Quartette, Nevada facts for kids
Quartette, also called Quartette Mill or Quartette Landing, was a small but important settlement. It was located in what is now Clark County, Nevada. This place was special because it had a large stamp mill. A stamp mill is a machine that crushes rocks to get valuable metals out of them. Quartette was also a busy steamboat landing on the Colorado River.
The Story of Quartette
Quartette started in the year 1900. The Quartette Mining Company owned a very big mine nearby. They decided it would be cheaper to crush their own ore (rock with metal inside) instead of sending it far away. They needed a lot of water for this, but there wasn't enough water near their mine.
So, they chose a spot on the west bank of the Colorado River. Here, they built their 20-stamp mill and a special plant to process the ore. Miners had to haul the ore about twelve miles from the mine to the mill using wagons. For a short time, from 1900 to 1902, the mine even had its own post office called Quartette.
Building the Railroad
In May 1901, the company decided to build a 14-mile-long, small train track, called a narrow-gauge railroad. This train would carry the ore to the river landing. Building the railroad began in November 1901.
The train engine, cars, and rails were sent by barge up the river from Needles, California. But the barge got stuck on a sandbar! It was stuck for three months, even with a lot of hard work to free it. Finally, when the river water got higher in February 1902, the barge was freed. It then landed at Quartette.
After this, new train parts came by rail to Manvel, California. From there, they traveled overland by wagon to Searchlight, Nevada and the railroad construction site. By March 1902, six miles of track were ready. The train engine and cars started working, which made building the rest of the track much faster.
A Busy Hub
By May 1902, the railroad was finished. The train ran twice a day. It carried ore to the mill and brought back supplies and people from the steamboats at Quartette. This train and steamboat route became very popular. It was the fastest way to travel and move goods to and from Needles.
Changes Over Time
In 1903, there was a strike, which meant the railroad and mines stopped working. During this time, miners found water closer to the mine. This made it possible to build a new stamp mill right at the mine site. By 1906, the old railroad was no longer used. The old mill was moved to the new mine site, making it a much bigger 40-stamp mill.
On March 31, 1907, a new train line, the Barnwell and Searchlight Railway, reached Searchlight. This meant the river landing at Quartette was no longer needed for shipping. In 1910, the tracks from the Quartette railroad were taken up. They were used to build another train line for the Yellow Pine Mining Company. This new line connected Jean, Nevada to the mining town of Goodsprings, Nevada.
Quartette Today
Today, the area where Quartette once stood is covered by the waters of Lake Mohave.
