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Providence was a silver mining town erected in the 1880s almost dead center of the Mojave Desert. Like most towns this once was bustling with three saloons, post office and two general stores. Today it sits amongst the brush and sand. The main mine within the town was the Bonanza King the same mine you will see in the photos. Their are many people who have explored back here its a hell of a hike and a true Californian Ghost Town.

We never did find the entire town which boast some walls and foundations of the saloons and stores. I did however find a windmill, foundation, scattered debris, shaft, Bonanza King Mine, water tanks, Bonanza well and few other minor remants of the town. Beneath the windmill is a boarded up shaft even looking through the holes I found the shaft to be extremely deep. Perhaps this was the well and not a shaft at all. But with other mines like Kerr, Rattler, The Mozart etc it was obvious that below the town was a series of tunnels which kept the town thriving for many years.

Today the locals still use the town site as a rest stop for horsebackers to give water to their horses. I found many horse shoe prints and manure. The area sits up along the Providence Mountains one of the more prestige mountain ranges in the Mojave. Trust me I know I sat on one of the peaks looking out into the vastness like an eternal darkness. It is very secluded from any local town and thus we found out how hard this place is to access at night. Let me put it into a broader perspective to understand how much work goes into such an exploration at night in the Mojave.

Imagine you go down this rocky road for miles....getting out of your car you follow a trail to rough to take the vehicle on. No moon or stars grace the sky its pitch black. You hike for almost an hour not coming up to any foundations or signs of a ghost town. Miles away you behind yourself you visualize a porch light which is a secluded range not being able to tell if its moving slightly or even towards you. The trail begins to get hard to follow as many washes weave in and out of it crossing every so often then all of sudden you reach the well site for horsebackers. Their is a pit which looks eternal covered in boards.....you get ill just looking at it feeling something inside hiding in the darkness.

You follow the trail after spending time at the Bonanza Well still unable to find the town site due to hills all around you. The trail begins to to go up a large hill then back down leading you right into a mine at the base of the Providence Mountains. You check out the mine think you hear voices inside...then all of sudden the lights start to dim and run out almost....you still have not found the mill or other parts of the ghost town. Your pressed for time soon to be lost in the darkness.

That is why this is such an amazing place so much remains to be seen just with any ghost town remants can be scattered across giant valleys. Providence was a booming town what could be better then to be dead center of the Mojave Desert in search of the ghost of its past! Below is a very good history read on Providence and the mine. This ghost town gets plenty of attention across the web sadly its condition appears to be deteriorating perhaps due to the desert elements or local vandals.

My opinion is this is a spooky place at night miles from the car.....trails that go off to nowhere....very rocky terrain.....blind spots from dunes and hills. My only advice for ghost town enthusiast is places like these are way better visited during the day so that you can see the various sites. As ghostbusters or rather paranormal investigators most of the locations we visit are at night which adds perhaps to the mystery or maybe it adds to the challenge of exploring.

© By

Lord Rick

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Providence & The Bonanza King
http://mojavedesert.net/mining-history/providence/index.html
In the spring of 1880, George Goreman and P. Dwyer, prospectors from Ivanpah, discovered rock that assayed from $640 to $5,000 a ton in silver. Their discovery, about 15 miles south of the old Macedonia District, was the birth of the Bonanza King Mine. By April the Trojan District had been organized, and a rush to locate claims had resulted. Andy McFarlane and Charley Hassen ?concluded to try their luck, and were rewarded by the discovery of a wonderful bonanza.? Some of the other nearby mines included the Rattler, the Treasury, the Lucknow, the Mozart, and the Cashier. 92

On July 3, 1880, it was reported that ore was being prepared to ship to the Ivanpah Consolidated Mining and Milling Company at Ivanpah from the Bonanza King. However, further development was hampered by a lack of capital. Sometime around the spring of 1881, J. D. Boyer and H. L. Drew, San Bernardino businessmen, purchased the mine. In June, 1881, they also paid $20,000 for the Pierce Mine. This was probably a good investment, seeing that $28,000 in ore had already come out of it, yet the remainder of 1881 is notably lacking in information from the mines. In December, 1881, J. B. Osborne, H. L. Drew, J. D. Boyer, and N. Hasson sold all their interest in the old Amargosa Mining District for $22,500. This sale gave H. L. Drew and Mr. Hasson, now in partnership with Mr. Osborne (of Calico fame), some extra money. Work was to begin at once on the Bonanza King, and negotiations for sale of their mines in the Providence Mountains were stopped. 93

On the Bonanza King, in January, 1882, a rich vein assaying $100 to $1,200 per ton was discovered and a plan was ?on foot to erect a large mill there in a short time.? Instead of going through with these plans themselves, they sold the mine to the Bonanza King Consolidated Mining Company, reportedly for $200,000. 94

