Arrived in Laughlin in the late afternoon, tossed our stuff in the room at the Aquarius Hotel and took a walk on the Promenade along the Colorado River. We had a light dinner, spent a little time in the casino and called it an early night.
John Sherman Bagg
The young ranger at Lake Mojave Park didn't have a clue about the location of the mine, but after a little exploring we found an obscure sign at one of the landings.
A large area of tailings from the mine is closed off by chain link fence for safety reasons (Our guess maybe 1/5 mile wide and 4/5 mile long). In the early days cyanide and other hazardous chemicals were used for gold extraction. We could see the remains of at least four coffer dams. Satellite imagery from Google Earth is quite impressive. We parked and followed the fence line up the hill and found the ruins of the mine. Pretty amazing to touch a piece of your history.
Then and now
I didn't realize until I saw both photos side by side, but if you look at the mountains in the distance, you can see the line of sight is almost the same. You can see a portion of the tailings out past the remaining foundations of mine buildings. In the distance you can see Lake Mojave, which was at the time, the Colorado River before Davis Dam was built.
One of the mine entrances, long since filled in for safety reasons.
More research will be needed for these large pipes, they were either for pumping water and slurry out of the mines or for the tanks holding the processing chemicals.
On a whim I called the Colorado River Museum in Bullhead City, AZ. We had stopped by but they are closed Sundays and Mondays. I talked with Vicki and told her who I was and what I was researching. She also gave me her phone and told me to call next time we were in the area and she'd open up for us. They have articles and photos including one of author, Louis L'Amour, sitting on the steps of the bunkhouse at the mine. The historic documents are not yet digitized but the project is in the works.
In correspondence with L'Amour's grandson, Beau, I found out that Louis never wrote specifically of the Katherine Mine, but it is mentioned in his book, The Education of a Wandering Man. Guess I'm going to have to find a copy of that one!
Each door I open provides more trails to follow and kindred spirits along the way. I'm beginning to understand the love of the chase. Stay tuned.
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