The first discovery of gold in the Chuckwallas was made by a prospector named Hathaway in late 1876 or early 1877. An assay of the ore he found showed, along with gold values, $1,112 in silver per ton of ore. However, the Chuckwallas were mined for gold rather than silver in spite of Hathaway's assay.
Gold in the Chuckwalla Mining District was found as lode gold in quartz, which was frequently associated with pyrite, copper, lead and silver. Claims such as the Baumonk, Bryan, Coffee, Granite, Lost Pony, Model, Sterling and Sunnyside Mines flourished and remained active through mid-1942. Some of the mines in the Chuckwalla District had fairly extensive shaft and tunnel works; however, it was the Red Cloud group, which included the Great Western Mine with a 480-foot deep shaft and five different levels, which was the most productive. |
