Cherry Creek, Nevada (original) (raw)

---

MENU

---

<align=center>

## Cherry Creek, Nevada

<align=left> Donna Frederick, © January 1997

Main Street at Cherry Creek, Nevada. Photo courtesty of White Pine Historical and Archaeological Society.

Cherry Creek is not a ghost town. There is a museum located at Cherry Creek that is well worth your while. To get to Cherry Creek from Ely, take U.S. 93 north for 46.4 miles. At marker designating Cherry Creek, exit west on Nevada 489 and follow for 8.2 miles to Cherry Creek.

The name Cherry Creek has been accredited to chokecherries growing in the canyon. Cherry Creek is located across from Schellbourne, on the western side of Steptoe Valley, in the Cherry Creek Mining District. Silver, gold, lead, copper, molybdenum, tungsten and barite are encountered in the district. The town of Cherry Creek is at approximately the center of the district. It includes the north end of the Egan Range and south end of the Cherry Creek Range. The district is approximately five miles wide and about eighteen miles long - from Telegraph Canyon at the south end to Goshute Creek at the north.

A company of volunteer soldiers under Captain Tober, on their way west from Fort Schellbourne to Fort Ruby, discovered gold-bearing quartz vein near the Overland Stage route in Egan Canyon, possibly as early as 1861. Early records, and bills of sale dated 1863 for previously located claims, indicate that there were some discoveries made before 1863. Although there was no great amount of gold produced, Egan Canyon came to be known as Gold Canyon, and the Gold Canyon Mining District was formed.

The Gilligan, and other mines, were developed in 1863 on the silver-bearing Gilligan Ledge in Gold (Egan) Canyon. The principal early production from the district came from the Gilligan silver mine. The first mill to be built in eastern Nevada was constructed in 1874 to treat ore from the Gilligan. By 1866, both a 5-stamp mill and a 10-stamp mill were operating. A small amount of gold from the Gold Canyon Ledge, north of the mouth of the canyon, was milled in an arrastra in 1868. A 20-stamp mill was built in 1869, at the head of the canyon near the old Egan Canyon Pony Express station, to treat the silver ores.

The first mine on Cherry Creek was the Ticup (a Shoshone word for biscuit, pronounced "tea cup.") Mine, discovered in 1872. This initial discovery brought an immediate rush of prospectors to the area and the Cherry Creek District was organized. In 1873, the town of Cherry Creek was platted at the mouth of Cherry Creek Canyon. Cherry Creek soon became the largest mining camp in the county. Cherry Creek mines began to flourish during the intervening years of 1872 to 1883. The Gold Canyon mines began to decline after 1877, and the Gold Canyon District came to be considered as a part of the Cherry Creek District. It can be concluded that Egan Canyon regained its rightful name at that time.

Between 1872 and 1883, Cherry Creek was one of the chief mining camps of White Pine County. With the chance of making a rich silver discovery, it is doubtful the prospectors gave the chokecherries more than a passing glance! Wonder if they knew what great jam and wine could be made from chokecherries?

A Wells Fargo agency was located in Cherry Creek. The post office opened June 11, 1873 and was one of the oldest post offices in the state. It remained until July 19, 1974 when McGill became the mailing address of its patrons. Cherry Creek Miner, dated October 14, 1903, made the following announcement concerning their post office:

�The Cherry Creek Miner has just received official notification from the post office headquarters at Washington of its admission as second class mail matter at the post office. It has only taken six months to accomplish what would have been completed inside of fifteen days by an ordinary business firm.�

The Star, Exchequer, Ticup, Grey Eagle, Pacific, Chance, Flagstaff, and Victorien were among the mines that kept at least three local mills busy. The Star Mine lived up to its name and was the leading producer in its hey day.

In the fall of 1994, the Star - the largest and longest producer - had an interesting sign posted on the locked gate at its tunnel entrance.

DUE TO THE CURRENT FINANCIAL RESTRAINTS AND GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL WILL BE TURNED OFF UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

In 1999, we found the sign had been removed and the gate at the entrance was lying open.

The Star is located north and east of Cherry Creek. Some recent work has been done hauling the waste rock from the original workings. The old ore bins are very weathered, but standing. Several ruins of the Star camp are visible in the canyon where the Star is located.

