Back In Time To The Heyday Of Gold -> Hedges/Tumco Ghost Town

“One in every five miners who came to California in 1849 was dead within six months.”
Quote from a writer of the Sacramento Bee

Paul poses by the old hospital in Hedges/Tumco

We’re in the heart of some of the oldest gold mine history in California and y’all know how I love those wild west stories. This is my kinda hard, crazy history filled with the dreams of fools looking to make it rich. Last year we did some local prospecting around our boondocking site, but this time around we decided to make the trek ~5 miles north to the ghost town of Hedges/Tumco, a site that takes us right back to the start of it all.

Ghosts of the past. View of the Hedges/Tumco town.

Yours truly by the massive cyanide vats that used to process gold ore

Gold has always been a draw in these hills. In the 1600′s the Spanish explorers discovered gold in the Sierra de San Pablo Mountains (now known as Cargo Muchachos), and in 1780 established the first mission in Yuma. The Spaniards exploited the area, but war and strife followed leaving the ores largely undeveloped until much later….right up until 1849. It was the start of the gold rush, one of the biggest migrations in the history of the US. The “49′ers”, as history would remember them, were the very first, the most hardy souls that led the chase. These idealistic madmen named themselves after Greek mythology, the “Argonauts” -> a band of heros in search of a golden fleece.

And seek they did, oh yes they did. In 1849 Fort Yuma was established followed by the railroad in 1877, and hundreds of thousands of prospectors on the western trail. Most of the early migration went further northwest, but by 1880′s interest revived in the Tumco valley and the first claims were opened here.

Ellen poses by the remains of the old saloon

Site of the old cemetery

From there it was a typical gold rush story. In 1894 the valley settlement named Hedges had established ~31 tents, a large stamp mill capable of crushing 100 tons per day and over 12 miles of water pipeline. By the turn of the century the town had grown to one of the biggest mines in the state with 500 people, 100 stamp mills, a school, a church, two cemeteries and massive cyanide plants for ore post-processing. Then, as quickly as the riches had amassed they disappeared, things turned downhill and by 1909 the town was mostly abandoned. Interest re-surged briefly in 1910 with a new set of investors who re-named the settlement Tumco, but it was a short-lived dream that shut down again only a year later.

After this time the mine saw several years of sporadic development, but never quite reached the heyday of the early 1900′s. It was finally abandoned as a ghost town in 1949, 100 years to the day after the start of the big rush.

Alex, Ellen and Paul walk the trail in Hedges/Tumco

Paul checks out history at the Gold Rock Ranch

We headed out on our ghost town adventure with our buddies Alex&Ellen on the day the cold weather broke here in Yuma bathing our site in warm temps and gorgeous blue skies. The mine is on BLM land just a few miles north on Ogilby Road. Although most of the structures have vanished to rubble, there is a nice hiking trail with well-marked sites that take you around the whole town and gives a great feel for what it was like. The whole place is a wild, crazy, lonely spot and apart from the ghosts we were the only souls there. We spent a good hour walking around and imagining the harsh life in the old mine before heading a mile across the road to historic and quirky Gold Rock Ranch to putter around the shop, check out the history knickknacks, scope out the RV park and meet the locals.

A very, very cool ghost town which is most definitely worth the trip.

NOTE/ Since Tumco is on BLM land you can actually boondock right next to the mine for free (so very cool)! If you want more civilization the quirky RV park across the road has a dump and full hookup sites for $40/night ($20/night with Passport America).

The excellent trail at Tumco

Oh, the stories this old earth could tell!

In Search of Gold – American Girl Mine, CA

Polly and I check out an old ore shoot in the hills by our RV

Our super-sweet boondocking spot out here by Ogilby Road has some richness to it too. In fact history tells us that we’ve parked the rig right next to gold. Oh yeah real sparkling, honest-to-goodness gold, and some of it pretty recent too. I did this on purpose of course, just in case we should strike it rich while boondocking, but sadly neither Polly nor the cats seem to have any natural talent for gold-digging (darn animals!). Still, it’s a fascinating little place and a fabulous spot to explore, which is exactly what we’ve been doing. And having waaaay too much fun in the process.

Is it the light or is it gold? If you see a new rig on the blog you'll know....

