Castle Dome Landing, Arizona (also Castle Dome City) is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

in the

Castle Dome Mountains The Castle Dome Mountains (Tolkepaya Yavapai language, Yavapai: Wi:hopuʼ) are a mountain range in Yuma County, Arizona, within the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. Castle Dome (butte), Castle Dome Peak, the high point of the range, is a prominent b ...

of Yuma County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. It was first settled as a transport depot and

mining Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...

camp around 1863 in what was then the

Arizona Territory The Territory of Arizona, commonly known as the 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 ...

History

When the first Americans reached the Castle Dome Mountains in the early 1860s, there were already signs of previous mining activity. It was generally held that Native Americans had engaged in mining in the Castle Dome Mountains some years before and backpacked the ore south to a processing site on the banks of the

Gila River The Gila River (; O'odham ima Keli Akimel or simply Akimel, Quechan: Haa Siʼil, Maricopa language: Xiil) is a tributary of the Colorado River flowing through New Mexico and Arizona in the United States. The river drains an arid watershed of ...

, where remnants of adobe furnaces were found. As mineral deposits began to be discovered up and down the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

in the early 1860s, numerous mining camps and steamboat ports grew into towns along the river. Heading north from Yuma, prospectors staked gold and silver claims along the river and in the surrounding mountains. The Castle Dome Mining Company, established in 1863 and owned by Conner and Jacob Snively, purchased many of these claims and planned out the site of Castle Dome Landing on the banks of the Colorado River to act as a shipping point for ore on its way to California for smelting. The Snivelys planned only to mine silver in the area, but in that same year, well-known geologist and mining engineer William P. Blake realized that the region's copper-lead ores held extensive value, and lined up investors to develop mining operations in the area.

Castle Dome Mining Camp

Though prospecting and planning commenced years earlier, modern mining in the area didn't begin in earnest until 1869 due to hostilities with Native Americans. When the mines finally did begin operations, the mining camp that sprung up was known as Pitoti after a weed thought to be found only in that area. As the area grew, the town was renamed Castle Dome, and a post office was established in that name on December 17, 1875. Less than a year later, however, the post office was discontinued on December 4, 1876.

Castle Dome Landing

While the mining camp itself went into decline, the nearby riverside landing established some years earlier for

steamboats of the Colorado River Steamboats on the Colorado River operated from the river mouth at the Colorado River Delta on the Gulf of California in Mexico, up to the Virgin River on the Lower Colorado River Valley in the Southwestern United States from 1852 until 1909, w ...

began to thrive. The landing, setup for transport of ore and as a supply point for the mines some east of the river, provided a new town site for the region, and was soon established as Castle Dome Landing. The post office re-opened under this new name on August 6, 1878, and the small port became an active supply and shipping depot for the mines in the Castle Dome Mountain mining district. For the next six years, Castle Dome Landing served as the first stop for steamboats traveling up the Colorado River from Yuma, and the town thrived, both as a supply and shipping point and as a popular destination for travelers from Yuma who came up the Colorado River for various celebrations held at the numerous river towns. For Castle Dome Landing,

Mexican Independence Day The Cry of Dolores () occurred in Dolores, Mexico, on 16 September 1810, when Roman Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang his church bell and gave the call to arms that triggered the Mexican War of Independence. The Cry of Dolores is m ...

on September 16 was the main draw. By some accounts, the population of the town peaked at over 3,000 people, and rivaled Yuma in size as of 1880, almost becoming Yuma County's namesake. Other sources put the full-time residents at only 50. At its peak, it housed a post office, a hotel, a saloon, a

general store A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

, and

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

facilities.

Decline

As with many mining

boomtown A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although t ...

s, mining activity diminished, and the Castle Dome Landing post office closed down on June 16, 1884. The mines reopened in 1890, and the area became a significant source of lead for both

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In particular, when the Arizona Lead Company reopened the mines in 1943, they were able to produce significant amounts of lead in order to meet wartime demands. After World War II, the demand for lead decreased, and the town again went into decline, though mining activity continued for some years in the area. The school was shut down in 1950, and the mines went into and out of use as the price of silver, still found in the area, rose and fell. By 1978, the mines were all shut down, and the last of the residents were gone.

