Nestled within the austere and breathtaking landscape of Death Valley, California, the ruins of Ashford Mine and Mill stand as a testament to the persistent, often challenging, pursuit of gold in America’s arid frontier. This site, with its intriguing tale of discovery, legal battles, and fluctuating fortunes, represents a quintessential chapter in the region’s rich mining history. The story of Ashford Mine and Mill began with Harold Ashford’s tenacious spirit, leading to a complex legacy woven into the fabric of the desert.
Harold Ashford’s Discovery and Early Struggles
The genesis of the Ashford mining claims traces back to January 1907, when Harold Ashford ventured into the rugged Death Valley area. Drawn by the promising gold strikes reported at the nearby Desert Hound Mine, Ashford began his own prospecting efforts. Within months, he uncovered a significant oversight: the Keys Gold Mining Company had neglected the crucial assessment work required for several of its claims. Seizing this opportunity, Ashford promptly relocated these claims, establishing his own venture.
It was almost two years before the Keys Gold Mining Company realized their former claims were being worked by another party. When confronted, Ashford refused to relinquish his position, leading to a legal showdown in January 1910. The court ultimately ruled in favor of Ashford, solidifying his title to the claims. However, as subsequent events would suggest, the victory might have proven to be a mixed blessing.
Between 1910 and 1914, Harold Ashford, alongside his brothers Henry and Lewis, intermittently worked the mine. Despite their efforts, the results were consistently poor, yielding little success. The initial promise of the claims seemed to dwindle, prompting the Ashfords to seek alternative management for their struggling enterprise.
The Ambitious McCausland Operations and Abrupt Halt
In November 1914, the Ashfords leased their mine to B. W. McCausland and his son, Ross. The McCauslands embarked on a substantially larger scale of operations, demonstrating considerable ambition. Within a single year, they managed to drive a tunnel an impressive 180 feet into the mountain’s flank. At the peak of their activity, the McCauslands employed 28 men and had invested over $125,000 in capital improvements, a substantial sum for the era. Their total workings extended to an impressive 2,000 feet.
Beyond the mine itself, a crucial addition was the construction of a dedicated mill on the floor of Death Valley, strategically located five miles and 3,500 feet below the mine site. Ore was meticulously trucked from the mine down to this facility for preliminary treatment. The mill was equipped with advanced machinery for its time, including a jaw-crusher, a ten-foot Lane mill, a Wilfley table, and a Diester slime table. The Inyo Register, a local newspaper, described the McCauslands as affluent residents of Los Angeles, underscoring the scale of their investment.
By late August 1915, the McCauslands proudly announced that their 40-ton capacity mill was fully operational, with ambitious plans already underway to expand its capacity to 150 tons. Despite these grand efforts and the extraction of an estimated $100,000 worth of ore, the McCauslands soon faced a harsh reality. They discovered that the gold content in the extracted ores was insufficient to justify their extensive capital expenditures. Consequently, they abruptly ceased all operations in September 1915.
To compound the Ashfords’ misfortunes, the McCauslands, in their haste to cut losses, failed to pay for the year’s lease on the mine. Although the Ashfords pursued legal action, they were reportedly never compensated, adding another layer of financial frustration to the mine’s early history.
Dormancy and Resurgence: The Interwar Years
Following the McCauslands’ departure, the Ashford Mine and Mill lay dormant for over a decade, a silent testament to dashed hopes. A brief attempt to revive operations occurred in 1926, when four men worked the mine, but this effort proved short-lived, and the site soon closed once more. The vastness and harshness of Death Valley often claimed such ventures.
The Ashfords, ever persistent, leased the mine again in 1935, this time to Golden Treasure Mines, Inc. The new company reopened the mine with renewed optimism. Recognizing the inadequacy of the old McCausland mill for their specific ores, they opted to ship their raw rock to Shoshone, where it could be processed by the Tonopah & Tidewater Railroad. However, the lengthy truck hauls across the challenging desert terrain proved prohibitively expensive, significantly eroding their profits. After exploring various cost-reduction strategies, Golden Treasure Mines, Inc. ultimately concluded that only the highest-grade ore could be economically viable.
They continued to work the mine under these constrained conditions until 1938, when they finally conceded defeat and abandoned the operation. During their tenure, the total shipments by Golden Treasure Mines, Inc. amounted to no more than $18,000, underscoring the persistent financial challenges associated with the Ashford Mine.
