Colorado Mining District (New Mexico Territory) facts for kids
The Colorado Mining District was a special area where people dug for valuable metals like silver and gold. It was set up in a place called El Dorado Canyon. This canyon is on the west side of the Colorado River, in what is now Clark County, Nevada.
When it first started, this district was part of New Mexico Territory. From 1863 to 1869, it became part of Arizona Territory. But in 1869, the land north and west of the Colorado River, including the Colorado Mining District, was given to Nevada.
History of the Mining District
The Colorado Mining District was officially started by June 1, 1862. Early on, miners held meetings to organize things. For example, on January 8, 1863, they elected people to help run the district. One person, Mr. Lewis, was chosen to be a "recorder," which meant he kept track of all the mining claims. By the end of 1863, there were 611 different mining claims recorded in the district.
The El Dorado Mills
El Dorado City was an important place in the district. It was home to the El Dorado Mills, also known as the Colorado Mills. This was the very first "stamp mill" in the canyon. A stamp mill is a machine that crushes rocks to get the valuable metal out.
This mill was built near the Techatticup Mine. The Techatticup Mine was a main source of the ore (rock with metal in it) that the mill processed. The mill was finished in late 1863. Its parts came from other mills in California that were no longer being used.
A man named Col. James Russell Vineyard, who was a State Senator from Los Angeles, started this mill. Before the mill was built, miners had to ship their ore a long way. They sent it down the Colorado River by steamboat and then by sea to San Francisco for processing. This was very expensive. By having a mill right in the canyon, the cost of processing the ore was cut in half for the mine owners.