In July, 1882, a new hoisting works arrived for the Bonanza King Mine via Colton, and a ten-stamp mill built by Prescott, Scott and Company of San Francisco was freighted from Mojave by Remi Nadeau. All was in preparation for the mill. Between 100 and 150 men had actively been employed since May or June. The main shaft was being sunk by 3 shifts of men, and some 2,000 tons of ore worth $230 a ton sat waiting on the dump. A post office had opened in June, and the town of Providence was born. 95

In the meantime, the Southern Pacific was rushing its way east from Mojave to stop the A and P before it reached California. The S. P. Railroad was open to Waterman (Barstow) on October 23, 1882, and to Goffs on March 19, 1883. This no doubt was pleasant news to the owners of the Bonanza King who, in January, 1883, shipped their first 11 bars of bullion worth $19,000. During the first 12 days of February, they shipped an additional $28,300 in bullion. The mill was turning out 2,000 ounces of 930-fine silver a day! 96

In July, 1884, Thomas Ewing, the superintendent, reported ?the Bonanza King is better opened up, better worked, and we have obtained better results from the ore than any other mine in this great mineral desert. Nearly one million dollars has been taken out from the mine in 18 months and ten days.' 97

The mine continued to make good profits, but at a high cost. A February 3, 1885 letter to the Calico Print blasted foreman H. C. Callahan and shift boss John O'Donnell for being ?heartless task masters.... forcing men to work more than their health and strength will permit.?

On March 11, 1885, the mines and mill were shut down, and virtually all the miners left. About a week later, the mines reopened with only 15 miners who earned $3 instead of the previous $4. The owners claimed the low price of silver forced the action. By the end of March, 35 to 40 men were back at the mine, which previously employed from 150 to 200. In order to attract additional workers, the company purchased advertising space in the Calico Print. 98

It was not until about June 20 that the mill started up again. The company was milling 24 tons of ore a day, and in one month, 24 bars of bullion had been produced. However, just two weeks later, on July 31, 1885, the mill burned to the ground, ?the mines closed down and the owners, after collecting the insurance, went east, probably with a sign of relief.

In 1890 Dr. Henry De Groot reported that the mine had produced $60,000 a month, ?the ore averaging one hundred dollars per ton.? The mill operated more or less continuously from January, 1883, to March, 1885, and during June, 1885. This is a total of 28 months which would equal about $1,700,000. 100

The spring after the mill burned, the Wallapai Tribune reported that a railroad was being surveyed to Providence and that a smelter would be erected at Needles as soon as the railroad was completed. In 1890 it was rumored the company intended to erect a twenty-stamp mill to replace the old mill, but this was not done.

Little took place on the Bonanza King property in the 1880s after the mill burned, but at the nearby Kerr Mine, a five-stamp mill was erected late in 1885. This mill ran continuously at least until 1890 and paid good dividends. 101

In 1906 the Bonanza King Mine was reactivated by the Trojan Mining Company. They installed a ten-stamp mill powered by three gasoline engines. The mine was active only until September, 1907, but the property was examined and a thorough report was written. This aroused a great deal of interest, and in 1914 Hall Rawitser and Company of Massachusetts purchased the mine, beginning development work. With Mr. J. C. Gerney as superintendent, the mine was again a producer by 1915. 102

The company totally revamped the mill, and during 1919 was treating 40 tons of the old dumps a day. Some rich ore at this time was shipped and reportedly carried 100 to 500 ounces of silver a ton. Operations were suspended in 1920. During 1923 the property was leased to the Bonanza King Consolidated Mines Company, and 6 men were employed, working on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth levels. One carload of ore was shipped in May, 1924.

From: Desert Fever - Vredenburgh, Shumway, Hartill - 1981
An overview of mining in the California Desert Conservation Area - Used by permission


92. San Bernardino Weekly Times , July 3, 1880; Colton Semi Tropic , April 24, May 1, 1880.

93. San Bernardino Weekly Times , July 3, 1880; San Bernardino Valley Index , June 3, December 31, 1881.

94. San Bernardino Valley Index , January 21, 1881; Crossman, January 3, 1891.

95. San Bernardino Weekly Times , June 1, 1882; Frickstad, 1955, p. 144.

96. Myrick, 1963, pp.765,766; San Bernardino Weekly Times , Jan. 20, February 17, 1883.

97. L. A. Ingersoll, Ingersoll's Century Annals of San Bernardino County California, 1769 to 1904 (Los Angeles: L. A. Ingersoll, 1904) pp. 62,63,281.

98. Calico Print, February 15, March 29, May 3, 1885.

99. Ibid., June 21, July 19, 1885; Myrick, 1963, pp. 765,766.

100. DeGroot, 1890, p. 532.

101. Kingman The Wallapai Tribune , April 10, 1886; DeGroot, 1890, p. 532; Calico Print, July 19, 1885.

102. Redlands Citrograph , March 31, December 8, 1906; Cloudman, 1919, p. 227.

103. Tucker, 1921, p. 360; W. B. Tucker, ?Los Angeles Field Division, San Bernardino County,? California Mining Bureau Report 20 , 1924, p. 198.

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