This is the story of the Cargo Muchacho Mining District, a rather extensive set of chocolate-colored mountains ~8 miles west of Yuma. The initial discovery of the yellow treasure here in the hills probably dates back to Spanish explorers around the 1600′s, but the more recent history starts in the mid-1800′s. Story has it that two Mexican boys found gold ore in the hills and came back with their shirts loaded = the muchachos cargados (loaded boys) thus giving the name to the range. Another story tracks gold discovery to a wondering mule from members of a California-bound wagon train who were camped near the mountains in 1862. More than likely both stories (and many others) are true. Either way the news spread and by mid-1880′s the area was booming with mines and miners most of which lived in Ogilby/Hedges area (later called Tumco).

Biking with Polly in search of American Girl Mine

The American Girl Mine was one of the biggest, and (as it turned out) has one of the most recent stories. It is said to have delivered ~205,000 tons of ore in the “boom-times” up to 1930. It lay inactive until the 1980s where the claim was bought by the Newmont Mining Co. re-assessed and re-opened in 1989 for another ~10 years of active mining before declining gold-prices shut it down again. These days the area seems to be entirely owned by BLM altho’ I saw an active listing for the place on the net (anyone got a cool $3M spare?).

Paul poses by one of the massive American Girl mining pits

But the history pales in comparison to the living experience, and we’ve been having a TON of fun exploring. The whole area in front of our RV is criss-crossed by old mining roads, hidden mining pits, cast-away artifacts and old chutes & structures. You could literally spend weeks driving around finding new spots, and even do some prospecting too. One of our boondocking neighbours (a lovely Canadian bloke who came by to say “hi” on his motorbike) told us he’s been coming here over 8 years and seen plenty of folk raking out areas looking for gold. You can even prospect for other super-cool minerals including Kyanite.

This is the pure, solid gold baby!

We may, or may not have found gold (I ain’t saying you know), but the area here has definitely been priceless. Whether or not you find the real thing, I guarantee the experience will be well worth it.

So from that point of view we found exactly what we were looking for…

P.S. I’ve got soooo many more cool pictures of this area that there are at least 2 more posts coming up incl. all boondocking details, but if you’re simply dying to get here right now here are the directions -> Take I-8 from Yuma ~14 miles west until you hit Ogilby Road (also called S34) on your right. Approx. 5 miles down the road you’ll cross some rail-road tracks and see a dirt road (American Girl Mine) off to your right. Follow it as far as your heart desires…

Go find that gold, Taggart!

A sunset worth millions right from the RV

Yet ANOTHER cool sunset!

Late afternoon "prospecting" in the hills

Million Dollar Views, Mines & Brothels – Silverton, CO

“The election was a very quiet one compared to former years. There were only four shooting scrapes, sixteen fights, and thirty drunks up to three o’clock, at which time our reporter was unable to follow his regular vocation”
The Gladstone Kibosh, April 13th, 1901

A rough and tumble mining past

The Gladstone Kibosh was a fictional newspaper that ran farcical bits of news for over 7 years. It was a total laugh and a fine representation of its time. Silverton in the early 1900′s was a place of enterprise, riches, desolation, tall tales and wild west. It was a town where millions were made and millions were lost and you needed both a tough skin and a good sense of humor to survive it. Just my kinda old west town!

It started, like all the SW Colorado stories with gold and silver. In the late 1800′s the draw of riches drew settlers like magnets to the San Juan Mountains. Silverton, lying as it did in a wide basin became a natural a focal point. The arrival of the Rio Grande Railroad in 1882 sealed the deal and it grew like a weed into a rough and tumble mining town.

Notorious Blair Street, Silverton

With growth came all the reputation and notoriety of an old west town. Down the main drag (Blair Street) there established an astonishing 34 saloons and bordellos, the biggest enterprise outside of mining. The brothels with classic names like “The Bent Elbow” and ”Shady Lady” were run by hard-nosed madams and independent women looking to make their own way. Out here money, gambling, booze and loose ladies ruled the roost.

One of the many great displays at the Mining Museum in town

The Silverton of today has kept all the lure of that fascinating old past. There’s a fabulous museum dedicated to its’ mining history (Mining Heritage Center) the original Silverton Narrow Gauge terminus and Railroad, notorious Blair Street with many of the old saloons, and a bunch of cute little cafes and shops. You can even pan for gold at the Old Hundred Gold Mine. We spent a cool 4 hours exploring all of it, eating at the local BBQ and even getting to see the steam engine come into town (and you BET I was excited!).

