Monday:
travel day for us, from Minden to Tonopah, NV. We were on the road by a bit
after 11:00 that morning for a fairly easy drive, with very little traffic. On
the way we noticed that one of the storage bins on the underside of the 5th
wheel was open, so we needed to pull off somewhere to securely close and lock
it. The only place close was quite a large parking lot on the right, so we
slowly pulled in. It was only after we pulled in that we noticed it was for the
Wild Cat Brothel, south of Mina, NV. Good grief! They did offer free WiFi,
drinks, and of course the girls… We had a good laugh over that one.
Arrived
to Tonopah and the Tonopah Station Casino RV Park—a first for us to stay in a
casino parking lot. There were full hook-ups but only 30AMP power so we had to
make certain we didn’t run the microwave at the same time the AC was running.
Ha! We were there for 4 nights.
We had
driven through Tonopah last year on our way to the Minden/Carson City area,
thinking this was a nothing little town. My, were we surprised when we did a
bit of investigating!
The
name “Tonopah” comes from the Shoshone Indians word tonobe-bah for “greasewood spring,” greasewood being a plant that
grew near natural springs. (The Shoshone had settled this area up to 1,000 years
prior, according to some researchers, migrating from somewhere near the Death
Valley area.)
The community of what is now
Tonopah began in 1900 with the discovery of gold and silver-rich ore by
prospector Jim Butler. Stories vary as to how he discovered this rich ore, but
this seems to be the most entertaining one--and one that has proven to be a
myth. When he went looking for one of his burros that had wandered off during
the night, Butler upon finding the animal, picked up a rock to throw at it, but
instead noticed the rock was unusually heavy. He had stumbled upon the
second-richest silver strike in Nevada history. Butler’s initial ore sample ran
from $18 to $600 per ton—quite a haul in those days! Upon returning to his
ranch in Monitor Valley, Butler ignored the messages being sent to him about
his samples for 3 weeks, but eventually he and his wife Belle returned to the
area to stake their claims. Their first claim was the Desert Queen, followed by
the Burro, while Belle’s claim, the Mizpah, proved to be the richest claim of
all. All in all, the Tonopah Mining Company, the largest producer in Tonopah, yielded
more than $48 million between 1902 and 1948 from 2 ½ million tons of ore. On
November 30, 1948, after 48 continuous years, the mines ceased production. As a
note, in 1921 Tonopah had 4 of the 25 largest producing silver mines in the
U.S., and was the 2nd largest producer of gold in Nevada!
Silcosis was the downfall of a majority
of the miners. It’s caused by inhaling the silica dust created from the hand
mining of the ore. The more dust a miner breathed, the more lung tissue was
destroyed. Sometimes, even after working just a few months in the mines, the
miner was almost totally incapacitated. When a miner reached the age of 40 in
Tonopah (if he lived that long) his life was almost over. The mines of the Tonopah
Mining Company were the worst for exposure to silica dust, and although the
dust in the mines was a horrible killer, companies seldom made extra efforts to
control it. Such a sad commentary for men who wanted to reach their dream of
“hitting it big.”
There was quite a night life in
Tonopah during its heyday. Casinos, restaurants, saloons, dance halls, and brothels
were common place, allowing the miners a bit of relief from the dark, dusty
depths of the mines. Old-timers have said that there were as many as 300 dance
girls and as many prostitutes in Tonopah’s “Red Light District”. Of course, this brought with it the threat of
STDs and during this pre-antibiotic era the diseases added another layer of
danger to the miners’ lives.
Then came the depression years.
Mining production had dropped considerably in 1930, gradually rose between 1931
and 1937, leveled off in 1939, then plunged to deep Depression levels in 1940.
