a thad preva i led ea r l i e r . 3 Indeed, many pr ospec to r s had a l ready l e f t Cal i fo rn iato fo l low d i scovery stampedes throughout th e west , inc luding to Nevada(1859), Colorado (1859), Br i t i sh Columbia (1861) and, to a l e s s e r ex ten t , tos t r i k e s overseas ( including New South Wales (Aus t ra l i a ) and New Zealand)Placer mining ou t f i t s t h a t now prof i t ed in Cal i fo rn ia were backed byconsiderable c a p i t a l and used t echnologies capab le o f a t t a in ing g r e a t e reconomies o f sca le . "Hydrau l ick ing ," a t echn ique t h a t used pres sur ized j e t sof water to excavate r iverbanks , became widespread in th e working of p lacer s

2 U.S. Geologica l Survey, "Emigrant Canyon, Quadrangle ," and "Tucki WashQuadrangle" prov is iona l ed i t ion topographic maps (U.S. Geological Survey,1986) .3 Main events and t r ends in C a l i f o r n i a ' s gold product ion a re usefu l ly i t emizedin Will iam B. Clark, "Gold D is t r i c t s o f Cal i fo rn ia , " Cal i fornia Div is ion o fMines and Geology Bul l e t in 193 (San Franci sco : Cal i fo rn ia Divis ion o f Minesand Geology, 1970) , Table 2.


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(page 5)from th e 1870s u n t i l th e mid-1880s, and dredges worked th e lower reaches o fwatersheds by th e turn of the cen tury .4

Th e genera l demise o f r i c h p l a c e r ground a lso spurred miners topr ospec t fo r gold-bear ing veins . Lode depos i t s , from which p lacer so r ig ina ted , were formed by th e f i l l i ng of mine r a li zed m a te r i a l in to f i s su resin count ry rock. Depending on th e formation environment , veins could bet a b u l a r in shape (long in tw o dimensions and shor t in th e t h i r d ) , or l e sswel l def ined as s t r inger s and e r r a t i c l ense s . 5 Gold was t y p i c a l l y found withinquar tz ve ins , and in d i s t r i b u t i o n , could be f a i r l y homogeneous across th eve in , o r concent ra ted a t th e i n t e r f ace between th e quar tz and "hos t " rock.Veins f i r s t mined in the nine teenth century con ta ined f ine- to -coar se s izedgold p a r t i c l e s v i s ib l e to th e eye. These ores were high in " f r ee gold" (golduncombined with othe r subs t ances ) , although s u l f i d e s which bound in t imate lywith gold were a lmos t always presen t .

In C a l i f o r n i a , gold deposi t s were d i s t r i b u t e d in tw o broad b e l t s . Thewesternmost , of Cretaceous age (70-135 mil l ion years ago) , began c lose to th esouthern ex ten t of the s t a t e and swept northwards along th e spine of th eSier ra Nevada Range, turning s l i g h t ly nor thwest toward th e Oregon b o rd e r .Most ores were found among s l a t e s and a l t e r e d volcanic rocks . A secondary

4 Hydraulicking decl ined r ap id ly fo l lowing Judge Lorenzo Sawyer ' s 1884 ru l ingaga ins t hydraul ic mining in th e Woodruff vs. North Bloomfield Gravel MiningCompany case . For genera l overviews o f the t ransformat ions in Cal i fo rn iamining p r a c t i c e s , r e f e r Rodman W. Paul , Cal i fornia Gold: The Beginning o fMining in the Fa r West (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press , 1947); Otis E. Young,Western Mining: An Informal Account o f Prec ious-Metals Prospec t ing ,Placer ing , Lode Mining, and Mil l ing on the American Front ier from SpanishTimes to 1893 (Norman, Oklahoma, Univ. of Oklahoma Pr ess ) ; James Rawls andRichard Ors i ( eds . ) , A Golden Sta te: Mining and Economic Development in GoldRush Cal i fornia (Berkeley: Univ. o f Cal i fo rn ia Press , 1999) .5 Bureau o f Mines, A Dic t ionary o f Mining, Mineral , and Related Terms(Washington D.C. : GPO, 1968) . Charles Jackson and John Knaebel, "Gold Miningand Mil l ing i n t he United Sta tes and Canada: Curren t Prac t ices and Cos t s , "u.S . Geological Survey Bul l e t in 363 (Washington D.C.:GPO, 1932), 13-20. Theaverage concent ra t ion o f gold i n t he e a r th ' s c r u s t i s approximate ly 0.004p a r t s p e r mil l ion Today, mines can p r o f i t a b l y work ores from 250 to 5,000t imes above th e average [Joseph Cor ne l l i s son , An Economic Analy s i s o f Smal l Scale Mining Operat ions , MS t hes i s (Golden Colorado, 1984) , 27J, wel limproved from what c o n s t i t u t e d a workable o re in th e nine teenth cen tury .


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(page 6)b e l t , o f T e r t i a r y age (1-70 mil l ion years ago) , extended along th e eas te rnpor t ion of th e s t a t e , with outcroppings occurr ing in andes i t e s and rhyo l i t e s . 6

Prospecto rs i n i t i a l l y searched fo r gold veins in e s t a b l is h e d p l a c e rd i s t r i c t s . I f an outc rop was not immediately v i s ib l e , miners sys temat ica l lyt e s t e d s l i d e debr is u p h i l l and upstream from p l a c e r s , digging a t r ench a t th ep o i n t where no f u r t h e r gold f l e cks were panned. 7 Fol lowing discovery ,pr ospec to r s a s se s sed the phys i ca l and chemical c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the o rebody as wel l as th e hos t rock. Externa l cond i t ions , such as regiona li n f r a s t r u c t u r e and a n t i c i p a t e d s c a l e o f opera t ion were a l so important inthe se assessments , fo r the va lue o f an outc rop and i t s determinat ion as an"or e" h inged no t on th e amount o f gold presen t , b u t whether the ve in could beworked a t a pr o f i t . I f su i t a b l e c a p i t a l wa s ava i lab le and an outc rop wasdeemed economica l ly v iab le (or if discouraging condi t ions were ignored) , th elode nex t underwent "development . " This involved th e dr iv ing of tunne ls andshaf t s to access and def ine th e ore body. Once an ore wa s blocked out a mineentered the ex t rac t ion phase, in which th e ore was removed. Lode minest y p i c a l l y conducted pr ospec t ing , development , and ex t rac t ion a c t i v i t i e ss imul taneous ly . In t h i s way, proceeds from ex t rac t ion pa id f o r inves t iga to rywork. Never the less , th e leng thy dura t ion it of ten took fo r a mine to f i r s te n t e r product ion ( i . e . , ex t rac t ion) meant t h a t lode mining demandedconsiderable s t a r t - u p f inances .

Lode mining in Cal i fo rn ia began as e a r l y as 1849 with the d i scovery o fquar tz ve ins a t Mariposa . Amid th e specula t ion of lode p r o p e r t i e s t h a tensued, many ear ly mines were opera ted by companies l a rge ly unf ami l i a r withCal i fo rn ia ores and hard- rock mining in genera l . Machinery imported to th emines wa s in some cases o f unte s t ed design and in othe r s r e l a t i v e lyi ne f f ec t ive because of a lack in su i t ab ly s k i l l e d l abor . Although i n t e r e s t inlode mining had slumped in 1853, lode mining showed s igns o f r ev iva l andincreas ing p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n by the end o f th e decade. s T h i r t y - f i v e lode

6 Waldemar Lindgren, "The Geologica l Features of th e Gold Produc t ion o f NorthAmerica , " in Transact ions o f the American I n s t i t u t e o f Mining andMetal lurgical Engineers , vol . 33 (1903), 816.7 Jackson and Knaebel, "Gold Mining and Mil l ing , " 36-7 .S The improved p r o f e s s i o n a l i z a t i o n inc luded th e g r e a t e r employment Cornishmen,who in the nine teen th - cen tu r y were cons idered exper ts in underground work.See John Rowe, Th e Hard-Rock Men: Cornish Immigrants and the North AmericanMining Front ier (Harper & Row, 1974) , 96-126; Paul , Cal i fornia Gold, 130-1.


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(page 7)mines opera ted in Cal i fo rn ia in 1855. By 1857, t h i s number had quadrupled,and a little more than a decade l a t e r , lode mining accounted fo r 31 pe r cen tof the va lue o f a l l gold mined in the s t a t e . 9 As with p l a c e r depos i t s , themost product ive mines were loca ted on th e "Mother Lode," a region occupyingthe nor thern and cen t r a l por t ions of the s t a t e along th e Sier ra Range.

Prec ious -meta l mining along the eas te rn edge of th e s t a t e occurredp r i n c i p a l l y a f t e r th e discovery of Nevada 's Comstock Lode in 1859. Subsequentprospec t ing between th e Cal i fo rn ia and Nevada d i s t r i c t s i d e n t i f i e d high-grades i l v e r and gold depos i t s , a lb e i t genera l ly more complex in chemis t ry than th eores exp lo i t ed in the Sie r r as . Death Val ley rece ived some a t t en t ion by minersa t t h i s t ime, although it yie lded almost no rewards (except in the mining o fborax, a s a l t occurr ing na tu ra l ly on th e va l ley f l o o r ) . During th e 1860s,seve r a l dozen prospec tors looked f r u i t l e s s l y fo r th e "Los t Breyfog le Mine,"while some modest gold prospec ts were developed around Gold Mountain,nor theas t of the va l ley . In th e 1870s, a shor t - l ived rush occurred around th ed i scovery o f a s i l v e r outc rop i n Sur pr i se Canyon i n t he Panamint Range, some20 miles south o f th e fu ture s i t e of Skidoo. 10 Gold mining, however, did notf u l l y commence i n t he Panamints u n t i l th e turn of th e twent ie th cen tury , whenpr ospec to r s scoured th e reg ion on the news o f r i ch s t r i k e s in th e Funera lRange (Death Val ley ' s eas te rn border) and ne ighbor ing Amargosa Val ley . Withina fe w yea r s , development work occurred a t Skidoo, the Cash ier Mine inHarr i sburg , and in T r a i l Canyon ( r espec t ive ly f ive and ten miles sou theas t ofSkidoo) .

Gold mining in Death Val ley occurred under d i f f i c u l t c i rcumstances , fo rno t only did the a rea remain per iphera l to mining cen te r s , but ar idcondi t ions and modera te - to- Iow ore values were no t p a r t i c u l a r ly conducive towinning p r o f i t s by th e small e n t e r p r i s e s t h a t tended to work them.Never the less , mining as an indus t ry wa s adap tab le to working in remoteloca t ions . To combat e leva ted overheads , mine ope r a to r s t y p i c a l l y

9 Paul , Cal i fornia Gold, 130-1, 143-4; Daniel Cornford , "'We A ll Live MoreLike Brutes than Humans': Labor and Capi t a l in the Gold Rush," in A GoldenS ta te , 94-95.10 Refer H. H. Taf t , "Notes on Southern Nevada and Inyo County, Cal i fo rn ia , "in Transac t ions o f the American In s t i t u t e o f Mining and Metal lurgicalEngineers , vol . 37 (1907), 194; Richard Lingenfe l te r , Death Val ley and theAmargosa: A Land o f I l l u s ion (Berkeley: Univ. o f Cal i fo rn ia Press , 1986),113-134 .