Sheer cliffs and sharp drop-offs at the Uncompahgre Gorge of the Million Dollar Highway

But you gotta make the drive to get to all this wonder, and that drive is one in a million. The 25 miles between Ouray and Silverton make up the core of the famous Million Dollar Highway  (Hwy 550).  Characterized by sharp curves, sheer drop-offs, towering cliffs, narrow lanes and nothing between you and your maker this is not one for the faint of heart. There are big ‘ol 18-wheelers who make the drive, but I saw an outer wheel come off the edge as one of them took a turn, and was rather happy “the beast” was safely back at camp.

Downtown Blair Street in Silverton, CO

Why it’s called the Million Dollar Highway no-one knows. Some say a million dollars of gold ore are hidden in its fill-dirt, others that it cost a million dollars to build. I like to think it’s the views, but that’s just the romantic in me. Either way it’s one helluva drive and worth the time to take the winding road. This is the place where riches were made, and the drive, the spot, the history and the views make it all worth a million dollars in my book. A good day indeed!

Views from Hwy 550

The Silverton steam engine in town!!

Thee Pits Again BBQ. Featured on TV it's THE place to eat in town.

Bits of mining history are everywhere on the Million Dollar Highway

Old miners hats at the museum

Downtown Ouray as viewed from Hwy 550

Downtown Silverton

Now THAT's what I call lunch. BBQ at Thee Pits Again.

The Biggest Little Town in New Mexico – Pinos Altos, NM

“A rough and tumble mining town where men worked hard, drank hard and killed rather than apologize” from Once Upon a Time (a history of Pinos Altos)

The Opera House (circa 1860). I had fun with this shot!

Now, I should say up-front that I’m a huge theatre fan. I’ve acted it, directed it, produced it and lived it so I love (love, love) everything about it. There’s just about only one thing cooler than actual living theatre and that’s a true-bred, old-fashioned theatre house. The kind of place that, just by the nature of the room, oozes fantasy, creativity and history all at the same time. Put that together with a touch of old Western and a history of rough men and you’ve got my whole-hearted attention. That’s exactly what we found in Pinos Altos, and was even more fun was that I met one of the owners, Kurt.

A tin of old spam at the Museum

But let me go back and bit and introduce the place properly. Pinos Altos is a teeny old mining town nestled at ~7000 feet in the forested hills of Grant County. In 1860 Gold was struck here, and the town burst forth in a frenzy of New Mexico gold rush. Not much has changed since then and many of the characters are much the same. There are touches of the wonderfully eccentric, flirting edges of the independent and the feel of the turn of a century….the perfect cast for a play, in fact.

The Pinos Altos Historic Museum

You can visit the entire town in one afternoon by meandering the mini-cluster of buildings on Main Street. In the space of ~100 feet you’ll go through the biggest little town in New Mexico, and manage to pack in quite a bit of history too. Start with an ice cream at the old Post Office, then stroll on over to see the musty artifacts at the Museum (rarely have I seen more stuff crammed into 3 rooms, and for $1 it’s a deal to visit!). Follow this with an afternoon pick-me-up at the Buckhorn Saloon and finish off the act by immersing yourself in the opulence of the Opera House.

Inside the spectacular Opera House. They fit 150 people into this mini-space during open shows.

The latter is by far the most beautiful, creative and spectacular little theatre I have ever seen. Kurt and his partners renovated the building, staying true to the feel of the 1860′s, but what’s even better is that they keep it alive and working with a steady flow of artists, plays and entertainment.  In my theatre days I would have given my right arm to play in a place like this. People come from miles around to be entertained here and it’s no surprise that the shows are always sold out. Open Mike night is every Monday so if you can’t make an actual show that’s the evening to go, and for those pre-theatre munchies The Buckhorn Saloon does a spectacular dinner (reported to be one of the best in the area).

Chatting with Kurt outside the Buckhorn Saloon

We were lucky enough to get chatting with Kurt when we went, it being a Sunday and a rather slow day. I got a personal tour of the Opera House as well as the invitation to view a cabin he’s renovating, and an offer to boondock on his land if we were coming back. What a guy! The afternoon passed beautifully and the biggest little town in New Mexico gave us a welcome as entertaining and surprising as a good Western. Step aside John Wayne, you ain’t got nothing on this place…

Paul checks out an old stereoscope at the Museum

A Dry Gold Rocker from the late 1800's

The Oliver Typewriter

Turn of the century Clorox and Laundry Soap