In 1940, the U.S. Army began construction of the Tonopah Army Air Force Base
about 7 miles east of town, marking the beginning of dependence upon the U.S.
government and its military for economic well-being. In October 1940,
approximately 5000 square miles of Nevada’s land was transferred from the
Department of the Interior to the War Department. The air base was ready for occupancy by July
1942, and was designated for training purposes. Facilities included mess halls,
runways, and a hospital. By January 1943, 1779 enlisted men and 227 officers
were stationed at the field. Training was provided here on the Bell P-39
Airacobra bombers, but due to the high loss of lives and planes during
training, it was decided that the based would instead be used to train crews of
the B-24 Liberators. In November 1943 the Air Force began $8 million worth of
improvements on the facility which included a 1-mile long concrete apron, two
4000 foot runways, a reinforced concrete water storage reservoir (capacity of 1
million gallons), a complete sewage disposal system, 140 additional buildings,
and a pipeline to supply water from local wells. In 1944 a special weapons test
organization from Wright Patterson Field in Ohio tested glide bombs and other
devices at this facility. Unfortunately, the air base closed at the end of WWII,
producing a rapid decline in Tonopah’s economy.
The closed base has seen
sporadic activity since it closed, including the construction of housing for
high-speed cameras, control facilities, and large concrete pads for bomb-drop
tests. These provided some badly needed jobs for the Tonopah area, but the
overall impact wasn’t great. In 1950 when the U.S. became involved in the
Korean Conflict, the base was selected as a test site for testing of
approximately 700 nuclear devices, thus providing miners with jobs at the Nevada
Test Site. As testing of atomic weapons shifted from atmospheric to underground
where the effects of the blast could be better contained, long tunnels were
drilled, as well as deep vertical shafts, some several thousand feet deep. Who
better to do this than the miners? Some miners continued to work at the site
for up to 20 years, providing a stable income for that time. Later, during the
1970s and 1980s additional employment opportunities were available, especially
during President Reagan’s administration: a squadron of Stealth fighters was
based at the site.
Once again, there’s promise of
a rise in Tonopah’s economy. In the fall of 2011, a California-based solar
energy company, SolarReserve, started construction on a $980 million advanced
solar energy project just north of Tonopah, called the Crescent Dunes Solar
Energy Project. This project incorporates their advanced solar energy storage technology
and will put Tonopah at the worldwide center of technology for this class of
solar energy storage. About 40 miles outside of Tonopah, as we were driving
toward our destination, we observed an extremely bright light atop a tall
pillar-type structure, surrounded by bright reflective mirror-like objects. We
knew this was an area for extraterrestrial sightings, but what the heck was
this? Later we found out that this was the solar project.
Monday evening we had dinner at
Tonopah Station’s café, after which I played the slots for a while. Dick
returned to the camper. Oh, and I won $46.06!
Tuesday morning we decided to
venture out for a walk. 45 minutes later we arrived at the Central Nevada
Museum, which we found to be absolutely fascinating! The Central Nevada
Historical Society, founded in 1978, had started collecting artifacts and
memorabilia and needed a place to house and display everything. Shortly after
that a Nevada-based organization, the Fleischmann Foundation, awarded the
Central Nevada Historical Society $215,000 for the museum’s construction. It’s
amazing what the society has collected. Exhibits feature “Tonopah “Queen of
Silver Camps,” Goldfield “The Greatest Gold Camp Ever,” and boomtowns late
1800s and early 1900s. Native American artifacts, fossils, wildlife, mineral
displays, art, mining, ranching, railroads, military artifacts and photos,
ethnic groups and subjects on everyday life in a mining boom camp. Those were
just the indoor exhibits! Outdoors there was even more: miners’ cabins, saloon,
blacksmith shop, railroad yard, early mining equipment, ore cars and so much
more. Here are just a few photos of what we saw.
