Treasure Hill (White Pine County, Nevada)


Treasure Hill is an east-jutting spur of the White Pine Range of White Pine County in the easte central of the U.S. states of Nevada. Hamilton is situated at the northern base of the hill while Treasure City is situated on the hill, from Hamilton. It lies to the east of Mount Hamilton and to the northwest of Mokomoke Hill. It was noted for its silver mining from 1867 until the late 1880s. Between 1867 and 1880, the total production from the mines of the Treasure Hill was valued at $20 million. By early 1881 the mining activity had collapsed as the mining of the hill was dependent on the deposits and not on the lasting silver bearing geological veins. As a result, by 1888 there were only 24 people living there with the principal towns of Hamilton at the base of the hill, the Treasure City on the hill side and the Shermantown went into oblivion.

History

The first expedition to the area of the White Pine region in Nevada was by Austin-based explorers who found copper, lead, antimony, and iron, and exploration was started by the Monte Cristo Mining Company. However, soon enough, in the autumn of the same year, silver deposits were found in the region on the Treasure Hill. This was chance discovery as one of the ethnic Indian known as Nagpias Jim had showed the rich ore taken from a location in the region to his friend A. J. Lesthers, a blacksmith, who converted it into a silver button. Later the area where the ore was found became the Hidden Treasure Mine, the yield from one ton of ore from this mine was worth $500–800. The next mine yielded $800–1000 per ton of ore and the third mine proved to a bonanza of pure silver, a "putty", with a yield potential of $15000-20000 per ton of ore.
The crest of the hill was a barren wind swept land before many claimants established their stores with mining claims and drilling every few feet away from each other.
Then the staking fever ensued with "every boomer, promoter, card shark, merchant-capitalist, prostitute and prospector in the West" making a beeline to the Treasure Hill. This discovery in the spring of 1868 of silver ore on Treasure Hill led to a prosperous but short-lived boom called the "shortest and most intense mining rush." The hill was named after the notable ore discoveries.

Hamilton

The nearest establishment to operate the mines was set up at the Cave City at the foot of the hill in 1868 and its name was changed later to Hamilton. The discovery of silver created what was termed as “White Pine Fever.” Hotel and saloons were soon established. In 1869, the floating population reported was 10,000. Once water supply was established to the towns, several mills sprung up around the towns. Smelting works were built at a cost of $ 60000, the furnaces were housed in a big building and a 20-ton capacity and 45 ft long smoke stack was created. A 10 stamp Nevada started functioning from 20 May 1869 and a 20 stamp Big Smoky called the Treasure Hill was established on 24 May 1869. Further expansion of the mills occurred on 1 June 1869 with setting up of the 24 Stamp Manhattan.

Swansea

Swansea, founded in 1869, is west of Hamilton. Swansea was named for the Swansea, Wales, which is known for its copper smelting.
The Swansea Mill milled ores from Treasure City and Hamilton. At the peak of the Treasure Hill boom, the residents of Swansea thought that larger mills would soon need to be built and that the main street of Swansea would need to be extended to Shermantown (less than away. However, Shermantown annexed Swansea in late 1869. Some rock ruins remain.

Shermantown

By 1869, Shermantown, with a population of about 3000, had become dependent on the mines at Treasure Hill. A series of towns with populations up to 10,000 people grew up in the county, fueled by the prosperity of the silver mining on Treasure Hill. Over a 2year period until 1887, the Treasure Hill mines produced $22,000,000 worth of silver. With the wealth that the industry on Treasure Hill produced, the early prospectors were said to have loved "horseracing, gambling, and celebrations of all sorts" at the nearby camp in Hamilton This boom resulted in three cities coming into existence, Hamilton at the foot of the hills, Treasure City on the hills, and the Sherman Town which developed purely as a miners town. The Treasure Hill and Hamilton are where great white pine rush was created and there was large migration to both places. This resulted in establishing the White Pine County on 1 April 1869. Hamilton was its largest town. However this rush faded in the 1870s when new discoveries were made at Cherry Creek and Ward.
With the Silver Rush in the county, Catholic missions grew up in the area in the late 1860s. Peter and Paul Parish under Fr. Dominic Monteverde set up stations at Treasure Hill and Piedmont, and a set up a mission at Cherry Creek. Treasure Hill was seriously affected by a devastating fire in the town of Hamilton in 1873 which had affected other towns in White Pine County. Nonetheless, the prospectors later found significant deposits of silver ore in the lower depths of the hill and the industry continued in the late 1870s and early 1880s. An 1885 fire which gutted the courthouse and much of the town of Hamilton, however, marked the end of the prosperity and "removed most of the evidence that a rich camp had ever existed there". Today the hill lies with the Humboldt National Forest area, established in 1908.

Revival

There was short-lived revival of mining activity in the 1920s. A claim covering an area of was staked by Treasure Hills Deposit Mining Company. They had sunk a deep shaft and their production was to the extent of $1.2 million in two years but they soon folded up in 1928. Mining activity had been revived again with a new processing technique using cyanide leaching operations.

Geology

High-grade silver ore, "with silica, calcite, silver oxide and manganese oxide in brecciated limestone" were found here. The mines of Treasure Hill are said to exhibit "exceptional occurrences"; the Eberhardt Mine in particular is said to contain "one of the most remarkable occurrences on record as a 6-ton mass, with small grayish to yellowish-green crystals."
When detailed geological investigations were carried out by Geologists from the US and Britain, their finding was a dampner to the development of the mines in the hill. They inferred that the ores found were mere deposits only and not sourced by ore bearing veins in the rocks which could produce mineral ore for a long period. This revelation coupled with miners strikes and bad weather conditions resulted in a mass exodus of people, in 1870, from the mining belt.