Ashfords’ Last Stand and Granville’s Venture
After their lessees departed, the Ashford brothers once again took up the reins, working the mine themselves. In August 1938, they managed a 38-ton shipment, a modest but notable achievement. By this point, the mine had expanded significantly, encompassing twenty-six claims. Its infrastructure included a 320-foot shaft with a crosscut, a 215-foot tunnel, and a 200-foot drift. Equipment on site consisted of a portable Ingersoll-Rand compressor and various camp buildings, likely supporting the work of the three Ashford brothers themselves.
Their self-operated period was brief, as the Ashfords soon leased the mine again, this time to Bernard Granville and Associates of Los Angeles. This new company immediately commenced operations with a workforce of ten men. They swiftly installed a short aerial tramway, an innovative solution designed to streamline the consolidation of ore from the scattered shafts and tunnels to a central loading point for trucking down the mountain. Operations continued under Granville and Associates until sometime in 1941, when they too ceased work. Remarkably, no official record of any shipments made by Granville and Associates has been found, suggesting their efforts yielded little to no profitable output.
The Enduring Legacy and Present-Day Ruins
The Ashford brothers retained title to their mine even after the departure of their final lessees in 1941, though they never returned to work it themselves. The saga of the Ashford Mine is perhaps best encapsulated by C. B. Glasscock, who observed that the mine produced “just enough gold to keep the Ashfords in groceries and lawsuits for more than a third of a century.” This poignant statement perfectly summarizes the mine’s history of perpetual struggle and modest returns, contrasted with significant legal entanglements.
Today, the site of the Ashford Mine continues to captivate visitors, albeit through its ruins rather than its productivity. The main mine complex is perched high on the west side of the Black Mountains, offering commanding views of Death Valley. The original access road has long since been washed out, making the site accessible only via an arduous hike of approximately one mile from the nearest drivable point. Structures remaining at this primary complex date from the 1930-1940 mining period and include a collapsed shack, an outhouse, a large office and cookhouse building, two wooden bunkhouses, a tin shed, a headframe and ore bin, and the distinctive tramway towers and terminal.
A short distance around a knoll to the east of the main mining site lie the remnants of an older mining endeavor, almost certainly the work of the McCauslands from their intensive period in 1914-1915. Here, visitors can explore several older adits and dumps, the skeletal remains of a collapsed shack, and half a dozen level sites that once housed a small tent community. This particular site possesses a higher degree of integrity compared to the later complex, as it remained relatively undisturbed in subsequent mining operations, though it still does not hold significant historical designation.
On the floor of Death Valley itself, the ruins of Ashford Mill stand, a stark reminder of the industrial scale once envisioned for this remote location. What remains consists primarily of the crumbling walls of a concrete office building and the robust concrete foundations of the mill structure itself, with minimal debris scattered around. These foundations, remarkably sturdy even today, are attributed to a local legend: an accidental double load of cement was delivered during the mill’s construction. Rather than incurring additional transportation costs to return the excess, the builders reputedly used all the cement, resulting in an exceptionally strong and durable foundation that largely accounts for its remarkable preservation today.
Visiting the Ashford Mine and Mill Today
For those eager to experience this piece of Death Valley history firsthand, the ruins of Ashford Mill are located approximately 29 miles west of Shoshone, California, accessible via CA-178. From the mill site on the valley floor, adventurous visitors can then embark on a journey to the mine itself. This involves traveling east on Ashford Canyon Road for three miles, followed by a hike of about 1.25 miles up Ashford Canyon to reach the mine site. Following the faint remnants of the old road up the canyon can significantly ease the hiking effort, offering a tangible connection to the past paths of miners.
Conclusion: A Desert Dream Deferred
The story of the Ashford Mine and Mill is more than just a tale of gold extraction; it is a narrative of human resilience, legal wrangling, ambitious visions, and the unforgiving realities of the Death Valley desert. From Harold Ashford’s initial relocation of claims to the McCauslands’ grand, yet ultimately unprofitable, industrial complex, and through the subsequent sporadic attempts at revival, the site embodies the speculative nature of early 20th-century mining. While the gold extracted may have been modest, the enduring ruins serve as a powerful historical landmark, inviting reflection on the dreams and struggles that once animated this desolate, yet beautiful, corner of California.