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(page 8)co n cen t r a t ed ore values by tw o methods . Underground, workers se l e c t i v e l ymined t he h ighes t - g r ade poss ib le to maximize values p e r ton , whi le on th esur f ace , ores were reduced f u r t h e r by mil l ing (a l so te rmed "o re dr e ss ing" and"bene f i c i a t ion" ) .

For gold and s i l v e r mining, ons i te mil l ing wa s e s p e c i a l l y advantageousbecause these metals had high monetary value , were of t en loca t ed in "remoteand i nhosp i t ab le r eg ions , " and could be reduced to b u l l i o n by r e l a t i v e lys imple processes . 11 As a r e s u l t , gold mining opera tors tended t o c o n s t r u c tmi l l i ng f a c i l i t i e s e a r l i e r i n p r ope r ty development than in th e mining o f basemeta l s - - a dec i s ion t h a t d id no t always meet th e approval o f mining geo log i s t swho encouraged th e c a r e f u l c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n of ores . 12 Although miningeng ineers d id no t cons ider mil l ing p l a n t s p i v o t a l to mining ope r a t ions , oncecons t r uc t ed , most conceded t h a t a mi l l ' s e f f i c i e n t and economic performancewa s c r i t i c a l to th e success of the ven ture as a whole. 13

MILLING PRINCIPLES AND CALIFORNIA PRACTICE

In format ion on mil l ing t echn iques a t l o c a l , r eg iona l , and na t iona lsca l e s i s , as a mat t e r of c i r cumstance , of ten b e t t e r preserved in documentarymater ia l s than in fo rmat ion abou t th e mining opera t ions t h a t brought them in tobeing . Because mil l ing performance wa s so in t imate ly connected with a mine ' sp r o f i t s , descr ip t ions of the mil l ing p l a n t of t en formed a s izab le p a r t o fmine r epor t s to government agencies . Mining j our na l s f r equen t ly publ i shedmil l flow s h ee t s and a r t i c l e - l e n g t h descr ip t ions o f m i l l opera t ions with th ei n t e n t o f d i s t r i b u t i n g knowledge abou t improvements t o mi l l i ng economy ande f f i c i e n c y . Poss ib ly because mil l s served as a t ang ib le ( a lbe i t f a l s i f i a b l e )i n d i c a t o r o f mine inves tment and growth, mil l ing a c t i v i t i e s a l so rece ivedconsiderable coverage in l o c a l newspapers .

At an elementary l e v e l , t he mi l l i ng process invo lves s t ages ofcrush ing , in which ore i s reduced to a s ize where valued product s a re more

11 Char les . Jackson and J . H. Hedges, "Meta l -Mining Prac t ice" u.s. Bureau o fMines Bul l e t in 41 9 (Washington D.C. :GPO, 1939) , 391.12 Jackson and Knaebel . "Gold Mining and Mil l ing , " 68 ; Jackson and Hedges,"Meta l -Mining P r a c t i c e , " 385.13 Jackson and Knaebel , "Gold Mining and Mil l ing , " 68.


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(page 9)e a s i l y recoverab le , and concen t r a t ion , where th e des i r ed ma te r i a l i ssepara ted from waste rock (gangue) . The t y p i c a l nine teen th - cen tu r y mil l ingc i r c u i t accomplished th e f i r s t t ask by pass ing ore through seve r a l machinesarranged in se r i e s . Engineers ca tegor ized crush ing equipment in to tw o types :rock br eake r s , which c rushed the o re as rece ived from th e mine toapprox ima te ly one-quar te r inch in diamete r ; and f ine c r ushe r s , which reducedth e broken ore f u r t h e r to "mi l l i ng s i z e , " gene r a l ly , a coarse sand o r f i n e r .

For th e concent ra t ion s tage , th r ee methods--amalgamat ion, g r a v i t yconcen t r a t ion , and cyan ida t ion- - found common employment in n ine teenth andtwent ie th century gold mil l s . 14 Each method requi red spec ia l i zed equipment ,al though some machines (such as c l a s s i f i e r s , which so r ted o re accord ing tos ize and /or dens i ty , and dewaterers fo r th icken ing pulp) could supplementmore than one method by s t anda r d iz ing feed and improving o v e r a l l ex t r ac t ivee f f i c i e n c y .

Th e amalgamation process ex t rac ted gold chemica l ly by in t roducingmercury to c rushed ore . Th e con tac t o f f r ee gold and mercury formed a "pas ty"amalgam, an a l loy conta ining approx ima te ly one- th i rd gold by weight .M il lwr igh t s recovered the a l l o y from th e r e s t of the mater ia l by dress ing th emercury to a f ixed meta l sur face ( typ ica l ly a copper p la t e ) , on which th eamalgam accumulated. Amalgamation machines l a t e r supplemented "p la t e"amalgamation t echn iques . While designs va r i ed , amalgamator devices broughtwater , mercury, and ore t oge the r under turbulence . A s impler method involvedth e d i r e c t add i t ion of mercury and wate r in to crush ing machinery. Amalgamrecovered from p l a t e s and mil l ing equipment wa s r e f ined back to i t sc o n s t i t u e n t p a r t s by r e t o r t i n g , of ten in a mine ' s as say ing f a c i l i t y .

Gravi ty concent ra t ion separa ted minera l gra ins accord ing to d i f f e r encesin spec i f i c grav i ty . In p r a c t i c e , most methods sor t ed p a r t i c l e s by r e l a t i v eweight , w i th t h e i r spec i f i c g r a v i t y approximated by th e maintenance o f auniform feed s i ze . J igs , f o r i ns t ance , so r ted mate r ia l in a pa t t e rn s imi la rto f l u v i a l depos i t s . Ore was in t roduced in to a water t rough equipped with ashaking bed. Th e o s c i l l a t i o n of th e bot tom gra te graded th e f eed , wi th

14 A four th concent ra t ion method known as th e ch lo r ina t ion or P l a t t n e r processdi s so lved gold using ch lo r ine gas . This technique found use in a number ofear ly nine teen th - cen tu r y Cal i fo rn ia gold mil l s , b u t by th e l a t e nine teenthcentury wa s superceded by cyanida t ion.


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(page 10)heavier p a r t i c l e s ( inc lud ing metals o r meta l - r i ch minerals) r es t ing on th ebot tom. Vanners sor t ed p a r t i c l e s by washing mate r i a l across an o s c i l l a t i n g ,cont inuous rubber b e l t . Ligh t p a r t i c l e s f lowed o ff one end of the vanner ,while heav ie r ma te r i a l t r ave led up th e b e l t and f e l l o ff the oppos i t e end o fth e machine. Shaking t ab les , which employed s i m i l a r pr inc ip les as th e vanner ,shook o re over a s l i g h t ly inc l ined tab le top f i t t ed with r i f f l e s (woodens l a t s ) . Heavier p a r t i c l e s caught aga ins t th e r i f f l e s and were shaken by thet ab l e ' s motion to one end of th e t ab le to be bagged as concent ra te . L ighterminera ls , such as t he hos t rock , flowed over th e r i f f l e s and o ff th e t ab le . Al a t e r and a l t o g e t h e r d i f f e r e n t form o f grav i ty concent ra t ion involved th eadd i t ion o f reagents (such as o i l and creoso te) in to a water ba th . Theseing red ien t s decreased th e spec i f i c grav i ty o f se lec ted minera ls , which, incombinat ion with turbulence , caused f ine meta l p a r t i c l e s to adhere to a i rbubbles on th e sur f ace . This " f lo t a t i o n " technique was f i r s t used by modernindus t ry i n t he 1870s, but p a t e n t di spu te s preven ted i t s widespreadapp l ica t ion in minera l p rocess ing u n t i l th e 1920s.

Cyanida t ion recovered gold by i t s s o lu b i l i t y in p ota ssiu m- o r sodiumcyanide so lu t ions . Ear ly cyanida t ion c i r c u i t s worked b e s t with sand-s izep a r t i c l e s , and s l imes ( s i l t - s i zed p a r t i c l e s and smal ler) were of ten discardedbefore process ing. In genera l ope r a t ion , a cyanide mixture wa s in t roduced tomil led ore in a se t t l i ng t ank , which dissolved the go ld and othe r meta l l i cminera l s in to so lu t ion over a pe r iod o f seve r a l days. The "pregnant" (meta l r ich) so lu t ion was then siphoned from th e tanks and p r e c i p i t a t e d using zinco r aluminum dus t . This took place in e i t h e r a f i l t e r pres s , where th epregnan t so lu t ion and z inc dus t were pumped through a se r i es of p la t e o rframe f i l t e r s , o r in a p r e c i p i t a t i o n t ank , a long meta l box div ided in toseve r a l compartments in which zinc shavings were p i l e d . P r e c i p i t a t e r ecoveredfrom e i t h e r method could then be shipped as concent ra te to a smel te r , o rr e f ined to bu l l ion on s i t e . 15

Th e concent ra t ion method se lec ted fo r a mil l r es ted heav i ly on th echarac te r of the o re and ava i lab le f inances . Amalgamation, f o r i ns t ance , wasf a i r l y inexpensive fo r f r ee gold or e s , bu t the p resence o f su l f ides tended to"s icken" mercury and reduce i t s e f f e c t . Gravi ty concen t r a t ion could a lso be


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(page 11)rendered i ne f f ec t ive if dens i ty di f f e r ences between o re and gangue becamel e ss pronounced, as tended to happen with increased chemical complexi ty .Cyanida t ion ranked among th e most expensive concent ra t ion methods, but o f t enworked as a " c a t c h - a l l " method fo r t r ea t ing gold or e s . Never the less , thepresence o f some meta l l i c oxides , carbonates , hydr a t e s , su l f a t e s , ar sena tes ,and so lub le su l f ides were known to a t tack cyan ide s a l t s and reduce ex t r ac t ivee f f i c i e n c y . In th e exper ience o f most mines, ores represented a combinat iono f minera l types and chemical complexi ty tended to i nc r ea se with depth .Consequent ly , i f f inances were a v a i l a b l e , it was j ud ic ious f o r a mil l tot r e a t o re by more than one process . The most f requent combinat ions innine teenth and ear ly - twen t ie th century m i l l s included amalgamation andg r a v i t y concent ra t ion, and amalgamation and cyanida t ion. 16

