Dusty Desert Trails - E4 - Surprise Canyon #DustyDesertTrails #history #mining #offroad #hiking

Staring Ed Czajka (My Dad) This is a History Mini-Series covering the desert near Ballarat, CA. So much history is overlooked in this area especially related to the 49'rs that escaped Death Valley through the area. Full series episode list can be found here: https://edwardczajka.blogspot.com/201... On this adventure, we explore parts of Surprise Canyon, and show some historical video of us going up the waterfalls with two-wheel drive motorcycles to Panamint City before the canyon was closed. We also show the stagecoach stop, as well as a tool road that many don't notice on their way up into the canyon. We also look at Chris Wick's camp, Banjo Short by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Artist: http://audionautix.com/ History: The story of Panamint City began late in the fall of 1872, when veteran prospector Richard Jacobs and his partner Robert Stewart trudged up a nameless canyon in the western Panamints, hoping to locate the source of silver float Jacobs had spotted earlier in the lower canyon. Back then, this was rough, unchartered wilderness. Ballarat, Lookout, Skidoo, and most other local legends were not yet on the map. Only a handful of emigrants had set foot in Panamint Valley. But both men had a keen eye for minerals: Jacobs had spent much of his life prospecting in California and Mexico, and Stewart had prospected up and down Panamint Valley for a decade. Deep in the mountain, the canyon flared into a valley so unexpectedly green that they called it Surprise Canyon. It was there, on the pine-dotted slopes, that they discovered the silver-bearing quartz veins they had been looking for, which would soon give birth to Panamint City. When they returned to civilization a few days later, pushed back by an early snowfall, they found that their samples assayed hundreds of dollars per ton. Anxious to secure their discovery, they returned in April 1873 and claimed the richest ground they could find. Jacobs optimistically named his the Wonder of the World, and Stewart located the Stewart's Wonder. The discovery occurred in the wake of rich silver strikes at Cerro Gordo and Nevada's Comstock, and it sparked wild speculation. Throngs of prospectors and miners rushed to Surprise Canyon. By the end of 1873 every square foot of ground that showed the slightest promise had been claimed, and the Panamint Mining District was in place. Jacobs was first to develop his property. In association with a few friends, he incorporated the Panamint Mining Company in November and hired no fewer than three dozen miners to sink exploratory shafts. The following summer he hauled a second-hand mill to his mine, hoping to reduce his ore to a hefty $1,000 per ton. Mining didn't start in earnest, however, until Nevada senators John Jones and William Stewart stepped in. Both men had just made a fortune at the Comstock Mine, Jones as a superintendent and Stewart as a lawyer. In the summer of 1874, they and a lawyer partner, Trenor Park, purchased almost every claim in sight, as well as Jacobs' mill, for about $250,000. This high-stake acquisition triggered a second, even wilder rush, one of the biggest the Death Valley region ever witnessed. Mecham’s Panamint Stage: A stage line from San Bernardino to Panamint that was owned by Lafayette Mecham and was running in 1874. One-way passenger fare was $30. Panamint Transportation Company: A stage line that operated between San Bernardino and Panamint City in 1873 and 1874. When Wells Fargo and Company showed no interest in operating this route, the Myerstein Brothers agreed to try it. Within a month Aaron Lane had a crew of Chinese laborers working on the road and six weeks later the first four-horse-drawn Myerstein Stage Company began a weekly route. The route was through Cajon Pass, then Browns Toll Road, Lane’s Crossing, Hodge, Hinkley, Black Canyon, and Granite Wells. Some of the coaches went via Pilot Knob to the Lower Panamint Valley east of Searles Lake and some went via Surprise Canyon to Panamint City. In the late 1890s the line was purchased by the Teagle Brothers. The Silver Stampede (we aren’t sure if this was an older newspaper or a more recent magazine) described the stage route as “Cajon Pass to Heber Huntington’s Station, then to a second crossing of the Mojave River where Barstow now stands, west and north to Black’s Ranch at the tip of a dry lake….” 0:00 - Stage Coach Stop 2:27 - Toll Booth 7:38 - Ore Cart 1 9:18 - Chris Wick Camp 15:50 - Finding Silver 17:15 - Gold Traps 18:19 - Jeep Marks/Frogs 19:16 - Ore Cart 2 20:34 - Waterfalls 24:06 - Rokons in Panamint City 32:27 - Gold Stamp Mill