The Exchequer is north and west of the Star. Nothing remains of the original head frames, loading docks or camp. Modern day equipment is located there. The head frame that is standing was erected in 1982 and the decline was finished in 1990.

The Ticup is a large property, on patented mining ground, located high above Cherry Creek. It was simpler to reach August 1, 1999, than it was in the 1800s. An old road west of Cherry Creek that once lead to a microwave station is straighter, wider and smoother than the original road.

When visited August 1, 1999, the hoist and compressor shed were still standing, protecting the steam driven hoist. Within days of the visit, the steam engine was lifted out by helicopter and sold. The shed housing the engine, which had been in good condition, was cut in two in order to remove the engine.

A cabin stands at the site and there is evidence more cabins were there. Obviously, the workers did not traverse the long road to Cherry Creek on a daily basis or there would have been no production. The original Ticup road is extremely rough and reminds one of driving on marbles. Traveling the original Ticup road today, reinforces the respect for the early day pioneers who developed this great mine. This original road is narrow, steep and winding, with many switchbacks. Much of the road has been carved from the side of a mountain in solid rock. In many areas, hand-cribbed rock has been used to hold the road in place. The road down from the Ticup comes out at the site of the Kleghorn-Boundy Mill. (Although this mill is commonly known as the Kleghorn-Boundy, Bob Boundy told me in an interview February, 2000 that the proper name is "Cherry Creek Tungsten Mill."

Cherry Creek declined after 1875, but the district remained a somewhat steady producer. New, rich veins were located among the older workings in the spring of 1880 and another boom began. Several merchants relocated to Cherry Creek from Hamilton in 1881. A track for horse racing was built three miles south of town. The racetrack was complete with a grandstand, stables and mile-long track. It soon had the reputation as the fastest track in Nevada, with horses competing from various areas across the United States.

Cherry Creek boasted several newspapers at different times. The first was The Independent, from 1878-79. In the winter of 1877, Benjamin Barney arrived at Cherry Creek with a small hand press. January 1878, the first paper was issued from a building Barney purchased on the corner of Main and D Street. Barney, as sole editor and proprietor, published the paper Sunday, Tuesday and Friday. A. V. Hoyt, a Cherry Creek attorney, purchased half interest in the paper in February 1887. When Barney retired from the paper about a month later and retired to Reno, Hoyt continued The Independent, as a weekly but was unable to make a success of it. The Independent was suspended April 19, 1879.

White Pine News moved in from Hamilton and was revived under that name on New Year�s Day, 1881. White Pine News was published in Cherry Creek until August 15, 1885 when it was moved to the new boom camp at Taylor.

Cherry Creek Miner started March 25, 1903, and terminated within the same year. A brief revival of mining activity at Cherry Creek was not sufficient to sustain the paper. An interesting poem was found in the Cherry Creek Miner, October 14, 1903 that compares the hardy miner to the mines they were working:

Men and Mines
The lives of men resemble mines
In ways most manifold,
Some carry silver, some are lead,
While others are pure gold.
The �cradle� comes in early life,
With many a �pinch� and knock,
While tender �veins� and sinews grow
As hard and firm as rock.
Then hard times bring us to �bedrock�
And �faults� creep in apace,
We live and love and oftimes find
Our passion is but �base.�
And all through life �assessment work�
Eats us our scanty hoard,
With �grub stakes� few and far between
An awful �pinch� for board
. The �apex� in one�s life is reached
On a mighty high grade �ledge,�
Which opens to poor �gash vein�
And �peters� like a wedge.
We �drift� along the sands of time,
Or �cross-cut,� �sink,� or �stope,�
Until we land upon the_�dump,�_
Bereft of even hope.
And when the final �clean-up� comes
May each one�s life �assay�
In values high in manly deeds,
Upon the Judgement Day.
--W. J. L.M

The business district had all the trappings of a frontier metropolis, including the usual Chinatown with its customary facilities, a hotel, saloons, gambling houses, and jail, assay office, newspaper, Wells Fargo and the only two dentists in White Pine County. Cherry Creek devoted itself to entertainment. Historian�s recall that there were literally dozens of dances at Cherry Creek Hall that even the fire of 1901 did not stop. Dances continued in Cherry Creek, with people attending from all directions within traveling distance, until there were no more dance floors or musicians there. In 1882, Cherry Creek made a bid to snatch the county seat from Hamilton. That year, Cherry Creek, Egan, Schellbourne, Centerville, Ruby Hill and Aurum had more votes than all the rest of the county combined. The financial crash of 1883 stopped Cherry Creek�s boom before the legislature met in 1884 to pass on the county seat removal questions. This killed any ambition the town had toward securing the county seat.