Prac t ices a t ne ighbor ing mines a l so inf luenced th e se lec t ion o f mil l ingmethods. In add i t ion to common fo rmat ion and weathering h i s to r i e s , miningd i s t r i c t s of t en shared t echn ica l exper t i s e d i r e c t l y through th e c i r c u l a t i o no f sk i l l ed t radesmen, fo rmat ion of "d i scuss ion c l u b s , " and, l e ss personab ly ,by a r t i c l e s in t r ade journa l s and newspapers.17 Such reasons were l i k e lyr e spons ib l e fo r th e d i f fus ion o f a b l u e p r i n t f o r gold b e n e f i c i a t i o n duringth e mid- to - Ia te -n ine teen th century t h a t came to be known as th e "Cal i fo rn iaGold Mill . , ,18 Th e f i r s t Cal i fo rn ia Mil ls were developed by gold opera t ions inth e 1850s. By th e 1870 census , 41 3 such m i l l s were recorded to be inex i s t ence in the s t a t e . 19

15 For th e des ign of cyan ida t ion c i r cu i t s , r e f e r : James Dorr , Cyanidat ion andConcen tra t ion o f Gold and S i l v e r Ores (New York: McGraw-Hill , 1936); E. M.Hamil ton, Manual o f Cyanidat ion (New York: McGraw-Hill , 1920) .16 The u t i l i t y of amalgamation r e l a t e s in p a r t to f r ee gold accounting fo r themajor i ty o f gold ores worked in to the 1920s. Arthur Taggar t , Handbook o f OreDress ing (London: John Wiley and Sons, I n c . , 1927), 122.17 The f i r s t discuss ion club in Cal i fo rn ia began in Grass Val ley in 1855, " ino rd e r to f a c i l i t a t e th e exchange of ideas r e l a t i n g to lode mines ." Paul ,Cal i fornia Gold, 258. Th e Rhyol i te Daily Herald publ i shed pr inc ip les of stampmil l ing over seve r a l in s ta l lmen ts in November 1907.18 Ed. B. Pres ton , Cal i fornia Gold Mil l Prac t ices , C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e MiningBureau Bul le t in No. 6 (Sacramento: A. J . Johnston , 1895).19 Ross i l e r W. Raymond. S ta t i s t i c s o f Mines and Mining in the S ta tes andTerr i to r i e s West o f the Rocky Mountains (Washington D.C. :GPO, 1873) , 462-469.


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(page 12)In th e t y p i c a l C a l i f o r n i a Mil l , a jaw crusher performed th e f i r s t t ask

o f break ing rock rece ived from th e mine. 20 This device pushed a movable p la t etowards a f ixed p l a t e , with ore in t roduced between th e tw o p l a t e s . Th er e p e t i t i o n of t h i s ac t ion broke th e o re u n t i l it could pass through a gapmaintained between th e p l a t e s .

Th e d is t ingu ish ing element o f th e Cal i fo rn ia M il l , however, centered onth e f ine crush ing s t age , and sp e c i f i c a l l y , upon s e l e c t modif ica t ions to theg r a v i t y stamp. This t r i ed -and- t rue dev ice , known to have been in use by thef i f t e e n th cen tury , crushed o re by the r a i s ing and dropping o f heavy rods(stems) in a manner s imi la r to a mortar and p e s t l e . 21 The r a i s ing motionhappened mechanica l ly by th e ac t ion o f cams f ixed to a ro ta t ing shaf t . As th ecam r o t a t e d , the arm o f th e cam caught th e lower edge of a t appe t (a l a rgemetal c o l l a r ) and r a i s e d th e s tem. As soon as th e arm r o t a t e d beyond th e l ipof the t appe t , th e stamp dropped by grav i ty in to a mortar box where th e orewa s d i s t r ibu ted . In i t s usage in Cornwall , each s tem--approx imate ly fourinches square and 10 f e e t high--dropped from 60 to 80 t imes per minute. Topreven t the bunching of o re in th e morta r (which decreased crush ingef f i c i ency and led to uneven wear) , each stem was ar ranged to drop as i t sne ighbors rose . Screens a t tached to th e f r o n t o f th e morta r r egu la t ed thes ize o f crushed mater ia l (most commonly a coarse sand) discharged from th estamps.

Cal i f o r n i an modif ica t ions to th e stamp included a s t u r d i e r framecons t r uc t ion , which enabled opera tors to increase th e weight of i nd iv idua lstamps and th e drop r a t e from 90 to 100 drops per minute. 22 The t y p i c a lCal i f o r n i an stamp used meta l stamp components supported by a wooden frame.Th e pos i t ion ing o f cams to one s ide o f round stems ro ta t ed th e stem s l i g h t ly

20 By th e l a s t quar te r of the nine teenth cen tury , the jaw crusher had rep lacedsledge-hammering as th e i n i t i a l rock b reak e r throughout th e western goldf i e ld s . Ja w crushers remained a popular c rush ing dev ice through much of thetwen t i e th - cen tu r y , with most improvements in handl ing capac i ty brought abou tby i nc r ea se s i n th e machine ' s s i ze . Refer Arthur Taggar t , "Seventy- f ive Yearsof Progress in Ore Dress ing," in A. B. Parsons ( ed . ) , Seven ty - f i ve Years o fProgress in the Mineral Indus try (New York: American I ns t i t u t e of Mining andM eta l lu r g i ca l Engineers , 1947) , 91.21 See, f o r i ns t ance , Georgius Agrico la , De Re Metal l ica , t r ans la t ed byHerber t C. Hoover, and Lo u H. Hoover (New York: Dover Publ i ca t ions , 1950)22 Robert Lescohier , The Stamp Mil l for the Recovery o f Gold from Hard Rock(p r iva te ly publ i shed , 1991) , 8-27.


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(page 13)with each drop, giv ing a more uniform wear on components . Improvements inperformance a l so extended to mechaniz ing th e flow of o re in to th e mor tar andmodifying th e stamp drop o rd e r . Two drop sequences with wide accep tance byth e e a r l y twen t i e th - cen tu r y inc luded th e "Ca l i f o r n i a " p a t t e r n , with stampsf a l l i n g on the o rder o f 1 , 4, 2, 3 , 5 (numbering s tamps from th e p u l l e y end)and th e "Homestake" ( o r ig ina t ing from th e Homestake Mine, South Dakota) whichused a 1, 3 , 5 , 2, 4 sequence . A g r e a t e r var i e ty o f p a t t e r n s ( inc lud ingrev e r s e C a l i f o r n i a and Homestake sequences , r espec t ive ly 1, 5, 2, 4, 3, and1 , 4, 2, 5, 3) neve r the l e s s e x i s t e d because mi l l w r i g h t s contended d i f f e r e n tsequences gave d i f f e r e n t e f f i c i e n c i e s . 23 Regional di f f e r ences were a lso seenin th e r egu la t ion of drop h e i g h t and drop r a t e s . Mi l l s in Colorado , fo rins t ance , t y p i c a l l y opera ted a t slower speeds (approximately 30 drops p e rminute) with a drop h e i g h t o f 18-20 inches , increased the from th e 4-6 inchescommonly used in C a l i f o r n i a m i l l s . 24

Th e most s i g n i f i c a n t improvement t o t he stamp, however, was i t su t i l i z a t i o n as an amalgamation d ev ice . By th e 1880s , th e i nc lus ion o fmercury-dressed copper p l a t e s i n t he i n t e r i o r of the stamp mortar ( inadd i t ion to s imi la r "apron" p l a t e s se t in f r o n t o f th e stamp mor ta r ) haddoubled gold recovery r a t e s to 60-80 pe r cen t , and made grav i ty stampsp a r t i c u l a r ly economica l fo r gold o p e ra t i o n s in remote d i s t r i c t s . 25 Th ee f f i c i e n c y of aprons was a lso improved by increas ing th e t a b l e width anddecreas ing the gr ad ien t . 26

23 The only combinat ion poss ib l e if no ad j acen t s tamps dropped co n s ecu t i v e l yi s 1 , 3, 5 , 2, 4, and i t s r ev e r s e p a t t e r n , 1 , 4, 2, 5, 3 . W. J . Sharwood,"Hydrometa l lu rgy of Gold and S i l v e r , " in Donald L idde l l (ed.) Handbook o fNon-Ferrous Metal lurgy , Vol. I I (McGraw-Hill: New York, 1926) , 1012.24 The "Colorado Mi l l " otherwise der ived from th e C a l i f o r n i a Mi l l . T. A.Rickard , "The L i mi t a t i o n s of th e Gold Stamp M i l l ," in Transact ions o f theAmerican I n s t i t u t e o f Mining and Metal lurgical Engineers , v o l . 23 (1894) ,138.25 Stamp b a t t e r y p l a t e s were l a t e r discouraged because th e j o s t l e d movementso f sands i n t he mor tar i n c reas ed th e wear o f p l a t e s and scraped o f f much o fth e amalgam. Th e p l a t e s a d d i t i o n a l l y reduced th e s ize of th e mor tar box,which impacted th e s t amp ' s d a i l y capac i ty . Refer: Thomas Read, "TheAmalgamation of Gold-Ores , " Transact ions o f the American In s t i t u t e o f Miningand Metal lurgical Engineers , v o l . 37 (New York: AIME, 1907) , 57; Taggar t ,Handbook o f Ore Dressing, 317.26 These changes a re noted in T. A. Rickard ' s di scuss ion o f mil l ing p r a c t i c e sa t th e North S t a r Mine in "Gold Mil l ing in th e Black H i l l s , South Dakota , anda t Grass V al l ey , C a l i f o r n i a , " in Transac t ions o f the American In s t i t u t e o fMining and Metal lurgical Engineers , v o l . 25 (1895) .


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(page 14)

Fol lowing th e stamps and apron t ab les , th e Cal i fo rn ia Mil l exh ib i t edl e s s uni formi ty in c i r c u i t r y . Broadly cons idered , o re commonly underwentg r a v i t y concent ra t ion using shaking t a b l e s o r vanners , wi th l a r g e r opera t ionsi n s t a l l i n g more comprehensive c i r c u i t s , of ten supplemented by cyan ida t ion . Inadd i t ion to being in f luenced by th e sca le o f ope r a t ion , changing co n d i t i o n sa t th e mine ( inc lud ing f l u c t u a t i o n s in ore compos i t ion , metal p r i c e s ,t e chno log ica l p r a c t i c e , as wel l as company f inances ) could a l so a l t e r mil l ingc i r c u i t s . 27 Mil lwr igh t s ad jus t ed mi l l i ng performance through equipmentmodi f i ca t ions , o r by th e expansion, a d d i t i o n , o r e l imina t ion of mil l ingc i r c u i t s . Mi l l s with th e same c i r c u i t s could vary for o ther reasons .Competi t ion between machinery makers , f o r i ns t ance , encouraged v a r i a t i o n toavoid p a t e n t di spu te s , and smal l di f f e r ences in equipment , such as i n t hespacing and pos i t ion ing of r i f f l e s on a shaking t a b l e , could a f f e c t th ee x t r a c t i v e e f f i c i e n c y o f working cer t a in ores .