That afternoon we tried our
luck at the casino again—luck, huh! Dick lost $20 and I lost most of what I won
Monday night. We decided we didn’t need that kind of entertainment…
Wednesday after lunch we headed
to the Tonopah Mining Park, giving us a historical prospective of the mines and
life of a miner. This is not to be missed if you’re in the area. There’s a
visitor center at the park, with a video providing a wonderful overview of the
park, the miners, and the history of the mining operations in Tonopah. While
the docent was out on property giving a tour to other guests, Dick and I hiked
up the hill to the Desert Queen hoist house and mine. Located half-way up Mount
Oddie, it’s one of the most recognizable head frames in the west. Discovered in
1901, it eventually reached a depth of 1100 feet. The Desert Queen shaft was
instrumental in saving lives during a horrific fire at the Belmont Mine in
1911, in which 17 miners lost their lives. Many, many lives were saved from the
inferno by Big Bill Murphy who descended into the depths twice, bringing many
men to safety. He didn’t return from his third decent. After 1929 the mine was
used very little and has seen no activity since 1940.
(photos of the DQ)
We returned to the park’s
visitor center and made arrangements to return Thursday morning for a personal
tour. We were not disappointed!
Thursday morning we arrived at
the Tonopah Mining Park a little after 9:00 a.m. Our personal tour was aboard a
Polaris 4-wheel drive Ranger that took us all over the park, and lasted over 2
½ hours. The docent, Marlena, provided such interesting facts and information;
such insight into another life. Here are photos of the park, which covers 6 of
Tonopah’s mines: Desert Queen, the Burro Tunnel, Silver Top, Montana-Tonopah,
North Star, and the Mizpah, as well as the Glory Hole, a 1,600’ deep crater
caused by a cave in. We also viewed numerous “stopes,” which are actual silver veins
that have come to the surface and are mined, creating long and very deep
crevices throughout the park.
 |
| Tonoph Mining Park Visitor Center |
There are at least 8 specialists
required for this mining; the ideal worker was an all-around miner who could do
all the jobs:
·
Mucker: low man in the mine, given the job of cleaning out the
newly blasted rock (usually 12 to 14 1-ton cars of muck in an 8-hour period);
·
Track man: laid new track for the mine cars and kept old tracks
in good working condition;
·
Pipe man: installed and maintained the pipes that brought water
and compressed air to the places where miners worked;
·
Timberman: placed timbers in the tunnels and stopes. This
required considerable skill to ensure that small rocks wouldn’t fall and large
pieces of earth would not move;
·
Machine man: ran the pneumatic jackhammers and stoppers, and was
usually exposed to more dust than any of the other miners. He needed to know
how to drill the rock so that its unique properties or configurations could be
used to blast it as effectively as possible;
·
Trammer: moved ore cars—full or empty--from the tunnels out to
the shaft
·
Cagers: moved loaded and empty ore cars on and off the cages
that provided vertical access into and out of the mine (can you say elevator);
·
Hoist man: operated the hoist (elevator) bringing ore and/or
miners into and out of the mines.
Abandoned mine hazards are a
continuing and major threat. There are 50,000 hazardous mine openings in
Nevada. Through January 2013, 17,063 mine hazards have been identified and
ranked, with only 13,285 secured (fencing with barbed wire fence and posted
with signs reading: “DANGER – UNSAFE MINE – STAY OUT – STAY ALIVE.” We saw many
of these signs as we traversed the park. It’s interesting to note that through
January 9, 2013, 3652 abandoned mine hazards have been permanently closed in
Nevada.
Following a very wet November
2010 the Mizpah air shaft, originally 400 feet deep and dug for the purpose of
improving mine ventilation, reopened after the backfill material used to close
it over 20 years ago settled. With no on-site backfill material available to
reclose the shaft, the Nevada Division of Minerals contracted with the EPA of
Carson City to close the shaft using PUF (polyurethane expansive foam
plugs—similar to the expanding foam used by building contractors, but much
stronger and sturdier).
Our tour of town wasn’t
finished once we left the mining park. Dick and I headed down the hill to the
Mizpah Hotel, as was recommended by folks at the mining park. The Mizpah Hotel,
built in 1907, was the place to stay
in Tonopah. The hotel catered to its wealthy guests who came to soak up the
“rich” atmosphere of the mines. It continues to host folks who want a little
taste of history.