A further blow occurred on July 24, 1884, when the hoisting works at the Star Mine burned. By November of that year, only one saloon remained open. When the country stopped using silver as a monetary standard in 1893, mining ceased for several years. Another fire, destroying a major section of downtown Cherry Creek in February 1901, further depressed the camp. A smaller fire occurred in 1904.

December 10, 1903, Adolph Sundberg purchased the North Mountain Mining Co. Hot Springs that were located a short distance from Cherry Creek. The Hot Springs were believed to contain curative properties for rheumatism and other ailments. Sundberg wasted no time in getting things started. Soon he was planting shrubbery and small fruit trees, and fencing a large plot at the Hot Springs. By the summer of 1904, he was furnishing residents of Cherry Creek fresh vegetables from his Hot Springs garden.

Sundberg Hot Springs, Circa 1904. Photo courtesy Elaine Kirkeby.
Adolph Sundberg sent to San Francisco for a redwood tank for bathing and swimming and built a bathhouse with a pool 15-feet x 25-feet and five feet deep. The water flowed directly from the springs and the temperature was just right for bathing. Mrs. Sundberg baked cakes and cookies to serve guests, and did laundry for the miners and bachelors of the area. By the end of December 1904, a Swimming and Bathing Tank, Refreshment Department, and Laundry Department were being advertised in the local paper.

Hot Springs became a popular place - people could swim, have cake and coffee and receive friendly treatment from the Sundberg family. The garden provided employment for their young sons, John and Adolph, who would load up their little red wagon and sell the produce door to door in Cherry Creek.

Cherry Creek experienced resurgence in 1905. The Ticup, Star and Exchequer were reopened. Two new mines, the National and the New Century, went into production. The arrival of the Nevada Northern Railroad near Cherry Creek on July 17, 1906 gave Cherry Creek an additional boost. Today, the Cherry Creek depot resides at the White Pine County Museum in Ely, a silent reminder of our past, to be enjoyed by all. The water tower that stood so proudly at the original site has now collapsed. By 1910, the resurgence had faded and only leaseholders were active in the district.

Christmas night, 1912, a tragedy hit Sundbergs Hot Springs. The White Pine News reported:

On Christmas night last, Mrs. A. F. Sundberg of Sundberg�s Hot Spring near Cherry Creek came near losing her life by the explosion of a lamp she was carrying in her hand at the time. The coal oil was thrown over her clothing by the explosion, and immediately ignited. She first started for the plunge in the rear of the room in which the explosion occurred, but seeing several of her children between her and the door, she was afraid she would set their clothing on fire. Therefore, she opened the door and ran out into the wind. She immediately lay down and rolled in the snow but by that time the flames had nearly consumed her clothing, even to the corset, which was burned. Mr. Sundberg managed to extinguish the flames in the house, after which he went to his wife'� assistance. One of the children ran to the Leishman home, a considerable distance, and told of the accident. Mr. and Mrs. Leishman immediately made their way to the Sundberg home, and did all in their power to alleviate the intense suffering of the lady until Dr. Owens could be summoned. Since the accident Mrs. Sundberg has been getting along much better than was at first expected and will eventually recover.

Fortunately, this story has a happy ending and Mrs. Sundberg in due time recovered. The property sold to Harry Young in 1913, and the family moved to Ely. This property is now Dale Salvi Ranch and is not open to the public.

Since 1902, records for the Cherry Creek Mining District became more complete. A small to moderate production of either silver or tungsten ore was reported every year from 1902 through 1958. In 1931, some low-grade silver ores and tailings were shipped at irregular intervals to the McGill smelter. The silica in these ores was valuable as a fluxing ore. Joe Levra recounts that the small miners shipped the ores to Kennecott Copper Company for the recovery of gold and silver. Kennecott did not charge for the milling in these ores in exchange for the silica they contained.