While t he se condi t ions tended t o i nc r ea se l o c a l v a r i a t i o n s i n mi l l i ngprac t ice ,28 the Cal i fo rn ia Mil l d id main ta in a s tandard look. Most were"cascaded" down s teep h i l l s i d e s , with th e mil l ing c i r c u i t organ ized overseve r a l l e v e l s . The se lec t ion o f s i de - h i l l s i t e s wa s not s imply a f a c t o r o fth e rugged topography in which many lode mines opera ted (and in which l e v e lground wa s of ten a t a premium). Mining eng ineers cons idered the monetarysav ings b rought by th e u t i l i z a t i o n of g r a v i t y in o re conveyance f a routweighed th e cos t s o f mechanized or manual handl ing and any r a i s edcons t r uc t ion expenses incur red. 29

27 Changes i n mi l l i ng per formance were t r ack ed through th e comparison of d a i l yo r weekly assays o f m i l l inpu t s (head), valued product s (concent ra te ) , anddi sca r d ( t a i l i n g s ) . Using a v a r i e t y o f fo rmulas , e x t r a c t i v e e f f i c i e n c i e s fo ri nd iv idua l machines and th e o v e r a l l p l a n t were a s c e r t a i n a b l e . See, fo ri ns t ance , Robert S. Lewis, "Mi l l ing C a l c u l a t i o n s , " Chemical and Metal lurgicalEngineering, vol . 20, no. 5 (1919) , 224-33.28 In t h e i r 1935 s tudy o f 13 smal l m i l l s near Vir g in i a Ci ty , geo log i s t sGardner and Carpen ter argued f inances and m i l l w r i g h t ' s dec i s ions exp la inedwhy recovery r a t e s var ied from 60% to 95%, desp i t e t he working of s imi la rores [noted in Arthur Taggar t , Handbook o f Mineral Dressing (New York: JohnWiley & Sons, 1945) , 2:71J . Di f ferences i n Ca l i f o r n i an mil l p r a c t i c e a re a lsodescr ibed in Pres ton , Cal i fornia Gold Mil l Prac t ices , 66-77.29 The l e v e l o f automation wa s a l so a p o i n t of accla im. One eng ineer no ted ,with ev iden t h-yperbole, "Manual l abor i s e n t i r e ly rep laced by ocu lar l abor ;fo r super in tendence , and no t work, i s the funct ion o f the m i l l - h a n d s . " JamesDouglas, "Summary of American Improvements and Inven t ions in Ore Crushing andConcen t ra t ion , and in the M eta l lu rgy o f Copper, Lead, Gold, S i l v e r , Nickel ,


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Skidoo MineHAER No . CA-290

(page 15)

When th e Skidoo mil l was des igned and e r ec t ed in t he ear ly 1900s, theCal i fo rn ia Mil l had been in use fo r over h a l f a cen tury . Th e gradualaccumulat ion of modif ica t ions had made th e Cal i fo rn ia Mil l by t h i s t ime "avery d i f f e r e n t a f f a i r from th e clumsy mil l s f i r s t used fo r crush ing quar tz int h i s State. , ,30 The success of t h i s mil l ing system was c e r t a i n l y proven by i t swidespread d i f fus ion through western gold f i e ld s , as wel l as an increasedfore ign demand fo r Ca l i fo rn ia mill-men and mil l ing machinery .31 Th e Cal i fo rn iaMil l would a lso meet success in working th e Skidoo ore depos i t , a l b e i t itopera ted with some accommodation to th e p e c u l i a r i t i e s of Skidoo ' s loca t ion .

A LIFE HISTORY OF THE SKIDOO MILL

A. Discovery and Development: Th e Skidoo Mines Company

In 1905, gold-bear ing quar tz ve ins were discovered on th e west s ide o fth e Panamint Mountains a t Har r i sbur g- - the consequence of a rush o fprospec t ing by "men afoot and a lone , ' bur ro men, ' c a r r i a g e s , wagons, andau tomobi les" in to Death Val ley a f t e r s t r i k e s i n t he Bul l f rog D i s t r i c t o f th eAmargosa Valley.32 News of th e Harr i sburg di scove r i e s a t t r a c t e d , among othe rseasoned pr ospec to r s , John Ramsey and John Thompson to th e Panamint Range.Fur ther prospec t ing in the v ic in i t y proved di sappo in t ing , bu t i n th efol lowing year , Ramsey and Thompson panned r i ch gold f l o a t a shor t di s t ancefrom t h e i r camp in Emigrant Canyon. Tracing th e f l o a t to a high r idge , th epr ospec to r s discovered a se r i es of gold-bear ing quar tz ledges panning $82 perton and r i cher . The outcroppings extended fo r a di s t ance of one-and-one-ha l f

Aluminum, Zinc, Mercury, Antimony, and T in , " i n Transact ions o f the AmericanI n s t i t u t e o f Mining and Metal lurgical Engineers , vol . 22 (1894), 338. Fordi scuss ions on th e su i t ab le l oca t ions of m i l l s i t e s , r e f e r : I n t e r n a t i o n a lCorrespondence Schools , A Textbook o f Metal Mining (Scranton: I n t e r n a t i o n a lTextbook Company, 1899) , 215; Taggart , Handbook o f Ore Dress ing , 1288-92;Taggart , "Seventy- f ive Years of Progress in Ore Dress ing," 117-120.30 Pres ton , Cal i fornia Gold Mil l Prac t ices , 7 .31 Pres ton , Cal i fornia Gold Mil l Prac t i ces , 7 .32 T af t , "Notes on Southern Nevada and Inyo County, C a l i f o r n i a , " 179. Fors tud ies o f Death Val ley ' s mining h i s t o r y r e f e r Linda Greene, His tor icResource Study: A His tory o f Mining in(Denver: Nat ional Park Serv ice , 1981),the Amargosa.

Death Val ley Nat iona l Monument, Par t 1609; Lingenfe l te r , Death Val l e y and


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(page 16)miles , and were quickly s taked ou t as 30 minera l c l a ims . 33 Ramsey and Thompsonsuppressed news o f t he i r discovery u n t i l t h e i r "Gold Eagle" cla ims cou ld bef i l e d . In t h i s they were margina l ly success f u l , fo r pr ospec to r s rushed to th es t r i k e within tw o months. 34

Assays of the Gold Eagle depos i t conf irmed i t s r ichness and fo re to ldt i dy pr o f i t s for prospec tors and specu la to r s a l i k e . In March, Ramsey andThompson l eased th e twenty- three b e s t cla ims fo r $23,000 to George O t t i s andE. Oscar Har t on a s ix ty - day opt ion. 35 Har t re turned to New York shor t lyt h e r e a f t e r in o rder to garner a s a l e . Unknown to Hart , over the course o f afe w weeks, E. A. Montgomery, owner and discoverer of Nevada 's MontgomeryShoshone Mine ( the or ig ina l s t r i k e of th e Bul l f rog d i s t r i c t ) movedaggr e ss ive ly to purchase th e c la ims . Montgomery v i s i t e d th e pr ope r ty withO t t i s and soon a f t e r bought O t t i s ' s share o f th e opt ion fo r $40,000.Montgomery then l e t th e s ix ty -day opt ion expi re (disavowing Har t o f any sharein th e mine) and purchased th e cla ims o u t r i g h t . Ramsey and Thompson reputablyne t ted $30,000 each from th e dea l . 36

Montgomery appointed Matt Hoveck (former manager of th e MontgomeryShoshone Mine) and W. R. Wharton t o r e s p e c t i v e l y adminis te r mine developmentand genera l f inances . 37 In shor t order , around fo r ty men were ga in fu l lyemployed on th e c la ims , i n i t i a t i ng underground development and sur face work. 38Amid th e development a c t i v i t y , th e Gold Eagle pr ope r ty was renamed "Sk idoo"- der iving from the popu lar phrase " twenty- three Skidoo" (equiva lent to"scram") , and in sp i red os tens ib ly by th e proper ty ' s 23 c la ims . 39 In so doing,th e mine j o ined an expanding list of unconvent ional p lace names, such as th e

33 Or ig ina l claim records are held a t Inyo County,Book N, 21-35; Independence. Inyo Independent , 16Herald, 19 Apr i l , 1907; Bul l f rog Miner , Apr i l 26,Resource Study, 608-680.34 610 .

Recorder Mining Locat ions ,March, 1906; Rhyol i te1907. Greene, His tor i ca lGreene, His tor ic Resource Study,

35 Bul l f rog Miner, 20 Apr i l , 11 May, 1906; Rhyol i te Herald, 6 Apr i l , 1906 .36 Lingenfe l te r , Death Val ley and th e Amargosa, 287.37 I b i d .38 Engineering & Mining Journal , vol . 82, no. 11 (15 September, 1906), 511.39 For a discuss ion on th e der iva t ion of the term, r e f e r Lingenfe l te r , DeathVal ley and the Amargosa, 287.


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(page 17)Funera l Mountains , Sta r va t ion Gulch, and Coff in Canyon, which bo ls te red thei n t r i g u e , and u l t i m a t e l y inves tment , in Death V al l ey e n t e r p r i s e s . 40

In A p r i l 1907, th e Skidoo Mines Company formed a t a c a p i t a l i z a t i o n o ff ive mi l l i on d o l l a r s , with Montgomery as company p r e s i d e n t and owner of 75pe r cen t o f company s tock . Montgomery appoin ted Wharton as v i ce pres iden t ,Hoveck as t r e a s u r e r and genera l manager , and Char les Schwab and A. L. Davis(two f inanc ie r s ) as d i r e c t o r s , and se t ou t to make Skidoo "one of th eforemos t mines o f th e P a c i f i c Coast. , ,41

These a s p i r a t i o n s would n ot be a t t a i n e d e a s i l y . Despi te h a l f a cen turyo f p ro s p ec t i n g and mining, th e Panamint Range boas ted little i n t he way oft r a n s p o r t a t i o n networks beyond fo o t t r a i l s and a wagon road t h a t s k i r t e d th ebase of the Panamints , connect ing borax o p e ra t i o n s a t Furnace Creek with th etown o f B a l l a r a t . 42 Skidoo was not on ly removed from es tab l i shed miningd i s t r i c t s where supply , power, and l abor needs could be s a t i s f i e d , b u t th eimmediate l oca l e was a l so spa r se ly fu rn i shed with t imber and w ate r r e s o u rces .Counte r ing these co n d i t i o n s would r equ i r e t he ex t en s i v e development o fi n f r a s t r u c t u r e , suppor ted by abundant f i n an ces . However, unl ike th eexper ience of most n as cen t companies , monies were r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e . Th ep e r s o n a l con t r ibu t ion o f E. A. Montgomery, es t imated a t $550,000, enab led th ecompany to work on seve r a l improvements s imul taneous ly .43

A r ap i d success ion o f r eg iona l improvements began even b e fo re th ecompany's o f f i c i a l c a p i t a l i z a t i o n . In 1906, th e Skidoo Mines had es tab l i sheda rud imentary communicat ion system with th e town of Rhyol i t e , a t th e h e a r t ofthe Bul l f rog d i s t r i c t . Messages were t r ansmi t t ed by hel iograph (a device fo rf l a sh ing the sun ' s r ays from a mir r or ) , with a r e lay s t a t i o n atop th e Funera lMountains . 44 This was outmoded a y ea r l a t e r with a t e l eg rap h l i ne to Rhyol i teb u i l t by th e Tucki Consol ida ted Telephone and Telegraph Company (formed by

40 Mine management ap p a ren t l y i n s i s t e d Skidoo was " p a r t and pa r ce l of DeathVal l ey , " al though th e mines were more c o r r e c t l y a p a r t of neighbor ingPanamint V al l ey . Rober t Rinehar t , "Minera l Pr o s p ec t s Around Death Val l ey , "Mining and Sc i en t i f i c Press , v o l . 97, no. 19 (2 9 August , 1908), 298.41 Rhyol i te Herald, 19 Apr i l , 1907.42 T af t , "Notes on Southern Nevada and Inyo County, C a l i f o r n i a , " 179.43 Harlan Unrau, Prel iminary His tor ic S tructure Report: Skidoo Mill /Mine,Death Val l e y (National Park Serv i ce , 1998), 15.44 Bul l f rog Miner, 12 Apr i l , 1907.


