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Tuesday, January 19, 2021

Rhyolite, Nevada – Little More Than a Memory

Rhyolite, Nevada began when Frank “Shorty” Harris and Ernest L. Cross discovered gold on August 4, 1904. Calling their claim Bullfrog, it was located few miles south of where Rhyolite would soon sprout up. When they took their samples to nearby Goldfield it was assessed at $665/ton. Shorty described it as “… the quartz was just full of free gold… it was the original bullfrog rock… this banner is a crackerjack” Word spread quickly and the gold rush was on. 

Hundreds of men began flooding the area and several mining camps popped up called, Bullfrog, Amargosa, Jumpertown, Leadfield, Gold Center, and dozens more. Shorty Harris would say of the area:

5 comments:

  1. I grew up visiting Rhyolite many times per year starting in 1955.  It's 4 miles from Beatty, NV and near the Eastern entrance to Death Vally. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.  The gem trip of Death Valley is Titus Canyon (entrance 4 miles from Rhyolite.)  High clearance recommended and about a 3 hour round trip.

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  2. Thank you for the history lesson. I had never heard of this before.

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  3. Reading stories about that time, guys like Shorty....

    I mean yeah, modern amenities are nice and al, but damn I am sometimes jealous of their freedom.

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  4. I highly recommend this book.
    https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1212733.Death_Valley_and_the_Amargosa

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