Lookout City is a former settlement in the
Mojave Desert, in
Inyo County,
California.
It lay at an elevation of 3579 feet (1091 m).
History
In 1875 rich deposits of silver-lead ore were discovered in the
Argus Range
The Argus Range is a mountain range located in Inyo County, California, southeast of the town of Darwin, California, Darwin. The range forms the western boundary of Panamint Valley, and the northwestern boundary of Searles Valley. The Coso Range i ...
on top of Lookout mountain. The discovery was named the Modoc, and was sold to a group of investors which included
George Hearst, the famed mining engineer, U.S. Senator, and father of
William Randolph Hearst. (He was also the great-great grandfather of Patty Hearst.)
The Modoc Consolidated Mining Company was formed with the Modoc mine as the principal mine. Together with the discovery of other nearby mines, which included the Minnietta Belle below Lookout Mountain, these mines formed the basis for the Modoc District with the townsite of Lookout located on top of Lookout Mountain.
The town of Lookout consisted of 2 general stores, 3 saloons, company offices, and as many as 30 other wood and stone structures. By 1876 two 60 ton furnaces and a 10-
stamp mill
A stamp mill (or stamp battery or stamping mill) is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operatio ...
were running and production was quoted as running 160 silver-lead bars per day. The bars averaged 90 lbs. each and assayed around $400.00. By the end of 1876
Remi Nadeau
Remi A. Nadeau (August 30, 1920 – June 6, 2016) was an American historian. He earned a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Born in Los Angeles, Remi Allen Nadeau was the son o ...
's Cerro Gordo Freighting Company had hauled 10,000 bars worth some $4,000,000 over the Bullion Trail which was originally built for the ore of the
Cerro Gordo Mines. Remi Nadeau needed a faster route for his teams, so he constructed the Nadeau "Shotgun" road across the
Panamint Valley and over the
Slate Range to meet the Bullion Trail south of
China Lake.
To supply the furnaces with charcoal,
ten charcoal kilns were built in Wildrose Canyon 25 miles away in the
Panamint Range, and a steady stream of burros delivered charcoal in sacks to Lookout City via a pack trail on the east side of Lookout Mountain. The U.S. Bureau of Mines reported that total production during the period 1875 through 1890 amounted to $1,900,000 from the Modoc Mine alone.
References
External links
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Former settlements in Inyo County, California
Populated places in the Mojave Desert
Mining communities in California
Former populated places in California
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