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(page 18)Montgomery) .45 Merchants in Rhyol i te were a l so eag e r t o i nc r ea se t r ade withth e new d i s t r i c t and p e t i t i o n e d f o r t he cons t r uc t ion o f a ro u t e over Dayl igh tPass in the Funera l Mounta ins. Genera l ly cons idered , roadwork in th e DeathVal ley r eg ion r eq u i r ed only a smal l amount o f c l e a r i n g , al though s t eep gradesand a reas o f deep sands still made hau l ing a d i f f i c u l t t a s k . 46 Work on th eRhyol i te -Sk idoo road began in f a l l 1906 from both ends and th e trail,p a r t i a l l y u n f i n i s h ed , wa s in use by 1907. 47 In t h i s year , s t ages a l so a r r ivedin Skidoo from Johannesbe rg , a town to th e southwest pos i t i oned a t th et e rminus o f one of the Santa Fe l i n e s . By 1908, a road connected th e mines toKee le r (a mining d i s t r i c t nor thwes t o f Skidoo) .

Th e company's p l a t t i n g of a town s i t e a shor t d i s t ance from th eworkings encouraged commercia l development around th e mines - -o f f u r t h e rb e n e f i t in reducing t r anspor ta t ion cos t s , and ac t ing doubly as an a t t r a c t i o nto workers . I n i t i a l l y c a l l e d Montgomery, th e se t t l ement wa s known fo r a b r i e ft ime as Hoveck, u n t i l p o p u la r op in ion s e t t l e d on "Skidoo ." The townpopula t ion approached four hundred r es iden ts in 1907, making it th e l a r g e s tcommunity in the Panamints . Newspaper booster ism proposed th e town would soonbe "a blaze o f p r o sp e r i t y , " encourag ing i nves to r s t h a t "it i s those who g e tes tab l i shed first t h a t w i l l r eap th e golden reward.,,48 At i t s peakdevelopment , r e a l i z e d t h a t y ea r , th e town boas ted four sa loons , t h r eer e s t a u r a n t s , a bakery , bank ( the Southe rn C a l i f o r n i a Bank o f Skidoo) , p o s to f f i c e , p h y s i c i an , and Death Val l ey ' s only newspaper , th e Skidoo News. Gridp a t t e r n s t r e e t s prov ided an a l l u s i o n o f grandeur , even if t he ma jor i ty o fs t r u c t u r e s never gained permanence beyond th e t e n t f rame. 49 Workers andmanagers l i ved on a h i l l southwest of th e town s i t e . In add i t ion to th e mineo f f i c e , as s ay shed, and supe r in t enden t ' s r e s i d en ce , th e company camp inc luded

45 Inyo Re g i s t e r , 9 Apr i l , 1908.46 Clarence Waring and Emile Huguenin, " Inyo County , " in Mines and MineralResources o f Por t ions o f Cal i f orn ia , Report XV o f th e Sta t e Mi n era l o g i s t(Sacramento: C a l i f . Sta t e P r in t ing O ff i ce , 1919) , 42.47 Unrau, His tor ic S tructure Report , 21-22.48 "Skiddoo [s ic] as Feeder fo r th e Bul l f r og , " Bul l f rog Miner , 12 Apr i l , 1907.49 The Skidoo News a rgued th e town wa s unl ike othe r mining camps t h a t " l i k e at in46,

can, it l i e s where it i s thrown." Quoted in Inyo Re g i s t e r , vol . 22,(1 7 January , 1907) .

no.


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(page 19)a mess h a l l and a c r ib - l i k e ro w of worker cab ins , a l l of which were o f t imbero r log cons t r uc t ion . 50

I ncen t ive s f o r o the r mining i n t e r e s t s came in 1907, when th e companymade por t ions of th e min er a l pr ope r ty ava i lab le fo r one-year l e a s e - - a systems i m i l a r to t h a t used in Nevada 's Goldf ie ld d i s t r i c t . 51 As l i k e ly in tended byth e Skidoo Mines, a l l developments by l e s see s were smal l in sca le , a l b e i tsu f f i c i e n t to b r ing in revenue and garner more in fo rmat ion about th ecomposi t ion and var i ab i l i t y of the Skidoo o re body.52 Th e company marked ou tlo t s s i zed 400 by 600 f e e t , with r o y a l t i e s ca lcu la ted accord ing to th e o revalue worked: 10 pe r cen t f o r ores assay ing under $2 0 p e r ton ; 15 pe r cen t fo ro re assaying from $20 to $30; and 20 pe r cen t fo r ores of higher va lue . 53 Thel e a s ing system proved popular and, with in a shor t pe r iod , t he company managedt h i r t y l e a se s on i t s pr ope r ty . A c t i v i t i e s a t th e Skidoo pr ope r ty genera tedconsiderable i n t e r e s t by miners in the sur rounding r eg i o n . The Cal i fo rn iaDivis ion o f Mines soon c r ea t ed th e "Emigrant" sec t ion of th e Wild Rose miningd i s t r i c t , complete with its own deputy d i s t r i c t recorder and vot ing p r e c i n c t .

Th e crude s t a t e o f r eg iona l i n f r a s t r u c t u r e l imi t ed opt ions fo r powersupply . Although steam and d i e s e l engines were of common use in remoteregions , Skidoo Mines cons idered both u n a t t r a c t i v e fo r t h e i r dependence onr egu la r f ue l shipments . Montgomery hoped i ns t ead t h a t th e opera t ion could beconnected to e l e c t r i c i t y networks in Rhyol i te and Johannesberg , b u t th e highc o s t o f i n s t a l l a t i o n meant it too was r e j e c t e d . A t h i r d opt ion , th e ons i tegenera t ion of h y d r o e l e c t r i c i t y , was gene r a l ly impr ac t i ca l fo r deser t mining

50 Corpora te paterna l i sm d id not embrace a l l aspec ts o f worker ' s wel fare andth e company i n i t i a l l y r e s i s t e d the es tab l i shmen t o f a miners union. By 1907,a Skidoo branch of the Western Federa t ion o f Miners was es tab l i shed , th eunion pledg ing to work coope r a t ive ly with mine development . Unrau, His tor icStructure Report , 21.51 The annua l l eng th of l e a se s i s i n f e r r e d i n "L ibe r a l Leas ing Pol icy a tSkidoo ," Rhyo l i t e Herald, 29 Ju ly , 1908. Goldf ie ld l e a se s were fo r only s ixmonths dur a t ion , b u t were cons idered impor tan t in the e a r l y development ofth e a r e a ' s success f u l mines . Freder ick Ransome, "Geology and Ore Depos i t s o fGoldf ie ld , Nevada," u.s. Geological Survey Profess ional Paper 66 (WashingtonD.C. : GPO, 1909) , 17 .52 Engineer ing & Mining Journal , vol . 86, no. 10 (5 September , 1908), 487.53 This was l a t e r modif ied to 15 pe r cen t f o r ore over $20; 20 pe r cen t f o r o reover $30; and 25 pe r cen t f o r o re o f h i g h e r than $50 p e r ton . Rhyo l i t e Herald,19 A p r i l , 1907.


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(page 20)opera t ions fo r obvious reasons . 54 A p i p e l i n e never the less remained ana t t r a c t i v e opt ion fo r Skidoo, given t h a t some system fo r de l iver ing water toth e s i t e cheaply wa s a l ready impera t ive . The Skidoo loca t ion inc luded a fe wephemeral dra inages , and th e company wa s meeting domest ic needs by impor t ingwater a t a cos t of t en cen t s per ga l lon. 55 A year-round source wa s ava i lab lea t Emigrant Spring, f ive miles from th e Skidoo c la ims , b u t t h i s supply wa stoo l im i ted to prov ide fo r both domest ic and i n d u s t r i a l app l ica t ions(es t imated up to 30 miners ' inches) .56 The neares t su i t ab le supply occurredsome 20 s t r a ig h t - l i n e miles from Skidoo a t Birch Spring, s i tua ted on th e wes tf lanks o f Telescope Peak. 57 While an impress ive f e a t , the cons t r uc t ion o f ap i p e l i n e t o Birch Spring was no t unprecedented. In October 1907, when th eSkidoo p i p e l i n e wa s near ing comple t ion , the Goldf ie ld Conso l ida ted WaterCompany in weste rn Nevada completed a 30 mile- long p i p e l i n e made of 7-inchdiamete r r i v e t e d pipe , and th e Florence Goldf ie ld Mining Company was engagedin th e cons t r uc t ion of a f ive - and- one - ha l f mile long p i p e l i n e to br ing waterto t h e i r workings . 58

Skidoo Mines acqu i red the water r igh t s to Birch Spr ing from Fred Grayo f Bal la r a t in 1906. At t he sp r ings , th e company cons t r uc t ed a four - foo t bye igh t - foo t sandbox to serve as a coarse water f i l t e r . Th e p i p e l i n e route wasdes igned wi th minimal dev ia t ion , t r aver s ing e leva t ions from 5,600 to 7,600f e e t and gr ad ien t s up to 32 degrees . Depending on th e loca le , th e e igh t - inchdiamete r c a s t - i r o n pipes used fo r the l i ne were l a id in shallow open orbur ied t renches , or a top an ear then berm, wood-frame, or rock supports .59

54 Contemporary mining eng ineers a l so discouraged t h e i r cons t r uc t ion f o r as ing le mine given high i n s t a l l a t i o n cos t s and of t en unpr ed ic t ab le l i f e o f anope r a t ion . See, f o r i ns t ance , Taggar t , Handbook o f Ore Dressing, 1316.55 Engineering & Mining Journal , vol . 85, no. 4 (25 January , 1908) , 228.56 A mine r ' s inch p e r t a i n s to th e amount o f water e x i t i n g "an o r i f i c e one inchsquare under a head on i t s cen te r of 6.5 i n . " [Arthur Taggart , Handbook o fOr e Dress ing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1927) , 1602J. For C a l i f o r n i a , 40mine r ' s inches wa s th e equ iva len t of one cubic f oo t p e r second, while inArizona , Idaho, Nevada, and Utah, one foot per second wa s s e t a t 50 inches .57 Rhyo l i t e Herald, 28 September, 1906.58 Ransome, "Geology and Ore Deposi ts of Goldf ie ld , Nevada," 142-143.59 Robert Webb, John W. Ste iger , and Evelyn B. Ne'iNffian, "The Response o fVegetat ion to Disturbance in Death Val ley Nat ional Monument, C a l i f o r n i a , "u.s. Geological Survey Bul l e t in 1793 (Washington, D.C. : GPO, 1988), 26, 29.