Remnants

The remains of Castle Dome Landing, once on the banks of the Colorado River, are now submerged beneath the Imperial Dam reservoir in Martinez Lake. The property that was previously Castle Dome town and mining camp was purchased in 1994 by Allen and Stephanie Armstrong, and turned into the Castle Dome Museum.Castle Dome Museum
/ref> The museum site houses over 50 restored and recreated buildings — seven original to the town, and the rest are period representations built mostly from locally scavenged materials. Each building, among them a saloon, a hotel, a mill, and a blacksmith, is staged to look like it might have looked in the town's heyday, some 100 years ago.

Mining

Though silver was the original target for prospectors in the area, much of the early excitement over supposed silver deposits turned out to be veins of

galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...

instead. As it turned out, the area was far more rich with

lead Lead () is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol Pb (from Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a Heavy metal (elements), heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale, soft and Ductility, malleabl ...

ore than silver. The Castle Dome mining district is one of Yuma County's oldest and most productive mining locations. Its proximity to the Colorado River and relatively low rates of freight at the time permitted the mining of even low grades of ore which wouldn't have been profitable at other locations. In addition to silver and lead, the area is rich in numerous other minerals, including

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

copper Copper is a chemical element; it has symbol Cu (from Latin ) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish-orang ...

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, and many others. Total production from the Castle Dome mines included of lead, of silver, of zinc, of copper, of gold, and of

placer gold Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

production, mostly prior to 1900. The Castle Dome mining district is a popular district for mineral collectors. The region is known for striking combinations of

cerussite Cerussite (also known as lead carbonate or white lead ore) is a mineral consisting of lead carbonate with the chemical formula PbCO3, and is an important ore of lead. The name is from the Latin ''cerussa'', white lead. ''Cerussa nativa'' was ...

fluorite Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It belongs to the halide minerals. It crystallizes in isometric cubic habit, although octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. The Mohs scal ...

vanadinite Vanadinite is a mineral belonging to the apatite group of Phosphate minerals, phosphates, with the chemical formula lead, Pb5(vanadium, Voxygen, O4)3chlorine, Cl. It is one of the main industrial ores of the metal vanadium and a minor source of ...

wulfenite Wulfenite is a lead molybdate mineral with the formula Pb Mo O4. It often occurs as thin tabular crystals with a bright orange-red to yellow-orange color, sometimes brown, although the color can be highly variable. In its yellow form it is some ...

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate (Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

, and

mimetite Mimetite is a lead arsenate chloride mineral () which forms as a secondary mineral in lead deposits, usually by the Redox, oxidation of galena and arsenopyrite. The name derives from the Greek ''mimetes'', meaning "imitator" and refers to mimeti ...

, as well as

galenite Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crysta ...

and

anglesite Anglesite is a lead sulfate mineral with the chemical formula PbSO4. It occurs as an oxidation product of primary lead sulfide ore, galena. Anglesite occurs as prismatic orthorhombic crystals and earthy masses, and is isomorphous with barite and ...

. The Hull Mine and Puzzler Mine in particular have produced atypical green vanadinite and mimetite as well as yellow-hued wulfenite.

Geography

Castle Dome Landing, now submerged, is located at (32.9650409, -114.4635592) about north of Yuma. The original Castle Dome town and mining camp, now the site of the Castle Dome Museum, is located at , in close proximity to the Castle Dome Mine, located at .

References

External links

Castle Dome Landing
at Ghosttowns.com

at Ghosttowns.com
Castle Dome Mines Museum photo gallery

Castle Dome Mines Museum's official website
{{Steamboats of the Colorado River Former populated places in Yuma County, Arizona Ghost towns in Arizona Mining museums in Arizona Museums in Yuma County, Arizona Open-air museums in Arizona Port cities and towns in Arizona Steamboat transport on the Colorado River