Oh, and there are stories of a
few ghosts who also call it home: 2 miners who fought in the basement; a little
girl who runs through the hallways laughing; 2 small boys who also play and
laugh in the hallways; and then there’s the “Lady in Red” who, after being
strangled and stabbed by a jealous suitor on the 5th floor, wanders
the hotel.
At this altitude, 6200 feet, we
were starving by the time we were done with the mining park and the Mizpah
Hotel. So, we drove up to the Tonopah Brewing Company for lunch. It was a bit
pricey for what we got, but the food was good. For $41 we each had a BBQ
sandwich (Dick had smoked turkey and coleslaw, I had brisket and potato salad)
and a locally brewed ale. Hmmm… The bar was cool. Apparently it had been
transported from Florida and it’s really, really old.
Friday came quickly, and it was
time to pack up and move again—onward to Hurricane, UT, just east of St.
George. We were packed up and on the road by about 10:30. It was a long day of
driving with head and crosswinds, plus we lost an hour moving into the Mountain
Time Zone. Most of the road (highways 6 and 375) were open range, so we had to
really slow down a couple of times to let cows cross in front of us. A herd of
4 nice-sized prong horn deer also crossed in front of us. We continued on Hwy
93 to 15, having missed our turn onto 168 which would’ve cut our travel time by
a good 50 miles. There’s not much notice, so I guess you need to know where to
turn.
We arrived at our next
destination, the St. George KOA Campground in Hurricane, UT, at 6:00 p.m., and
then had to set up,. We were bushed—especially Dick. We had a really light
dinner (cheese on pumpernickel toast) and were ready to call it a day by 9:30 (really
8:30 by the old time). After reading for about 15 minutes the lights were off
and we were asleep. 9 hours later…
It’s Saturday. I made Johnny
cake for breakfast with bacon and a citrus salad. The KING Tailgater (Dish
satellite) was shipped ahead of us and was here at the park waiting for us, so
Dick spent a bit of time getting it all connected (see further explaination at
the end of this blog edition). We made a quick trip to Walmart in nearby
Washington, UT for a few items, then returned home.
We’re here for 14 days, so
we’re looking forward to visiting Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National
Park, and whatever else we can find. Our neighbors here in the park are George
and Barb from Wisconsin who are also full-timers, and have just started their
journey.
I connected with a former
co-worker who now lives in St. George, UT with her husband. It was good to chat
with Veronika, and we hope to get together for lunch before we leave on the 18th.
Dinner Saturday night was at
JB’s Restaurant in Hurricane, UT. We were stuffed after a mushroom and Swiss
burger, and a burger on grilled sour dough. Yum-yum! Of course, they both came
with French fries.
Sunday was indeed a day of
rest, although I did do some long overdue laundry. The temps were in the mid-
to upper 90s so it was almost too hot to be outdoors.
Dick and I have become KING of
the Road Ambassadors, for their KING Tailgater with a Dish Network receiver for
satellite TV reception and their OTA (over the air) Jack TV antenna, so we
spent some time becoming familiar with the equipment. We have been using the
KING Jack TV antenna for several months and love it. It is far superior to the Winegard batwing TV
antenna that came with our RV. We have pulled in HD TV signals from nearly 50
miles away.
We installed the satellite TV system
on Saturday and everything appeared to be operating properly. On Sunday of the Labor Day weekend we got the
Dish programming worked out and we are off on our satellite TV adventure! Very
cool! The only problem now is figuring out which of the 190 channels to watch.
If you’re interested in knowing more about the
KING Tailgater satellite TV system or the KING Jack OTA TV technology, please
contact us. As KING of the Road Ambassadors we can offer you a rebate on the
satellite TV equipment.
That’s it for this week. I know
this was a very long blog, with lots of information, but it was so interesting
to us we just had to share.
Hugs ‘n’ blessings,
RJ and Gail
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