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(page 21)Work began s imul taneous ly on th e cons t r uc t ion o f a f u l l - s c a l e mil l ing

f a c i l i t y . In 1907, th e company con t r ac t ed H. J . McCormack, a m i l l man fromSouth Dakota , to design and e r e c t a m i l l for the Skidoo mines. To achievehigh ex t r ac t ive e f f i c i ency with loca l ores , th e company submit ted tw o tons ofore ( taken as average samples o f th e ledges) fo r examinat ion to Taylo r & Co. ,a supp l ie r of mil l ing machinery based in S t. Louis . 60 Upon complet ion of th et e s t s , a p l a n t guaranteed to give 85 pe r cen t recovery would be assembled andreadied for shipment . Montgomery and McCormack add i t iona l ly v i s i t e d l a rgemi l l ing p l a n t s throughout th e l o c a l reg ion with an eye fo r "adopt ing anydevice t h a t may insure g r e a t e r p e r f e c t io n i n t he p l ans fo r th e home plan t ."61It i s unknown what r eg iona l nuances were i d e n t i f i e d and whether any wereincorpora ted, bu t the main components of th e Skidoo m i l l c e r t a i n l y d id no tdepar t from th e "Cal i fo rn ia Mil l . " The mil l u l t imate ly cons t r uc t ed employedamalgamation, grav i ty concen t r a t ion , and cyan ida t ion methods, and used af a m i l i a r assor tment of equipment , inc lud ing jaw c r ushe r s , g r a v i t y stamps,shaking t ab les , and sand- leach ing va t s fo r cyanida t ion.

A su i t ab le mil l s i t e wa s l oca t ed c lose to mine workings a t the nor thernedge of the pr ope r ty . As with th e s i t i n g of many n ine teen th - and e a r l y -twent ie th century m i l l s , a s teep grad ien t , along th e south s ide o f a narrowgulch , wa s se lec ted for the Skidoo m i l l . To f a c i l i t a t e cons t r uc t ion a t t h i sloca le , workers i n s t a l l e d a s t e e l cable across the ravine to serve as as imple h o i s t system.

Th e r ap id pace o f development work a t Skidoo con t ras ted with th ena t iona l economic c l imate fac ing th e mining i ndus t r y . In l a t e 1907, the s tockmarket plummeted in the pan ic brought by th e c los ing of the KnickerbockerT ru s t in New York. Gold and s i l v e r mines soon suffered as Eas t Coast backerswithdrew from expend i tu re on h igh- r i sk ven tu r e s . Although mining ven tures inSan Bernardino and Inyo count ies were no t as bad ly af fec ted (perhaps becausegold had been r ecen t ly discovered and t h a t most work wa s conducted by smal l -

60 "Gigan t ic Mi l l fo r Skidoo Mine," Bul l f rog Miner, vo l . 2, no. 46 (22February , 1907) .61 Montgomery and McCormack a re known to have v i s i t e d p l a n t s in the Tonopahand Goldf ie ld d i s t r i c t s , and probably th e Rhyol i te and Manhattan d i s t r i c t s aswel l . Bul l f rog Miner, 8 June, 1907.


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(page 22)sca le prospec tors) 62 th e f inanc ia l pan ic may have inf luenced th e Skidoo Minesto proceed with pr ope r ty development along more conserva t ive l i n e s .E sca la t ing cons t r uc t ion expenses on th e p i p e l i n e brought changes to th eor ig ina l design and cons t r uc t ion mater ia l s . Th e company scrapped plans toinc lude t r i b u t a r y supply l i n e s , and a lso subs t i tu t ed cas t - i ron pipes withs ix - to - t en - inch diameter s p i r a l - r i v e t e d pipe in l a t e r sec t ions of th e l i n e .Of g r e a t e s t consequence, th e company abandoned plans fo r a power p lan t . Ati t s complet ion in 1908, th e company's expendi tu re on th e p i p e l i n e approached$250,000. 63 Water fo r opera t ions wa s now ava i lab le a t the Skidoo loca t ion ,but , desp i te the expense, th e ex ten t o f i t s in tended app l ica t ions wa sc u r t a i l e d markedly.

Th e mil l ing f a c i l i t y was a lso l e ss grandiose than i n i t i a l p r o j e c t i o n s .At th e commencement of opera t ions in Apr i l 1908, t en , r a t h e r than 30-40stamps (as pro jec ted by Montgomery) were i n s t a l l e d , and th e d a i l y capac i ty ofth e m i l l approached only 35 tons every 24 hours . Although mil l ing equipmentmay have been pared down, th e m i l l wa s des igned fo r fu tu re en largements . Th edimensions of th e bui ld ing ( 40- f ee t wide by 60 f e e t long) could accommodatedouble th e equipment , and th e p o s i t i o n of th e m i l l near th e top o f th e gulchprovided ample room f o r t he add i t i on o f othe r mil l ing c i r c u i t s a longs ide th es t ruc tu re o r down th e h i l l s i de .

Th e mil l ing c i r c u i t was organ ized over f ive l eve l s , a l l l eve l s enclosedby a wood-frame super s t ruc tu re s ided with corrugated i ron . In execu t ion ,bur ros pu l led ore cars to th e m i l l along a tram grade sk i r t ing th e sou th s ideof the gulch . A 30-foo t - Iong wooden t r e s t l e car r i ed th e t r ack to th esou theas t corner of th e m i l l bui ld ing , where it en te r ed th e crushingc i r c u i t . 64 This c i r c u i t included a gr izz ly (a s e t o f par a l l e l , equa l ly spaced

62 Indeed, prospec t ing con t inued "v igorous ly" along th e r e c e n t l y completedTonopah and Tidewater Rai l road connect ing Rhyol i te to th e Santa Fe Rai l roadCharles G. Yale, "Cal i fo rn ia" , in Mineral Resources o f the United S ta t e s ,1907, (Washington D.C. : GPO, 1908) , 197.63 Although s p i r a l - r i v e t e d pipe wa s se lec ted as a cos t - cu t t ing measure ,eng ineers cons idered t h i s wel l adap ted fo r smal l f lows and lo w pres sures .Furthermore, s p i r a l r ive t ing provided s u f f i c i e n t s t r eng th fo r the p ipe to bel a i d d i r e c t l y on th e ground. Taggar t , Handbook o f Ore Dressing, 1277.64 Refer Skidoo M il l , 1907, F-2313; F-5109, DEVA Archives. Later photographsof the mil l , taken d i r e c t l y a f t e r the mil l f i r e , i n d i c a t e th e sou th end ofth e t r e s t l e began from a s tone r e ta in ing wal l , now used to support watert anks .


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(page 23 )bars t h a t ac ted as a pr e l imina r y so r te r ) and tw o Blake- type jaw c ru s h e r sprobab ly ar ranged in se r i e s . Mater ia l pass ing over th e gr izz ly entered th epr imary (and l a r ge r ) o f th e tw o c r ushe r s . Launders d i rec ted both the c rusherproduct and ore pass ing through th e gr izz ly ba r s , in to a secondary jawcrusher . This c ru s h e r probab ly broke th e ore to l e s s than an inch diameter ,wi th crushed rock dropping in to th e stamp ore b in a t th e second l eve l . Fromth e bin , t he ore wa s d i s t r i b u t e d t o t he stamps a t an even r a t e with th eas s i s tance of au tomat ic feeders .

Th e stamps crushed th e o re to a f ine sand and, with th e add i t ion o fmercury and water , i n i t i a t ed th e gold r ecovery process . Amalgam c r ea t ed inth e stamps adhered to copper p l a t e s a t t ached to th e bottom and back of themor tar . Ore e x i t i n g th e s tamps passed over apron t ab les , where mercurydressed copper p l a t e s a l so induced th e fo rmat ion o f a gold-mercury amalgam.Three Deis te r concent ra t ion t a b l e s (known to be in use by 1911) were s i tua tedon th e next l e v e l down and separa ted gold and othe r meta l s from th e ore bydens i ty . 65 With th e cyan ide c i r c u i t still under cons t r uc t ion , ma te r i a l pass ingover t a b l e s was discharged from th e m i l l as t a i l i n g s . Stonewal l s e r ec t edacross th e bot tom of th e gulch impounded t h i s mate r i a l fo r f u tu r e p ro ces s i n g .During i t s e a r l y runs , t a i l r a c e water from the Pe l ton wheel wa s a l sodischarged in to th e gulch , and some dive r s ion system ma y have been i n s t a l l e dto preven t the removal of t a i l i n g s from th e s torage a rea .

As with work underground, mil l ing work was notor ious ly dus ty and noisy.The add i t ion of w ate r to th e stamp b a t t e r i e s fo r amalgamation purposes he lpedto reduce dus t p roduct ion in th e l a t e r crush ing phases , b u t hear ing l os sundoubtedly remained a se r ious problem. As a minor conso la t ion , perhaps ,twelve-pane windows on th e west , e a s t , and nor th s ide s prov ided somev e n t i l a t i o n and brought na tu ra l l i g h t to the working f loor s and upper

65 Mining & Sc i e n t i f i c Press , vol . 102, no. 13 (1 A p r i l 1911), 478-9. Th ea r t i c l e i d e n t i f i e d th e tw o 1,050 s tamps as b u i l t by th e Hendy Iron Company,and th e l a r g e r stamp by th e Union Iron Works. While t h i s i s counter to th estamps p r e s e n t l y on s i t e , th e r econs t r uc t ion of th e m i l l a f t e r th e 1913 f i r emay have brought r a d i c a l changes . Th e upper t e r r a c e inc ludes a sump (d ra inedby a shor t s ec t ion of metal pipe e x i t i n g through th e r e ta in ing wal l ) ,implying its planned use fo r wet c l a s s i f i c a t i o n and /or concen t r a t ion , wherew ate r sp i l l age i s a lmos t unavoidab le .


