El Dorado City, which is now a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

, was a

mining camp Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

in the

Colorado Mining District Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

at the mouth of January Wash at its confluence with El Dorado Canyon. It was located about a mile down the canyon from Huse Spring, at an elevation of 2382 feet. Its site was located nearby to the south southeast of the

Techatticup Mine Techatticup Mine, is a former gold mine, now a tourist attraction. It is located at an elevation of , midway in Eldorado Canyon, in Clark County, Nevada. History The Techatticup Mine was the largest and most productive mine in the Colorado Mining ...

the primary source of the ore its mill processed. "El Dorado" is a name derived from the Spanish meaning "the gilded".

History

El Dorado City was the site of the El Dorado Mills or Colorado Mills, first stamp mill in the canyon, and perhaps in all of Arizona Territory. In late 1863, Col.

James Russell Vineyard James Russell Vineyard (January 16, 1801August 30, 1863) was an American Democratic politician and pioneer. He served in the California State Senate and Assembly, and earlier was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, the legislature of the W ...

at the time a State Senator from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, completed a mill from parts of abandoned or closed mills brought from in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, at what became El Dorado City, to process the ore of the Techatticup Mine and other mines in the canyon. That cut out the cost of shipping the ore down the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. Steamboats sometimes use the ship prefix, prefix designation SS, S.S. or S/S ...

, and by sea to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

for processing, thus cutting costs in half for those mine owners. Richard E. Lingenfelter, Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852-1916, University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1978
In 1866, the Colorado Mills were moved down the canyon from El Dorado City, to the landing at the mouth of the canyon and refurbished.Daily Alta California, Volume 18, Number 5922, 28 May 1866, p.1 col. 5-6; OUR ARIZONA CORRESPONDENCE, Up The Colorado, (from the Correspondent of the Alta California), El Dorado Canyon, April 30th, 1866, Alling rank S. Alling/ref> El Dorado City, was first located in the

Mohave County Mohave County is in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is the fifth largest county in the United St ...

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona (also known as Arizona Territory) was a territory of the United States that existed from February 24, 1863, until February 14, 1912, when the remaining extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of ...

before it became part of the state of

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in 1867. However the dispute over this transfer was not settled in favor of Nevada until 1870 when El Dorado City became part of

Lincoln County, Nevada Lincoln County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the population was 5,345. Its county seat is Pioche, Nevada, Pioche. Like many counties in Nevada, it is d ...

. El Dorado City remained in existence into the 1880s.

Present day

The site of El Dorado City is now in

Clark County, Nevada Clark County is located in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,265,461. Most of the county population resides in the Las Vegas Census County Divisions, which hold 1,771,945 people as of the 2010 Census, across ...

References

Populated places established in 1863 Ghost towns in Clark County, Nevada Ghost towns in Nevada Arizona Territory {{nevada-stub

History

Present day

See also

References