Scheelite was discovered at the Chance mine in 1918. More than 100 short tons were produced during World War I. Principal tungsten production was from 1940 through 1950, chiefly from the Ticup. This ore was concentrated in a 50-ton gravity-flotation plant a mile west of Cherry Creek. It is estimated that more than 30,000 short tons of tungsten were produced through 1958.

Frank A. Crampton related an interesting story in his book Deep Enough. In 1920, Crampton arrived to do some engineering work at the Imperial and Exchequer. Before Crampton�s arrival, Cherry Creek has lost its sporting houses. The girls of the line had moved to Ely, which was move lively. Paydays, over half the hard-rock miners around Cherry Creek would go into Ely. Many of these men would wind up in the hospital because of auto wrecks on the return trip. Some would be off for a week or more, others would not return at all. It became a problem to keep a full time crew in Cherry Creek.

Crampton quickly arrived at a solution to the problem that made money for the operators for which he was working, and kept the workers in Cherry Creek. He consulted Judge Dan McDonald of Ely (the same McDonald who discovered the Ruth mine near Ely and named it after his daughter). After the necessary arrangements had been made, Crampton fixed up one of the bunkhouses at the Exchequer with rooms for rent, and brought in six girls. The girls paid for room and board. They ate with the working men in the cookhouse. A small bar was set up, a piano installed and the floor polished for dancing.

No miner was allowed to drink within eight hours of going on shift. The girls were not allowed to charge anything for any entertainment they might offer. However, gifts the miners might want to give the girls carried no restrictions. The plan worked - the men stayed in Cherry Creek, and ore production was satisfactory.

Although, many times, misfortune is not recorded, a Cherry Creek citizen, Ralph Frank, remembered two little girls. Frank wrote the following poem in his book, Cherry Creek Reminiscence, to commemorate Lillie and Rose McKenny, who died of scarlet fever and were buried in Exchequer Canyon in 1878. Their graves can no longer be located but, thanks to Mr. Frank, their memory remains:

LILLIE AND ROSE
They sleep beneath the mountain�s lofty peak,
Where the thunder rolls and storm gods speak.
In a canyon wild and lonely where the storms of winter moan,
Where once the plodding oxen low
As they drifted along through the snow;
But now, they sleep in a wild and lonely canyon
Their only epitaph a rugged tree of balsam.
Emerged in the twilight of the canyon,
Theirs, eternal sleep where time slumber on,
And the lofty mountain peak frown down
Upon a wild, lime-capped canyon side.
God gave the Lillie the light to grow
The rose its radiant glow,
Blessed them, then called them
Home from the snow.
Tides of night over the canyon side
Slumberous and beautiful in the moonlight.

There is one cemetery below the town, two above the town. These cemeteries receive only casual care. As with many desert graveyards, these must be regarded with tolerance. City dwellers often attribute the lack of formal landscaping to callousness and neglect. Not true - these old burial spots, like the pioneers who fill them, are honest and free of shame. Time has taken its toll on the fences. Mother Nature has taken her toll on the many nameless headboards, but this is not as sad as it might at first appear. A nameless grave makes no distinction for race, creed, poverty or wealth. None of the cemeteries appear to be full, and are all about the same age.

On a visit with Art and Mickey Ruggles in August 1999, Mickey stated there was an Indian and a Chinese cemetery on a nearby hill. Bob Boundy and Rich Loper confirm this. Apparently, the Indian and Chinese cemeteries are in the foothills above the two cemeteries southwest of town. Nothing remains to mark either place.

When questioned why there were three cemeteries, besides the Indian and Chinese, in Cherry Creek, Art Ruggles supplied a logical answer. The cemetery where his dad is buried was for the general population. The one just above it was divided into Catholic and Masonic. When asked why the third, the reply was �easier digging I guess.� Art�s father had insisted in being buried in the cemetery above Cherry Creek, feeling the lower one would have to be moved someday. Art explained that when they went to dig his father�s grave, it was hard digging for about three-foot, then they hit rock and an air-drill had to be used to complete the grave.

</align=left></align=center>