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(page 24)por t ions of th e stamp ba t t e r i e s . 66 The Pel ton wheel or a separa te gas engineprovided e l e c t r i c a l power fo r i l lumina t ing the m i l l f loo rs . Around s ix menwere employed in the mi l l . I f th e appor t ioning of t a sks fol lowed prac t i ces a to ther mines , a mi l lwr igh t , s k i l l e d as a c a rpe n te r and machinis t , probablyheaded the m i l l crew. Next in l i ne , th e head amalgamator wa s in immediatecharge of running th e m i l l and r e spons ib l e fo r the co l l ec t ion and safekeepingof amalgam. A s s i s t a n t amalgamators se t stamp components, i n t roduced mercuryin to th e morta r a t r egu la r in te rva l s , r e gu la t e d water supply , and otherwisetended the ba t t e ry . Crusher men, lowes t in r ank , looked a f t e r the gr i z z l i e sand rock crushers . 67 For th e r e l a t i ve l y smal l f a c i l i t y erec ted a t Skidoo, tw oor th ree men probably worked in the m i l l a t any given t ime, one workerrunning the crushing c i r c u i t when r e qu i re d , and one or tw o men working theamalgamation f loo r where copper p la t e s from the stamps and apron t ab les wereprepared and c leaned. 68

Amalgam co l l ec t ed from the morta r box and apron p la t e s accounted fo r 65pe rc e n t o f the t o t a l gold recovery . By th e end of June, the t o t a l cleanup wa svalued a t $24,000. As pre c a u t ions , m i l l cleanups were conducted a t " i r r e gu l a rda tes" and the amalgam s tored in a safe a t the company o f f i c e . Moreover,a f t e r mine assayers had formed gold br icks from th e cleanup, th e bu l l ion was" s e n t o u t by var ious routes . , ,69

66 The m i l l b u i l d i n g ' s outward appearance sugges t s cons truct ion as tw oi d e n t i c a l sec t ions , s taggered aga ins t the h i l l s i d e . On th e e a s t and wes ts ides , each sec t ion i nc luded spaces fo r s ix windows ( a l l 12- l igh t sash) pers ide , ar ranged in tw o rows of t h ree . "Skidoo Mil l 1908," Photo Album DEVA11262, F2313; F-5109.67 These observa t ions were made by H. O. Hoffman ["Gold Mil l ing in the BlackH i l l s , " in Transac t ions o f the American In s t i t u t e o f Mining and Metal lurgicalEngineers , vo l . 17 (1889), 528-533J among mil l s in South Dakota. Larger mil l sa lso des igna ted out p o s i t i o n s such as foreman, machinis t s , and " o i l e r s . "68 Crushing and stamping t a sks may not have been conducted s imul taneously . Ada i ly t ime shee t fo r 1909 l i s t s only tw o workers i n t he mi l l , one of whom ranthe cyanide c i r c u i t . Skidoo Mines Co. , Dai ly Record and Time She e t , May 6,1909, he ld a t DEVA Archives , Loc. 44-upper D4, Access ion No. 1104, Cata logNo. 1 5 , 4 5 0 .69 "Skidoo Mil l Unequal to Demands," Bul l f rog Miner, 28 November, 1908. LouisSpauld ing , an amalgamator employed a t the mil l , r eca l l ed cleanups wereconducted approx imate ly every two weeks [Louis Spauld ing , "The Amalgamator ,"in George Pipk in (ed. ) Deser t Sands, vo l . 4 (4) , 2J . This ma y in f a c t bes i m i l a r to prac t i ces a t th e North Sta r Mine, where stamp ba t t e r i e s werec leaned every tw o weeks, and the apron p l a t e s "every o ther day." EmileAbadie, "Gold Mil l ing a t the North Sta r Mine, Grass Val ley , Nevada County,


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(page 26)Miners worked the ve ins by c u t t i n g d r i f t s and r a i s e s . Blas t holes werei n i t i a l l y d r i l l e d by s ing le j ack ing and double j acking, tw o l abor - in tens ivemethods t h a t pounded d r i l l s t e e l s in to th e face us ing a sledgehammer. Th ecompany supplanted t h i s t echn ique a t some p o i n t with compressed-a i r d r i l l s ,which were f a s t e r than j ack ing and requi red l e ss workers a t th e face . Mineworkings were supported by t imber s t u l l s fashioned from l o c a l l y a v a i l a b l epinyon pine .

A surv iv ing t imesheet p rov ides an ind ica t ion o f how l abor was deployedabout th e mines fo r one day in 1909. On May 9, t h r ee miners conducteddevelopment work in the North-100 l e v e l , tw o miners l abored on s ink ing ashaf t , seven miners stoped o re from var ious r a i s e s , and one miner wa s engagedin t imber ing . An add i t iona l th ree men trammed ore and waste from th eworkings. These underground t a sks may have been r o t a t e d , fo r a l l mineworkersrece ived $4 p e r sh i f t . Exceptions were th e blacksmi th , who made $5.75, andposs ib ly mi l l workers , whose hours only were recorded . 77

Perhaps as a consequence of the rapid pace o f development work, th eor gan iza t ion of underground e f f o r t s was l e ss than des i rab le . By ear ly 1909,th e absence o f heavy machinery had preven ted th e dr iv ing of c r osscu t s fo re f f i c i e n t ore and waste removal . Transpor ta t ion i n f r a s t r u c t u r e i t s e l f wasa l so not s tandardized. For th e f i r s t fe w years , o re rece ived a t th e m i l l hadbeen conveyed "over f ive d i f f e r e n t car l i n e s , a l l r equ i r ing changes o f l i nesand changes o f car , and extending [ forJ about a h a l f mile., ,78

Elsewhere on th e pr ope r ty , development on th e l ease lo t s had genera tedenough s tockp i les of o re t h a t th e l e s sees pe t i t ioned Skidoo Mines fo r acustom mil l ing f a c i l i t y . Th e company proposed to e r e c t a f ive-s tamp custommil l in the gulch below th e e x i s t i n g m i l l , i t s p o s i t i o n al lowing th e p l a n t touse m i l l wastewater to power crushing machinery. Lessees would f inance the

and A. R. Brown ( eds . ) , Geology and Mineral Wealth o f the Cal i fornia Deser t ,Dibblee Volume (Santa Ana: South Coas t Geolog ica l Socie ty , 1980)J , 89.77 Skidoo Mines Co. , Dai ly Record and Time Shee t , May 6, 1909, held a t DEVAArchives, Loc. 44-upper D4, Access ion No. 1104, Catalog No. 15,450. Th e wagesca le approximated t h a t used in th e Goldf ie ld d i s t r i c t , Nevada, where in1906, r a t e s fo r an e igh t - hour day (before s t r i k e s in 1907) were $4 to $4.50fo r ordinary , and $5 to $5.50 fo r sk i l l ed l abor . Ransome, "Geology and Oredepos i t s of Goldf ie ld , Nevada," 19.78 Rhyo l i t e Herald, 13 January , 1909.


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(page 27)m i l l , b u t Skidoo Mines Company in tended to purchase th e m i l l a f t e r fourmonths a t c o s t p r i c e l e s s s ix pe r cen t . 79 At t h i s t ime, management apparent lyr eas se r ted t h e i r con t r o l over claim development by no longer renewingpr ope r ty l eases , and with ex is t ing l e a se s t e rmi n a t i n g in 60 days.80 Thisdec is ion was e i t h e r renounced o r t he l e a s ing system l a t e r r e i n s t a t e d , fo rl e s see s would cont inue to work por t ions of the pr ope r ty over th e next seve r a lyears . Work a l so cont inued a t othe r l oca t ions in th e Wildrose d i s t r i c t , suchas a t th e Cash ier Mine ( in th e v ic in i t y of where Ramsey and Thompson hadi n i t i a l l y prospec ted) , al though much of the fe rvor had passed . Th e emigrat iono f rushers was c e r t a i n l y v i s i b l e a t th e town of Skidoo. As ear ly as 1908,newspapers had r epor t ed the town "has th inned ou t and bus iness i s poor. , ,81 H.W. Sq u i r e s , genera l manager o f th e Skidoo mines , was more b l u n t in h isassessment , s t a t i n g " l i k e every mining camp, th e town of Skidoo i s dul l . , ,82

Th e custom mil l was u l t i m a t e l y incorpora ted in to th e e x i s t i n g p l a n t .With a t h i r d stamp b a t t e r y i n s t a l l e d , th e t o t a l d a i l y outpu t o f th e m i l l nowapproached 50 tons . Lessees and company ore was probab ly t r ea t ed in a l t e r n a t ebatches . Th e custom m i l l charged $3.50 p e r ton ( including cyan ida t ion) , or $3p e r ton i f processed us ing waterpower. In add i t ion , t he cos t of t r anspor t ingo re to the m i l l cos t l e s see s an es t imated $2 p e r ton . 83 The con t inu ing demandso f th e mine and l e s see s t axed th e mil l to its capac i ty , and th e company sooni n s t a l l e d add i t iona l cyan ide t anks . 84

From 1909 onward, th e mines began turning a p r o f i t . The t o t a l c o s t o fmining and mil l ing f o r th e Skidoo Mines averaged as lo w as seven d o l l a r s p e rton (perhaps i nc lus ive of revenues from pr ope r ty l e a se s and custom mil l ingwhich approximated $1,000 p e r month) .85 In Ju ly 1909, the mines genera t ing

79 Rhyol i te Herald, 14 October , 25 November, 1908; Bul l f rog Miner, 28November, 1908; Engineering & Mining Journal 83, no. 4 (2 6 January , 1907),204.80 Mining & Sc i en t i f i c Press , 8v o l . 87, no . 22 (29 May, 1909) ,no. 19 (7 November, 1908), 925.

May, 1909, 653; Engineering & Mining Journal ,1105; Engineering & Mining Journal , vol . 86,

81 O. S. M e r r i l l , quoted in Rhyol i te Herald [vo l . 4,neve r the l e s s assured t h a t th e "[company?] camp looksseve r a l months."82 Bul l f rog Miner, 19 September , 1908.83 Bul l f rog Miner, 15 August , 1908.

no. 4 , (2 0 May, 1908) J,b e t t e r than it has fo r

84 Mining &Scien t i f i c Press , vol . 101, no. 21 (19 November, 1910), 687.85 Mining & Sc i en t i f i c Press , Ju ly 1911, August 1911.


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(page 29)Seasonal t empera tu res di s r up ted th e h y d r o e l e c t ri c p i p e l i n e e s p e c i a l l y ,

and r e p a i r s were f requen t in summer and winte r . Th e most se r ious ins t ancecame in e a r l y 1913, when a co ld snap rup tured the p i p e l i n e in " innumerableplaces" and neces s i t a ted seve r a l weeks of r epa i r work. At t h i s t ime, th ecompany discharged fo r ty miners and shu t down th e m i l l . Mil l workers used th edowntime to conduc t genera l r epa i r s , and they may have completed th ei n s t a l l a t i o n of tw o r ep lacement rock c ru s h e r s as wel l as th e more r ou t iner ep lacement o f copper p l a t e s in the stamp b a t t e r i e s . 93

Th e g r e a t e s t setback to m i l l o p e ra t i o n s fol lowed s h o r t l y t h e r e a f t e r . InJune 1913, a fe w months a f t e r th e complet ion of r e p a i r s to th e p i p e l i n e , af i r e o f unknown or ig in broke o ut i n t he m i l l . Th e blaze swept th roughout a l ll eve l s of the bui ld ing , damaging th e tram t r e s t l e i r r e p a r a b l y and sear ingfac ing boards of a r e t a i n i n g wal l u p h i l l of th e m i l l . 94 In its wake, only th eextreme eas t e r n sec t ions of the m i l l complex were l e f t unscathed . Thisinc luded t he ea s t e r n por t ion of the cyan ida t ion p l a n t , which still r e ta inedmetal s id ing and roof ing , and a wooden shed some 50 f e e t e a s t of the m i l lposs ib ly used for s torage or sample t e s t i n g . 95 Equipment l os se s weresu b s t a n t i a l , the company being ab le to salvage f ive o r ten stamps and h a l fthe cyan ida t ion t anks from th e wreckage.

Despi te t o t a l l os se s es t i ma t ed a t $50,000, a new p l a n t of s i m i l a rcapac i ty was in opera t ion by October . 96 According to Montgomery, th er econs t r uc t ed f a c i l i t y included a " g r e a t deal o f new mate r i a l " to "make themil l modern." Th e bui ld ing again comprised a f i v e - s t o r y s t ruc tu re , with theth ree upper l e v e l s cons t r uc t ed o f wood f raming . Th e roof l ine was f i t t ed witha s tep ( s l i g h t l y lower in the roof frame) to p e rmi t l i g h t in to th e s tamping

93 Engineer ing & Mining Journal , vol . 95, no. 26 (17 May, 1913), 1023; InyoReg is te r 23 January , 1913.94 The s tone r e t a i n i n g wal l was loca ted a t th e sou th end of the uppermost mil ldeck. Ear ly photographs of th e m i l l area ind ica te the fac ing boards were al a t e r add i t ion ( see , fo r i ns t ance , "Skidoo Mil l 1908" Photo Album DEVA 11262,and F-2313; F-5109) , al though v i s i b l e f i r e damage sugges t s they were in p lacebefore 1913.95 "Skidoo Af te r th e Fire" (1913) Photo Album DEVA 11262. The sur v iva l o f th ewooden shed i s conf i rmed in a ca . 1916s photograph . "Skidoo Gold M il l " byWaring, Cal i fo rn ia Divis ion o f Mines and Geology, Sacramento .96 Engineer ing & Mining Journal , vol . 95, no. 1 (5 Ju ly , 1913), 42 ; 4 October ,1913, 665; Mining World, 4 October 1913, 611.


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(page 30)a re a , and the roof was of s i m i l a r p i t ch . 97 The need to e re c t a m i l l quicklycrea ted some minor d i f f e rences in appearance . Windows were fewer , smal le r ,and no l onger i d e n t i c a l in s i ze or placement along th e wes t and e a s t wa l l s .Th e pos t - f i r e m i l l accommodated ten stamps, bu t i t s narrower width (25 f ee t )provided no space fo r fu tu re expansion. Photog raphic evidence also i n d i c a t e st ha t former mater ia l s (such as corruga ted s id ing and t imbers) found reusewhere p o s s i b l e . 98

Th e flow she e t o f th e new Skidoo m i l l rep l i ca t ed th e o r i g i n a l c i r c u i tdesign c lose ly . Pre and pos t - f i r e d i f f e rences came genera l ly from thereduc t ion , ra the r than moderniza t ion of mil l ing equipment . In the new mi l l , a50-ton stamp ore b in , f i t t ed with tw o rack and pinion gates , re leased orein to tw o automat ic feeders p laced immediately behind the stamps. As probablyerec ted be fo re , the stamps were suppor ted by a "back-knee" frame, so termedfo r the extens ion of a sill suppor t from the ore b in to the camshaf t , abovethe stamp morta r . 99 A mezzanine l eve l , s i t ua t ed a top th e "knee" a t the l e v e lof the cams enabled workers to open th e ore b in ga tes and access the f ron tand back s ides of the stamp bat tery.100 From the apron p l a t e s , ore probablypassed over concent ra t ion t ab les be fo re en te r ing a c l a s s i f i e r where sandswere d i rec ted to the cyan ide c i r cu i t . Th e cyan ide p l a n t in the new m i l l had as l i gh t l y reduced capaci ty of 50, r a t h e r than 75- tons . Burros still de l ive redore cars to th e mi l l , a l though in s tead of a tram t r e s t l e , a wide deck nowextended d i r e c t l y back from the m i l l 's upper f loo r to the tram grade. Fortyhorsepower and 18-horsepower gasol ine engines ma y have both been i n s t a l l e d assupp lementa l power sources i n t he mi l l . 10l

97 Roof p i t ch determined from photographic evidence : "Skidoo Mil l" (Waring,Cal i fo rn ia Divi s ion of Mines and Geology, ca . 1916) .98 I b i d .99 The back-knee f raming method provided good o v e r a l l s t ab i l i t y , a l though th ed is tance between the camshaft and d r i v e s h a f t (pos i t ioned behind th e stampmortar) neces s i t a ted th e use of a t igh ten ing mechanism to keep s u f f i c i e n tt ens ion on the b e l t . In add i t ion to i nc re a s ing the wear on dr ive be l t s , theloca t ion of the dr iveshaf t meant it wa s no t wel l l i gh ted and suscep t ib le towater , d i r t , and grease coming from th e morta rs . Rickard , "Gold Mil l ing inthe Black H i l l s , South Dakota," 911.100 A h o i s t mechanism i n s t a l l e d above the stamps al lowed workers to r a i se anyof the stamp stems fo r repa i r work Tracks across the top of the h o i s tsuppor ted a "c rab" mechanism which could a t t ach to th e stem.101 H. C. Cloudman. S ta te Mining Bureau Fie ld Report , No. 174, Skidoo MinesCo. (ca. 1913). DEVA Archives , RG#l Archives , Cat . No. DEVA 30650, AccessionNo. DEVA 01240, pp. 114-5.


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(page 31)

At th e commencement of ope r a t ions , th e m i l l ran company ore fo r a monthto c l e a r reserves and then began process ing the o re s tockp i l ed by l e s sees .Mil l ing ef f i c i ency remained high , with ore en te r ing the m i l l a t $1 5 per ton ,and as little as 41 cen t s per ton l o s t in t a i l i ngs . 102 Within a few months ofresuming m i l l ope r a t ions , however, assays ind ica ted dwindling ore r e se r ves .In ear ly 1914, th e mine super intendent cons idered the ve ins e s s e n t i a l l yworked out and pred ic ted th e c losur e of the mines within a couple of months.According to h i s es t ima te , only 220 tons remained in the s topes and ano ther50 0 tons on th e l e s s e e s ' proper ty .103 Montgomery decided to v i s i t th e s i t e inperson , br inging with him mining eng ineer J . H. Cooper fo r a second opin ion .Upon viewing the workings , Cooper argued t h a t th e p e s s i m i s t i c out look o f th esuper intendent was th e product o f poor on- s i t e management, " i f not a c t u a ldishones ty on th e p a r t of th e company employees in t r u s t e d p o s i t i o n s . ,,104Cooper became th e new mine manager a f t e r s ign ing a one-year con t rac t withMontgomery. By June, Cooper had approx imate ly fo r ty men on th e payro l l and,one-month l a t e r , th e Skidoo Mines Company i ssued a $30,000 dividend.

In c o n t r a s t to th e former super in tenden t ' s opin ion , Cooper deemedenough ore to be presen t to warran t expansion o f th e mil l ing c i r cu i t .Secondary r epor t s ind ica te in ten t ions to expand th e m i l l to 60- tons da i lycapac i ty , an improvement r equ i r ing th e i n s t a l l a t i o n o f add i t iona lconcen t r a to r s as wel l as cyanida t ion v a t s . 105 That year , the company expandedth e stamp ore bin to 100- ton capac i ty and added a b a t t e r y o f f ive stamps( e i t h e r 1050 or 1250 pounds per stamp) manufactured by Joshua Hendy Iron

Works to th e wes t s ide of th e mil l .106 Addi t ional Deis te r concent ra t ion t ab lesand cyanide t anks were a l so added to th e c i r cu i t . Th e cyan ide c i r c u i trece ived modif ica t ions in December to enable i t s opera t ion through winte r .This involved th e cons t r uc t ion o f a gable- roofed shed ( insulated with paper

102 H. C. Cloudman. S ta te Mining Bureau Fie ld Report , No. 174.103 J . H. Cooper, "The Skidoo Gold Mines, Data Supplemental to GeneralRepor t , " September 9, 1928. Appended to Bel l Mountain S i l v e r Mines, Inc .Environmental Impact Repor t , Proposed Mining on th e Del Norte Proper ty .104 Cooper, "The Skidoo Gold Mines . "105 Charles Yale, "Cal i fo rn ia , " in Mineral Resources o f the Uni ted S ta t e s ,1914 (Washington D.C.:GPO, 1916) , 376.106 Bin capac i ty ca lcu la ted from f i e ld measurements, assuming a weigh t o fpulve r i zed quar tz and pulve r i zed so r ted quar tz a t r espec t ive ly 90 and 10 5pounds per square f oo t ( r e fe r Taggart , Handbook o f Ore Dress ing , 1037).


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(page 34)n e i t h e r case does it appear t h a t opera t ions were p r o f i t a b l e , or t h a t anysu b s t a n t i a l development work occurred .

Th e onse t of the Grea t Depression c r ea t ed cond i t ions t h a t werep a r t i c u l a r ly amenable to gold mining. While an increased l abor pool andlowered equipment and supply cos t s benef i t ed t h e o r e t i c a l l y a l l of th e miningi ndus t r y , th e comparat ively high se l l i n g p r i c e of gold and i t s p o t e n t i a l fo rrecovery by cheap methods made gold mining espec ia l ly f eas ib le . Between 1931and 1932, s i l v e r product ion in Cal i fo rn ia decreased by 44 percent ; leadproduct ion f e l l by 38 pe r cen t ; and copper dropped by an as tounding 91pe r cen t . 115 By con t r as t , gold product ion in 1932 was the h ighes t i n s ix yearsand, in Cal i fo rn ia , p r a c t i c a l l y every go ld d i s t r i c t showed increasedac t iv i ty .116 The "1932 rush" y ie lded neg l ig ib le r e tu rns fo r many thousands ofpr ospec to r s who t r i ed t he i r luck i n t he gold f i e ld s , bu t , as one o f f i c i a lnoted encouragingly , "where the re i s so much smoke the re must su re ly be somefire. , ,117 Pers i s tence was c e r t a i

skidoo mill

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